Women's History Month - Day 26

 

 Frontierswomen of Central Florida

Lake Sophia, aka, Lake Lotus of Altamonte Springs

A Women’s History Month Tribute

By Richard Lee Cronin, CroninBooks.com

26 March 2022

Day 26

CitrusLAND is observing Women’s History Month by honoring extraordinary Central Florida frontierswomen. And as we celebrate Women’s History Month throughout March, we are also featuring each day a History Museum, listing their days and hours of operation.

See also our featured History Museum in this Post

 

Sophia Charlotte #Sjoeborg of Altamonte Springs

Unless you found mention of her in Orlando Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes, my popular encyclopedia of 19^th century pioneers who settled 300 plus central Florida lakes, you may not have heard of this extremely courageous frontierswoman. Sophia was a Swedish immigrant who came to America in 1870 with Josef Henschen. Henry Sanford had employed Josef to encourage many fellow Swedes to relocate to Sanford, Florida, where they could find work with him.

Most immigrants arriving in 1870-71 with Josef Henschen settled near Sanford at Upsala, a new town established for the Swedish immigrants near Sanford. But not Sophia Charlotte Sjoeborg, as she applied for a homestead, miles from Sanford, in the wilderness of Orange County.

Sophia applied for her homestead of 160 acres on June 9, 1875. Her land, located on the west of present-day Lake Lotus in Seminole County, was originally called Lake Sophia as per a survey done in 1890 (below), completed when this area was part of Orange County.

 

Lake Sophia as identified in 1890; Present-day Lake Lotus

 

By 1887, when John G. Hower of Cleveland designed his town of Forest City in West Orange County, the largest of lakes on his town’s southern border was by then named Lake Lotus.

Sophia Charlotte Sjoeborg, born 1805 in Upsala, Sweden, prepared a Last Will and Testament in Orange County which provides a Florida history of a brave female pioneer who dared to settle in a remote wilderness of Orange County. Upon her death in 1882, she willed portions of her property to Josef Henschen, and another portion to Reverend Dr. William Henschen of Evanston, Illinois. A biography of Reverend Henschen says he was a Methodist preacher and newspaper editor and had settled briefly in Florida around 1884 (Likely came to check out Lake Sophia).

Sophia was 77 years of age when she died here in Orange County, Florida. Her lake was renamed soon after, and Lake Lotus Park occupies a portion of the land first owned by Miss Sophia Sjoeborg of Upsala, Sweden. The park is accessed via Maitland Boulevard west of Forest City Road.

 

[Further reading: CitrusLAND: Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains and Orlando Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes, each by Richard Lee Cronin]

 

Beatrice #Smyth

Beatrice Smyth died at her birthplace of England at the of age of 101 in 1968. After a long-distance courtship lasting nearly six years, Beatrice had married an American cousin, Arthur W. C. Smyth, in 1893. Beatrice (Smyth) Smyth then relocated to Orlando, Florida, living at the Orange County seat of government until shortly after the death of her husband in 1905.

American born Arthur W. Catesby Smyth became known to his family as ‘the traveler’, a fitting moniker he earned beginning in 1888. While visiting family at Nottinghamshire, England, Arthur and English cousin, Allan MacDowell Smyth, devised a business plan to sell Florida oranges in England as well as neighboring European countries France and Germany.

In the fall of 1888, the Smyth cousins set sail from England, and according to the ship’s registry, their destination was listed as Orlando, Florida.

Within a year the Smyth partners acquired land for a packing house at Thomas E. Wilson’s, Town of Sylvan Lake. In 1890, the cousins added a second packing house at Gertrude and Church Streets in downtown Orlando, adjacent to the South Florida Railroad terminal. A third packing house at Palm Springs (now the intersection of SR 434 & Markham Woods Road), was established months prior to a tragedy striking the Smyth Orange Brokerage Company. Allan McDowell Smyth, only 34 years of age, died suddenly in July of 1891.

 

Smyth & Barnaby Orange Packers, Orlando, Florida

 

While the Smyth cousins had been building their business, Arthur W. C. Smyth had been in a long- distance courtship with Allan Smyth’s younger sister, Beatrice Alice. The lovebirds communicated often, and as most any young girl deeply in love often does, she saved every letter her American cousin had written. The couple exchanged letters for two years prior to marrying over the summer of 1893, letters providing an extraordinary insight into the Smyth’s and Orlando history.

