Two LAURA'S & their FORT REID Secret

Special Orange County Library Edition

Local Authors Book Festival

October 16, 2016

Downtown Orlando Library, 2-4 PM 

Special Edition Blog: Florida’s Forgotten Frontierswomen

Orlando, and ghost town sister city Fort Reid of Seminole County, competed in the 1850s for the coveted title, Orange County Seat of Government. A tiny Four (4) acre village of Orlando of course was the victor, and the then much larger Fort Reid, a town planned in excess of 120 acres, lost more than merely its desire to be a 19^th century central Florida hub. Located at Mile 1.5 on an old forts trail, a/k/a First Road to Orlando, the want-to-be city of Fort Reid lost much of its rich heritage as well.

A mystery to this day, historians disagree as to the true scope of this place called Fort Reid. Originally a 1840s fortress, among its earliest settlers had been a soldier who built a residence beside the fortress. By 1851, the first traces of a settlement named Fort Reid began to appear at this site. Five years later, evidence suggests a major Florida town, an Orange County Seat of Government, was being planned for this settlement.

Florida history is often a mystery until genealogy is added to the mix. Pioneer family lines are typically easier to research for the male, but genealogy of frontierswomen quite often holds the keys to unlocking the true story of a region’s earliest days. One case in point: Two Laura’s and their Fort Reid Secret!

History blurred after county surveyors made a huge blunder in 1890. The mistake did not pertain to layout or property corners, rather a town’s spelling. Reid was printed as Reed. As a result, historians of the 20^th century often believed archives suggested there were two different places. But Fort Reid and Reed were one in the same!

On the 3^rd of December, 1874, in far off Albemarle County, VA, a husband and wife signed over rights to Orange County property. An intriguing deed, John W and Laura T Thompkins transferred 73.84 acres, described as being: “on the road to Orlando” (Blue Line at left). One-quarter of a mile of the road crossed the 73.84 acre site. The land went to family members: Speer, Brantley, & Doyle. The historical significance of this transaction has long been overlooked.

1850 Survey of Fort Reid / Mellonville Region
Blue line indicated path of FIRST ROAD TO ORLANDO 

Born 1837, John W. Thompkins had been a native of Virginia. His wife, Laura T Tompkins, stated in 1880 that she was born 1846 at New Hampshire. This 1880 census also asked birth places of each parent. John’s folks were born in Virginia. Laura’s father according to the census was born in New Hampshire. Her mother however stated she had been born in “Florida.” 

William H Farrah was the father of Laura. Her mother, Laura C. Hart, was born 1823 at Jacksonville, Florida. Fort Reid’s plot begins to thicken.

Laura C. Hart was a daughter of Jacksonville, Florida founder, Isaiah D. Hart. In December, 1874, she was also Isaiah’s only surviving child. Laura C. Hart’s sister, Julia A. Hart, had died at Jacksonville, Florida in 1871. What, one might ask, does any of this family history have to do with a little 19^th century ghost town nearly 150 miles south of Jacksonville? The answer is relatively simple when genealogy is added.

For one brief moment in time, from late 1853 until her husband’s death in 1857, Julia A. Hart was the second wife of Algernon S. Speer, one of Orange County Florida’s earliest settlers. Four children by Algernon S. Speer’s first marriage: Arthur, Algernon Jr, Ella Brantley and Mary Doyle, each received clear title in 1874 on land located at old Fort Reid from Laura Tompkins, only surviving descendant by the father’s second marriage.

Jacksonville town founder, Isaiah D. Hart, became Algernon’s father-in-law in 1853. One year later, all land east of St. Johns River became part of a newly formed Volusia County. Algernon’s first father-in-law, Arthur Ginn, Orange County’s Clerk of Court then, lived on part of the 73.84 acres sold in 1855 to Isaiah D. Hart.

Clerk of Court & Fort Reid resident Arthur Ginn was, in 1855, taking care of Orange County official business.

Algernon S. Speer, joining forces with two father in laws, hatched the idea of establishing their community as a county seat. Isaiah D. Hart, an experienced town founder who had clout in Tallahassee, then purchased the 74 acres adjacent to and north of 160 acres belonging to the 1840s soldier and Fortress Reid settler, Augustus J. Vaughn. Planning their city was next.

