FIRE aboard Sanford & Lake Eustis Railroad

While departing TAVARES bound for SANFORD, a fire destroyed a ‘JT&KW’ engine pulling rail cars branded ‘Sanford & Lake Eustis Railway. The 1888 fire soon setoff far more than a blaze, as in addition to destroying an engine, a blame game ensued.

Litigation arising out of the April 9, 1888 fire led to depositions and court appeals, archives having an unexpected positive outcome – HISTORY!

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CitrusLAND: GHOST TOWNS & PHANTOM TRAINS

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Now a phantom train, surveying for ‘Sanford & Lake Eustis Railway’ had begun in 1885. The train’s path included present day ghost towns PAOLA and MARKHAM, but provided service as well as for present day Lake County communities of SORRENTO and MOUNT DORA. Each of these place names were 19^th century depots on an Orange County train, running east-west between towns Sanford and Tavares.

The Road to MARKHAM

A Seminole TRAIL today; one-time RAIL route of S&LE

The 1888 fire litigation cited four early railroads: (1) Sanford & Lake Eustis; (2) Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad; (3) Peninsular Land, etc., Co.; and the Plaintiff, (4) Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railroad.

Peninsular Land, Transportation & Mfg. Co. was a TAVARES-based consortium led by Louisiana native, Alexander St. Clair ABRAMS. The Abrams organization had been very specific of its intentions to build hotels, construct railroads, and grow oranges in and around their town of Tavares. Peninsular was the parent company of: Tavares, Orlando & Atlantic Railroad (See Part 5); Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad (See Part 9 next week); and the subject of this week’s Blog, the Sanford & Lake Eustis Railway.

Sanford and Tavares were competing by the mid-1880s for the coveted title of Gateway to central Florida, cities then part of Orange County. Sanford was promoting itself as the Gateway to Orange County, where trains connected with steamboats traveling the St. Johns River. Tavares likewise marketed itself as a gateway hub, where local railroads connected with mainline railroads traveling to all points north.

Sanford & Lake Eustis Railway planned to connect the two strategic hubs. But by 1887, another land based railroad began working its way south from Jacksonville. This new player in the railroad industry set its sights on a stop at the port town of Sanford.

Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West pre-dated Flagler’s east coast train, and as its name implies, the railroad envisioned a train running the length of Florida. To expand on its system, JT&KW chose to lease the Sanford & Lake Eustis Railway, paying a 2 1/2% royalty to the Abrams group on all passenger and freight revenues.

This idea of leasing an existing train, as opposed to building their own line, introduced a new concept to the central Florida railroad industry.

JT&KW Railroad lost their lawsuit, but facts reported in that suit document for history the early organizations of several of the earliest central Florida railroads.

Alexander St. Clair Abrams organized three railroads, each based out of Tavares, trains planning to connect the Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic Ocean and the port at Sanford with a new State Capitol located at their hub, Tavares.

At least two overwhelming events prevented the Abrams plan from ever becoming a reality, events beginning with Florida’s Yellow Fever Scare of 1887, and followed up by the Great Freeze of 1894-95.

Plans of the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railroad likewise faltered, largely because of the first event, the Yellow Fever Scare. By the mid-1890s the JT&KW had fallen into receivership, mainly because of a lack of cash.

Today, much of the right-of-way for the phantom Sanford & Lake Eustis Railway has disappeared. A short stretch does exist today, an isolated shady trail sitting along the north side of Markham Road, west of Orange Boulevard, in Seminole County.

Stay tuned for a new RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or two, returning Wednesday, August 3, 2016. This summer series is sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains,’ a historical novel based on real-life Central Florida pioneers, and one historic 1894-95 devastating event that forever changed the Orange Belt.

WIN 1 of TEN FREE autographed copies of GHOST TOWNS & PHANTOM TRAINS at GOODREADS.com – winners to be drawn August 27, 2016.

Our giveaway begins July 27, 2016, and it’s easy to enter. 