Arthur’s duties multiplied following the death of his partner, so when it came time to pack fruit, Arthur W. C. Smyth could be found in Orange County, a hands-on packer, rotating between one of his three packing houses. Once the final box of citrus left the County via train, so too did Arthur. With all current season orders filled, Smyth went in search of orders for the next season.

In the summer and early fall of 1892, Arthur traveled to Strasburg, Germany; Paris, France; and Glasgow, England. While in England, he divided his time between courting Beatrice Alice Smyth and selling citrus to such local firms as L&H Williams of Glasgow. Then, in late August 1892, Arthur boarded the ‘City of Rome’ steamboat for a return trip to New York, where, after a layover at Richmond, Virginia to visit his own family, he was off again, this time to Indiana, closing on a sale of 1,500 boxes of citrus at Evanston, Illinois.

Arthur slept aboard the train and worked days hopscotching through the midwestern States on his way to Chicago, timing his arrival in the Windy City to attend the opening ceremony of Chicago’s World’s Fair. The fall 1892 event coincided with the 400^th Anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in North America. Orange County was represented at the Florida Pavilion of that World’s Fair.

Arthur’s busy travels were always timed to have him back in Orange County once the citrus was again ripe for picking. Now you know why his family nicknamed him, ‘the traveler’.

Beatrice Alice Smyth married Arthur W. C. Smyth and settled at Orlando after Arthur was able to build them a home. “The $5,000 I put aside last summer for your house and furniture,” he wrote in an 1893 letter to Beatrice, “is entirely independent of the business.” By the year 1900, Arthur, Beatrice, and three Smyth children lived on Main Street in downtown Orlando, walking distance from the Smyth Packing House on Gertrude Street.

Beatrice, after becoming a widow in 1905, returned to England with her three children, where she lived until her death in 1968 at the age of 101.

[Further reading: Citrusland: Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains by Richard Lee Cronin]

 

Sarah #Stanaland Sellers of Emeralda Island

The historic Sellers residence is said to be the oldest house in Lake County, but the home is also the oldest house in original Orange County. The land upon which it was built in 1863 was, until 1887, Orange County. Towns Eustis, Mount Dora, Sanford, Tavares and nearly every other town in Orange and Lake Counties, did not even exist yet when the Seller family built their home.

Even the distant county seat of Orlando was but a tiny village of four acres only six years young. Fewer than 1,500 citizens lived in ALL of Orange County, and travel was at that time limited to “real” horsepower. Also, when the Sellers’ moved into the house after it was first built, travel to Ocala was more convenient than to the county seat of Orlando.

Fourteen (14) years before this home was built, Reverend Willets D. Sellers purchased the land on which the house now stands. Ten (10) years after the home was built, Widow Sarah Sellers, in 1874, sold the property. Widow Sellers therefore was the head of household in this remote corner of Orange County for a decade.

Reverend and Sarah Sellers came to Florida from Brunswick, North Carolina, where generations of Sellers had lived dating to before America’s Revolution.

Reverend Willetts died May 16, 1858, and by 1860, Widow Sarah (Stanaland) Sellers was living with her son Daniel (1828-1884) in Orange County. The home shown with this blog was built three years later, in 1863, on land Widow Sarah Sellers owned until 1874. Sarah died in 1886.

Truly a courageous frontierswoman, Sarah Sellers homestead was so close to the Marion County border that her family was listed in the 1860 Marion County census rather than Orange County’s. Her land deeds for a residence that is today in Emeralda Island however were properly recorded at Orlando.

 

1863 Sellers residence at curve on Emeralda Island Road

[Further reading: River Gateway, Chapter 27, “Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County by Richard Lee Cronin].

 

History Museum of the Day

Museum of the Apopkans

The Apopka Historical Society was organized in 1968 and incorporated in 1971. The Apopka Historical Society are the caretakers of the artifacts representing the history of Apopka and Northwest Orange County. The Museum of the Apopkans is the physical building that houses these artifacts and is owned by the city of Apopka. The city provides support for the museum in maintaining the building and grounds and utilities.

122 E. 5^th Street, Apopka, Florida

407-703-1707

Tuesday thru Friday 12 PM to 5 PM

 

Questions or Comments: Email Rick@CroninBooks.com

 

Women's History Month - Day 25

Frontierswomen of Central Florida

Maitland Park Lake Hotel

A Women’s History Month Tribute

By Richard Lee Cronin, CroninBooks.com

25 March 2022

 

Day 25

CitrusLAND is observing Women’s History Month by honoring extraordinary Central Florida frontierswomen. And as we celebrate Women’s History Month throughout March, we are also featuring each day a History Museum, listing their days and hours of operation.