Fort Reid planners were soon outsmarted though by a family promising 4 acres for the site of a courthouse. In 1857, the year Algernon S. Speer drowned on his way upriver to Jacksonville, Orlando became County Seat. Isaiah and his daughter, Widow Julia A. Hart, moved back to Jacksonville. Four years later, in 1861, the year the Civil War began, Isaiah D. Hart died. His daughter, Julia, died in 1871.

Hart’s land was situated on the west side of Mellonville Road, shown at right in the photo. The Tompkins 1874 deed transferred ownership to local Speer descendants.

Mellonville Road (First Road to Orlando)
In vicinity of old Fort Reid

The first-ever train departed out of Sanford, bound for Orlando, November 11, 1880, traveling on track laid a mile west of the original First Road to Orlando. Fort Reid eventually merged into Sanford, and overtime the true role the fortress area played in the developing story of central Florida became muddled.

Laura T. Tompkins, after relinquishing property rights in 1874 to a Florida landmass known as Fort Reid, died April 28, 1926 in West Virginia. Although there is no record of her ever stepping foot in Fort Reid, Laura most certainly played an important role in documenting one portion of central Florida’s fascinating history.

About my series, Florida’s Forgotten Frontierswomen:

The role of women in history is not easily learned, yet discovery is a task gladly undertaken by this CitrusLAND author. America’s true-life story can only be told through the lineal descendants of early pioneers, both men and women. Each of chapter in my CitrusLAND: Curse of Florida’s Paradise starts off with a dedication to one of the many Florida Frontierswomen. Additional frontierswomen are also featured twice monthly in Rick’s 2016 Fall Blog series. Telling Florida’s story through its remarkable people, each CitrusLAND book is described in detail at my website: www.croninbooks.com

First Road to Orlando is one of five books detailing the amazing founders, and their family heritage. My books are also available at BOOKMARKIT ORLANDO bookstores; Winter Garden Heritage Foundation and Central Florida Railroad Museum in Winter Garden, Florida. Also available at Amazon.com

Hope to see you at the library Sunday!

Rick’s Blog Part 3: October 19, 2016, Irene of Sanibel Island

For details on how to follow Rick’s Blog Series, visit

WWW.CRONINBOOKS.COM

REBECCA of Madison County's OAKLAND

Florida's Forgotten Frontierswomen

Part 2: REBECCA of Madison County’s OAKLAND

Florida history often remains a mystery because notable frontierswomen have been left out of the State’s true-life story. Such is true throughout Florida, but especially apparent in the State’s Panhandle, home to courageous women who of course counted among the Territory’s earliest founders even before Statehood in 1845.

A family of Dozier women are prime examples. Nine miles south of the city of Madison, along Sundown Creek Road, there exists a tiny rural cemetery doubling today as a cow pasture. Of those buried at the two acre cemetery was the landowner, Honorable John C. McGehee. An Attorney, plantation owner, and Florida statesman. McGehee served as President of Florida’s 1861 Secession Convention.

McGehee’s notoriety however obscures a noble family this man married into. In fact, he might not have moved to Florida had it not been for his in-laws. Mrs. McGehee, also buried at Old Oakland Cemetery, was Charlotte (Dozier) McGehee, born at Abbeville, SC. Charlotte died in 1858 at Madison County.

Old Oakland Cemetery, Madison, Madison county, Florida

Prior to Statehood, Florida’s Panhandle had become home to kinfolk relocating from a present day Ghost Town of Hamburg, SC. Located across the Savannah River from Augusta, Benjamin F. Whitner I, a prominent Hamburg, SC businessman, relocated to Madison County in the 1830s. Today, a Madison County Ghost Town of Hamburg is testament to a South Carolina clan who had attempted to tame this wilderness.

Whitner’s wife was a sister of Rebecca (Spann) Dozier, the mother of four children, one son and three daughters, all of whom settled as adults at Madison County, Florida.

In a demanding wilderness of Florida’s Panhandle, the youngest Dozier, Rebecca, had owned in excess of 500 acres southwest of the town Madison. Her sister, Amelia Ann Dozier, died soon after arriving in Florida. Amelia was the first wife of James E. Broome, Florida’s 3^rd Governor. A third Dozier daughter, Charlotte, married Florida Secessionist, John C. McGehee.

