1851 - Slone Ridge and Tuscanooga - Captain William W. Slone

1842 - Early Homesteaders

   In 1842, after the Second Seminole War, the area of what would later become South Lake County was now open territory, since most of the Seminoles living in the area had been forced out during the war.
   Families that began migrating to the area had no roads, so existing Native American trails were followed.
   The first Post Office in the area was established in Okahumpka in 1845.
   Prior to 1851, settlers had already arrived to the west of Groveland in the area that would be called Linden.
   The Third Seminole War (1855 to 1858) was still being fought when some of our ancestors begin to arrive.
   The new residents obtained property through land grants, signed by Presidents Pierce or Buchanan, or by "homesteading" and other means.

   Many of our ancestors came to this area from South Carolina and Georgia. Since there were no established roads, the pioneers traveled by horseback or wagon over the previiously established Native trails.

[Early Florida Pioneers Traveling and Camping in Covered Wagons]

   At the time, Florida had three land offices, one of which was located in Newnansville (north of present day Gainesville).
   The pioneers migrating to this area could acquire land through:
       Acts of Congress,
       U. S. Land Patents,
       payments for military service (if they could prove they had fought in any wars up until that time),
       or private purchase made directly through the government or through an individual land owner.

1851-1852 - Slone's Ridge

   In 1851-1852, a large caravan of wagons arrived in this area from Georgia. Among those traveling in the wagon caravan would be the first known settlers to arrive in the area that would become known as Slone's Ridge.
   The settlement was named after, future veteran of the War of Northern Agression (Civil War), Captain William W. Slone, who left his family here to go fight for the Confederacy. William served as a Captain in Florida's Cow Cavalry, along with his 1st cousin and fellow settler Lieutenant Daniel Sloan. (Read more about them below).
   William Slone homesteaded 200 acres. He had to fight off panthers, bers, wild cats, and the occasional Seminole raiding party. William went on to father 18 children. (An old-timer once reported that Slone Ridge was originally called Tuscanooga Hammock. However, this has not been documented.)

         The names of these early 1851 Slone Ridge settlers were:
      William W. Slone and his wife Rebecca - One account states that Mr. Slone had to fight off some local Native Americans and was forced to abandon his homestead twice during the raids. He also had to fight off panthers and bears that were plentiful in the area at the time.
      Robert Jackson Slone - Brother of William W. Slone. One account said he was single upon arrival.
      Alexander L. Slone - Brother of William W. Slone. One account said he was single upon arrival.
      Ealon Slone - Sister of William W. Slone. Married George Matthew Merritt. (It is not clear if they were part of the 1851 wagon train or if they came later.)

   Children of George Merritt and Ealon Slone who remained in the Slone Ridge area were:
      Evander Merritt (Father to William, Ollie, Kelly, and Daisy)
      Elizabeth Merritt (Married Leonard Robbins, 1869, and moved to nearby Tuscanooga). She was a midwife and her medicine bag can be seen at the museum.
      Frederick Lucius Merritt
      Robert James Merritt (Married Oregon Sloan, daughter of Daniel Sloan, c.1871)
      Virginia Merritt (Married Linton Sloan, son of Daniel Sloan, c. 1870)


   A family history left by B. J. Merritt (GHS Class of '34) of Bay Lake tells of his early family members arriving to the area west of what would become Mascotte in covered wagons in the mid-1800s and their encounters with the local Seminoles. Some were friendly, but some were not.

Why SLOAN and SLONE spelling of the name?

   John Sloan had two sons: John (b. 1784) and William (b. 1787).
   William went on to become a Georgia State Senator in 1837. William changed the spelling of his last name to Slone, for an unknown reason. William's son, William W., migrated here in 1851 and became a Confederate Captain. The area was later named after him.