See also our featured History Museum in this Post

 

Maria #St-Cyr Harney of Rutledge & Orlando

The young lady from St. Louis, Missouri was 19 years old when she arrived in Orange County to purchase twenty (20) wilderness acres, on November 16, 1888, in the town of Rutledge. The land however was not exactly for her use. Instead, the young lady, Marie St. Cyr, acquired the acreage for her mother and stepfather. Marie’s stepfather had traveled this way before, but that was 50 years earlier, during the Seminole Indian War, when a Lake Harney, not far from Rutledge, had been named in his honor.

The Orlando Sentinel of 12 September 1917 reported her death: “Orlando as a town is bereft, for few of its residents could work more zealously for civic advancement, and to few is due the gratitude which Orlando owes for improvements along various lines, accomplished through Mrs. Beeman’s personal thought and labor.”

Identified only as “Mrs. Harry Leland Beeman,” the newspaper writeup identified her as a native of “St. Louis, Missouri, born in 1869, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paschal St. Cyr of that city,” and having moved “to Orlando in early girlhood with her mother, and in 1891 became the bride of Harry L. Beeman.” Although all is true, here is the rest of Marie’s untold story.

Another published obituary, appearing in various newspapers nationwide in 1889, was that of General William S. Harney, an uncle of Pine Castle’s Will Wallace Harney. “Some 3 years ago,” said the General’s obituary, “he married his housekeeper. His marriage was strenuously opposed by his children, and they attempted to have it set aside and a guardian appointed for him. In this they failed.” A long-time St. Louis resident, General Harney died at Orlando, Florida on 9 May 1889. The aging general had in fact married his housekeeper, and the general’s estate had indeed been contested by children of his first marriage.

Mary Cromwell was born 24 January 1826 at Frederick County, MD. She relocated to St. Louis with her widowed mother and siblings, and in 1866, at age 40, she married Paschal St. Cyr, a widower and father of eight. By 1880, Mary (Cromwell) St. Cyr had become a Widow, living on her own with one child, Marie, 11 years old. Having no means of supporting herself, the mother turned to housekeeping, - hired by General Harney’s family to care for their aging father.

Mary and her daughter moved into the general’s home in 1880, residing both at the main home in St. Louis and the historic “Harney Mansion” at Sullivan, Missouri (Now a Historical Museum).

On the 12 November 1884, General William S. Harney, 84 years old, married his 58 years old “housekeeper.” His family had fit, and it’s entirely possible that the infighting led to a decision to relocate, which in turn led to a young lady the general considered his stepdaughter arriving in Orange County to acquire the new residence.

1888 General William S. Harney parcel, Rutledge (South of Sanford), Florida

 

In 1888, a half century after first stepping upon the wilds of Mosquito County, a retired General William S. Harney returned to Orange County, living briefly in the town of Rutledge, a ghost town today, founded by Florida’s General Joseph Finegan. Rutledge was 20 miles west of Lake Harney, the lake named during the Seminole Indian War for William S. Harney.

One year after arriving in Florida, General Harney died, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Marie (St. Cyr) Beeman, the general’s stepdaughter, married Harry L. Beeman, of Orlando’s San Juan Hotel fame. Orlando historian E. H. Gore said Mrs. Beeman built a bandstand on a vacant lot near the hotel, and historian C. E. Howard, author of Early Settlers of Orange County, wrote that Gotha’s Horticulturalist Henry Nehrling named one of his exceptional hybrid Caladium’s, “Mrs. H. L. Beeman,” in honor of a local resident who never tired of involving herself in charity work.

“Mrs. Beeman was one of the few women who recognized the urgent need that charity work in Orlando be united in one organization, and was a prime mover in this, serving as Treasurer of the Charities throughout its first year and later on its board of governors.

 

Catherine #Sharples Willcox of Maitland (not Wilcox)

“Mrs. Catharine Willcox,” was a headline of a brief obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer of May 12, 1915, which went on to state: “Mrs. Katharine Willcox, widow of the late James M. Willcox, a former paper manufacturer at Glenn Mills, died yesterday in her apartment at the Gladstone, she was 70 years of age.” Finding variations in spelling of Catherine are not uncommon when researching yesteryear, but the same holds true of this Central Florida frontierswoman’s married name. Willcox, the proper spellings, often appears as Wilcox.

