Frontierswomen
of Central Florida
A
Women’s History Month Tribute
By
Richard Lee Cronin, CroninBooks.com
3
March 2022
Day 3:
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
Zora Chloe #Borton Williamson,
not well-known among central Florida historians prior to my mentioning this
lady in Chapter 1 of my Mount Dora book, Zora Chloe was certainly known to many
residents of Tangerine and Mount Dora during the early 1900s. She and husband
Benjamin purchased the historic Dudley W. Adams place at Tangerine in
1911. Zora became active as an officer in Mount Dora Citrus Growers
Association, but her identity always appeared as “Mrs. B. F. Williamson.” Even
a 1926 ad placed by the association in Mount Dora Topic listed Zora as,
‘Mrs. Williamson, despite the fact she spent more time in Florida as a snowbird
and was more active in civic duties than husband Ben. Most every newspaper
article about the Williamson’s mentioned only “Mrs. Williamson.”
As disclosed in Chapter 1 of, Mount
Dora: The Lure. The Founding. The Founders., town co-founder John P. Donnelly
mentioned “Mrs. B. F. Williamson” by name in his 1922 history of Mount Dora. But
Donnelly described the grove of “Mrs. B. F. Williamson” as once belonging to
Dora Ann Drawdy, going on to say Lake Dora had been named for Ms. Drawdy (See
#Fletcher in a later installment of this series).
The historic homestead of Ben and Zora Chloe (Borton)
Williamson however was first occupied by Dudley W. Adams, a historic figure cited
too as founder of the town of Tangerine. Zora was indeed an active historical
figure in two central Florida towns, Mount Dora and Tangerine, and her civic
participation while a resident of Florida opened what had been a tightly sealed
door to resolving the intriguing mystery of our early Citrus Belt history. Was
Lake Dora really named for Dora Drawdy? The answer will likely surprise you!
Mount
Dora Topic 1926 ad by the Citrus Growers Association
[Further
reading: Mount Dora: The Lure. The Founding. The Founders., by Richard Lee
Cronin. (Pick up a copy at Tavares History Museum, Friday, March 4th from 10 AM to 2 PM, or at East Lake County Heritage festival in Sorrento, Florida, Saturday, March 5th from 9 AM to 2:30 PM0.
Sarah #Broome Taylor
of Lake Conway adds yet another a fascinating and unexpected twist to the 1875 Incorporation
of Orlando, the formalizing of an already eighteen (18) years-old village called
Orlando. Mrs. Sarah Taylor, in 1874, made two land acquisitions in Orange
County, one on Lake Monroe (now Seminole County), and the other on Lake Conway.
The year, again, was 1874.
Sarah’s Lake Conway property was miles south of
Orlando, even south of the historic Pine Castle homestead of newspaper correspondent
Will Wallace Harney. Harney was building his historic second residence
when Sarah bought her land. Travel in 1874 however was difficult. Harney
himself wrote in 1874 of a stagecoach running between Orlando and Mellonville
during the “winter and spring,” leaving no available transportation
during the other half of the year. So, did Sarah travel by horse and carriage”
Or did she instead walk the nearly 30 miles to her lake Conway home?
Locals now know Sarah’s 1874 property as either side
of Nela Avenue, a neighborhood rich in history even without mention of
Sarah. But as Sarah bought this land long before Nela Avenue was imagined. And
one wonders if Sarah might have been invited to Will Wallace Harney’s grand
1874 Christmas celebration during which his newly completed ‘Pine Castle’ was
on display for all see.
Central Florida had yet to build its first railroad, so
dirt trails remained the sole means of access for travel south of Lake Monroe. This
however was likely not a problem for Sarah, for she did not relocate from her
New York City residence. In fact, we can’t say for certain Sarah ever saw her
Lake Conway property. Why then did she buy it?
