Della (WOLF), wife of Dr. PHILLIPS

Della (Wolf) Phillips

Frontierswoman, Mother, & Wife of Dr. Philip Phillips

“Little was known!”

Leo Wolf conveyed a tiny downtown Orlando parcel to P. Phillips, a transaction that at first glance appears to have little intrinsic value. A closer look however finds a window to a treasure trove of central Florida history. The reason for taking a closer look at an old 1916 deed was Leo’s surname, as the party of the first part happened to have the same last name as that of the maiden name of the wife of the party of the second part.

Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, Orlando, Florida

Learning that “little was known” about Della Wolf, wife of Florida’s 20^th century citrus grower, Dr. Philip Phillips, were words that served as a call to action for me. All of the mystery that is central Florida history is what had enticed me to begin researching the past in the first place. Most every local researcher knows the tantalizing little is known phrase is very often found while digging into central Florida’s past.

The one truth I’ve learned after a decade of researching central Florida is that to fully understand and appreciate this region's real history, one must include research of the spouse, as well as her family. This is the case for the story of Orlando’s Dr. P. Phillip too, a pioneer said to have first lost a grove in the Great Freeze of 1895, departed Florida, then returned in the 20th century to achieve his family’s fame and fortune.

About that Mr. Leo Wolf:

The 1916 Orange County document cited above identifies, “Leo Wolf (unmarried) of Scott, Mississippi, party of the first part, and Dr. P. Phillips of Orlando, Florida, party of the second part.” The 1910 census of Scott County, Mississippi, at the Village of Forest, lived a young man named Leo H. Wolf, age 35, living with his parents, Ben & Anna Wolf.

Was this the same Leo Wolf? The 1910 census listed as well the names and ages of three siblings, as well as a grandson. Sloppy handwriting suggests the grandson was “Nalter Philipo, Age 4, born 1906 in Florida.” Census takers had visited the Scott County family on May 7, 1910. Walter Phillips, the second son of Philip & Della Phillips of Orlando, was visiting his grandparents. One month earlier, Orange County census takers included four year old Walter, listed on April 18, 1910, as residing with his parents at Orlando, Florida.

A decade before the 1910 census, Leo was living with his parents at Scott, Mississippi, with the same three younger siblings, and two older siblings, brother Ezekiel, and a sister, Della B. Wolf. That 1900 census lists Della as 23 years old, born Mississippi, March 1877.

The Mississippi Marriage Index, 1800-1911, records a January 20, 1901 marriage, at Scott County, Mississippi, stating the bride was Della Wolf, and the groom was P. Phillips.

Della was believed to have been a native of Alabama, in large part because of information given by Della herself. The reason was likely due to Della’s family history. The parents of Della (Wolf) Phillips, Benjamin & Anne (Kosminsky) Wolf, were married May 17, 1876 at Mobile, Alabama. Anne’s father, Abraham (at times spelled Kozminski), had been a Polish immigrant. Arriving in the United States in 1849, settling at Mobile, and establishing a clothing business that was still going strong at the time of his daughter’s wedding in 1901.

Leo Wolf’s Occupation:

The 1916 party of the first part, “Leo Wolf of Scott, Mississippi” not only leads us to learning the true identity of the wife of Dr. Phillips, Lou Wolf’s occupation of 1900 and 1910 reveals too a lot about the Wolf family, and even more about Dr. Philip Phillips.

Dr. P. Phillips, Forest, Mississippi 

Ocala Banner Newspaper, November 1, 1901

Ten (10) months after marrying, “Dr. P. Phillips, of Forest, Mississippi”, ran an ad saying he had 200 head of Hereford Bulls and Heifers “acclimated for Florida. Now is the time,” said the ad, “to do away with the scrub cattle of Florida by crossing on the best beef cattle in the world.”

The extent of influence Della Wolf’s family played in a choice of careers of the then 27 year old Dr. Phillips is uncertain, but it’s important to note that Della’s father, at the time of the 1901 Phillips marriage, had been in the meat business for more than three (3) decades. All three of Benjamin’s sons, by 1901, had followed in their father’s footsteps.