   Lt. Daniel Sloan was the son of John Sloan and Rachel (Alderman), and 1st cousin to Capt. William W. Slone. Daniel Sloan was born in 1811 in Duplin County, NC.
He married Nancy Lanier, also from NC, on August 06, 1835 in Thomas County, Georgia. They had eight children before moving to Hillsborough County (1850-1852) where they had six more children. They came to the area of Groveland around 1866, when the house of Daniel Sloan is believed to be the first to have been built in what would become Taylorville. It was built on what would later become known as Edge's Island, north of today's Public Safety Complex. They had one more son in 1873. Daniel was a circuit riding Baptist preacher, farmer, and cattleman. He was also a 1st Leutinent in Florida's Cow Cavalry in the Confederate Army, which was a group of cattlemen who rounded up cattle and drove them to areas where they could be used to feed the soldiers.
One of Daniel and Nancy's granddaughters, Civility Slaon, would later marry Homer Dukes, a son of George Washington Dukes. Daniel [1st LT, CO B, 1 BN - B. 1811 D. 1888] and Nancy [D. 1895] are buried at Dukes Cemetery.

G. P. Sloan, a descendent of Daniel Sloan's son Gipson, would later become a Groveland councilman.
Mandy Freeman, a 5th great-granddaughter of Daniel Sloan and 4th great-grandaughter of George Dukes would become a Mascotte councilwoman.

---

   Descendants of the Slone and Sloan families still reside on the same lands that have been passed down for 170 years.

1860s - Tuscanooga

   Not long after the the settling of Slone Ridge, people began settling an area further north that would become known as Tuscanooga.
   Tuscanooga had previously been a 900 acre island that was inhabited by Native Americans and was part of the Seminole Indian Reservation.
   The area was named after their leader and chief, Halpatter Tustenugee. Records indicate there were somewhere between 180 to 300 members of the tribe living there. These Natives participated in the successful ambush of Major Dade and his troops at the site of today's Dade Battlefield State Park in Bushnell.
   Other nearby tribal camps were located at Okahumpka and northwest of Center Hill. It is likely that these groups also took part in the battle. Read more about the Seminole Tribe of Tuscanooga here: 1835-1842 - The Second Seminole War

   As was common for the time, the settlers of Slone Ridge and Tuscanooga began to intermarry and form familial bonds.

   Early Settlers of Tuscanooga:
      William Leonard Robbins - Abt. 1865-1866. (Granville Bevill of Sumter County received a land grant in 1855, signed by U. S. President Franklin Pierce. This land was later purchased by William Leonard Robbins who came to Tuscanooga around 1865.)
      Matthew Pridgeon Merritt - 1867
      William Jordan Watson - 1870
      Newton Stewart, Jr. - Abt. 1890
      Archibald Gano - In the mid 1890s he moved from Villa City after the Great Freeze of 1895.
      Granville Beville Robbins - Born in 1874 at Tuscanooga. He was later hired to build the first structure in downtown Taylorville, which was a storage shed for the Taylor Brothers. It was used to store the supplies needed for their turpentine business.

Tuscanooga Church

   The early settlers built a one-room cabin that served as both school and church with people attending from other nearby settlements. it was built on the same spot as today's Tuscanooga Baptist Church.

   The circuit-riding preacher, Daniel Sloan, came to the area once a month. Jordan Watson (mentioned above) became the first permanent pastor. Jordan Watson's 3rd great grandson, Casey Ferguson, currently serves as pastor of the Tuscanooga Church.

   In 1897, separate structures were built for the school and church. The teacher at this school, along with a member of the Robbins family, is also known for having contributed to the building of a supply shed for the Taylor brothers, which was the first structure built in the town of Taylorville.

   The 1897 church building was destroyed in 1919 by a tropical storm. Worshippers then attended elsewhere until 1929 when they reconvened. The new church gathered under an oak tree as they sat on wood boards laid across boxes.

   During the Depression Era, in 1933, an open air structure with a sawdust floor was erected which consisted of a roof supported by wooden poles. While it did not have any walls, a three foot high railing was used to enclose the structure in order to keep the wild hogs from interrupting the services.

Life of The Early Settlers

   Hard work was required to tame the land, which had to be cleared. Trees were cut down and the logs hewn, for making the cabins, before homes could be built or fields laid out for farming. Labor was done by hand and settlers had to camp in tents or wagons until the homes were completed. Fence rails were split out of pine, cypress, and cedar.

