George REED of Forest City, Florida

REED & REID names are found often in the story of 19^th century central Florida. Fort REID was only the second settlement south of Lake Monroe, founded in 1842 after the Army departed, thinking they had ended the Indian War. Much of East Orange County has its origins in an Englishman named REED, while Orlando, well it could have become a ghost town had it not been for Robert R. REID of Palatka.

People named Reed and Reid had been so involved in the early days of central Florida development that historians began getting them confused. So for the sake of Righting History, the mission of REED vis-à-vis REID Week is to sort one from the other. A six part series featuring six different pioneering families having similar names, I wrap up my series shining the spotlight on George REED, a determined Connecticut merchant whose motto had to be, “if at first you don’t succeed….”

Village of Tontogany, Ohio, 25 miles southwest of Toledo, flourished in the 1870s in part because a railroad line from Cincinnati pushed northward in the direction of Toledo. A native of Connecticut, George and Sarah REED moved west, and by 1860, had settled in Ohio. George REED opened a store at Tontogany, and by 1875, was a Councilman. “The Tontogany fire of December 31, 1876,’ says a Wood County, Ohio history, “destroyed Black & Ingraham’s drug store, William Allen’s store, George REED’s Store, the Masonic Hall above it; Cooley’s Grocery, and Ridgeway’s tailor shop.”

REED picked himself up, dusted himself off, and by 1884 had relocated to Forest City, an up and coming new Orange County town founded by Cleveland Department Store owner John G. HOWER. George REED was appointed Forest City Postmaster March 19, 1884, and the following year, Webb’s Historical described the town as: “three and one-half miles from the South Florida Railway.”

Orange Belt Railway began serving Forest City by 1886, and where a Target Department Store stands today at SR 436 and Forest City Road stood, in the 1890s, “a handsome rail depot, complete with a telegraph office.” On the western outskirts of Forest City was the residence and grove of George REED, overlooking Pearl Lake. Then came Florida’s great freeze of 1894-95, wiping out most every grower and citrus tree.

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Prior to the freeze, Fred H. REED, son of George & Sarah, had gone out on his, and had both participated in and staked a claim during Oklahoma’s Land Rush of 1889. George and Sarah, nearing their 70s when the freeze destroyed their Forest City grove, moved on once again, this time to Oklahoma City. Son Fred, a merchant by then, had opened a furniture store, following in his father’s footsteps.

Whatever anyone might say of the Reid and Reeds of early central Florida one thing is for certain – they were all, in their own special way, a hardy bunch.

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Jacksonville's Arthur M. REED

Photos adapted from Florida Memory Project & Find-a-Grave memorial

Two Orange County delegates voted against Florida’s 1861 Secession, but as years passed, one was erased from the pages of early historical accounts. In 1927, Historian Blackman wrote of delegate Woodruff, yet never mentioned delegate Rutland. It was during my search for the missing Florida delegate that I happened upon an Isaac N. Rutland deed in which he acquired 200 acres from “Arthur M. REID of Duval County.” The deed proved Isaac was still alive in 1863. I eventually located an 1865 Provost Marshal file titled The Rutland Mule Matter, in which was correspondence from Mrs. Rutland, wanting her mule returned. Isaac, I learned was deceased. The REID deed helped me track down Isaac, and in turn helped me write the conclusion to my book, The Rutland Mule Matter. But who was Arthur M. REID?

Straddling both sides of the Wekiva River in 1863 Orange County, the land REID sold to RUTLAND was smack dab in the middle of nowhere. It was however adjacent to acreage belonging to Isaac N. Rutland, 80 acres he had named RUTLAND’S Ferry. Today, SR 46 crosses the river at Rutland’s Ferry of yesteryear.

The Land Office had made out a deed to Arthur M. REED, not REID, dated within two months of Isaac Rutland’s deed. Orange County had indexed the name as REID, while Duval County’s 1850 census listed Arthur & Harriett READ. Harriet N. REED signed the Reid sale to Rutland, so Arthur’s actual name, it seems, was REED!

This week long series has covered a Governor REED, a Territorial Governor REID, a British Capitalist named REED and Orlando’s town builder REID, all of whom played a unique role in the 19^th century development of central Florida. So who then was Arthur M. REED, aka REID, aka READ – all of Duval County?