Dr. Phillips comes to Florida (again?):

During the fifteen (15) months between the Forest, Mississippi advertisement, and a January, 1903 notice published in the Ocala Banner, telling of the delayed arrival of Dr. Phillips’ Herefords to Florida, the first of two boys was born to Philip & Della. Named Howard, the family’s new addition was born March 27, 1902 at Lebanon, Tennessee.

Married 1901 at Forest, Scott County, Mississippi, a son Howard Phillips was born 1902 at Lebanon, Tennessee. Dr. Phillips’ Herefords arrived at Ocala, Florida, direct from Texas, according to the Ocala Banner, in February, 1903. The Hereford herd was then taken, that very same month, to Arcadia.

Telegram from Dr. P. Phillips 

Ocala Banner Newspaper, January 9, 1903 (not 1093!)

Was the 1903 arrival in Florida the first for Dr. Philip Phillips? According to the pioneer’s time-honored history, this was in fact his second time in Florida. Dr. Philip Phillips, says local legend, had a grove at Satsuma, and lost that grove during Florida’s Great Freeze of 1895.

Phillips of Satsuma:

US Highway 17 passes through Satsuma today, a roadside village fifteen miles south of Palatka. First established in 1882, on land originally known as the Hernandez Spanish Land Grant, New Englanders Whitney & Hodges began offering grove sites to anxious settlers desiring to cash in on the 1880s Citrus boom. 

Putnam County became a sprawling citrus farming region, but two back-to-back freezes, the first occurring December 29, 1894, followed 40 days later by an even worse cold snap on February 7, 1895, wiped out nearly all of Florida’s citrus crop.

Dr. Philip Phillips was 20 years old at the time of Florida’s Great Freeze, born, said his 1921 passport application, January 27, 1874. While it is certainly possible a 20 year old Tennessee lad ventured south and established a grove prior to December, 1894, the challenge for historians is to ascertain the accuracy of such a statement.

Satsuma, Florida had its very own Post Office, a mail station established when Philip Phillips was a mere ten (10) years old. Henry B. Phillips was appointed Postmaster of Satsuma Post Office on March 4, 1884. So, was this Putnam County Postmaster related to Orlando’s Dr. Philip Phillips?

“Little is known,” as that popular central Florida history saying goes, about the 19^th century chapter of the life of Dr. Philip Phillips. But that’s the chapter I find most interesting in the true history of CitrusLAND. 

Part TWO of this story, to be posted February 2, 2018, will continue the Phillips story in a Blog that I have dubbed: “Louise & the Other Doctor Phillips!” You will not want to miss it!

Della (Wolf) Phillips was among the earliest of 20^th century frontierswomen to arrive in an undeveloped yet ever-expanding central Florida. Remarkable women however had already contributed immensely to settling this remote land. CitrusLAND: Curse of Florida’s Paradise, (2013 and in Second Edition 2016) is not only a true history of 19^th century central Florida, but each of 12 chapters begins with a dedication and brief biography of one very special frontierswoman. Chapter 1, for example, is dedicated to the remarkable Jane Murray - one of the first-ever women to settle in central Florida. And by first I mean 1835! Each of the 12 frontierswoman deserve a special place in local history.

Visit www.CroninBooks.com for details of this book and others by this author.  

And stay tuned, Rick’s Blog will return February 2, 2018 with Part 2: Louise & the other Doctor Phillips!

Bibliography is available upon request by emailing Rick@CroninBooks.com

 Copyright by Richard Lee Cronin 2013 & 2016

Righting Florida History: Mr. Isaac N. RUTLAND

Righting Florida History: Mr. Isaac N. RUTLAND:

“He (Rutland) never served as a state senator.”

Florida’s Clerk of the House of Representatives, the person responsible for Florida’s biennial publication; People of Lawmaking in Florida, answered my January 6, 2016 inquiry as to why Isaac N. Rutland of Orange County was missing from the state’s official roster of lawmakers by stating Rutland never served as a state senator. “Isaac was elected,” the clerk reported, “as a delegate from the 19^th Senatorial District for the Florida Convention of the People, Ordinance of Secession.”

