Frontierswomen
of Central Florida
1859 Assassination of Philip Barton
Key, Washington, DC
A
Women’s History Month Tribute
By
Richard Lee Cronin, CroninBooks.com
15
March 2022
Day 15
CitrusLAND is observing Women’s History Month by
honoring extraordinary central Florida frontierswomen. And as we celebrate
women’s History Month throughout March, we are also promoting each day a local
History Museum, listing days and hours of operation.
See
our History Museum of the day in this Post
Mary #Kerr
came from Iowa in 1875 and settled first at Fort Reid, along the First Road
to Orlando as this author has dubbed the main road from Lake Monroe to the
Orange County seat.
Known then as Widow Fernandez, her prior education at
Elmyra Female College in New York State earned Mary a schoolteacher position at
Fort Reid (now Sanford), and soon after became the principal of that school, relocating
a few years later to assume a school principal position at Orlando.
Circa 1874: Orlando’s first Schoolhouse
Mary Kerr was one of only a few frontierswomen
featured by Clarence Howard in his book, Early Settlers of Orange County
(1915). Born 1844 in North Carolina, her family had moved West to Iowa within a
few years of her birth. Howard seemed impressed that a Northerner had spent
much of her time during the Civil War caring for Confederate prisoners.
Mary (Kerr) Fernandez married James K. Duke, formerly
of Louisville, Kentucky, on 9 June 1880 at Orlando. She and James had two
children.
In addition to teaching during the 1880s, Mary also served
as superintendent of Department of Plants and Flowers for South Florida Fair
Association. She was appointed as the only female judge of Horticultural
Exhibits in 1893 for the Florida Exhibit at Chicago’s World Fair.
Mary’s health began declining around 1911, and in 1913,
she was transported to John Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore, where she died, July
30, 1913. “Her general optimism and charm of personality,” wrote C. E. Howard
of the deceased Orange County schoolteacher, “made her a host of friends.”
Alice #Key
was four years old when her father was assassinated across the street from the
White House in Washington, DC (Sketch at start of this Post). She celebrated
her 26th birthday as a wife, mother of two, and a resident of
Maitland, Florida. Alice was the daughter of Philip Barton Key, the U. S.
Attorney in 1859 for the District of Columbia. Her father was a widower when
gunned down in front of a house at 21 Madison Place, across from the White
House, on February 27, 1859. Barton Key was the son of Francis Scott Key,
author of the Star-Spangled Banner.
Maitland’s best-kept
secret for nearly a century therefore has been that the city was once home to the
granddaughter of the author of our National Anthem.
Alice (Key) Pendleton,
sister of Philip Barton Key and the wife of George H. Pendleton at the time her
brother was assassinated, raised Alice Key, her brother’s youngest child.
George H. Pendleton, being an Ohio Congressman, meant the Pendleton’s divided
their residency between the cities of Cincinnati and the District of Columbia.
In 1877, William Appleton
Potter was appointed Supervising Architect of the Treasury Building. Potter
hired his brother, Frank Hunter Potter, as his confidential secretary, which brought
Frank from New York City to the District of Columbia, where Alice Key lived. The
New York Times, in February 1882, reported on the marriage of: “Potter –
Key at Grace Church, Baltimore, on the 21st, by the Rev. Dr. H, C.
and E. N. Potter, Frank Hunter Potter to Alice, daughter of the late Phillip
Barton Key.”
The newlyweds honeymooned
in France, departing DC in May of 1882. And while overseas, the first of two
children, Frank, Jr., was born at Paris, France. Their second son was born at
New York City in 1883, after which Frank & Alice (Key) Potter relocated to
Orange County, Florida, where Frank Potter had acquired property in 1883.
Excerpts
of this Alice (Key) Potter post is borrowed from
Citrusland,
DC
District
of Columbians of Florida’s Citrus Belt
Mini-Book, Volume 3 of Righting Florida History
By
Richard Lee Cronin
Included in the Special
Census of 1885, the Potter family was living in a home built on a slice of
Maitland land which separates Lake Seminary from Lakes Faith, Hope and Charity.