Simply click on this link:

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/195539-citrusland-ghost-towns-phantom-trains

This summer, Central Florida Railroad Museum, in historic Winter Garden, the Winter Garden History Center, and Bookmark it Orlando book stores, have each priced this book at a Rails & Trails special price of $15.00.

TOWNS of the FLORIDA MIDLAND RAILROAD

Central Florida’s story, in terms of growth and expansion, cannot be properly chronicled without telling of the effect short-lived railroads had on the landscape of the land I refer to as CitrusLAND. Disregarding the story of these phantom trains is tantamount to removing the more fascinating chapters of the earliest days of Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Florida’s surrounding Citrus-belt counties.

P. A. DEMENS & Company, Railroad-Tie Plant (1885)

Outlying suburbs of today, as well as numerous ghost towns of yesteryear, were one-time vital hubs for 19^th century railroads. Such towns include Longwood, Palm Springs, Apopka, Ocoee and Kissimmee City, each of these examples being railway depots of the Florida Midland Railroad (FMR).

Previous RAILS & TRAILS posts in this series have discussed primarily north-south trains, interior railroads that contributed to developing central Florida as we know it today. Success of a railroad to Maitland, for example, versus the inability to finance a southbound train at today’s Ghost Town of Mellonville, are but two examples of how railroads shaped the region’s countryside.

The earliest regional railroads all planned to run southbound from a steamboat port. But the FMR was different, as it was designed as an east-west train from its founding.

Florida’s General Assembly approved Florida Midland Railroad’s charter February 10, 1885, granting organizers a franchise that, “shall be completed between Lake Jessup (sic) and Leesburg, or to such other point or points as provided in this Act, on or before the first day of June, 1888.” The “point or points” changed over time. The railroad did not actually start at Lake Jesup, nor end at Leesburg, but during its brief existence, this east-west train became a major contributor to central Florida growth.

LONGWOOD was the first vital rail intersection south of Lake Monroe. The FMR crossed over South Florida Railroad track at the center of Edward W. HENCK’s town of Longwood. Henck founded his city in 1876, served as the initial 1880 President of South Florida Railroad, and was a major force in the organization of Florida Midland Railroad.

Longwood also became headquarters for the P. A. Demens Construction Company, one of early suppliers of railroad ties, shipping from a Longwood plant in all four directions.

By year end 1885, Webb’s Historical, Biographical & Industrial periodical said a portion of the FMR had already been completed, “from a point, 6 miles west of Lake Jesup, to Longwood, Palm Springs, and FITZSIMMONS.” Webb’s also reported that the railroad would soon be completed into the town of Apopka.

PALM SPRINGS, the first town west of Longwood, also became an important crossroad when Peter A. Demens built his north-south railroad beginning in 1886 (A Future Post).

Continuing westbound, the 1880s town of LAKE BRANTLEY grew up around a FMR depot, and even further west, the FMR became the second of three planned railroads to serve APOPKA. At Apopka, the FMR then made another sharp turn, changing course from Leesburg, and instead setting sights on Osceola County's up-and-coming- town of KISSIMMEE.

Today, one can walk a remnant of the FMR route along the WEST ORANGE TRAIL. Apopka Vineland Outpost of the WOT, at the northwest corner of Apopka-Vineland Road and Clarcona -Ocoee Road, sits where the FMR train from Apopka veered west, passing through OCOEE on its way to APOPKA.

By 1890, the FMR was certified as having 33.9 miles of completed track running from Longwood to GOTHA. Founded by Printer & Inventor Henry A. HEMPLE, his town of Gotha, and later the towns of WINDERMERE and VINELAND, were each given life by the path of the Florida Midland Railroad.

Residence of GOTHA founder, Henry A. HEMPLE

Stay tuned, as a new RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or two, returns next Wednesday, July 27, 2016. Our summer series is sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains,’ a historical novel based on real-life Central Florida 19^th century residents, and the true-life 1895 devastating event that forever changed their lives.