Katherine Helen (Sharples) Willcox was the second wife of James M. Willcox, a manufacturer of paper for making money, and in the 1880s, a large central Florida landowner in Maitland, Mount Dora, and Orlando. The Willcox Addition to Orlando at Lake Ivanhoe was developed by James & Katherine, and James was not alone in buying property. Katherine purchased an entire square mile (640 acres) to the east of present-day Eatonville in 1881.

Orange County legal documents show her name as Catherine and Katherine, but the lake named for her is and always has been, Lake Catherine. On their Maitland property, James & Catherine Willcox built Park Lake Hotel, and named Park Lake, Lake Eulalie, and Lake Catherine.  

 

1890 Maitland map showing Hotel plus Lakes Park and Catherine

James & Catherine Willcox had named Lake Eulalie for a daughter born in 1858 to James’ first wife. That daughter became sister Eulalia Amelia of the Holy child of Jesus Society. In 1881, James & Catherine conveyed a parcel of land on Lake Eulalia to the Roman Catholic Church.

James M. Willcox died in 1895, and Catherine remained a widow until her death in 1915.

[Further reading: Orlando Lakes: Homesteaders & Namesakes, plus First Road to Orlando, each by Richard Lee Cronin].

 

Lena #Short Lovell of Orlando

Born December 1880 in Kansas, Lena SHORT and her family moved to Orange County about the time she turned five. At the young age of 15, Lena was given a contract to teach in Orange County Schools for a seven (7) month period. Her teaching assignment was in a remote corner of South Orange County, so out of a $25 monthly salary, she had to pay room and board of $8 per month to live in the home of a family of six, four of whom were the young teacher’s students.

To begin her teaching career, Lena left her Orlando home in October 1895 aboard a horse drawn wagon. Her first teaching assignment was seven (7) miles south of Pine Castle. Lena personally described her teaching assignment and living quarters, and we are indebted to a descendant who passed her memoirs along to this historian, so that we can all appreciate this very special Central Florida frontierswoman:

“I was shown my room. It was what is known as a ‘shed room’. That is, one end of a porch had been boarded up. It had a stationary, one pane glass window with a nice scrap of lace curtain over it, a homemade bed with native moss mattress and a pillow, and a small table once known as a washstand with a towel bar at each end. The floor, of course, was far from water or airtight – being a porch – and the cracks between the boards were wide enough to run a lead pencil through. If I dropped any small article woe to me – for that was the last of it. I was soon fast asleep – how long I do not know – for I was awakened by bumping and scraping under the low floor and squeals and grunts of a mother hog coming home to her lair to feed her babies in the bed she made for them and herself under my room. These hogs are infested with ‘hog fleas’ which are very large and can leap incredible distances and heights. Many a time I was obliged to get up in the dead of night that winter and shake the fleas out of my bed so that I, a tired and weary fifteen (15) year old, could sleep. It was some time before there was a rain. When it came it was in the middle of the night, and I was awakened by splashes in my face. I was obliged to get my huge umbrella and open and sit under it while the rest of the bed got a soaking.”

As an adult, Myra “Lena” Short married Frederick Charles Lovell, son of central Florida pioneer and Orange County’s first school Superintendent, William A. Lovell. Education, it seems, ran in Lovell’s family bloodlines, for the excerpt above is from a memoir submitted to me by another of the long line of Lovell schoolteachers, a retired teacher of 50 years himself.

 

Follow Author & Historian Richard Lee Cronin

https://www.amazon.com/author/richardcronin

 

Josephine #Short of Mount Dora

Josephine Short (1862-1926) was the daughter of Dr. Susan (Downer) Short of Eustis and Mount Dora (see Post of March 6, 2022). A published author, Josephine lived at Eustis and Mount Dora with her mother during winter months, then returned to New York City for the summer went not traveling. One of her well-reviewed books was Chosen Days in Scotland, published in 1911 by Thomas Crowell Company.

 

Chosen Days in Scotland by Josephine H. Short

“It is a well-made book. She has compressed into so small a space so much wild and romantic scenery, so much stormy history, and such fascinating romance.”

