1783-1821 - The Return of the Spanish

1783 - The Return of the Spanish

   At this time, Florida was still split into two colonies, East and West Florida. The two Florida colonies remained loyal to Great Britain throughout the Revolutionary War. However, Spain, who was an ally of France, captured Pensacola from the British in 1781.
   In 1783, the signing of The Peace of Paris ended the Revolutionary War and returned all of Florida back to Spanish control, but without specifying the boundaries.

Departure of the British

   When the Florida colonies returned to Spanish control, there occured a nearly complete exodus of the English colonists and the many Tories (British supporting American colonists), who had fled there from the revolted colonies. Together, these groups had made East Florida more populous and prosperous than it had ever been as a Spanish colony. Their departure left much of the Florida territory depopulated and unguarded.

Spanish Reoccupation

   Part of Spain's reoccupation attempt of Florida involved the arrival of officials and soldiers at St. Augustine and Pensacola but very few new settlers.

   The northern lands of Florida continued to be the home of the newly amalgamated Black–Native American Seminole culture.    It had also become a haven for people escaping slavery in the southern states and territories.    Settlers in the Georgia Territory demanded that Spain control the Seminole population and capture any runaway slaves.    Spain, not having the manpower nor likely the desire to handle such operations, responded that the slave owners were welcome to come recapture the runaways themselves.

   The Spanish wanted to retain the expanded northern boundary that Britain had made to West Florida, meanwhile the new United States demanded the lower old boundary at the 31st parallel.    This border dispute was finally resolved in the 1795 Treaty of San Lorenzo, when Spain agreed to the 31st parallel as the northern boundary.

   When the Spanish reclaimed Florida in 1783, their power had weakened considerably. Spain no longer had enough colonists to support a new colony. This forced them to put an end to their policy of requiring all settlers to convert to Catholicism. This allowed many of the English settlers to return to Florida in the early 1800s.

Americans Move Southward

   Around this time, Americans, from Georgia and South Carolina, began moving into the land of northern Florida. Even though it was not allowed by the Spanish authorities, the small Spanish military presence was never able to effectively police the border region.    This opened up the way for a mix of American settlers, escaped slaves, and Native Americans to continue illegally immigrate into Spanish Florida.    The American migrants, mixed with the settlers from Florida's British period. They would become the progenitors of the people known as Florida Crackers.

   In West Florida, these American and British settlers established a permanent foothold during the first decade of the 1800s.    In the summer of 1810, they began plans for a rebellion against the Spanish authority. By September of the same year, these plans turned into open revolt. The settlers overtook the Spanish garrison at Baton Rouge and proclaimed the area as the "Free and Independent Republic of West Florida" on September 23. (Ironically, the area was in what later became the state of Louisiana, not Florida.)    Their flag was the first known use of the "Bonnie Blue Flag", a single white five-pointed star on a blue field.

   On October 27, 1810, most of the area for the Republic of West Florida was annexed by proclamation of President James Madison He claimed that the region was included in the Louisiana Purchase and it was incorporated into the newly formed Territory of Orleans.    Some leaders of the newly declared republic objected to the takeover by the United States government. However, all of them deferred to the arriving American troops by mid-December of 1810.    The Florida Parishes in the modern state of Louisiana include most of the territory that was claimed by the short-lived Republic of West Florida.

   During the War of 1812, Spain allied with Great Britain and the U.S. annexed the Mobile District of West Florida into the Mississippi Territory in May 1812.    In April 1813, the surrender of Spanish forces at Mobile officially established American control over the area, which was later divided between the states of Alabama and Mississippi.

   Meanwhile, in East Florida:    General George Matthews, of the U.S. Army, had been authorized by the U.S. government to secretly negotiate with the Spanish governor for American acquisition of East Florida.    Instead, in March of 1812, General Matthews organized a group of frontiersmen from Georgia, who arrived at the Spanish town of Fernandina and demanded the surrender of all of Amelia Island.    They took control of Amelia Island on the Atlantic coast and declared themselves a republic free from Spanish rule.    After declaring the island a free republic, he led his rag tag group, along with a contingent of U.S. army troops, south towards the Spanish controlled city of St. Augustine.    Upon receiveing word of Matthews' actions, Congress became alarmed that he would provoke war with Spain.    Then Secretary of State James Monroe quickly ordered Matthews to return all captured territory to Spanish authorities.    After several months of negotiations on the withdrawal of the American forces and compensation for their foraging through the countryside, the countries finally came to an agreement and Amelia Island was returned to the Spanish in May 1813.



[Contributors: Jason Brown]



Next Article: 1812 - The War of 1812







1812 - The War of 1812

The War of 1812

   During the War of 1812, Spain allied with Great Britain and the U.S. annexed the Mobile District of West Florida into the Mississippi Territory in May 1812.    In April 1813, the surrender of Spanish forces at Mobile officially established American control over the area, which was later divided between the states of Alabama and Mississippi.

   Meanwhile, in East Florida:    General George Matthews, of the U.S. Army, had been authorized by the U.S. government to secretly negotiate with the Spanish governor for American acquisition of East Florida.    Instead, in March of 1812, General Matthews organized a group of frontiersmen from Georgia, who arrived at the Spanish town of Fernandina and demanded the surrender of all of Amelia Island.    They took control of Amelia Island on the Atlantic coast and declared themselves a republic free from Spanish rule.    After declaring the island a free republic, he led his rag tag group, along with a contingent of U.S. army troops, south towards the Spanish controlled city of St. Augustine.    Upon receiveing word of Matthews' actions, Congress became alarmed that he would provoke war with Spain.    Then Secretary of State James Monroe quickly ordered Matthews to return all captured territory to Spanish authorities.    After several months of negotiations on the withdrawal of the American forces and compensation for their foraging through the countryside, the countries finally came to an agreement and Amelia Island was returned to the Spanish in May 1813.