Sarah Taylor’s first land purchase in 1874 had been at
Mellonville. Where Sarah and brother Thomas each bought a town lot in the original
village of Mellonville (near Sanford). They closed on the Mellonville purchase 6
February 1874.
Shortly after Sarah and her brother Thomas bought land
in Orange County, an attorney arrived at Orlando from Lake City, Florida. It
was the summer of 1875, and this attorney brought together a total of 20 local
Orlando area landowners, including Jacob Summerlin, and he led the charge to incorporate
the county seat of Orlando.
The attorney’s name was Robert W. Broome, a brother of
Sarah (Broome) Taylor. Sarah became a central Florida female land speculator.
Not the first, but among the earliest!
Those in the know knew of plans to build a railroad south
from Lake Monroe to Tampa Bay, a train planned to travel along track skirting
Lake Conway. If the train was built, Sarah’s land value would increase!
[Further reading: First Road to Orlando by
Richard Lee Cronin and Rick’s Blog, Sarah of Lake Conway, March 11 and
18, 2020].
Katherine C. #Budd
(1860-1951). Karen designed not one, but TWO historic residences in Lake
County during the mid-1920s. Each home remains in use today, although one has
since been converted into an outstanding museum. Katherine Budd’s architectural
talent was recognized as early as 1924, the year she earned a place as the
first-ever female member of New York City’s prestigious Chapter of the
American Institute of Architects (AIA). And despite her architectural offices
being headquartered at New York City, Katherine Budd visited Eustis and Tavares
often during Florida’s Great Land Boom decade in the 1920s.
In addition to designing two Lake County
residences, Katherine also bought, remodeled, and renamed the Lakeview Hotel
at Tavares. The hotel’s new name became Biltavern Hotel, and to manage
her hotel, Katherine hired William Shriver away from New York’s Biltmore Hotel.
Katherine Budd first designed the Duncan House on Lake
Dora Drive in Tavares. Her client was Attorney Harry C. Duncan, and then, the
following spring, Katherine “motored to Howey to be a luncheon guest of Mrs. W.
J. Howey,” after which she was retained to design the impressive Howey Mansion,
on N. Citrus Avenue in Howey-in-the-Hills.
Katherine Cotheal Budd also dabbled in Lake County
land development, owning properties at Tavares and Fruitland Park, north of
Leesburg.
Likely lured to Lake County by her uncle, a native of
England, Hugh S. Budd was a real estate developer in Leesburg and Fruitland
Park. But Katherine’s uncle had passed in 1920, after which Widow Gertrude A.
(Hubbard) Budd took control of the land investments made by her deceased
husband, an original partner in Budd & Cooke Company.
In my July 2021 blog, ‘In Search of Captivating
Okahumpka,” Gertrude Budd was mentioned as a Lake Countian who worked to preserve
the county’s natural beauty. “Of those who are holding many acres of wooded
land in Florida having a vision for the vision,” said Eustis Lake Region
newspaper in 1924, “Mr. R. F. E. Cooke and Mrs. Gertrude Budd own many acres of
beautiful cypress trees on Okahumpka Creek, and along the highways of Lake
County, and have refused many times to sell same to timber companies”.
Budd therefore was a respected Lake County name, no
doubt encouraging Katherine Budd, a talented New York architect held in high
esteem by homes builders nationwide, to become interested in designing two of
Lake County’s most outstanding mansions, and one of the county’s best-known
early hotels.
Lakeview Hotel, Tavares, later
known as Biltavern Hotel.
Photo
courtesy of Snapshot Photographs & Florida Past
Our History Museum of the Day
See Photo at beginning of this Post
The
Howey Mansion, Howey-in-the-Hills
Tours
available of the 20 room 1927 Mansion
Call
for details: 407-906-4918
TOMORROW
IS TAVARES TRAINS DAY
Lake
County Railroad History Presentations
10
AM; 11:30 AM; 1 PM
Books
by Richard Lee Cronin will be available for purchase.
Questions
or comments? Rick@CroninBooks.com
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