Rutland Mule: A Snippet of Orange County History

 

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 19^th century Citrus Belt.

Did you know Florida is the ONLY State in the Union to have an Embassy in Washington, DC? Citrusland, DC is dedicated to the Florida House.