[Further reading: Mount Dora: The Lure. The Founding, The Founders by Richard Lee Cronin. Chosen Days in Scotland by Josephine H. Short can be found online as a rare book.]

 

History Museum of the Day

 

Davenport Historical Society

Named for Fort Davenport, the 1880s railroad town of Davenport grew up along the South Florida Railroad route from Kissimmee to Tampa. This historical society works to preserve the history of this historic town. “Fort Davenport Lateral” is also Chapter 9 in this author’s book, Beyond Gatlin: A History of South Orange County. The town of Davenport is today in Polk County.

  

1838 Fort Davenport Trail from Beyond Gatlin

 

Questions? Comments? Rick@CroninBooks.com 

Women's History Month - Day 24

 

Frontierswomen of Central Florida

 

Miss Fannie Rosseel

A Women’s History Month Tribute

By Richard Lee Cronin, CroninBooks.com

24 March 2022

 

Day 24

CitrusLAND is observing Women’s History Month by honoring extraordinary Central Florida frontierswomen. And as we celebrate Women’s History Month throughout March, we are also featuring each day a History Museum, listing their days and hours of operation.

See also our featured History Museum in this Post

 

Fannie #Rosseel of Mount Dora

Mount Dora’s Rosseel Street of 1918 began as a one-block street and continually shortened until it was more a driveway than a roadway. Making matters worse for the road however was that the name was often misspelled, so much so that in 1946 a newspaper reporter asked, “Why is Rosseel always spelled Rossell? Although the first spelling is correct, the latter probably appears more correct to most.

Charles and Fannie Rosseel were brother and sister Mount Dora snowbirds, Charles a Director for the Bordentown Banking Company of Bordentown, New Jersey, died while wintering in Mount Dora and is buried at Pine Forest Cemetery in Mount Dora. Fannie Rosseel was an active ‘social leader’ wrote Mount Dora Topic, a woman who busied herself each winter season with arranging civic activities and social gatherings.

One such Fannie Rosseel fundraising event was to finance the education of a local Mount Dora child at the acclaimed “Berry School” in Georgia. Still educating children today, Berry School, founded in 1902 by Martha Berry, continues to annually celebrate their founder during Women’s History Month.

Charles and Fannie Rosseel built their winter home overlooking Lake Dora west of Helen Street, although after her brother’s death in 1918, Fannie began spending her winters at the historic Villa Dora Hotel (March 28^th Post).   

Fannie Rosseel (photo at beginning of this post) never married. She died at age 74 in December of 1929 at Bordentown, New Jersey.  

 

Mary Frances #Russell Burleigh

Orlando’s “Lake Ivanhoe” was mentioned by name in a deed dated March 1, 1882. Although the earliest settlers had been trekking past this impressive body of water for nearly 40 years prior to John G. Sinclair selling a lakeside parcel to Edward Burleigh, no name for the lake ever seems to have taken hold until 1882.

Central Florida pioneer Edward S. Burleigh is today associated more with Tavares than Orlando, especially considering US 441 bypassing downtown Tavares is also called Burleigh Boulevard. For a moment in the story of Orlando settlers however, Edward Burleigh was also an important pioneer. When he came to Florida from New Hampshire in the 1880s, he first selected a site on Lake Ivanhoe for a residence. And during that moment, Burleigh named the lake, a name that survived the ages.

1890 Lake Ivanhoe north of Orlando

Lake Ivanhoe’s are few and far between in America, although there is at least one other Lake Ivanhoe, one which happens to be located at Wakefield, New Hampshire, the homeplace of Edward’s mother, Mary Frances Russell. Today, Lake Ivanhoe Beach is still a popular hangout for locals, and the same was surely true when Dr. Richard Russell settled his family there.

John G. Sinclair, himself of New Hampshire, came to Central Florida in the late 1870s, acquired Orlando property on Lakes Concord and Ivanhoe, and immediately began attracting buyers from New England. By 1882, as Orlando Attorney Alexander St. Clair-Abrams began developing the town of Tavares, Sinclair, by then considered one of the largest and most successful land agents in the area, opened a branch office at Tavares. Edward S. Burleigh then migrated west from Orlando to downtown Tavares.

Edward Burleigh traveled to Tallahassee with Alexander St. Clair-Abrams in May 1887 to assist in convincing legislators to approve the formation of Lake County, but back at Orlando, Edward left a memorial to the memory of his mother, Mary Frances Russell. Countless new arrivals to central Florida today enter Orlando, the county seat of Orange County, via Lake Ivanhoe, and Tavares, the county seat of Lake County, via Burleigh Boulevard.