   Corn was made into hominy, cornmeal, and grits. Various vegetables, such as beans or peas, were dried for the winter months. Some wild berries were eaten as food. Sugar and syrup were made from the sugar cane that would be grown.
      Cows, deer, wild turkey, hogs, rabbits, squirrels, fish, and chickens provided their meat. The beef was pickled or dried and pork was cured and smoked for preserving. Butter was churned from the cows' milk. Chickens provided meat and eggs. Feathers from the chickens were used for mattresses and pillows.

   Cotton was a necessary crop grown here in the mid-late 1800s. Clothing was made of cotton cloth that was hand-loomed from cotton thread made on their own spinning wheels. Bedspreads and sheets were also made out of the homespun cotton fabric. They made their own dyes from pokeberries, hickory bark, and indigo plant.

   The early settlers were not only farmers, as many of them also raised cattle.

   Without any stores in the area, many of these early settlers eventually had to go to Leesburg (first settled in 1857) for supplies. They would trade their crops, deer hides, and sugar cane syrup in exchange for products such as ammunition, coffee, flour, and salt. A trip to Leesburg was a three day adventure. They would ride on horse or ox pulled wagons through the trails that meandered through the swamps and forests. Along the way, they would camp in tents or in their covered wagons at what became known as Bugg Spring in Okahumpka. The second day they would get to Leesburg to do their shopping and camp again at Bugg Spring on the way back.

   You can read more about the history of Bugg Spring and Okahumpka here: 1830s-1870s - The Swamp Fox of Okahumpka and Bugg Spring

A Tribute to Our Pioneer Women

   These local pioneer women had to be tough to survive! First, let us mention the large families. Most of the families had more than 10 children. For example: William Slone had 18 children; Daniel Sloan had 14 children; and Matthew Pridgeon Merritt had 10 children.

   These women raised families in a time of:
  &nbs;no running water or indoor plumbing,
  &nbs;no electricity or air conditioning,
  &nbs;no modern cook stoves or refrigeration,
  &nbs;no ready-prepared food (they had to churn their own butter, grind sugar cane for syrup, etc.),
  &nbs;no comfortable means of transportation
  &nbs;no modern medicines or hygiene products.

   They had to wash clothes in a kettle over an open fire, with soap that they had made themselves. The clothes were sewn with thread from the cotton which these women grew and spun.

   A personal story passed down from the family of Elizabeth (Merritt) Robbins:

   In 1878, after nine years of marriage, Elizabeth's husband died leaving her with four children (ages 2 to 6), plus two step-children from his first marriage (his first wife died). Back then, there was no such thing as social security, Medicaid, or government handouts, so most people in need received assistance from churches and neighbors. However, for pioneer women, like Elizabeth, churches and neighbors, were few and far between, so they had to step up and perform double duty. With the use of her fishing pole and shotgun, Elizabeth helped to provide food for her family in addition to the tending of her garden. She also raised cows, which provided milk.

   While fishing one day for food, a fish hook became caught in her hand. What does a pioneer woman do when there's no doctor or any means to get help? She removed the pocket knife from her apron and, without anesthetic, cut the hook out of her own hand.

[Contributors: Mary Helen Myers, Jason Brown]

Next Article: 1855-1858 - 3rd Seminole War

1855-1858 - The Third Seminole War

1855 - Third Seminole War

   The Groveland area was once part of the "Heart of Seminole Territory".
   During the third Seminole War, some of our ancestors had already begun arriving.

   The Third Seminole War began as the Seminoles responded to the U.S. further encroaching on their lands. An influx of a large number of settlers in Southwest Florida led to increasing tension with the few remaining Seminoles living in Florida.

   In December of 1855, U.S. Army personnel located and destroyed a large Seminole plantation west of the Everglades Some believe this may have been a deliberate provokement of a violent response that would give the U.S. and excuse to remove the remaining Seminole survivors from the region.
   Holata Micco, a Seminole leader known as Billy Bowlegs, responded with a raid near Fort Myers. This led to a series of retaliatory raids and small skirmishes. However, no large battles were fought.
   Following the tactics developed by Jesup, the United States military strategy was to target Seminole civilians and destroy their food supply, rather than attack the warriors.