This summer, Central Florida Railroad Museum, in historic Winter Garden, in association Winter Garden History Center, and Bookmark it Orlando book stores, have priced my book at a Rails & Trails special price of $15.00.

Take the family on an outing, explore central Florida’s amazing network of RAILS & TRAILS.

COMING THIS FALL to CroninBooks.Com - an entirely NEW Mystery, an entirely NEW Genre! Watch for details: http://www.croninbooks.com/MYSTIQUE.html OR follow me on my Goodreads, Richard Lee Cronin Author Page www.Goodreads.com

Want to know more about CitrusLAND? Visit www.CroninBooks.com.

Sanford & Indian River Railroad to OVIEDO

February 18, 1882, fifteen (15) months after South Florida Railroad (SFRR) had arrived for the very first time at ORLANDO, the railroad’s President, JAMES E. INGRAHAM, arguably Mr. Railroad of Central Florida, gave notice to the Florida General Assembly of their intentions to build another railroad that would originate in SANFORD.

The Sanford & Indian River Railroad (SIRR) envisioned opening up a vast untapped region of East Orange County, then heavily owned by English investors. The intent of the railroad was to connect Sanford with TITUSVILLE on the Indian River. The first six (6) miles of SIRR track was certified complete December 27, 1883.

The initial track alignment was indeed interesting. Departing southwest from Lake Monroe, along track laid down by South Florida Railroad, after about one mile the track veered sharply east, and continued east until arriving at the old homestead of Augustus VAUGHN. At Vaughn’s land, the track then made another sharp turn, this time veering south, heading toward Lake Jesup.

Sanford & Indian River Railroad of 1883 had made a bee-line directly to Vaughn’s land!

The Sanford & Indian River Railroad swerves to cross the

Augustus Jefferson Vaughn Homestead at Fort Reid

Augustus Vaughn had been among the earliest homesteaders south of Lake Monroe. His property included the site the 1840s fortress Reid. By the 1850s, village of FORT REID had grown up around this historic site, and over the years, the town expanded south, along The First Road to Orlando. (2015 Second Edition by Richard Lee Cronin).

Confederate Major George W. WYLLY platted, in 1875, an addition to Town of Fort Reid to the south of Vaughn’s acreage, land including a rail station on Depot Avenue. This land sat adjacent to another historic site; the Alaha Chaco, or ORANGE HOUSE Hotel.

Part Three of this series, The Veterans Railroad at Mellonville, told of the first planned Orange County railroad, organized in 1870, by Confederate Veterans, one entire decade before the South Florida Railroad was organized. The Corporate headquarters for that original Veterans Railroad was the Orange House Hotel at Fort Reid.

Track of the Sanford & Indian River Railroad, after veering south and crossing Vaughn’s property, continue another mile or two to historic RUTLEDGE, first established by Florida Brigadier General Joseph J. Finegan. The General, one of the original founders of the Veterans Railroad, named this location for his deceased son, Joseph Rutledge Finegan. 

Rutledge later became the residential site of railroader James E. Ingraham.

“One begins to recognize a task of engineering,” the SFRR wrote in 1887 of their route south of Rutledge. “Dynamite will do no good here. That black venomous looking mass must be fought hand to hand, with axe, pick and spike.”

The SIRR followed the original planned alignment of the Veterans 1870 Railroad, or at least as far as SOLDIERS CREEK, on the shore of Lake Jesup. At this point the track turned east, heading toward the Mitchell Grant’s town of Tuskawilla (Part ONE).

“The throttle valve takes a fit,” said SFRR in 1887 of the train’s engine as it traveled south of Soldiers Creek, “it yells a deep bass horror; it is terribly nervous, and it has a hoarse, horrible cold. But it bellows as if in frightful terror and dismay. Are we about to tumble over the edge of the world?”

Sanford & Indian River Railroad crossing at Soldiers Creek

The Sanford & Indian River Railroad did not to tumble over the edge of the world, but the 19^th Century train, today a phantom train, never arrived at Titusville on the Indian River either. OVIEDO, and a “switch to the west one mile,” LAKE CHARM, where the “eye rests with pleasing content,” was as far east as the train ever traveled.