I appreciated the reply, but could not accept the reasoning as to why twenty-eight (28) of sixty-nine (69) Secession Convention delegates had been excluded from Florida’s historic roster of lawmakers. Rutland was one of the 28! In a second letter, I pointed out that while Dr. James D. Starke was indeed Florida’s Senator from the 19^th District in 1860-61, he was among those Senators who also abdicated their duty as Senators by assigning to the Delegates; “the interest of the State without a suggestion as to the course proper to be pursued.”

In other words, Florida’s State Senate in 1861 passed the buck! Rather than determining their State’s future, the duly elected officials instead handed that authority to the delegates, who in turn repealed existing Florida law that established the role of the State Senators. The delegates then wrote a new Constitution. The Secession Delegates, I argued, became Florida lawmakers according to the very definition of a State ‘Constitution’.

Florida’s Clerk of the House wrote again February 23, 2016, stating: “Upon receipt of your second letter and an additional review, we have decided to include all persons who served on any constitutional convention.” Isaac N. Rutland was then included in the next People of Lawmaking in Florida, from 1822 thru 2017.

The State however had not been alone in leaving Rutland out of Florida history. Early Orange County histories said little to nothing of their early county resident. Isaac came to Orange County during the 1850s. He replaced Aaron Jernigan as the Captain of Orange County’s 1856 Militia. Rutland was not only a merchant, he also operated Rutland’s Ferry on the Wekiva River. In January of 1861, Isaac was one of two delegates to the Secession Convention from Orange County. Both delegates voted NO!

A father of four children in 1860, Isaac N. Rutland vanished in 1864. Isaac’s wife Margaret was listed as a widow in 1867. The four Rutland children were orphans in 1870, living with their grandmother in Georgia. Two of the four children returned to Orange County in 1880. Son Othman Rutland settled along the west shore of Lake Apopka. Across Lake Apopka lived his sister, Sarah Katherine (Rutland) Vick.

Righting Orange County history required finding Isaac N. Rutland, even though his trail, dating back to 1864, had long gone cold. All there was to go on was one true-life clue, a few hand-scribble notes found in an 1865 government file folder titled, The Rutland Mule Matter. One note, written in late 1864 from Mellonville, Florida, by a man named Lincoln, requested that a mule be returned to Mrs. Isaac N. Rutland. 

Not much to go on, but enough to unravel the mystery of a vanishing, Isaac N. Rutland.

“Just finished the Rutland Mule Matter book last night. OMG! Your research is so meticulous and your storytelling so captivating; I felt that I’d gone back to another time, because I knew many of the characters and settings of which you wrote.” Apopka 2015.

Two of Isaac’s children go in search of their father in a Novel based upon true-life facts. Othman finally learns the truth of The Rutland Mule Matter, and you will too!

THE RUTLAND MULE MATTER, by Richard Lee Cronin

The Novel that assisted in RIGHTING FLORIDA HISTORY

Copyright April 20, 2015: TX8-104-400

Buy it at AMAZON

https://www.amazon.com/Rutland-Mule-Matter-Based-Story-ebook/dp/B00T3FZGK2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1515002162&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Rutland+Mule+matter

AN ODE to WILL WALLACE HARNEY

An Ode to Will Wallace HARNEY

CENTRAL FLORIDA MEMORIALS 

A to Z by Richard Lee Cronin

ANNO Avenue memorializes a Kentuckian who doubled the size of 1884 PINE CASTLE;

BUMBY Lake remains a tribute to Jesse, central Florida’s first BUMBY immigrant;

CONWAY Lake honors Dr. Valentine Y. CONWAY, 1844 Florida Surveyor General.

Many street & lake names are visual memorials to early pioneers.

DIXIE Highway (Orange Avenue) revitalized a then forsaken 1920s PINE CASTLE;

EOLA Lake (EULA) immortalized one Orlando pioneer’s “childhood sweetheart”;

FORT Gatlin’s plaque celebrates the location of an 1838 central Florida Army fortress;

GUNBY Avenue (abandoned) of Orlando was named by & for a PINE CASTLE resident;

HOFFNER Avenue crossing HARNEY’S Homestead reminds us of a 1895 homesteader.

Visual memorials help preserve the story of central Florida.