Born 1813 at Hartford, Connecticut, Arthur came south as a young man in the 1830s. He married Harriett at St. Augustine in 1838, and the next year, October of 1839, he was living at Jacksonville and working as an Army Pension agent. The second Seminole Indian War was going on at the time.

By 1860, as winds of a Civil War began blowing, Arthur M. REED was running his own bank at Jacksonville, owned Mulberry Grove Plantation on the St. Johns River, and had just acquired 200 acres on the Wekiva River in Orange County. Then came War, and the REED family reportedly moved to the plantation because Union troops were occupying Jacksonville.

Civil War obviously interrupted whatever he had planned for his Wekiva River property at Rutland’s Ferry in Orange County. After War’s end, Arthur, still in Jacksonville, got into the real estate business, listing his office as 1 ½ Bay Street in the 1870s, while his residence was given simply as “up the river.”

Arthur’s wife Harriet had been a native of Indiana. The couple had two children, twin girls, born at Jacksonville in 1842. Named Harriett Douglas REED and Louisa Burritt REED both girls married a PEARSON, and one of the girl’s settled originally at Volusia County. Arthur & Harriett died at Jacksonville, she in 1894, he in 1899.

Meanwhile, at Longwood, Florida, a Russian immigrant had set out in 1886 to open up West Orange County to development by building a railroad. The Orange Belt Railway paved the way for dozens of new towns stretching from Lake Monroe to the Gulf of Mexico. One such town was Forest City, where tomorrow, we conclude our week-long series, REED vis-à-vis REID.

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Town Builder Robert R. REID

A contentious Governor REED, a fort named for Territorial Governor REID, and a British Capitalist named REED, combined in Florida history to confuse 19^th century surveyors. That confusion spread to historians, as William F. Blackman, in 1927, told of a place called Fort REED, a fortress and town we know now to be Fort REID.

The most confusing of all however, I believe, is found at ORLANDO, the hub of Orange County, and of a merchant from Palatka named Robert Raymond REID III. The son of Territorial Governor REID, the Palatka merchant singlehandedly rescued a county seat on the verge of becoming a Ghost Town. Two Southerners, in 1860, believed they owned a 120 acre tract surrounding a small log cabin courthouse at Orlando. The exact same 120 acres actually! Both men, like so many who had departed central Florida in the early 1860s to fight a Civil War, died in that War.

On the first Monday in January, 1867, the steps of Orlando’s Courthouse was scheduled to be auctioned off - on the steps of Orlando’s Courthouse. As that day approached, 100 miles north, a Palatka merchant boarded a steamboat at his war-torn Teasdale & Reid Wharf. That merchant followed the St. Johns River south, along the same route taken only two years prior by a Navy vessel on a mission – a mission to close out ‘The Rutland Mule Matter’ file.

The merchant disembarked at Mellonville that January of 1867, the very pier where a mule had been delivered in 1865. Here, REID III began a 25 mile trek down on the ‘First Road to Orlando’, passing first through Fort REID, the settlement named a quarter century earlier for his father, REID II. Continuing south REID III eventually arrived at the County Seat, his intended destination, in time to accomplish HIS mission.

Robert R. REID III of Palatka submitted the low bid of $900 to Sheriff John IVEY on the 7^th of January, 1867. Then, with deed in hand, he returned home, perhaps even stopping to visit an aging Veteran of the Indian War, Augustus J. VAUGHN, to thank Fort REID’S elderly homesteader for preserving the fort named for his father.

REID III resumed his role as a prominent Palatka merchant. 13 years later though, he and wife Mary also became Orange County land developers by filing a two page plat of an 80 acre Town of Orlando. The REIDS’S continued living at Palatka. Their two page plat identified the landowner on page one, the north half, as Robert R. REID, while the south half, page two, was said to be owned by R. R. REED.

Now then, about that mule. While researching the man at the center of an 1865 U. S. Provost Marshal file, I happened upon the individual next in this series of Reed vis-à-vis Reed. He will be featured in my Part Five, in this week long series. Arthur Read, aka Reed, aka Reid – tomorrow.       

Florida's Sir Edward James REED

Sir Edward James REED of England was an interesting player in the story of Florida’s developing 19^th century Citrus Belt as well. Parts One & Two of this week long series featured two Florida Governors, pre-Statehood REID and one post-Statehood REED. They were not related, but in their own unique way left their marks on central Florida history. This Part Three introduces a REED from across the pond.