Florida’s forgotten frontierswomen were as important players in this developing State as their male counterparts. While most gals married and took on a new surname, pioneers such as Rebecca Dozier, a single women and owner of a 500 acre homestead, provide a surname and pathway to uncovering the rest of Florida’s story.

Spreading out from Florida’s Panhandle, lineal descendants of Dozier and Spann moved to many other parts of the developing State. Traces of this family, for example, are found in post-Civil War Central Florida. Attorney John Dozier Broome, son of Governor James & Amelia (Dozier) Broome, had settled at Volusia County, in De Land, by the 1880s.

Oakland Cemetery is surrounded by rural land once farmed by Rebecca Dozier and her sister Amelia’s father-in-law, Rev. John S. Broome, the father of Florida’s 3rd Governor, James E. Broome. At this exact remote country location, during the year 1840, a son was born to the brother of Governor James E. Broome.

That boy, Robert W. Broome, became a Lake City, Florida Attorney after the Civil War. In 1875, this Broome travelled deep into the heart of yet another Florida wilderness. At age 35, he followed a dirt trail 22 miles south of Lake Monroe, called together the local landowners, and incorporated the 18 year old village of Orlando. After incorporating the town, Broome vanished from central Florida.

The village of Orlando had been established October 5, 1857 – the final day in office of Florida’s 3^rd Governor, James E. Broome.  

The history of Florida is far more than merely a series of dated events. Amazing people, courageous men and women alike, took on a challenge of their life - to build a home in a difficult land. Very often, the challenge cost them their life. Amelia Ann Dozier died at age 25, two years after arriving in the Florida Territory. Despite Yellow Fever and the harsh surroundings, younger sister Rebecca Dozier refused to give up on her dream. She and many others like her forged a new land in Florida’s Panhandle.

Their proud descendants then continued the story all throughout the 27^th State in our Union of States.

Watch for the story of HAMBURG, FLORIDA, coming soon to my Ghost Towns Blog.

The role of women in history is not easily found, but it’s a challenge gladly undertaken by this author of CitrusLAND books. The true-life American story can only be told through the lineal descendants of the earliest pioneers, men and women alike. Each of twelve chapters in my CitrusLAND: Curse of Florida’s Paradise begins with a dedication and brief biography of a Florida Frontierswoman. Telling the story of Florida through its people, CitrusLAND books are described in detail at my website: www.croninbooks.com

Available at BOOKMARKIT ORLANDO bookstores; Winter Garden Heritage Foundation and Central Florida Railroad Museum in Winter Garden, Florida, and Amazon.com    

#RicksFFFBlog resumes October 19, 2016

Part 3: Irene of Sanibel Island

LADY PHILOCLEA of TALLAHASSEE

Florida's Forgotten Frontierswomen: Part 1

First Lady PHILOCLEA of #Tallahassee

PHILOCLEA Alston (Fisher) HOLLISTER, granddaughter of Tallahassee, Florida’s First Lady, PHILOCLEA (Alston) WALKER, each a 19^th century resident of Florida, descended from an amazing American family. Their PHILOCLEA heritage begins my Fall Blog Series: Florida’s Forgotten Frontierswomen.

A Legacy having roots at Sparta, Georgia:

“In 1853,” wrote Mount Vernon Ladies Association of its origin, “Louise Bird Cunningham was traveling the Potomac River and passed by Mount Vernon in the moonlight. Struck by its appearance, and fearing it would soon be lost to the nation for lack of upkeep,” Ann Pamela Cunningham, daughter of Louise, founded Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Ann then challenged women of the South to preserve Washington’s homestead, and her southern movement quickly spread to a national undertaking. Her organization continues to this day.

George Washington's Mount Vernon, preserved by Mount Vernon Ladies' Association

The Mount Vernon Record, February 1860, explains how the ladies organization got its 1854 start after two woman made a sizeable donation: “Mrs. Bird of SPARTA, GA and Mrs. W. J. Eve of Augusta, GA” were those two initial contributors. Mrs. Bird of Sparta was Frances Pamela (Casey) Bird, wife of James Wilson BIRD. Mrs. W. J. Eve was PHILOCLEA (Casey) Eve.

A family helped launched efforts to rescue Mount Vernon: Frances Bird and Philoclea Eve were sisters. Ann Cunningham’s mother, Louisa BIRD Cunningham, was a younger sister of James Wilson BIRD. The preservation of George Washington’s homestead took root at Sparta, Georgia. PHILOCLEA Eve served as the Georgia Vice-Regent of the Ladies Association.