Lady Isaphoenia

LADY ISAPHOENIA owned EPPES land first, but today is obscure as W. W. HARNEY;

JENNIE Jewel Lake reminds us of a brave frontierswoman Jane (PITTS) PRESTON;

KUHL Avenue honors an immigrant who expanded Orlando south toward PINE CASTLE;

LANDSTREET evokes the memory of Angebilt Hotel Mgr & Realtor, Arthur LANDSTEET.

Forgotten meanings of memorials are often vital clues when researching the past.

MATCHETT Road on HARNEY’S Homestead recalls John W. MATCHETT;

NELA Avenue at BELLE ISLE honors Cleveland’s “National Electric Lamp Company;”

ORLANDO, some continue to believe, honors a fictional soldier named ORLANDO Reeves.

Mythical memorials however can detract from central Florida’s rich heritage,

While a lack of memorials can lead to forgetting worthy, true-life pioneers.

Orlando Reeves monument at Lake Eola Park

PINE CASTLE is today a lone reminder of an 1869 frontiersman, William Wallace HARNEY;

QUARTERMASTER documents became a lone clue to learning of Rutland’s 1864 MULE;

RUTLAND & HARNEY footprints are no longer easily found on central Florida’s landscape;

ST CYR’s role in bringing General HARNEY back to central Florida is all but forgotten;

Brigadier General William Selby Harney

TAFT Florida is no longer remembered as  having ties to our nation’s WHITE HOUSE;

UNDERHILL Lake lost its significance as the birthplace of a young TENNESSEE bride;

VAUGHAN Street remains an unknown memorial to a partner of an 1884 Town of GATLIN;

WHITNER Avenue once immortalized an early homesteader, until renamed FERN CREEK;

X was a mark of many pioneers, but not of Professor Belles Lettres, Will Wallace HARNEY;

YATES Avenue at Shingle Creek memorializes a South Orange County first family; and,

ZIEGLER Road off SOBT celebrates the memory of Ziegler brother’s PINE CASTLE Dairy.

Memorials county-wide stand as reminders of central Florida pioneers, the bravest of brave men and women, and yet with little exception, Will Wallace Harney, builder of the Pine Castle, is all but forgotten in the remote wilderness he played a role taming.

In memory of WILLIAM WALLACE HARNEY (1831-1912)

CENTRAL FLORIDA HISTORY

THE RUTLAND MULE MATTER by Richard Lee Cronin

CITRUSLAND: Curse of Florida’s Paradise by Richard Lee Cronin

FIRST ROAD to ORLANDO by Richard Lee Cronin

And Now;

BEYOND GATLIN

By Richard Lee Cronin

“Between two beautiful lakes and projecting into a third,” central Florida’s Fort Gatlin, established in 1838, became the hub for the earliest settlements south of Orlando. BEYOND GATLIN is a story of true-life courageous pioneers, hardy men and women, who endured an endless barrage of challenges so as to establish the 19^th century settlements of Kissimmee City, Shingle Creek, Pine Castle, Mackinnon, Troy, Gatlin, Conway, Campbell City, Runnymede, and 20^th century communities of Taft, Prosper Colony, Edgewood, and Belle Isle. Beyond Gatlin also goes in search of the real Fort Davenport, the Ridge of Oaks, and more. 97 Exhibits and an extensive bibliography support this first-ever history of South Orange County and north Osceola County.

BEYOND GATLIN, A History of South Orange County

Beyond Gatlin, from the family of central Florida history books by Richard Lee Cronin

   

VISIT www.CroninBooks.com

 Your online central Florida History store

Recipient of the 2017 PINE CASTLE HISTORIAN AWARD

Florida’s Indian River Duchess (EBook only)

Seven Honorable Floridians (EBook only)

Email for Questions and Comments: Rick@CroninBooks.com

A History of LAKE UNDERHILL - Part 4 The Finale

A History of LAKE UNDERHILL

Rick’s CitrusLAND Holiday Blog

Part 4: The Finale - Naming Lake Underhill

What’s in a name?