Sir Edward James and wife Lady Rosetta REED, of Hextable, Kent County, England, acquired 65,000 acres of central Florida wilderness in 1883, transferring the land to a holding company, Florida Land & Mortgage Company Limited. REED was Chairman.

Born at Sheerness, England in 1830, Sir REED became Chief Constructor for the British Navy, holding that position from 1863 until 1870. REED then wemt out on his own, and as a naval constructor and engineer, did business with Russia, Australia and Turkey.

Sir Edward James REED’S financial interests in the 1880s expanded to include railroads and land development in the USA, Florida in particular. He organized Florida Central & Western Railroad, planning to lay down 234 miles of railroad from Jacksonville to Chattahoochee.

REED also acquired the 65,000 acres in CitrusLANDFL, as well as other Florida land, and his company provided financing to their buyers. Orlando Municipal Airport began service in 1928. Operating as Orlando Executive Airport today, its runways cross land that, in 1883, belonged to John DEUTSCHMAN, a German immigrant who purchased his land from Sir Edward James REED of Hextable, England.

Yet another purchaser of REED properties was George W. Lockwood of Connecticut. An early East Orange County settler, Lockwood and his son founded Lockwood Post Office, an early Econlockhatchee River crossing. Much of REED’S land surrounded BITHLO of today.

REED outlived his Florida business ventures, living until 1906, and being laid to rest in his birth country of England.

We’ve now presented three histories of 19^th century individuals who played key roles in a developing central Florida, each being named REID or REED. But tomorrow we tell the story of Floridian who, like the comedian Rodney Dangerfield, couldn’t get any respect. He first rescued one of Orange County’s most important cities, only to have that town’s plat spell out his name as both REED and REID. We’ll sort out that mess in tomorrow’s Part Four of REED vis-à-vis REID Week.

Florida Territorial Governor Robert R. REID

The story of Florida’s developing 19^th century Citrus Belt, as stated in our Part One, includes a half dozen or more individuals named Reed & Reid. Most were not related, and yet each played, in their own unique way, key roles in the development of central Florida. As historians began documenting these folks, they often misspelled names, so in turn, the area’s true story blurred. All this week CitrusLANDFL will Right History, beginning with Governor REED in Part One. Today we feature Florida’s 4^th Territorial Governor, Robert Raymond REID (1789-1841).

“We ascend the crest of a park-like forest on the old Fort road; and passing between tall picket fences, over which hangs the dark varnished green of the orange, grove after grove, we come to old Fort REID.” South Florida Railroad in 1887 was able to get right what earlier surveyors could not – spelling the name of Fort REID correctly. The first surveyor spelled the name REED in 1845, an error that has been perpetuated to some extent throughout Florida history. A mile and half inland from Lake Monroe, Historic Fort Reid evolved from a fortress to a 19^th century town, all because of one soldier by the name of Augustus Jefferson Vaughn. After serving at the military outpost, Vaughn remained as comrades departed, and he then made the old fortress his residence.

Of four forts on the 25 mile old forts trail south to Gatlin, Reid was the only fort named to honor a living person. Monroe, Maitland & Gatlin were each named for soldiers who had died in the war.

Territorial Governor Robert R. REID had argued in favor of releasing the shackles from the Army to allow them to do their job in the war against the Indians. His endorsement earned REID a fort named in his honor. Born 1789 in Prince William Parish, SC, as an attorney REID married twice while living in Augusta, GA. After the loss of two wives he relocated in 1835 to St. Augustine, accepting a Presidential appointment as U. S. Judge of East Florida. Robert R, REID became the 4^th Territorial Governor in 1839.

Fort Reid was established November 9, 1840, and Robert R. REID completed his term as Governor March 19, 1841. He died July 1, 1841 during a yellow fever epidemic. A son, also Robert R. REID, is a story for another day.

Florida Governor Harrison REED

The story of Florida’s developing 19^th century Citrus Belt includes a half dozen or more individuals named Reed & Reid. Most were not related to one another, yet each played, in a special way, key roles in the development of central Florida. As historians began documenting these folks, they often misspelled names, so in turn the area’s true story blurred. Fort REID near Sanford is a prime example, for historians often referred to the old fortress as REED. This week, CitrusLANDFL will attempt to set the record straight, starting today with Florida’s 9^th Governor, Harrison REED (1813-1899).