   By 1858, most of the remaining Seminoles, war weary and facing starvation, acquiesced to being removed to the Indian Territory in exchange for promises of safe passage and cash payments.
   An estimated 200 to 500 Seminoles in small family clans still refused to leave and retreated deep into the Everglades and the Big Cypress Swamp to live on land considered unsuitable by American settlers.

   In 1880, after less than 200 years of the tribe being formed, it is reported that only 208 Seminoles remained.

[Contributors: Mary Helen Myers, Jason Brown]

Next Article: 1861-1865 - The War of Northern Aggression (Civil War)

1861-1866 - The War of Northern Aggression (Civil War)

1600s - Slavery in Early America

   The world has had a long tradition of slavery and it was continued in Colonial America. Many of the early arrivers to America, both whites and blacks, came here under the rule of indentured servitude. While this was a way for many Europeans to pay for their passage to the New World, many Africans were kidnapped by or sold by other Africans to the Spanish slave traders. On reaching America, they were then sold to either white or black slave owners. During this time the terms "servent" and "slave" were generally used interchangeably.
   In 1653, John Casor, an African indentured servent, claimed that he had fulfilled his contract many years earlier, but his owner, Anthony Johnson was refusing to release him. Anthony Johnson was himself a former indentured servent who had been kidnapped from his home of Angola, Africa, but had been released from his contract and became a very successful land owner and tobacco farmer. Despite all of the evidence in favor of Casor, including the contract, the court ruled in favor of Johnson. The court forced Casor into lifelong slavery. It was the first case of forced lifelong slavery in America that was not the result of criminal punishment. In 1662, more laws began to appear distinguishing black servants and slaves from white servents.

   Many of the early poor and indentured Europeans lived in harmony amongst the indentured, enslaved, and free Africans as relative equals. However, there began to be revolt between this blended group and the wealthy and political "elite" Europeans. This was in large part due to the black and white farmers of Virginia wanting to wipe out the local Native American population and take their lands, while the elite wanted to preserve those Natives who were under their control. This rose to a head in 1676 when Nathaniel Bacon led a mixed group of whites and blacks in a rebellion against William Berkeley, the Colonel Governor of Virginia.
   In response, the ruling elite began to enact laws to give the appearence that the white colonists and servents held more rights than the blacks. This caused a divide between these two once friendly groups, so attention was taken away from their shared anger towards the elite, as they began to turn against each other.

1700s - Slavery in Early America

   By 1776, about 100 years after the slave laws began in America, the newly forming nation had seen a drastic decline in the slave trade. Most had assumed that the practice would die out on its own.
   However, Eli Whitney's invention of the cotton gin, in 1793, changed all that. Prior to that, the task of removing the seeds from the balls of cotton was a time consuming task, which made the farming of cotton on plantations unprofitable. The cotton gin created a leap forward in the process, thus cotton plantations began to spring up all over the fertile South. This caused a massive need for the cheap labor of slaves.

1860 - Florida Farms Before the War

   By 1860, after receiveing statehood just 15 years earlier, the population of Florida had swelled from around 8,000 to around 140,000. When the Civil War started in 1861, there were some large plantations, but the majority of settlers in Lake County operated small farms, so most relied on their children to help work the family farm.

   Trouble had been brewing between the North and the South for several years, as the industrialized Northern states had been pushing for laws of commerce that benefitted the North at the detriment to the Southern states. These laws often moved the wealth from the South to the North through heavy taxes and tariffs on the export of agricultural products. The South saw the push for abolishment of slavery as one more step in this direction.

   In November of 1860, with the election of Abraham Lincoln, the first President of the newly established Republican party, came threats of the abolishment of slavery. Many Southerners feared the abolishment of slavery would cause an economic collapse, as well as the suddenly massive amount of homeless and jobless of slaves having to resort to theft to survive. Lincoln's upcoming appointment was the last straw.
   On December 20, 1860, South Carolina adopted a declaration of secession.
   On January 10th, 1861, following the examples of South Carolina and Mississippi, Florida became the third state to secede from the Union and declare itself to be an independent and sovreign nation.
   On February 8th, 1861, Florida joined the newly established nation known as the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy created a new Constitution, which was mostly identical, except for changes that increased state's rights, decreased federal government spending and its control over state commerce, as well as protect the rights of slave owners.