Though never reaching the east coast of Florida, the Sanford & Indian River Railroad was responsible for bringing improved transportation to a largely unsettled east Orange County. Lake Jesup City, Lake Charm, Oviedo and to an extent, Tuskawilla, each flourished largely because of the SIRR.

Stay tuned, as a new RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or two, returns next Wednesday, July 20, 2016. Our summer series is sponsored by my historical novel, ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains,’ based on real-life Central Florida 19^th century residents, and a true-life 1895 tragic event that forever changed their lives.

All summer long, Central Florida Railroad Museum in historic Winter Garden, in association the Winter Garden History Center, and Bookmark it Orlando book stores, have priced my book at a summer discounted price of $15.00.

Take the family and explore central Florida’s remarkable network of RAILS & TRAILS.

ARRIVING THIS FALL to CroninBooks.Com - an entirely NEW Genre! Watch for details at http://www.croninbooks.com/MYSTIQUE.html as well as my Goodreads Author Page.

Richard Lee Cronin Author Page is up and running at www.Goodreads.com. Care to know more about any of my books? Visit www.CroninBooks.com.

The Great Railroad Center of TAVARES

Two (2) trains served all of Central Florida during Christmas 1880, two (2) more than had served this very same region one year earlier.

Two hotels met travelers  during the 1880s at the ASTOR town pier on the St, Johns River.

Snowbirds desiring to flock to 1880 Orange County, still arriving via steamboats, could dock at one of five piers, each located at a want-to-be towns, but four of the five ports would quickly fizzle out, and are today but distant memories – a/k/a, Ghost Towns!

Of the two ports having railroads, ASTOR, the first pier south of Lake George on the St. Johns River, offered service to FORT MASON, on the north shore of Lake Eustis. This was the rail line of St. Johns & Lake Eustis Railroad (See Part Two). Further south along the St. Johns River, a pier at SANFORD, in Lake Monroe, offered service to ORLANDO aboard the South Florida Railroad (See Part Four).

Months prior to track being laid by South Florida Railroad ever reached ORLANDO though, others began planning additional railroads. Two railroads of 1880 multiplied into more than a dozen railroads by the end of that decade. Most had failed by 1890, but much of today’s layout of central Florida grew out of the RAILROAD DECADE of 1880-1890.

South Florida Railroad originated at Sanford, and by June 1, 1880, about 10 miles of track had been completed south to LONGWOOD. Another 12 miles of wilderness lay ahead, and before a train could arrive at its planned destination at Orlando, that track still had to be laid.

On June 2, 1880 however, Orlando Attorneys Robert L. SUMMERLIN and Alexander St. Clair ABRAMS purchased a large lakeside parcel located 40 miles northwest of Orlando. A month later, these same attorneys acquired two acres at Orlando. Planning then began to connect these two parcels with a Tavares, Orlando & Atlantic Railroad.

ABRAMS was a big dreamer! In fact, his plans were so big, one train couldn’t possibly fulfill his ideas for central Florida – by then America’s 19^th Century Paradise!

PENINSULAR Land, Transportation & Manufacturing Company was organized by Abrams. Headquartered in his new town of TAVARES, Peninsular would be Abram’s marketing organization for the selling of town lots, growing of oranges, building and operating railroads, and then some. By 1883, Tavares began promoting itself as the, "Great Railroad Center of South Florida".

The St. Johns & Lake Eustis Railroad had, by 1883, been extended to TAVARES, and at that time was promising connection, via the Tavares, Orlando & Atlantic Railroad, to Orlando. The route to Orlando, and three other rail lines, were reportedly all under construction in 1883, promoting connecting such destinations as Lake Monroe, the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean, as well as points between. At Tavares, passengers and freight would then connect with railroad service to the north, completely eliminating the need for steamboats on the St. Johns River. (Plans didn't work out quite as planned).