Names of 19^th century streets, lakes, and towns are oftentimes clues to discovering the story of that area. South Street makes little sense, for instance, until one realizes the street had been the southernmost east-west artery of the 1880 town of Orlando. The name even makes more sense when considering North Street, its original counterpart, existed until its name was changed to Robinson Street. Half way between the two was, and remains, Central Avenue.

Lake Underhill looking east from Orlando’s Joe Kittinger Park

Misspelled by the surveyor hired to lay out Jacob Summerlin’s, ‘Add to Orlando’, the town’s iconic Lake Eola (blog of 12/6/2016), was intended as a memorial to Eula, one pioneer’s childhood sweetheart. The 1840s Reed misspelling, a fort named for Florida Territorial Governor Reid, father of Orlando’s 1867 rescuer, Robert R. Reid, (blog of 8/14/2015), confused history with the unrelated Sir James Edward Reed (Part 3 of this blog). Maitland, the lake, town and streets, were all named for died in Florida’s Second Seminole Indian War, whereas the town’s Lake Sybelia was named following the death, at a young age, of the first wife of one of Maitland’s early town developers.

Names indeed provide clues for researching central Florida’s early history. Sanford got its name from Henry S. Sanford, the town’s founder, whereas the name Orlando had long remained a mystery in large part because of a false narrative regarding a Mythical soldier. Place names truly serve as an excellent starting point for searching the past, and so as I began researching this Lake Underhill blog, I began looking as well for the one person responsible for selecting the name, and why.

As established in Part 3 of this blog, the earliest verifiable use of the name Underhill at this east Orange County location was December 16, 1884. A deed written by newlyweds William & Ida Palmer made reference to the shoreline of “Lake Underhill.”

Surveyed as an unnamed ‘pond’ in 1843, the Palmer deed opened a 40 year window for possible pioneers to have named the lake. But the name Underhill is rare in all of pre-1885 central Florida. Lakes Conway & Butler were named for Survey Generals; Lakes Eustis & Harney for Generals serving in Florida’s Indian Wars; Lakes Anderson & Holden for early homesteaders on those lakes. But even with these examples in hand, the search for an Underhill in central Florida repeatedly came up empty handed.

Twenty-one (21) known pre-1885 landowners fronting Lake Underhill, including 38 confirmable spouse surnames, failed to reveal a connection to an Underhill family name or place. So, believing I had hit that proverbial brick wall, I started drafting a conclusion for this blog by telling of the many other ongoing mysteries, and suggesting the lake may remain one such example. I did not want to admit defeat in my research though, and so I dug deeper, deciding to research further the first known users of the name, William & Ida (Babbitt) Palmer.

My belief as to how Lake UNDERHILL got its name:

A 15 year old in 1880, Miss Ida May Babbitt was residing at Louisville, KY with her teacher, Miss Henrietta Barbaroux. Four years later, November 19, 1884, the 19 year old Ida (still a minor at that time) married William D. Palmer. The wedding took place at Louisville, KY, with one witness being Henrietta Barbaroux.

Newlyweds William D. & Ida M. Palmer, in 1885, lived with Henrietta Barbaroux at Summerlin Hotel in Orlando, FL. Ida stated in the Orange County census that year that her birthplace was Natchez, Mississippi (line 2 below). Henrietta Barbaroux gave her birthplace as Louisville (line 3 below).

1885 Census of Orlando, Orange County, Florida

Henrietta consistently listed her birthplace as Kentucky. Ida May consistently gave her birthplace as Mississippi. Why was the young girl from Mississippi not living with her parents? Why were Ida Babbitt and Henrietta Barbaroux always living together? More importantly for my blog’s ending, could Ida and Henrietta lead me to learning the long forgotten reason for naming Lake Underhill?

The girl from Natchez, Mississippi:

1880 May 1: “NOTICE to NON-RESIDENTS: State of Mississippi, Adams County: In the matter of Ida Babbit, a minor, is absent from this State, and now in Louisville, KY, her post office address being “care of Miss Henrietta Barbaroux.” This ad, notice of an impending auction of Natchez property, directed my attention away from Louisville and toward the birthplace of Ida. Only then did I find the answer I had been searching for. That, or I stumbled upon the most remarkable coincidence ever.

