David N. SKILLINGS and Charles WHITNEY

RAILROAD to AMERICA’S PARADISE

The FLORIDA SOUTHERN RAILWAY

Part 3: David Nelson Skillings and Charles Whitney

This Nation’s largest lumber merchant came to the rescue of Florida Southern Railroad.

Illinois investors organized in 1876 to build a railroad, not in their State, but far to the south, in Florida, a railroad to run 300 miles down through the State’s heartland, from Gainesville in the north, to Charlotte Harbor in the south. Their train was called, appropriately, The Gainesville, Ocala and Charlotte Harbor Railroad.

The basic groundwork for their new train was laid in 1877. Dr. Hartwell C. Howard, of Champaign County, Illinois, met in Tallahassee with the Florida Internal Improvement Fund (IIF) Board, chaired by Florida’s Governor. (Part 1). Florida’s Legislature set up the IIF in 1855, for the purpose of 'improving' the State’s non-existent transportation system.

A half-century before personal autos, canals and railroads, it was decided, were needed if Florida was ever to attract settlers. The first railroad had been built in the northern section of the State - prior to the Civil War, built using funds of New York investors. After the War, Florida couldn’t pay off the investors, so a court injunction was obtained to prevent Florida from using public lands as an enticement to others willing to build railroads.

Dr. Howard struck a deal with the IIF, albeit mostly a one-side deal. The State promised to reserve land along the route of the railroad provided they submit a survey showing the path of the train. Civil Engineer and Illinois Partner Nathaniel R. Gruelle then went to work on that survey (Part 2), even though there was little the State could do other than to hold the land until a future date, after that court injunction was lifted.

By 1879, the eight Illinois investors still couldn’t build their train, not until a group out of Boston appeared on the scene. They brought “valuable consideration,” so after first negotiating ownership in what was by then the “Florida Southern Railroad”, these new investors met with the IIF Board on February 1, 1880.

The Bostonians had in their possession a written agreement entered into prior to the death of “the late Francis Vose,” the New York Capitalist who had been granted the injunction against the State of Florida. Vose had transferred part of his debt coupons, in exchange for $36,000, over to “Charles Francis, D. N. Skillings and Charles Whitney", all three of Boston, Massachusetts.

Charles Whitney was the eldest son of Boston lumber dealer David Whitney. By 1870, brothers David and Hiram had joined with Charles to form Whitney Brothers Lumber Merchants, and soon thereafter, merged with the firm of David N. Skillings to establish Skillings & Whitney Brothers, touted as being the largest lumber dealer in America.  Based out of Boston, Skillings & Whitney Brothers also had offices scattered throughout the northeast, including New York and Michigan.

Florida Southern Railroad opened up the rich timberland in Florida’s heartland to America’s largest lumber dealer, so naturally an investment in that railroad was a natural. By the time a train schedule was published August 21, 1881, five of six listed officers of the railroad happened to be Bostonians.

FLORIDA SOUTHERN RAILROAD is going on vacation!

Part 4: Pine Island and Charlotte Harbor

Will continue September 15, 2017.

       

This RAILROAD to AMERICA’S PARADISE series is sponsored by:

Florida, America’s 19^th century Paradise, became the promise of health and wealth in the land of sunshine. But then, Florida’s Great Freeze of 1894-95 destroyed not only a record-setting citrus crop, but wiped out as well the ambitious dreams of many of the wealthiest individuals in the world. Climb aboard the Orange Belt Railway at Sanford, Florida, and meet true life individuals struggling to recover after a devastating, real-life event.  Now in Second Edition, available at Amazon.com

CitrusLAND: Ghost Towns & Phantom Trains

https://www.amazon.com/CitrusLAND-Phantom-Trains-Orange-Railways/dp/1514252481/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502987288&sr=8-1&keywords=cITRUSLAND+GHOST+TOWNS

A Historic Novel by Richard Lee Cronin
 

References available upon request: Rick@CroninBooks.com