Orange Land, Orange County’s Official 1883 publication, described Tavares: “It supplies settlements and villages of Mount Dora, Tangerine, Sorrento, Zellwood, Carleton, West Apopka, Oakland, Starke Lake, and Minneola, and will, within the next three years, be the greatest shipping point in all this region of Florida."

"As a winter resort, Tavares is one of the most inviting in South Florida," continued Orange Land's description, "the hunting and fishing are unequalled. Here is the Peninsular Hotel, the best hotel in the Lake Region.”

The Peninsular Hotel at Tavares was built by town founder Alexander St. Clair Abrams.  

Tavares became part of Lake County in 1887, and it can be said plans for the town didn’t quite work out as Alexander St. Clair Abrams hoped, but his grand scheme did open up a vast central Florida wilderness to development.

Plymouth, Apopka, Piedmont and many west Orange County communities benefited from the Tavares, Orlando & Atlantic Railroad, even though the 1880s railroad never did make it to the Atlantic coast.

Stay tuned, as a new RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or two, returns next Wednesday, July 13, 2016. This summer series is sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains’ a Novel based on true-life Central Florida 19^th century residents, and a factual 1895 historical event that forever changed their lives and all of CitrusLAND.

All summer long, Central Florida Railroad Museum in historic Winter Garden, in association the Winter Garden History Center, and Bookmark it Orlando book stores, have all priced Ghost Towns at a summer discounted price of $15.00. Take time this summer and explore central Florida’s remarkable network of RAILS & TRAILS.

COMING THIS FALL to CroninBooks.Com is an entirely NEW Genre! Watch for details at http://www.croninbooks.com/MYSTIQUE.html and my Goodreads Author Page.

Richard Lee Cronin Author Page is up and running at www.Goodreads.com, so if you want to know more about any of my books? Please visit www.CroninBooks.com.

Meet you back here next Wednesday! 

MAITLAND Neighbors & South Florida Railroad

Virginia native Bolling BAKER of MAITLAND was an 1879 neighbor of Dr. Clement C. HASKELL of Massachusetts. An Attorney, Confederate Veteran Baker and the doctor, a Union Veteran, shared two things in common. Both men owned land in a Florida town that was by then 8 years old, and yet each had to endure an arduous 16 mile land trek from the port at Lake Monroe to their homestead alongside Lake Maitland.

“The natural and customary gateway to Orange County,” stated Orange Land of 1883, “is the St. Johns River steamers to Sanford on Lake Monroe.” Steamers on the river had been the customary means of travel for 40 years. The problem for travelers was not the river though, rather how to continue their journey after arriving at Lake Monroe.

Maitland’s Bolling BAKER had been trying to improve land travel, but by 1879, his retired warriors group had yet to find the cash needed to build a railroad. Enter Baker’s neighbor, Dr. Clement C. HASKELL, a brother of newspaperman Edwin B. HASKELL, one of the owners of the celebrated Boston Herald.

Edwin B. HASKELL

Edwin HASKELL was acquainted with central Florida. A sister, Arabella (HASKELL) Bent, had married Charles A. BENT, and after moving to CitrusLAND, they planted an orange grove that was to become known as BENT”S Grove, you know it today as LAKE MARY. Edwin Haskell held a mortgage on Bent’s Grove dating back to 1874. During 1879, Edwin also became involved with his brother’s Maitland home.

Orange County’s population had yet to reach 7,000 by 1880. The county’s landmass at that time included all of present day Orange, Osceola and Seminole – and then some. But New Englanders were taking notice of this “EDEN on earth, a land of sunshine and health, lacking in the cheerless rigors of a bleak, frozen northern winter.” Central Florida offered a haven from harsh northern winters.

    

Improved transportation in central Florida became critical for continued expansion, and at that time, a railroad offered the best solution. Various plans to build a railroad had not gone well. George C. Brantley’s, ‘Tuskawilla to Orlando’ train faltered soon after his 1878 death while in New York City. Joseph J. Finegan and friends, desiring to build rail service between Mellonville and Orlando, had gotten nowhere.