Tracing American history via Lady Philoclea:

PHILOCLEAN Society is among the oldest student organizations of New Jersey’s celebrated RUTGERS University. Founded in 1825, the society says the name Philoclean is Greek for, “Old Glory.” But twelve years before Rutgers established the organization, John & Sarah CASEY, in 1813, celebrated the birth of their third child, a daughter they named PHILOCLEA.

Both parents died while Philoclea was a little girl, so the daughter moved to Savannah, GA, where she lived with a brother, Dr. John A. Casey. At age of 27, Philoclea Edgeworth Casey married William J. EVE. The October 17, 1840 wedding is said to have taken place at SPARTA, Georgia.

A second PHILOCLEA was also born in SPARTA in 1820, to Robert & Henrietta (Green) ALSTON. The Alston’s later moved to Tallahassee, FL, where Philoclea Alston married, in 1842, David S. Walker. St. John’s Episcopal Church of Tallahassee provides a pamphlet for touring its church and grounds, and this booklet explains the “south figurative window of the church depicts the Virgin and Child, and is a memorial to PHILOCLEA Alston Walker, wife of David Shelby Walker, the eighth governor of Florida.”

Where did the English use of PHILOCLEA originate?

As early as 1800, American newspapers started promoting a literary work entitled ‘Practical Education.’ Written by highly acclaimed English author, Maria EDGEWORTH (1767-1849), her inspirational writings included a collection of ‘Letters for Literary Ladies,” writings widely touted as being a plea for reforming women’s education.

Maria Edgeworth and her father, Richard Lovell Edgeworth (I), became early advocates of educating young women at a time in history when females weren’t always privy to schooling.

Philoclea Edgeworth (Casey) EVE, born in America during 1813, had been a daughter of immigrants John CASEY and PHILOCLEA EDGEWORTH. Both parents relocated from Edgeworthtown, Longford, Ireland. Immigrant Philoclea Edgeworth, wife of John Casey, was born circa 1760, six years after the debut of a McNamara Morgan play entitled, “PHILOCLEA, a Tragedy.”

The father of famed authoress Maria Edgeworth was Richard Lovell Edgeworth, and his family roots trace to Longford, Ireland.

Authoress Maria Edgeworth and her father have roots in Longford, Ireland. She wrote of being of lineal descent to Sir John, and wrote too of a brother, Richard Lovell Edgeworth II, who died in America. Her brother’s will was probated in Anson County, North Carolina in 1792.

American history via Lady Philoclea:

A family’s use of the name PHILOCLEA assists in recreating a chapter of America’s remarkable story. The Edgeworth family arrived from Ireland, settled in the South, and played a vital role in taming a wilderness. The SPARTA, GA Historical Society website includes a photo of ALSTON-Wiley House, a historic home that includes this description: “Built prior to 1820 by Robert West Alston. The house was expanded by Captain Richard Bolling Baxter.”

A North Carolina native, Robert West Alston relocated as a married man to Sparta, GA with his wife prior to 1820. Prior to Florida’s Statehood in 1845, the Alston family moved again, this time to Tallahassee, FL. Richard Baxter, a grandson of Frances Pamela (Casey) Bird, and a great-grandson of immigrant, Philocea Edgeworth, eventually became owner of the Alston-Wiley home.

Robert & Henrietta Alston relocated to Tallahassee, where a daughter, PHILOCLEA Alston, married David Shelby Walker. A lawyer, Walker was active in early Florida politics. He initially opposed Florida Secession, and following the War, on December 20, 1865, Florida First Lady Philoclea Alston Walker watched as her husband was sworn in as the eighth Florida Governor.

One of nine living children, Philoclea Alston arrived with her parents in a rugged wilderness having fewer than 1,700 residents. Tallahassee was then merely an isolated town in a Territory known as Florida. Philoclea married at Tallahassee three (3) years prior to Statehood. Four years after Florida’s Statehood, Robert & Henrietta Alston’s daughter Florida (Alston) Fisher made them proud grandparents of a baby girl, Philoclea A. Fisher.

Hugh T. Fisher was appointed Tampa Postmaster in 1850. The population of Tampa had yet to reach 1,000 then, but at age 1, Philoclea Alston Fisher became one of the earliest residents of a developing CitrusLAND.     