1861 - The War of Northern Aggression (Civil War)

   President Lincoln refused to acknowledge South Carolina's ability to secede from the Union. This caused tensions at Fort Sumter, as Lincoln refused to order the Union troops to leave.
   On April 6th, Lincoln sent word that he was sending a ship to resupply the fort.
   On April 12th, Condeferate forces decided to attack the fort before the supply ship could arrive. Their ultimate capture of the fort led Lincoln to proclaim war against the Confederacy.
   There are many different names for the war. In the South, it has long been called "The War of Northern Agression" as it was seen as an act of revenge for the South's secession. Lincoln himself often stated that he would have allowed slavery to continue if he thought it would keep the Union together.
   It has also been referred to as The Civil War. However, this is not acurate, since the definition of a civil war is one fought between citizens of the same country. Since the South had already formed the Confederacy prior to the start of the war, the term does not acurately apply. The term has continued due to the North refusing to acknowledge the secession of the Southern states.

1861 - Florida's Part in the War

   On February 8th, 1861, Florida joined the newly established nation known as the Confederate States of America.
   The Statute of April 1862 forced most white males between the ages of 18 and 35 into involuntary service to the Confederacy. By September of that year, the age limit was increased to 45 and soon lowered to allow for 17 year old boys.
   This left only women and their slaves to run the few plantations or young children to run the many small farms.
   Even at that, Lake County has able to provide beef and other provisions to the army.

Captain William Slone and Leutinent Daniel Sloan

   In 1851, William W. Slone, the son of Georgia State Senator William Slone (b. 1787), migrated to the area west of Groveland.
   During the war, he became a Confederate Captain. The area of Slone's Ridge was later named after him.
   William W. Slone's 1st cousin, Daniel Sloan, later came to this area in 1866. It is believed at that time, the house of Daniel Sloan was possibly the first built in the area that would become Taylorville.
   Daniel was a circuit riding Baptist preacher and farmer. He was also a 1st Leutinent in Florida's Cow Cavalry in the Confederate Army. The Cow Cavalry was responsible for escorting thousands of head of cattle northward to feed the Confederate troops. He is buried at Dukes Cemetery in Groveland.

Importance of Florida Farms

   Cattle was not the only food source important for the war effort. The farms of Florida were highly protected from Union troops that may have attempted to invade the coast and make their way inland to destroy the crops before they could be sent to the soldiers. The families remaining at home sacrificed and "went without" to allow more food to be sent to their husbands and sons that were enlisted.

1863 - Emancipation Proclamation

   On January 1st, 1863, fearing a rallying of the Confederate forces, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves living in the states of rebellion against the Union, but not Northern or border states, nor Western territories. These states that had not already outlawed slavery were still legally able to keep there slaves.
   Many people believe that the emancipation proclamation effectively ended slavery, but the truth is far more complicated than that.
   It did cause slavery to become a leading issue of the war, which led to the South losing support from France and England, which were the only countries that had outlawed slavery at that time. Ironically, these countries refused support to the South, yet continued support for the Union, who were still practicing slavery. This lack of support and supplies would greatly weaken the Southern forces.
   While the proclamation did little to actually free slaves in the Southern states, what it did accomplish was allowing the Union to capture the slaves in the areas it conquered, free them, then recruit them for military service. The Union soon had 200,000 former slaves serving in its military.
   Even the majority of Northerners at the time did not support the immediate freeing of slaves, as they feared a mass immigration of these now free blacks into their towns. Most abolishinists, including Lincoln, had planned for a gradual end to slavery. Since Lincoln did not have the support, he had to issue it under his war time powers. As a result, it would no longer be a legal document as soon as the war ended. Because of this, the 13th amendment was quickly passed as the war was ending in 1865.

1865-1866 - The War Comes to an End

   Begiining in April of 1865, groups of Confederate forces started to surrender. The end of the war was finally proclaimed in August of 1866.