Bostonians came to the rescue, financing South Florida Railroad. Track installation began during February of 1880, days after two Maitland neighbors agreed to transfer franchise rights. That deal however was subject to one “express condition,” service to Maitland had to be completed within four months. “So vigorously was the work prosecuted, that by June 1, 1880,” said the 1883 Orange Land, “the road was in operation to LONGWOOD, July 1st to MAITLAND, and December 1st to ORLANDO.”

The final agreement hammered out by Baker and Haskell forever changed the landscape of central Florida. Why? Baker’s group planned a railroad following the alignment of the original forts trail, the 'First Road to Orlando', that dirt path serving the County Seat for nearly 40 years.

The original forts trail did pass through Maitland, but the alignment north of Maitland shifted to the west. Haskell’s group ran their railroad toward Henry S. Sanford’s, ‘Belair Grove’, then continued toward Bent’s Grove, location of Haskell’s sister land; then on to Longwood, owned by the Civil Engineer from Boston, Edward W. Henck.

The train’s new alignment destined Mellonville, Fort Reid and Tuskawilla to Ghost Town status, and opened up an entirely new winter-haven for Northerners, along the alignment of Boston Herald’s historic South Florida Railroad. The first train ran between Sanford and Orlando November 11, 1880, and within two years, Thomas C. Simpson was in town to acquire 1,200 acres for a group of Boston investors. Land he acquired included a tiny village and depot between Longwood and Maitland called Snowville, land soon to be renamed Altamonte, and renamed again, Altamonte Springs.

At today’s busy intersection of Maitland Ave and SR 436, location of the once elegant hotel named The Altamonte, was a 25 acre ‘Hotel Park.’ The park connected Lake Adelaide and Lake Orienta, and surrounded the hotel. A few home sites fronted that park, with one such residential site, Lot 445, being sold May 16, 1887. Celia (HILL) Haskell purchased the one acre site the very year her husband, Edwin Bradbury Haskell, retired as Editor-in-chief of the Boston Herald.

Edwin & Celia Haskell owned Lot 445 until 1906, when they sold that parcel, “along with the house and enclosure,” according to the deed, to Bostonian George Frost, Altamonte’s second generation developer. Heirs of George Frost sold this acre lot in 1909, “including house and furnishings.”

Residence at Lot 445, Altamonte Springs, FL

Altamonte Springs became part of Seminole County in 1913. County records today lists the “actual or effective” date of construction as 1920. But a home existed on this exact site in 1906 according to deeds, and quite likely as early as 1887. Perhaps one day a researcher will provide compelling evidence regarding the house sitting on Lot 445 today. Is the home 96 years old or perhaps 129 years old?

Beyond the structure itself, of special interest to history was the 1887 owner of this land. Edwin Bradbury Haskell, Editor-In-Chief of the Boston Herald, was also an investor in land at Sanford, Lake Mary, Altamonte Springs, and Maitland – 4 of the first 7 stops on the South Florida Railroad line.    

“Although individuals have located here and there, all over the county,” Orange Land of 1883, “the great majority have made their homes in the lovely strip of country but a few miles wide that extends either side of the South Florida Railroad from Sanford, on the south side of Lake Monroe, the natural gateway of the county, to Orlando, the county seat, and a few miles beyond.”

South Florida Railroad not only reshaped central Florida’s landscape, this first train to Orlando made it possible for Orange County to prosper throughout the 1880s. Boston’s Edwin Haskell and partners understood the importance of their railroad to the barren Orange County wilderness. Visionaries, they were indeed the forefathers a new central Florida era – the golden age of CitrusLAND.

South Florida Railroad rolled into Orlando the first time on November 11, 1880. Forty years had passed since the first surveyors had followed the old forts trail south from an old military pier on Lake Monroe. Throughout the course of these 40 years, pioneers wanting to settle the Orange County wilderness traversed an old dirt trail, trekking 22 miles down a lonely path to reach the Orange County seat.