[Further Reference: Orlando Lakes: Homesteads & Namesakes, Tavares: Darling of Orange County, Birthplace of Lake County, both by Richard Lee Cronin.]

 

Sarah K. #Rutland Vick of Oakland

Sarah Katherine Rutland, born in 1862 at Rutland’s Ferry on the Wekiva River, was the youngest of five siblings. An orphan and residing with grandparents in Georgia by 1870, Sarah returned to Orange County by 1880 as one of only two surviving family members, or so it was generally believed at the time. Sarah and brother Othman Rutland signed several deeds in the early 1880s as the “sole heirs of Isaac N. Rutland,” their father, one of two Orange County 1861 delegates to Florida’s Secession Convention. Sarah’s is anything but the typical story of a Civil War baby.

Isaac N. Rutland (center), 1 of 2 Orange County 1861 Secession Convention delegates

Sarah married Ezekiel C. Vick in 1880 and settled first at Apopka. Her brother Othman Rutland settled at West Apopka, on the west side of Lake Apopka, partnering with Miles Stewart, his cousin from Apopka, to establish a lakeside farming community that years later became known as Ferndale.

The freeze of 1894-95 wiped out many a local grower, including the Vick family and Othman Rutland, so as each family was financially bankrupt, they relocated together to Sanibel Island, site today of the Othman Rutland House in the Sanibel Historical Museum village. By the year 1900, Sarah Katherine (Rutland) Vick was the only surviving member of the Rutland’s Ferry family of Orange County.

Sarah, husband Ezekiel, and five Vick children returned to Orange County, settled at Oakland, where they once again started over. The Vick’s became prominent citizens of Oakland, where on Christmas Eve of 1950, Sarah K. (Rutland) Vick died at age 88.

The life Sarah Rutland led was immersed in mystery. Her father’s disappearance during the Civil War was only the beginning of a tragic family story stretching all the way to the year 1911, when Sarah’s oldest brother – Cassius M. Rutland, long believed to be dead – was buried in the family plot at Oakland.

The story of Sarah and her brother Othman became the main characters in this author’s history Novel, The Rutland Mule Matter, a story of two siblings in the late 1880s search of their father, who had vanished in the 1860s during the Civil War. A story of true-life Orange County pioneers reliving a factual Central Florida coverup, one 5 Star reviewer said of The Rutland Mule Matter that it was a great book for young readers and that it should be available in middle schools.

 

Follow Author & Historian Richard Lee Cronin

https://www.amazon.com/author/richardcronin

 

 

History Museum of the Day

 Above: Richard Cronin presenting at Orlando Remembered in 2019

Orlando Remembered

Preserving the History of Orlando

 

www.OrlandoRemembered.org

 

Orlando Remembered began from the remains of the once grand San Juan Hotel in Orlando, Florida in 1979. The sight of the demolished inn sent interior designer Dan Acito and insurance executive Andy Serros into the more than two-decade mission of keeping the fires of memory burning for old Orlando.

As always, questions and comments: Rick@Croninbooks.com

 

Women's History Month - Day 23

 

Frontierswomen of Central Florida

“I see the Mountain!”

A Women’s History Month Tribute

By Richard Lee Cronin, CroninBooks.com

23 March 2022

 

Day 23

CitrusLAND is observing Women’s History Month by honoring extraordinary Central Florida frontierswomen. And as we celebrate Women’s History Month throughout March, we are also featuring each day a History Museum, listing their days and hours of operation.

See also our featured History Museum in this Post

 

Fannie #Randolph Robinson of Fort Reid

Born 1854 at St. Louis, Missouri, Fannie #Lambeth Randolph was the second daughter of William M. & Mary (Pitts) Randolph. Arriving at Fort Reid (Sanford) with her parents as a teenager in 1869, Fannie lived at the historic Orange House Hotel at Woodruff Place, a rustic 1850s residence on an orange grove dating to when the house had been built.

Built in the 1870 by Fannie’s parents, Orange House Hotel was located along the First Road to Orlando. Fannie’s parents also involved themselves in the planning of a railroad that was to run alongside their hotel. But in 1880, South Florida Railroad decided to start its journey south from Lake Monroe a mile to the west of Fort Reid, rendering the first road to Orlando obsolete. That change in railway plans rendered the Orange House Hotel obsolete as well.