Florida First Lady, Philoclea Alston Walker, died at Tallahassee May 7, 1868. A year after her grandmother’s death, Philoclea Alston (Fisher) Hollister, gave birth to her first child in Nebraska. Never to return to Florida, the last known Philoclea of the Edgeworth family would spend half of her life as a widow before dying October 7, 1912 in North Bend, Oregon.

About this Blog Series:

The role of women in history is not easily found, but it’s a challenge gladly undertaken by this author of CitrusLAND books. The true-life American story can only be told through the lineal descendants of the earliest pioneers, men and women alike. Each of twelve chapters in my CitrusLAND: Curse of Florida’s Paradise begins with a dedication and brief biography of a Florida Frontierswoman. Telling the story of Florida through its people, CitrusLAND books are described at my website: www.croninbooks.com

Available at BOOKMARKIT ORLANDO bookstores; Winter Garden Heritage Foundation and Central Florida Railroad Museum in Winter Garden, Florida, and Amazon.com     

#RicksFFFBlog resumes October 5, 2016

Part 2: Rebecca of Madison County’s Oakland

References available upon request: Email Rick@CroninBooks.com

RAILS & TRAILS: The Series FINALE!

One merely needs to examine U. S. Postal archives to determine how important a player the railroad had been during the early development of central Florida. CitrusLAND, as it exists today, began forming during the latter half of the 19^th century, and railroads served a major role in that development.

Florida's Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1887 

All summer, this RAILS & TRAILS blog discussed a dozen early independent railroads, each crisscrossing central Florida during the 1880s. Privatized railroads tamed a remote wilderness known then primarily as Orange County, Florida. A 3,000 square mile area, the first train began running over central Florida’s soft sugar sand in November, 1880. More than a dozen railroads started up between 1880 and 1890.

Lake, Osceola and Seminole Counties did not exist in the year 1877, and 45 post offices that year provided mail service for all of Orange County. The following year though, talk of at least three new trains in the county kicked off a decade of unrivaled growth. Over the next three years, 18 new post offices opened, including such present day Railroad Ghost Towns as PAOLA, SNOWVILLE and WILLCOX.

A total of 83 post offices opened in Orange County between 1878 and 1890, with most (57) being established between 1883 and 1888, the same time frame as most railroad start-ups. Many a city along 1880s CitrusLAND railroad lines eventually became Ghost Towns, but so too did the trains that helped get these towns established.

No planned city better exemplifies the rise and fall of railroad Ghost Towns better than CRESTON, Florida, on Johns Lake, south of present day Winter Garden. Founded in 1887, the city of 240 plus acres was to be serviced by the Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad. The want-to-be city however was established the same year as Florida’s Yellow Fever epidemic. Out of hundreds of planned town lots, only two sales were recorded. (CitrusLAND is proud to announce that we donated all of our extensive research on the town of CRESTON to Winter Garden Heritage Foundation.)    

CRESTON, Orange County, Florida 1887

Place names today, locations along the more than a dozen railroads included such towns as: PALM SPRINGS; MARKHAM, CLAY SPRINGS; HIAWASSEE; FOREST CITY; PLYMOUTH; FORMOSA; GABRIELLA and many others.

Today, many all of the old railroad beds throughout central Florida have been removed, leaving behind narrow 50’ right of ways that have been converted into an excellent trail system. Where once steam locomotives huffed and puffed between one local town and the next, today, joggers, bikers and exercise enthusiasts enjoy outings on natures best trail system.

HISTORIC RAILS became TODAY’S LOCAL TRAILS!

Each previous RAILS & TRAILS  post is available at this Blog Site for your reading pleasure. Copyright 2016, Richard Lee Cronin.

ARRIVING SEPTEMBER 21, 2016,

Part One - Rick’s Blog:

PHILOCLEA of TALLAHASSEE

Florida’s Forgotten Frontierswomen

Follow my Goodreads Author Page: Richard Lee Cronin www.Goodreads.com

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

The ORLANDO & WINTER PARK, No Dinky Line!

Often referred to as a ‘Dinky Line’ today, the intention of organizers of ‘Orlando and Winter Park Railroad (O&WP)’ was anything but building an insignificant railway. The official plat detailing an alignment for the O&WP Railroad was recorded in May, 1887, merely months before Florida’s Yellow Fever Epidemic, a minimal outbreak locally but having a serious impact on the State’s entire economy.

