Othman Rutland Residence, Sanibel Island
Frances E. Hewlett, a WASHINGTON, DC Treasury
Department Clerk, acquired 40 acres of Florida wilderness in 1885 West Orange
County. Miss Hewlett and her land purchase is a fact, NOT fiction! Another fact
is that Othman Rutland, a Florida native, was living on the western shore of
Lake Apopka in 1889. Othman Rutland is NOT fiction!
Rutland, after an 1889 meeting with Miss Hewlett in her
DC Office, wrote in his diary that Miss Hewlett had inquired about the TA&G
Railroad, asking if it had reached Oakland yet? Othman wrote that he
corrected her; “No Mam, the Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad does not
go to Oakland, the train heads west, to Lake Minneola.” Othman was no doubt
surprised by Miss Hewlett’s response. “The plan however is to take the train
into Orange County, turn south, and take the line south to Kissimmee.”
Circa 1887 Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad map
Othman Rutland had gone to Washington, DC hoping to
learn of his father’s disappearance 25 years earlier. He was astounded that a
DC clerk might know more than he about the foreclosed railroad back at his
hometown.
The 1889 DC meeting between Othman Rutland and Frances
Hewlett is fiction – a story in my Historic Novel, The Rutland Mule Matter. Or
is it fiction?
The Tavares & Gulf Railroad, the successor
to the TA&G, did in fact enter Orange County in 1890. Arriving at
Oakland that year, the T&G Railroad planned to continue laying track
south to Kissimmee, crossing hundreds of wilderness acres owned by numerous land
speculators, some, including Miss Hewlett, who were employed as government
clerks in Washington, DC.
In addition to factual DC landowners, a factual DC government file, labeled ‘The Rutland Mule Matter” kept the secret to the 1864 disappearance of Othman Rutland’s father. Care to read more about Othman, including his son’s Sanibel Island residence?
Visit my Website at www.CroninBooks.com for details
A historic Novel chock full of facts, The Rutland Mule
Matter pairs well with “Citrusland, DC,” a FACTUAL history of District
Columbians of Florida’s 19th century Citrus Belt.