Stay tuned, as a new RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or two, returns next Wednesday, July 6, 2016. This summer series is sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains’ a Novel based on actual Central Florida 19^th century residents, and one tragic 1895 event that forever changed CitrusLAND.

Kindle Unlimited members read the book FREE, but all summer long, Central Florida Railroad Museum at Winter Garden, in association the Winter Garden History Center, and Bookmark it Orlando book stores, have all priced this book at a summer discounted price of $15.00. Explore central Florida’s network of RAILS & TRAILS.

Richard Lee Cronin Author Page is now up and running at www.Goodreads.com. From now until July 28, you can register for the Goodreads FREE giveaway of 10 CitrusLAND: Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains Books. 

Want to know more about any of my books? Visit www.CroninBooks.com.

A MATTER of the RUTLAND MULE MATTER

Below is a sample page from my Post-Civil War Novel, The Rutland Mule Matter. Enter to win one of 10 signed print copies to be given away by GOODREADS.com on July 28, 2016. Simply click on the entry link at the right of my most recent Blog.

Isaac N. Rutland, of Orange County, was one of 69 delegates of Florida's 1861 Secession Convention. Three years later, Isaac was killed while fighting in the Civil War. His name never became part of the history of Orange County, not until now.

While reading this sample page I suggest you keep one thing in mind - ALL of the characters, and place names, are historically accurate.

Enjoy!

Chapter 8; Page 102:

Sunday, October 9, 1888:

My favorite time of the day is again nearing an end. My morning ritual is to sit on my Finegan Porch and watch a beautiful sunrise over Lake Apopka, but that portion of this day has now past. So too is day one of my sister Sarah's family visit.

While the others still sleep, I thought I’d commit events of yesterday to my diary. It was an interesting day.

We started with a sightseeing tour, taking Sarah and Ezekiel into West Apopka so they could see first-hand how folks, ‘on the far side of the lake’ live. We walked up to the rail depot, watched the southbound Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad pass through town, and later visited with a few of the townsfolk.

Neighbor William Patterson insisted we all come by his place for lunch, so we did, and during our visit the topic of me traveling to Ohio of course came up. That in turn led to a discussion of the search for my father.   

Ezekiel, who I swear can talk to anyone about anything, mentioned the Navy being at Mellonville at war’s end. Patterson’s response nearly knocked Ezekiel and I both off our feet. “Othman, you need to talk to Jim Franklin about this, he’s a retired Navy guy.”

I had not known, and to save my brother-in-law from asking, I filled him in on the man mentioned. “Jim has a grove to the south of here.”

“More than a grove!” William Patterson was right, at this time the man had far more going than just a citrus grove, so I allowed Mr. Patterson to fill in details. “Jim Franklin is developing a town to rival most any Central Florida city. His land sits high on a hill, and many of his town lots have a splendid view of Lake Apopka.”

Assuming Ezekiel wouldn’t know the town, I saved him from having to ask. “It’s called Montverde.”

The VETERANS Railroad at MELLONVILLE

SANFORD, on Lake Monroe, is typically considered the birthplace of Central Florida’s railroad. South Florida Railroad began running trains between Sanford and ORLANDO November 11, 1880, but organizers had begun planning a Lake Monroe to Tampa train one entire decade earlier, in March, 1870. Among the earlier organizers was a gentleman who had already constructed Florida’s first-ever train.

The story of Central Florida’s first railroad remained buried in newspaper archives until only recently. While collaborating with Sanford researcher Christine Kinlaw-Best, a Director at Sanford Historical Society, she happened upon an 1870 newspaper article that altered what was thought to be the history of railroading in this region.

Christine and I had been researching Matthew R. Marks, an early Florida pioneer, and the man’s involvement with Fort Reid’s Orange House Hotel. Also known by its Indian name, ALAHA CHACO, it had been said that the Orange House was the first hotel built south of Lake Monroe. In the land of hotels today, the first-ever is truly historic!