   By 1865 and the end of the war, another homesteading act was in place, again offering 160 acres of land to settlers who would live on the land for five years and improve it. Veteren Soldiers, both Rebel and Yankee were eager to get on with their lives. The attractive Homesteading Act offered a fresh start and many men took advantage of the opportunity and came to Lake County to make their homes.

[Contributors: Jason Brown]

Next Article: 1862-1866 - The Homestead Acts

1866 - The Homestead Act

1865-1866 - The War Comes to an End

   Begiining in April of 1865, groups of Confederate forces started to surrender. The end of the war was finally proclaimed in August of 1866.

1866 - The Southern Homestead Act

   By 1866 and the end of the war, another homesteading act was in place, again offering 160 acres of land to settlers who would live on the land for five years and improve it.
General Sherman's march through Georgia had destroyed most of the homes and farms in the state. Many of the people were having to start their lives from scratch with no homes or money.
It also allowed for grants to those that served in the military. There were also a large number of Veteren Soldiers, both Rebel and Yankee who were eager to get on with their lives.

   The area, now known as South Lake County, experienced one of its early boom periods as settlers began to make a fresh start by taking advantage of the lands promised by the Southern Homestead Act of 1866.
   While the purpose of the 1866 act was to allow poor tenant farmers and sharecroppers in the South to become landowners in the Southern United States during Reconstruction, it was not very successful, as even the low prices and fees were often too much for the poor Southern applicants to afford.
   However, it did open up an avenue for those in northern and central states to migrate to Florida.
   The attractive Homesteading Act offered a fresh start and many men took advantage of the opportunity and came to the future area of Lake County to make their homes.

   Since the railway had yet to have been built to the area and there were no roads leading to Central Florida, most of the settlers arrived here by taking a steamship from Georgia down the St. John's River to Sanford.
   From there they would travel West to Eustis and Tavares, then South on Native American and wagon trails, two of which led to the settlements that would become Villa City and Taylorville.
   One of these trails crossed the Palatlakaha River at a spot known as Brown's Ford, North of what would become Taylorville.

   A bountiful supply of timber welcomed the very early settlers. Land was cleared and logs from trees were hewed for making the family cabin. Most of the families would have to camp in their wagons or on the ground, as they worked on building their houses. Rails were split out of pine, cypress, and cedar to be used for fencing.
   The familes lived off the land by growing their own vegetables and cotton, while also raising livestock. Dried peas and beans were saved for the winter.
   Sugar cane provided sugar and syrup.
   Wild game such as turkeys, hogs, rabbits, squirrel, deer, and fish were plentiful. Meat was preserved by a smoking and curing process.
   Some animals had multiple uses. Cows provided milk, meat, and pulling power. while chickens were not just a source of meat and eggs, but there feathers were also used to stuff mattresses and pillows.
   After the cotton was harvested, it was cleaned, spun into thread, then weaved into fabric for clothing and bedsheets. The cloth would be dyed using natural products like pokeberries, hickory bark, and the indigo plant.

With so much work to do for just one household, you can see why some women gave birth to up to 16 children to have help and still not have time off for maternity leave.

   Various pockets of small rural communities became to appear throughout what was then Sumter County. Marriages between these various communities began to create close and long-lasting bonds.
   During this time, the term "neighbor" could still describe someone who lived a few miles away.
   Along with the help exchanged among early settlers, which was so vital in that era, would bring the western part of what became South Lake County together as one big family.
   As you continue through our history, you will see how these early bonds have developed and continue to last even today.

[Contributors: Mary Helen Myers, Jason Brown]

Next Article: 1860s - Midway

1860s - Midway

1860s - Midway

   The town of Midway began appearing on maps between Mascotte and Taylorville.
Today, it remains as a community within the City of Mascotte.