The Rogers House, East side of present day Lake Osceola

Winter Park, Florida

Despite the epidemic, Orlando & Winter Park Railroad survived under the guidance of Francis B. KNOWLES, one of three New Englanders most often mentioned as influential champions of early Winter Park development. Knowles was President of the railroad up until the time of his death in May, 1890.

Initially, the O&WP departed ORLANDO traveling on its own track alongside South Florida Railroad, arriving at its first railway station, FAIR OAKS, on Lake Ivanhoe. The second stop was ROWENA, near the present day intersection of Princeton & Highway 17-92. LAKE MABEL and BONNIE BURN were two additional stops prior to arriving at a Winter Park station adjacent to ROLLINS College, twenty-three minutes after the train had departed Orlando.       

Despite the railroad’s name, Winter Park was not the railroad’s terminus. The first plat details the railroad continuing on, following a serpentine route around the north side of Lake Virginia, snaking around to the south side of Lake Mizell, with one branch ending at the Historic Rogers House on the east side of Lake Sylvan at present day Aloma Ave. That stop was called OSCEOLA, the planned town that preceded Winter Park. A second branch line terminated for a brief time at LAKEMONT.

By 1890, Orange County Surveyor John O. Fries mapped the route of Orlando & Winter Park Railroad, showing the train continuing beyond Lakemont, all the way to OVIEDO, and then connecting further north to Lake Jesup.

The expansion eastward followed closely the path of George C. BRANTLEY”S earlier 1878 planned railroad, intended to run between Tuskawilla and Orlando. (Part 1 of this series).

And so by 1890, central Florida’s earliest railroads, it appears, had come full circle.

Following the death of Francis B. Knowles in 1890, trustees signed over the Orlando & Winter Park Railroad, on April 6, 1891, to East Florida and Atlantic Railroad. By 1920, Orange County Florida maps were still showing train service along this route, having stops at Winter Park, GOLDEN ROD, GABRIELLE, and Oviedo.

1920 Orange County, Florida map

THERE WILL BE NO BLOG NEXT WEDNESDAY, but RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or many, returns Wednesday, September 7, 2016, for the FINALE. Our summer series has been sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains,’ a novel based on true-life 19^th Century Central Florida pioneers.

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

ARRIVING SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 to Rick’s Blog:

Florida’s Forgotten Frontierswomen

Follow my Goodreads Author Page: Richard Lee Cronin www.Goodreads.com

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

RAIL-ROAD MARY and the Town of BITHLO

Plans for an East Orange County metropolis known as BITHLO does not appear to be her idea, but there’s good reason to believe the town’s name was the idea of the one-time, “richest lady in the world!”

Rail-Road Mary of central Florida, as I have dubbed her, was certainly deserving of such a title, as well as the title, First Lady of BITHLO.

BITHLO 1925: THE CENTER OF FLORIDA'S MASTER TRIANGLE

As a named community, BITHLO does not appear to have existed prior to 1915. The earliest known recorded plat of Bithlo was in 1919, although the plat itself suggests some sort of town pre-dated its filing because it added to preexisting streets. William F. Blackman, author of the 1927 History of Orange County, states the town’s origin coincided with the “opening of the railroad.” The first train arrived in BITHLO around the year 1914.

Henry Flagler had announced plans for an ‘Okeechobee Branch’ of his Florida East Coast railroad in 1910, and began accumulating right-of-way agreements soon after. In 1911, Flagler obtained permission to cross land owned by William Vom Scheidt, acreage that later became the site of BITHLO. Recorded agreements filed by Flagler required that a train be running by January 1, 1914 to as far south as WEWAHOTEE, a rail stop south of PACATAW and the second stop south BITHLO.

Flagler’s Okeechobee railroad branch first train arrived at LAKE OKEECHOBEE, its southern terminus, September 14, 1914. It’s reasonable to conclude therefore that the train passed through BITHLO by no later than September of 1914.

But Henry Flagler, the railroad’s founder, had died May 20, 1913, and it was said that he was bedridden since March of 1913. A Sun Sentinel article, dated July 2, 1989, reports on the astonishing events following Henry Flagler’s death. His Widow, according to that article, Mary Kenan Flagler, became the owner of, “Florida East Coast Railroad, four million acres of land, eleven hotels and assets that included Florida Power & Light Company and the Miami Herald newspaper”.