Sworn in June 8, 1868, the Massachusetts native did not begin to serve as governor until July 4, 1868. REED had to await formal recognition from the Federal Commander, for in the aftermath of America’s Civil War, Florida was still under control of the Military Reconstruction Act. Navy ships were still patrolling the waterways, including central Florida’s main transportation artery, the St. Johns River.

Abraham Lincoln assigned REED in 1863 as Florida Tax Commissioner.  As his job then included resolving confiscated Confederate property, REED met with a lot of resistance from opponents later as Governor. Twice during his one and only term anti-REED opponents tried to impeach him. As Governor, REED also served as President over the Florida Internal Improvement Fund board, and in that capacity, he signed off on two huge land deals involving 1.3 million plus acres. Both deeds were eventually overturned by the U. S. Supreme Court.

One of the two transactions dealt specifically with central Florida. On March 1, 1871, he authorized the sale of 81,137 acres to a New Yorker. The price: ten cents per acre. Most public land at the time was going for no less than $1.25 per acre. Acreage was scattered across 15 Orange and Volusia County townships, and one small sampling is 160 acres at Lakes Hope and Charity in present day Maitland. The Governor’s intent may have been honorable, but the price and fact that the board’s co-signer on the deed doubled at the time as a Real Estate Agent, certainly raised the ire of local citizenry of that time.

There is nothing to suggest locals named anything in honor of this 9^th Florida Governor, but that’s not so with our next featured Florida founder. Reed vis-à-vis Reid continues tomorrow.

Martha & Lucinda JERNIGAN - Sisters of the old fortress

The FINALE!

I’ve shared stories of thirty plus remarkable frontierswomen throughout March, each of whom, in their own unique way, changed the course of central Florida’s history. Many never made it into history books, with exception of my books, yet each and every one is certainly deserving of being remembered. The final spotlight shines on Lucinda and Martha JERNIGAN, daughters of one of the first area settlers, Aaron JERNIGAN.

Each daughter left a unique mark on local history. Martha wrote memoirs, painting an excellent picture of how challenging life was for the earliest of settlers. Lucinda paid the ultimate price for those attempting to tame a remote Orange County wilderness. Few today realize however that one #Orlando icon was meant to memorialize HER.

LUCINDA was married in 1858 to merchant George HUGHEY when her father gave her 160 acres near the newly established village of Orlando. “In consideration of the sum,” wrote Aaron Jernigan, “of the mutual love and affection which I have and bear toward my daughter.” Any plans George and Lucinda might have had for their acreage is not known, as George died later that year. Lucinda, left with two children ages 2 and 3, married again in 1859. Lucinda’s second husband was Orlando merchant George W. TERRELL, but within a year, at age 27, Lucinda (JERNIGAN) Hughey-Terrell died, likely in childbirth.

The lake on her land came to be known as Lake LUCINDY. Lucinda paid the dreadful price for living in Orange County’s rugged wilderness. A later developer messed with lake’s name a tad, but Lucinda was indeed the inspiration for naming Lake LUCERNE. Today, a Lake Lucerne fountain welcomes visitors arriving from the south.

MARTHA (Jernigan) Tyler was also gifted lakefront land by her father. Her parcel was on Lake Conway, but Martha’s central Florida’s legacy remains her memoirs, a telling history of hard times early settlers were forced to endure. Martha was nine (9) when the families south of Orlando, fearing an Indian attack was imminent, “fortified” themselves at Fort Gatlin. 67 individuals represented the population of South Orange County at the time, and Martha’s detailed account of those families provided the first history about these courageous settlers.

Martha reported that 17 adults and 50 children were gathered at the fortress, 50 young Orange County citizens representing the future of central Florida. I am honored to meet descendants of these brave souls nearly every time I’m asked to address those who want to hear of the region’s earliest days.   

The history of 19^th century central Florida is packed full of amazing individuals, men and women, all of whom struggled to overcome a constant bombardment of unimaginable hardships. The history itself is fascinating, but is made so not merely by events, but rather because of the character of each participant.

These courageous souls are, and will remain, the main focus of my historical writings. I hope you have enjoyed this #WomensHistoryMonth series. I invite you to look over my www.CroninBooks.com website, and please, let me know your thoughts and comments at Rick@Cronin.Books.com