Ida May Babbitt, a minor, owned an eighth interest in “Brighton”, a 170 acre estate situated on “Second Creek.” A plantation, the parcel had belonged to Ida’s deceased grandfather, Charles W. Babbitt. Ida and her brother were each due a portion of the grandfather’s estate because their father, Adam, had died in 1867 from injuries he had sustained during the Civil War. Ida’s mother was also deceased, so in 1880, a sister of Adam Babbitt had become the Guardian of Ida May Babbitt, a minor child.

“Natchez, which is situated on the east bank of the Mississippi River, 280 miles, by water, above New Orleans.” The newspaper Marshall County Republican, in an 1875 article describing several Mississippi River towns, wrote this of the river port city: “It is built on the summit of a bluff 150 feet above the water, and on the narrow strip of land between the foot of the hill and the river. The latter portion of the city goes by the soubriquet of ‘Natchez Under-the-Hill’, or Natchez Landing.”

Born at Natchez, Ida May Babbitt traveled the Mississippi to and from Louisville, KY, where she lived with a ‘family friend’ Henrietta Barbaroux. Because Ida was not of age, court records maintained an ‘estate’ for the minor child, records of income received and expenses paid. Expense receipts establish that Ida had returned home on occasion, once within six months of her wedding. After shopping at Chamberlain & Patterson on the 6^th of May, 1884, Ida may Babbitt would have departed from the port of Natchez Under-the-Hill to return to Louisville, KY for her November marriage.

Natchez, Mississippi receipt, Miss Ida Babbitt, May 6, 1884

Seven months after shopping at Natchez, six months after walking down the aisle to marry William at Louisville, KY, Mrs. Ida May (Babbitt) Palmer, and her husband, signed three deeds, each at Orlando, FL, on 16 December, 1884. Each deed made reference to “Lake Underhill.”

Natchez, Under the Hill, source Library of Congress

I believe Lake Underhill at Orlando, Florida was named for a notorious Mississippi River port at the foot of Natchez, a riverside area known, even today, as Natchez Under-the-Hill. And now that you know my theory, let me know what you think.

CitrusLAND wishes you and yours a MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR. This Blog returns in January, 2018 with the first of a New Year chock full of fascinating central Florida history & mystery. January’s Series: WEKIVA MISFITS.

 www.CroninBooks.com is your one-stop

CENTRAL FLORIDA HISTORY STORE

References are available upon request, email Rick@CroninBooks.com

Author Richard Lee Cronin

Proud recipient of the 2017 Pine Castle Historian Award

A History of LAKE UNDERHILL - Part 3

A History of LAKE UNDERHILL

Rick’s CitrusLAND Holiday Blog

Part 3: A General & the Russian

How Lake Underhill got its name is, in my view, one of the great central Florida 19^th century mysteries. Who was Underhill? Who chose the name Lake Underhill? The first reference to this name appeared December 16, 1884, mentioned on a deed conveyed by newlyweds William & Ida Palmer. But by 1884, no fewer than three dozen surnames, (including maiden names of spouses), are traceable to the lake’s homesteaders. Not one of the early landowners appear to be related at an Underhill!

Intriguing Lake Underhill stories add to the mystery of its naming. One 1886 land sale for example, thirteen (13) months after the first document appeared showing the lake’s name, involved Alabama’s Brigadier General, Philip Dale Roddey. General Roddey owned land, described as the, “Southeast Quarter of the Southwest Quarter of Section 29, Township 22 South; Range 30 East,” for only five days.

That red square in the above map outlines Roddey’s 40 acre parcel. If you assumed that blue expanse in the map to be water, you are correct. Orlando’s Joe Kittinger’s Park can be seen in the map, at the intersection of Crystal Lake Drive and the East-West Expressway. Did General Roddey buy and sell land that was under water? No!

In 1890, Orange County surveyors made a comprehensive survey of all landowners. The surveyors prepared a map of those landowners, and for the two sections around Lake Underhill, Henry Nicholas Grenside is shown as owner of the 40 acres General Roddey sold in 1886. That 1890 survey work shows that three-fourths of Mr. Grenside’s parcel, immediately south of Norman Robinson’s land, was not inside the lake.

