Henrietta (WORTHINGTON) Speer

The pain and suffering endured by the tiny village of Orlando before, during and after America’s Civil War was memorialized in the life of Henrietta WORTHINGTON Speer, first daughter of Orlando, and the eldest child of John R. Worthington.

Her father served as Orlando’s first postmaster beginning September 18, 1857, moving from South Carolina to Orange County after a brief stay in Georgia. Henrietta was born January 28, 1842 at South Carolina, and was only 17 years old when her mother and a sister died, presumably at Village of Orlando, in 1859.

Robert B. F. Roper, an eyewitness to 1860 Orlando, described the Worthington House: “There was a frame house north of the court house owned by J. R. Worthington and used as a boarding house; here the judge and lawyers boarded when holding court.”

After War was declared, Henrietta’s father and eldest brother, Milton, went off to serve with Florida’s Calvary. Neither man ever returned home to the Worthington House. Her brother Milton died of disease at Florida’s Camp Finegan in 1863. Her father John was killed during a ‘skirmish’ at Gainesville. A younger brother died in 1868.

One of an Orlando family of six in 1858, Henrietta was alone by 1868. History lost most all memory of the Worthington family.

Henrietta relocated to Mellonville after marrying, September 28, 1870, Arthur Algernon Speer, first son of Orange County’s first family, Dr. Algernon & Christiania GINN Speer. (Christiania was featured in our March 9 post in this #WomensHistoryMonth series).

Arthur Algernon was named for his grandfather Arthur Ginn, and his father. Arthur and Henrietta made their home at Mellonville as Sanford was still in its infancy. They had four children, naming each to memorialize family ancestry: Christiania Speer (born in 1871); Arthur Ginn Speer (Born 1872); Milton Alexander (born 1877); and Ella Louise Speer (born 1881).

The Widow Henrietta (Worthington) Speer and her children departed Orange County after burying Arthur Algernon in 1889. They settled first at Live Oak before moving to Alabama. At age 80, October 11, 1922, Orlando’s first daughter, Henrietta Worthington Speer, lost to local history, died at Birmingham, Alabama. Only one of her children is believed to have survived Henrietta, a #cflParadise frontierswoman who had witnessed firsthand the death and despair of Orlando during the Civil War.         

Tomorrow: The 15 year old Orange County Educator

A #WomensHistoryMonth celebration. For more on central Florida history visit CroninBooks.com