Fort Mellon: The Christmas Fires of 1835

FORT MELLON MONTH – January 2023

Part I: The Christmas Fires of 1835

New Smyrna Sugar Mill Ruins

Forty years before Sanford was founded as the ‘Gateway to Orange County’ (the place we now know as Sanford of Seminole County), a pier was constructed a mile east on Lake Monroe that first served as the entry point for many of the area’s earliest pioneers. Built in December 1836 for steamboats needing to offload troops and supplies, the pier, by 1843, welcomed visitors and settlers to village of Mellonville, a community built around where ruins of a old fortress were still visible.

Mellonville was the first permanent settlement south of Lake Monroe, the original “gateway” to Central Florida, a village named for Fort Mellon of Lake Monroe. Sanford's Mellonville Road, shown in the photo below, the first Central Florida "road," still heads south from Lake Monroe today. 

Mellonville Road of today heading south from Lake Monroe

Although Mellonville was in fact built on the lake's southern shore, before Statehood, back in the days the ‘Florida Territory,’ many considered this land to be on the west side of the lake.

South versus west is an important distinction, because all land on the west side of the St. Johns River back then was deemed Indian Territory. Although the St. Johns River meanders south to north on its long journey to Jacksonville, the river, as it flows through Lake Monroe, is flowing east to west.

Fact is, Sanford and Orlando were considered in Indian Territory during the days of Mosquito County, and that is why there were no settlements in these parts. When the Army established their fortress on the south side of Lake Monroe in December 1836, they were in fact on the northern fringe of Indian Territory. And they built their fort at this location because of the Christmas Fires of 1835.

Lake Monroe before Settlements

Horatio Dexter (1785-1834), namesake of Lake Dexter and founder of the Volusia Landing, both of which are on the east side of the St, Johns River, described in 1823 the generally accepted but unofficial boundaries first “accepted” in 1763 by the Brits while they controlled Florida. Horatio Dexter said the boundaries “seem never to have been overstepped by the Spaniards” when they assumed control of Florida. But he was obviously unaware of the tens of thousands of acres in Spanish Land Grants – such as the Levy Grants at Micanopy and Lake Monroe – all of which were smack dab in the middle of that supposed “agreed to" boundary of the Indian territory.

Fact is Florida landholdings were a mess when the United States took control in 1821. There was a smattering of Colonials from the North who had become landowners, like Horatio Dexter from Connecticut. The American Indians supposedly owned land west of the Ocklawaha and St Johns Rivers west to the Suwannee River – meaning one could not travel from Tallahassee to St. Augustine without crossing Indian Territory. There were British Loyalists too, owners of large plantations east of the St. Johns all the way to and including the Atlantic Coast. These folks had escaped the colonies during the Revolution, and were not thrilled to learn they were again part of the colonies they had escaped from. Spanish landowners owned a piece of Florida too, land granted to them while Spain had control. And a few of the Spanish Land Grant holders – such as Moses E. Levy of Morocco, came to Florida from other parts of the world. Then too there were runaway slaves from the North. 

A melting pot the Florida Territory was indeed, but its many factions were not blending together. And by late 1835, the melting pot was about to boil over. The Dade Massacre of December 1835 occurred on the trail between present day Ocala and Tampa, and around Christmas of 1835, Indians attacked and set ablaze a total of 16 plantations east of the St. Johns River. Residents of St. Augustine reportedly saw the black smoke on the horizon off to the south, in the direction of New Smyrna Beach.

News traveled slowly in 1835. Vessels docking in the North delivered the news, so it was not until January 1836 that tragic stories of “scalped” women and children made the newspapers in the North. Following these two December attacks, the United States declared war on the Indian Nation.

Meanwhile, the Indians had retreated to the south, crossing Lake Monroe, to return to their land on the "west side" of the St. Johns River.

As the United States Began mobilizing troops to go in search of the warring Indians, fortresses were strategically located between the settlements along the east side of the St. Johns River and the borders of the Indian Nation on the west side. Fort Butler was established across the river from Horatio Dexter's Volusia Landing. Fort Christmas was built near the southeastern terminus of the St. Johns River, inland from the Atlantic Ocean. And “Encampment Monroe” was built and staffed at Lake Monroe - to guard against Indians trying to return to the river's "east side." No order was given however to travel inland from Lake Monroe, not yet anyway.

Next Week: Part II - Encampment Monroe 1836

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