[Contributors: Jason Brown]

Next Article: 1867-1899 - Browns, Dukes, and Daniels and The Brown's Ford Schoolhouse

1867 - The Lost City of Eva - John Judy

1867 - The Lost City of Eva

   The area known long ago as Eva is unique in that the northern part is in Lake County (originally Sumter County until 1887) and the southern area is in Polk County.
   Returning home to South Carolina, at the end of the War of Northern Agression (Civil War) in 1865, John William Judy, found things in shambles and his wife dead.
   In 1867, wanting to make a fresh start, John headed out by horse and wagon, with his son Jasper, and arrived in Florida. They settled in an area that would soon be called Eva.
   Eventually, both he and his son would marry local Cherokee women that lived in the area. The union produced a new family for John William Judy.
   One child was a son, named John Irving Judy, born in 1868, who lived in the Eva area to the age of 105, passing away in 1973. Interviewed at age 102, John Irving Judy reminisced of trips to Mascotte in a wagon pulled by the ox that also did the plowing on his farm. He also spoke of those later days when he would come into Groveland on Saturday and sit on street benches conversing with the townspeople.

The Withlacoochee School

   The Withlacoochee School (named after the river that runs through the area, whose headwaters begin in the Green Swamp) once served the educational needs of pioneer families in the community.
   It is known that Joe Judy, born in 1882, attended this school.
   The school closed in 1941 and the students were sent to schools in Groveland.

Other Residents

   Part of Florida's well-known Bronson family would move to this area in the early 1900s. Much of the land in the area is still used for cattle raising.

   Other household names in Eva were:
      Brown,
      Grimes,
      Osteen,
      and Walker.
   (It is unclear if all these families were there in the 1800s or if they arrived at the turn of the century.)

   A very large turpentine camp was located at Eva.

   Like others in the area, the town of Eva eventually disappeared from maps as it never developed and was overshadowed by the more populous city of Taylorville to the north.
   However, many of the original families still live in the are.

[Contributors: Mary Helen Myers, Jason Brown]

Next Article: 1868-1894 - Bay Lake

1868-1894 - Bay Lake

1868 - Bay Lake

   The early settlers, who made their way into what would be called Bay Lake (and Bay Root), came mainly from Georgia.
   Bay Lake has been known for its cattle raising and farming.
   The area of Bay Lake is a part of the Green Swamp, which is a critical recharge area for the Florida aquifer.
   Four rivers emerge from the Green Swamp: the Hillsborough, Withlacoochee, Oklawaha, and Peace Rivers, whcich all provide much of Central Florida's water supply.
   The area is controlled by the Green Swamp Wildlife Management and consists of over 100,000 acres which lie west of HWY 27 and east of Interstate 75, in Lake, Polk, Sumter, Hernando, and Pasco Counties.

   It was common for the children of one family to marry members of another family who settled here.
   Among those early pioneers are the families of:
      Simeon Tison - Arrived c. 1868. The spelling of the family name was legally changed to Tyson in 1965 or 1969.

   Later settlers arrived here in the 1880s:
   c. 1880
      James Steely Goff - Arrived 1880.
      John Nathaniel Story - Arrived c. 1880
      Preston Brooks Brown - Married John Story's daughter in Bay Lake in 1880.
   c. 1885
      Allen Jefferson Hopson - It is not clear if he lived in Bay Lake, however, his son, Thomas Jefferson Hopson married a Tison daughter here in 1885 and a Tison son would marry a Hopson daughter.
   c. 1888
      Moses Tomlinson - Married into Story family in 1888.
      Other Tomlinson's found in the area: Aaron, Ben, Josiah.
      Charles B. Joiner - It is unclear of his arrival date, but he held an office in the church established in 1889.
   c. 1894
      Gipson P. Sloan - known to be in Bay Lake in 1894. He was the son of Daniel Sloan and an ancestor of Groveland councilman G. P. Sloan.
      Tobias Sumner - His arrival date is unclear, but he was known to be here in 1894.
   Unknown
      Stephen Carlton - It is unclear of his arrival date, however, his daughter Serena was married to Gipson Sloan in 1878. Daughter Jane married a Tomlinson.
      David Raulerson - Arrival date unclear.

Bay Lake School

   In the late 1800s, Bay Lake had its first school.

   By 1952, the third school of Bay Lake was closed and students were then bussed to schools in Mascotte and Groveland.

[Contributors: Mary Helen Myers, Jason Brown]

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