Dated April 6, 1870, the article Christine Kinlaw-Best had located not only spoke of Fort Reid’s Orange House Hotel though, at two miles south of MELLONVILLE, it mentioned too that the hotel had been a meeting place, on March 3, 1870, of those incorporating the “Upper St. Johns, Mellonville, Tampa & South Florida Railroad.”

Ten (10) years before the first South Florida Railroad train departed Sanford in 1880, planners had gathered a mile to the east of Sanford at Fort Reid, a gathering intended to organize central Florida’s first inland train to run between Lake Monroe and Tampa.

A predecessor to Sanford’s 1880 train had been known – to an extent. In February of 1880, the directors of ‘Mellonville & Orlando Railroad,’ of which Joseph Finegan was President, conveyed their State franchise right-of-way to South Florida Railroad.

Joseph Finegan was one and the same as Florida Brigadier General Joseph J. Finegan, builder of Florida’s first railroad – a sea-to-sea railway, connecting the Atlantic Ocean near Jacksonville with Cedar Key on the Gulf of Mexico. Finegan completed the State’s first railroad prior to the Civil War. Other directors involved with the Mellonville & Orlando Railroad of 1880 were Michael J. Doyle of Mellonville; Dr. W. A. Spence of Fort Reid; and Bolling Baker of Maitland.

The residence of Michael J. Doyle at Mellonville

Photo source: Florida Memory Project

Joseph J. Finegan and Michael J. Doyle had also been involved a decade earlier as organizers of the Upper St. Johns, Mellonville, & Tampa Railroad. In 1870, other planners included Arthur Ginn and Matthew R. Marks of Mellonville; William Watson and Jacob Brock of Enterprise; Matthew A. Stewart of Apopka; as well as John T. Leslie and Charles Moore of Tampa. The Honorable William M. Randolph, of Fort Reid, Fort Gatlin and New Orleans, Louisiana, was yet another organizer.

Each individual involved with the first central Florida railroad had one thing in common besides railroading, as each was also a Veterans of the Confederacy, a group of retired warriors who then joined together in an attempt to start over in central Florida.

At that March 1870 meeting, a motion was approved authorizing Matthew R. Marks to journey north to New York City, with his end-game being to raise cash to build their new railroad. Perhaps you recall, from part one of this series, that George C. Brantley died in 1878 at New York City, there hoping to buy rails for his Tuskawilla to Orlando train. Matthew R. Marks though survived his New York City visit, but the railroad he and fellow Southern investors hoped to build, did not.

The Lake Monroe to Tampa railroad of 1870 died as a result of a law suit filed by a New Yorker named FRANCIS VOSE. Within nine (9) months of that Fort Reid organization meeting, on the 6^th day of December, 1870, Vose, holder of pre-Civil War railroad bonds, obtained an injunction, restraining the State from using public land for further railroad construction until he was paid in full. Francis VOSE held $211,885 in past due bonds on Florida railroads constructed before the War.

The Court injunction derailed plans for Central Florida’s first railroad, a train that was to be built by Confederate Veterans of America’s Civil War. Instead, the South Florida Railroad Company, organized by Union Veterans of America’s Civil War, built Central Florida’s first railroad during the year 1880.

Stay tuned, a new RAILS & TRAILS, with another GHOST TOWN or two, picks up where we left off next Wednesday, sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains’ a Novel based on true Central Florida 19^th century railroads.

Kindle Unlimited members read this book FREE, but all summer long, Central Florida Railroad Museum at Winter Garden, and Bookmark it Orlando book stores, have print copies available at a special discounted price of only $15.00. It’s all a part of a RAILS & TRAILS SUMMER 2016 Series.

My author page, Richard Lee Cronin, is now up and running at www.Goodreads.com or simply visit www.CroninBooks.com for more details.

At GOODREADS.COM you can register in two summer drawings for a chance to win a FREE book by Richard Lee Cronin: The Rutland Mule Matter giveaway is running from June 28^th to July 28^th 2016. Watch also for First Road to Orlando giveaway begging in early July.