(One cannot help but wonder if Frank Potter, a member of a family of prominent
Christian leaders, including Bishop Alonzo Potter of Philadelphia and Bishop
Horatio Potter of New York, had something to do with the naming of these four
lakes). The Potter’s were able to see all four lakes from their expansive
porch, described as wrapping around three sides of the residence.
Alice Key Potter grave marker
According to Potter
family memoirs, Frank had been working at the New York Herald when “his
health broke down and he went to Florida, where he became associated with a
friend who owned the first ice factory in the state.” Potter’s friend was Dr.
Russell H. Nevins, and the “first ice-factory” was the very facility visited by
President Chester A. Arthur in April 1883. The ice factory was even mentioned
by the New York Times reporter traveling with the President when the
group stopped to tour the factory during a stopover in Maitland.
“It was a very primitive,
almost frontier life,” says the Potter family memoirs of Frank Potter’s time at
Maitland, “and his duties ranged from keeping the books and supervising the
company store.”
Frank & Alice however
were unable to adapt to the Florida climate, or so it was said for the reason
the Potter’s returned to the North. Soon after arriving in the North though, Alice
(Key) Potter died, at age 33, in 1888. Frank H. Potter died in 1932. (The two
Potter children were raised, much like their mother Alice, by an aunt).
The Maitland home of
Frank and Alice Potter is still standing today, although development has since
eliminated the splendid views it once had of the four nearby lakes.
[Further
Reading: Citrusland, DC: District of Columbians of Florida’s Citrus Belt,
by Richard Lee Cronin]
Sarah Grace (Kilborn) Hall-Baker
made searching for the namesake of Mount Dora’s Baker Street an
interesting challenge. Despite Baker being a common name, it was not found in
Mount Dora history prior to 1910. A Sanborn Insurance Survey of 1906 shows the
name of the street as “Sanford,” likely named for Dr. Sanford M. Sawin, a
resident during the earliest days of the city. Another Sanborn Insurance survey
of 1912 (see below) shows the street as “Baker (Sanford Av.)”, suggesting a
name change was in the process around that time.
1912
Survey portion of Baker Street, Mount Dora, Florida
Sarah Baker, a resident of
1910 Mount Dora, was, at 56 years old, a widow. A native of Webster, New
Hampshire, Sarah came to Florida following the death of her second husband,
Cyrus Baker of Rhode Island. She likely wintered at Mount Dora prior to her
relocation in 1910.
“As a member of the Mount
Dora Improvement Society”, said the Mount Dora Topic following the death
of Sarah in 1940, she “contributed much to the improvement of the town and such
projects as the building of the first Town Hall.” The first Town Hall shows on
the Sanborn 1912 survey. The Topic also said of Sarah G. Baker, “she was
among the most active civic minded pioneers of this community and made valuable
contributions to many of the religious, cultural and civic organizations.”
Sarah Grace Baker
(1853-1940) seems a perfect Mount Doran to be honored with the naming of Baker
Street. By 1920, Sarah was living on Tremain Street but owned land as well on
Baker Street. At age 86, just prior to her death, she was a patient at Mount
Dora Hospital, at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Baker Street, where she
passed, on September 5, 1940.
[Further
Reading: Mount Dora: The Lure. The Founding. The Founders., by Richard Lee
Cronin].
Today’s
featured History Museum
Central Florida Railroad Museum
Operated by the Central Florida Railway Historical Society, Inc.
(CFRHS)
Museum Hours: 11
AM to 3 PM Tuesday thru Saturday
Tug & Grunt Presentation at 1 PM
101
S. Boyd Street
Winter
Garden, Florida 34787
Have you considered becoming a member of the CFRHS?
Have you considered becoming a Volunteer Host at the Central Florida
Railroad Museum?
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