Mary Kenan Flagler’s wealth as of 1914 has been estimated at $6 billion in present day currency. The Widow Mary Flagler lived until July, 1917. Between May, 1913 and her death in 1917, the railroad therefore, the first train arriving at BITHLO, was her train!

Mary’s railroad is now long gone, but Flagler’s Okeechobee Branch train, during its brief existence, allowed for the founding, by an Optic’s Doctor and an Orlando Dentist, to plat the town of BITHLO. A charter was issued in 1922 for the town, and on April 5^th of that same year the BITHLO Post Office opened. Between years 1921 and 1925, the Orlando based partners filed nine additional town plat revisions.

April 2, 1925, a full page advertisement for BITHLO tells of accomplishments for this east Orange County city. There were a total 6 ½ miles of paved streets, and developers were in the process of building a golf course. “More than 3,000” people from across America had already purchased lots in the town proclaimed to be the City with a Vision, serviced by Florida East Coast Railroad, and the new Cheney-Dixie Highway (now Highway 50), that was officially christened, December 31, 1924.

Land sales slowed beginning in 1925, and crashed in 1926. The final spike in Florida’s Great Land Boom coffin occurred after the Great Hurricane of 1926, having winds in excess of 125 mph, the storm killed 115 in Miami, destroyed 13,000 homes, and then travelled inland, causing a tidal wave at Lake Okeechobee that drowned as many as 300 inhabitants. Florida’s Land Bust and Hurricane of ‘26 was followed by the Market Crash of ‘29, and a Great Depression during the 1930’s.

A note, hand scribbled atop a page in Orange County’s 1935 Census, provides a brief yet accurate epitaph of the East Orange County community: “Bithlo Charter Surrendered.”

The Okeechobee Branch of Florida East Coast Railroad, like that of more than a dozen central Florida railroads, opened up a vast wilderness for development. Like the other railroads, this train left behind a remarkable heritage, including an interesting but long forgotten fact. Railroad stops at Bithlo, Pacataw and Wewahotee were established during the reign of Mary (KENAN) Flagler, while in Osceola County, the town of KENANSVILLE likewise owes its name to RAIL-ROAD MARY.   

Stay tuned for a new RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or two, returning Wednesday, August 17, 2016. This summer series is sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains,’ a historical novel based on real-life Central Florida pioneers, and the feature of this week’s RAILS & TRAILS blog.

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

Enter Giveaway Here:

GOODREADS BOOK GIVEAWAY

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.

COMING THIS SEPTEMBER to Rick’s Blog:

Florida’s Forgotten Frontierswomen

Follow my Goodreads Author Page: Richard Lee Cronin www.Goodreads.com

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

The ORANGE BELT of Florida's CITRUS BELT

ORANGE BELT Railway personifies the fascinating story of 19^th century central Florida, a vast undeveloped land in 1880 that I have dubbed, CitrusLAND.

During this summer-long series, my RAILS & TRAILS Blog has been featuring more than a dozen independent railroad ventures between the years 1870 and 1890. Today they are all phantom trains, and yet each, during their brief existence, were largely responsible for many a place name central Floridians are familiar with today.

Regardless where you look, be it Bithlo, Chuluoto, Oviedo or Tuscawilla in the east; Astor, Clermont, Eustis, Montverde or Tavares in the far west; or Sanford, Lake Mary, Altamonte and Kissimmee in the central region; a vast majority of present day place names are traceable to enterprising dreamers, courageous individuals who dared to do the unimaginable, build a railroad.

In May of 1880, a soon to be Orange County newspaper editor walked to Orlando from Lake Monroe, a journey taking more than a day. Six months later, that November, passengers aboard the first central Florida train made the same journey in just over two hours. CitrusLAND is truly a testament to the best of American ingenuity.

If I had to choose one specific railroad to embody the amazing story of CitrusLAND, the railroad I would choose would be the Orange Belt Railway.

Florida's Orange Belt Railway

Founded in 1886 by a Russian immigrant, Orange Belt Railway was among the last of all CitrusLAND trains established. Three short years after its inaugural run, the founder, visionary Peter A. DEMENS, was suddenly threatened with lynching and run of town.