After marrying Benjamin Robinson in 1883, Fannie and her groom continued living at the Orange House, although it no longer served as a hotel. Three Robinson children were born to Fannie & Benjamin while living at Fort Reid and prior to Fannie’s death at age 38 in 1892.

The three Robinson children were sent to live with relatives in Alabama at first, but all three returned to Central Florida after their father remarried. Mary Randolph Robinson, Fannie’s first born in 1894, graduated from Rollins College, attended Columbia University, and settled at Orlando until her death at age 82 in 1967. Her sister Fannie Robinson, born 1886 at Fort Reid, married Donald A. Cheney. Her mother’s namesake, Fannie Robinson Cheney celebrated her 104^th birthday prior to her death in 1990. William Randolph Robinson, the third child of Fannie and Benjamin M. Robinson, born in 1890, died at Orlando in 1971.

 

Mrs. Fannie (Robinson) Cheney (1886-1990)

 

Mary #Randolph Harney of Pine Castle

The Randolph’s had relocated to central Florida after the Civil War to bring the scattered family together. Fannie Randolph, mentioned previously, came from St. Louis with her parents, and her older sister, Mary St. Mayer Randolph, having married in 1868 to Will Wallace Harney, set out for Florida from Louisville, Kentucky.

Mary traveled overland in a covered wagon, a journey of nearly a thousand miles that took the newlyweds thru the devastation that had been wrought by four years of war. The long-slow land journey however became more and more difficult for the young mother-to-be. The Harney’s arrived at Fort Reid in 1869, in time for the Randolph clan to celebrate their first Christmas in Florida. For Mary St. Mayer (Randolph) Harney, it was to be her only Florida Christmas. Two weeks after arriving at Fort Reid, and after first giving birth to William Randolph Harney, Mary died, at age 25, on 8 January 1870.

Mary was laid to rest on her parent’s Fort Gatlin property overlooking Lake Gatlin. Will Wallace Harney raised their only child, and he never remarried. As years past, the son William Randolph Harney departed Central Florida, choosing to live in Miami and later Jacksonville. but before he left central Florida, William paid to have the remains of a mother he never knew reinterred at Orlando’s Greenwood Cemetery.

Writer and romantic Will Wallace Harney never fully recovered from the loss of his wife. His poetry and writings after the death of his one true love became the legacy of Mary (Randolph) Harney. Even his popular poem ‘The Bergamot’, was not really about an orange blossom.

We had no other gifts to give

But just one withering flower,

We had no other lives to live,

But just that sweet half hour.

The Bergamot by Will Wallace Harney

 

[Further reading: Will Wallace Harney: Orlando’s First Renaissance Man, written by Richard Lee Cronin for, and distributed by, Pine Castle historical Society; and Beyond Gatlin: A History of South Orange County by Richard Lee Cronin].

 

Catherine #Reames Roberson-Reaves

Piecing together Orlando’s mysterious origin is tantamount to assembling a challenging jigsaw puzzle. Pieces to the complex puzzle include a surveyor’s sketch, a black & white photo of Lake Eola, a false legend of how the town got its name, a boy’s recollection of his first visit in 1861 to the county seat, and of course, a young teenage girl turned bride, Catherine Reames. 

Robert Roper was the young boy recalling for historian William F. Blackman his journey to Orlando with his father in April 1861. He recalled the date because on their way they learned the Confederate Army had attacked Fort Sumter. Robert Roper’s visit is also verified by a deed, a dated document itemizing store goods William C. Roper purchased from Henry Roberson.

Robert Roper, 8 years old in 1861, recalled the Roberson name too, but then, he knew well the wife of Henry Roberson. One year prior, young Robert and Catherine had made the long land journey to central Florida together. Cousins, their families traveled by convoy from Meriwether, Georgia to Orange County just before the War. Catherine was at that time 15 years old.

The Roper’s settled at Oakland Plantation, where the town of Winter Garden is today. Bartlett & Mary Reames, along with daughter Catherine, continued a bit further, settling down at what was then a tiny village only 3 years old. Four (4) acres in size, the village was called Orlando.

Catherine’s father purchased one of Orlando’s 12 town lots. Lot 1 to be exact, Bartlett’s town lot was 100’ x 100’. The lot was located where Orange County Library now stands. Bartlett Reames partnered with Henry Roberson and opened a store. Then, Henry took a fancy to young Catherine, and they soon married.