The map of landowners above, sketched in 1890 by Orange County surveyors, is exactly as recorded the year it was prepared. All entries, including the “Lake Underhill” notation at lower left center above, are as the surveyors work was recorded. Above (north) of the lake’s outline is one of the parcels ‘H. N. Grenside’ acquired from General Roddey.

Roddey & Grenside are indicative of central Florida’s worldwide allure that inspired land speculators to find their way to Orange County during the 1880s. Many didn’t even feel the need to step foot in the sunshine state. One such person was an Ex-Confederate General turned 19^th century inventor, Philip Dale Roddey.

Roddey purchased 6,595 Orange County acres in bulk at $1 per acre, and “flipped” the entire packaged deal within five days of his closing, completing both transactions far from Orange County. Grenside, a native of Moscow, Russia, bought all 6,595 acres of Florida land, closing on the deal January 9, 1886. All 6,595 acres changed hands at London’s Westminster Palace Hotel.  

To fully appreciate this unique real estate transaction we need to begin in September of 1883. At that time, England’s Sir James Edward REED purchased 65,000 acres in central Florida, property located mainly in east Orange County. Reed established the Florida Land & Mortgage Co as overseer of his Florida property. Within ten months, December 7, 1884, German Immigrant John Deutschman acquired 80 of Reed’s 65,000 acres, land located along the east and northeast shore of a lake identified that same month, in a deed issued by William & Ida May Palmer, as Lake Underhill. The Deutschman property can be seen on the 1890 survey of landowners above.

Central Florida’s Lake Underhill not only had a name at the dawn of 1885, the east Orange County lake had also become an American melting pot. Surrounding a body of water that for decades had remained nearly uninhabited, in less than a decade, land encircling the lake was owned by individuals from around the globe.

A Florida-Georgia family, MIZELL, had been joined by Irish Immigrant EAGAN; followed by two ROBINSON brothers, one from Michigan, the other from Kentucky. SINCLAIR of New England arrived, and enticed a DUNCAN family from Canada, as well as the CHURCH family of England. Ida of Mississippi added to an American born clan, followed by a German named DEUTSCHMAN. The great-granddaughter of our President Thomas JEFFERSON even owned land for a time along the lake’s shore.

To add to the melting pot, General RODDEY of Alabama travelled to England, set up a temporary home at perhaps London’s most glamorous hotel, in hopes of selling a patent, and instead acquired, for a few days, 6,595 Orange County acres, all of which he sold to Henry Nicholas GRENSIDE, a resident of England, and native of Moscow, Russia.

  

One particular parcel Roddey sold to Grenside separated Lake Underhill from the 80 acres owned, for nearly a decade, by Norman Robinson. Varying central Florida lake levels was the culprit that disappointed many a 19^th century landowner who had thought they acquired lakefront property. Deeds were issued referencing ‘Government Surveys,’ of the 1840s. A 1880s London buyer therefore could unwittingly buy a central Florida wetland.

Lake Underhill had a name by December 16, 1884, but where did that name originate? Homesteaders often named their lakes for loved ones, or places back home. Sometimes lake names changed over time. Lake Arnold, south of Underhill, started out as Lake Vernon. East Colonial Drive’s Park Lake was originally Lake Leora, named for the wife of Norman Robinson.

The military also named a few lakes in the 1840s, such Lake Harney and Lake Jesup. Lakes Conway and Butler were named for early Florida Surveyors, and some lakes are now known by the name given to them by American Indians. But who was Underhill? Or perhaps I should ask, where was Underhill?

No Underhill family homesteaded near the lake prior to its naming, nor was the name a maiden name of any spouse. No one settling around the lake can be traced to a place called Underhill - No one, that is, except ONE lakeside resident. Any you will soon meet her!

Thursday, December 21, 2017, in time for Christmas, is the conclusion to this four part series: A History of Lake Underhill, Part Four: Naming Lake Underhill!

 www.CroninBooks.com is your one-stop

CENTRAL FLORIDA HISTORY STORE

References are available upon request, email Rick@CroninBooks.com

Author Richard Lee Cronin

Proud recipient of the 2017 

Pine Castle Historian Award