Still, the Orange Belt Railway chugged on. The founder’s dream, to open a vast portion of west Orange County, had been shared, albeit somewhat secretively, by others who believed in the Peter Demens venture. Supporters included some of the most prominent bankers, businessmen and railroad builders from the North. But even after Demens left town, those enormously successful Northerners were unable to work their magic here in America’s 19^th century Paradise. Mother Nature wouldn’t allow them!

The American spirit remained alive and well though throughout the 1880s, and that spirit could be seen all along the route of the Orange Belt Railway.

Southwest of Sanford today, residents and golfers alike enjoy a body of water inside the exclusive community of Heathrow called ISLAND LAKE. But the story of this magical lake began long before Heathrow, and its real story had long been forgotten.

Long, long ago, at a time when women rarely ventured into the world of business, a gal named Mary Lambert, an exceptionally courageous Pennsylvania lady, also dared to do the unthinkable in the 3,000 square mile wilderness of central Florida. A single woman, Mary first planted a 200 acre orange grove, large by every standard of her day.

On June 17, 1886, Mary became Postmistress of her Island Lake Post Office. A year later, in 1887, she platted her very own city, a town that included a public lakeside park, accessed via, “Boulevard around the Lake.’ She named her town, ISLAND LAKE.

Island Lake, 1887 Orange County, Florida

Central Florida place names of Sylvan Lake; Paola; Island Lake; Glen Ethel; Altamont spelled without an E; Forest City; Lakeville; Crown Point; Winter Garden; Oakland and Killarney, were once all Orange County towns, cities served by Orange Belt Railway.

Before being run out of town, Peter A. Demens had extended his railroad to the Gulf of Mexico, and there he incorporated a new town, a city he named for a historic Russian city back in his homeland – St. Petersburg, Russia.

All along the 19^th century route of Orange Belt Railway dreamers had become doers. A failed Indianapolis banker, for example, started over at a place he named Hoosier Springs, later to be Sanlando Springs, today a residential community called ‘The Springs’.

Next door to Hoosier Springs was Altamont, spelled without an ‘E’. Founded by a New Yorker, Widow Elizabeth Saunders moved her sick son to this tiny railroad town, and then bought the town. Elizabeth expanded and renamed her town Palm Springs, to eliminate confusion with nearby Altamonte – a town spelled with an E.

An Ohio department store founder also established a city on the Orange Belt Railway line, giving his town the nickname of his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio – Forest City.

Today, much of Orange Belt Railway’s route is a trail system. Most towns along the old railroad are now Ghost Towns, and yet one can still sense, simply by walking the trails today, the spirit of brave souls who dared to a dream into reality.

Standing on the corner of busy Markham Woods Road & SR 434, imagine a young Virginia lad named Arthur Smyth, working alongside his cousin and partner, Allen MacDowell Smyth, a native of Nottinghamshire, England. Envision two cousins, boxing oranges there in the middle of this present day busy intersection, where in 1886, two independent railroads crossed, here in Palm Springs town center. The Smyth cousins had one of three packing houses at these railroad crossroads.

After the fruit picking season ended, the two Smyth Cousins then boarded a train, with their oranges, heading off to peddle produce not only in the North, but also by crossing the Atlantic aboard steamships, selling Florida citrus in Strasburg, Germany; Paris, France; and London, England. The cousins then returned to central Florida, preparing for yet another picking and packing season.

Oranges and railroads played huge roles in shaping the central Florida you know today. 

Promoted as America’s Paradise of the 19^th century, its story, this region’s heritage, lies beneath our feet every time we utilizes central Florida’s exceptional trail systems.

Of all Orange County towns on the line founded by Peter A. Demens in the 19^th century, only ONE still has a historic railroad depot standing alongside today’s phantom track. That town is Winter Garden, home actually to two railroad depots, both of which are museums today, part of the renowned Winter Garden Heritage Foundation.

The museums of Winter Garden should be on everyone’s must-see list of places to visit.

Stay tuned for a new RAILS & TRAILS, and another GHOST TOWN or two, returning Wednesday, August 17, 2016. This summer series is sponsored by ‘Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains,’ a historical novel based on real-life Central Florida pioneers, and the feature of this week’s RAILS & TRAILS blog.

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

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.

COMING THIS SEPTEMBER to Rick’s Blog:

Florida’s Forgotten Frontierswomen

Follow my Goodreads Author Page: Richard Lee Cronin www.Goodreads.com

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