Bartlett Reames also acquired 80 acres adjacent to the east of the village, land abutting what we know today as Lake Eola.

After loading the store goods purchased, young Robert Roper, his father William, Bartlett Reames, and a pregnant Catherine (Reames) Roberson, departed Orlando and returned to the Roper homestead. Henry Roberson also departed Orlando, heading to Virginia to fight with the Confederacy. And never again did Henry see his wife, nor did he ever lay eyes on his infant son, Henry Roberson, Jr.

At War’s end, Widow Catherine, still a resident of West Orange County, married a second time. Husband number two for Catherine of the Many R’s was Mark Bryan Reaves.

Catherine (Reames) Roberson - Reaves became an integral piece of a mysterious puzzle that is today the origins of Orlando, a baffling origin centered around a fictitious legend of a mythical Orlando Reeves. The problem, you see, was that after the War, in the late 19^th century, Catherine returned to Orlando briefly to resolve her first husband’s estate, land bordering Lake Lucerne. In doing so, Catherine signed the document as Catherine Reaves.

 

 

Catherine (Reames) Roberson - Reaves

 

Catherine (Reames) Roberson- Reaves is buried in Winter Garden. Her tombstone is surrounded by grave markers of other family members, individuals identified as both Reaves and Reeves. There was no such person as Orlando Reeves, but Catherine, she was the real thing!

[Further reading: First Road to Orlando, by Richard Lee Cronin]

 

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Fannie Fraser #Ross Franklin of Montverde

Mishack Ross married Mary Fraser at Washington, DC prior to their relocating to Mississippi, where, in 1857, their first of two daughters, Fannie Fraser #Ross, was born. By 1870, Fannie, at age 13, was back in DC, enrolled as a student at the Visitation Convent in Georgetown. At age 20, Fannie Fraser Ross married at Washington, DC, her groom being Lt. James Franklin, who graduated that same year from the Naval Academy at nearby Annapolis, Maryland.

Lt. Franklin was assigned to the Pacific fleet, where he served on the U. S. S. Ashuelot until he was hospitalized due to an onboard accident. Discharged because of an injury, James & Fannie (Ross) Franklin came to Sumter County, Florida, homesteaded overlooking the west shore of Lake Apopka, and, like most every other pioneer of the early 1880s, planted orange trees.

Franklin Pond at Montverde was named for James & Fannie Ross, but name origins extend well beyond this tiny pond called Franklin. Although others had settled in this region long before the Franklin’s arrived, the community had yet to be formally named. The name Montverde, Florida does not appear in print until circa 1887, when the arrival of Tavares, Apopka & Gulf Railroad encouraged the citizens to name their town. But Montverde likely meant little or nothing to most area settlers on the west shore of Lake Apoka. Most, but not all.

Perhaps it is merely a coincidence that a young student from Georgetown settled in a wilderness at the foot of Sumter County’s Sugarloaf Mountain. More a hill actually, but an unnamed hilltop until the arrival of Fannie (Ross) Franklin.

Sugarloaf Mountain was and remains familiar to Georgetown residents. A  distinguished family named Peters of Georgetown and Washington, DC had kept summer cottages at Maryland’s nearby Sugarloaf Mountain since the 1700s, one such cottage being called Montanverde, the other Montevideo. One could see sugarloaf from Montevideo, said to be Latin for, “I see the Mountain.”

Although a historic Novel which takes place in the 1880s, the true-life Fannie (Ross) Franklin is a character in this author’s book, The Rutland Mule Matter. A story about a real-like Central Florida Civil War coverup, the Franklin’s of Montverde offers the Rutland family advice about traveling to DC – an 1888 journey in search of Civil War information that might lead to finding their missing father, Isaac N. Rutland. In my Novel, Fannie suggests they take a side trip while in DC.

Fannie (Ross) Franklin lived at Montverde. She and husband James also deeded a portion of their land to establish the town of Montverde. The Franklin’s left their mark on Franklin Pond, and a schoolgirl named Fannie left her mark as well on the city of Montverde.  

[Further reading: The Rutland Mule Matter and CitrusLAND, DC, both by Richard Lee Cronin].

 

History Museum of the Day

Seminole County Historical Society

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Questions? Comments? Email Rick@CroninBooks.com