[Contributors: Jason Brown]



Next Article: 1816-1819 - The First Seminole War







1816-1819 - The First Seminole War

First Seminole War

   Soon after the conclusion of the War of 1812, the First Seminole War began, in 1816, as a result of General Andrew Jackson's excursions into Spanish Florida against the Seminoles.
   Great Britain and Spain both expressed outrage over the invasion by the United States.
   However, as several local uprisings and rebellions by American and british settlers had been occurring, in Spanish controlled Florida, Spain was no longer able to defend or control the territory.

   During the first Seminole Indian War, the Seminoles attacked the early settlements.

   In 1819, Spain agreed to cede Florida to the United States with the signing of the Adams–Onís Treaty. The official transfer taking place in 1821.

   According to the terms of the 1923 Treaty of Moultrie Creek, between the United States and Seminole Nation, the Seminoles were removed from Northern Florida to a reservation in the center of the Florida peninsula.
   Much of the land for this first Seminole reservation was located in modern day Lake County.

   The United States began building forts and trading posts throughout the Gulf coast and the East coast, then known as Mosquito County, in order to enforce the treaty and defend the settlers against the Seminoles.

[Contributors: Jason Brown]



Next Article: 1819 - The United States Receives Florida Territory from Spain







1819 - The United States Receives Florida Territory from Spain

1819 - The United State Receives Florida Territory from Spain


   During the American Revolution, the Florida territory had been under British control until it was given back to the Spanish.
   In 1819, Spain agreed to cede Florida to the United States with the signing of the Adams–Onís Treaty. The official transfer taking place in 1821.



   Under Spanish rule, Florida was divided by the natural separation of the Suwanee River into West Florida and East Florida.
   U.S. military authorities took official possession during two “transfer of flags” ceremonies on July 10, 1821, in St. Augustine and July 17, 1821, in Pensacola.
   Col. Robert Butler represented the U.S. military at the ceremony in St. Augustine. The transfer was said to be peaceful, but it did not exactly spark jubilation . Likely, as many St. Augustinians could still remember when the U.S. had invaded the territory of northeast Florida, during the War of 1812 and had burning much of the countryside, though the city itself was spared.
   Andrew Jackson, who had also invaded Florida during the first Seminole War (1817-18), was present at the July 17 ceremony 400 miles away in Pensacola.
   The ceremonies featured the lowering of the Spanish flag and the raising of the U.S. flag.




   Upon the receiving the Florida Territories, by the United States of America, West Florida and East Florida became two counties: Escambia County and St Johns County, each named for Florida rivers. At this time, almost 8,000 residents were counted as living in Florida.
   Andrew Jackson was appointed as Governor, by President James Monroe, to lead and establish Florida’s first territorial government. Jackson “quickly grew disenchanted with being governor of Florida” and was in office for about five months in 1821.
   However, during his brief time, Jackson moved quickly to make Florida part of the United States, causing the Red Stick Creek leader Neamathla and other Native American leaders to conclude that the man they called “Sharp Knife” would not respect Florida’s native peoples.
   On March 30, 1822, the Territory of Florida became an organized incorporated territory of the United States.
   Within a few years, Jackson, now the U.S. President, would sign the Indian Removal Act, authorizing the resettlement of native peoples to lands west of the Mississippi River and setting the stage in Florida for the Second Seminole War (1835-42), now considered the longest and most costly of the Indian conflicts of the United States.


   The Territory of Florida remained an organized incorporated territory of the United States from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted into the Union as the state of Florida and officially became our 27th state.




   According to the terms of the 1823 Treaty of Moultrie Creek, between the United States and Seminole Nation, the Seminoles were removed from Northern Florida to a reservation in the center of the Florida peninsula.
   Much of the land for this first Seminole reservation was located in modern day Lake County.

   The United States began building forts and trading posts throughout the Gulf coast and the East coast, then known as Mosquito County, in order to enforce the treaty and defend the settlers against the Seminoles.
   This new United States territory offered an invitation for more white settlers to come South.

   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.

   At the time, Florida had three land offices, one of which was located in Newnansville (near 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.



[Contributors: Mary Helen Myers, Jason Brown]



Next Article: 1830 - Indian Removal Act







1830 - Indian Removal Act

1780s - The "Civilization Experiment"

   When Europeans and Native Americans came into contact during colonial times, or in the early United States, most Europeans felt their civilization to be superior. Their solution was to forcibly 'share' their civilization with the Native Americans, so they would adopt European civilization.
   This acculturation was originally proposed by George Washington.
   First, they would have to convert to Christianity and abandon pagan practices.
   They would also have to learn to speak and read English, although there was a small interest in creating a writing and printing system for a few Native languages.
   The Native Americans had to adopt monogamous marriage and abandon non-marital sex.
   Finally, they had to accept the concept of individual ownership of land and other property.

   The "Civilization Experiment" was considered successful with the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek (Muscogee), and Seminole, who were considerd the Five Civilized Tribes and had been established as autonomous nations in the southeastern United States.
   Trade and intermarriage between the Americans and these Native Nations was becoming common.

   Thomas Jefferson's policy was similar to Washington's:
   respect the Indians' rights to their homelands, and allow the Five Civilized Tribes to remain east of the Mississippi provided that they adopted behavior and cultural practices that were compatible with those of the European Americans.
   Jefferson believed in and promoted a society based on agriculture.

1800s - Greedy Land Buyers and Andrew Jackson



   However, wealthy land buyers were seeking to procure the fertile lands that were in possessed by the Native Nations.
   This, along with General Andrew Jackson's conflicts against the Seminoles in Spanish controlled Florida, started the First Seminole War, during presidency of James Madison and continued through that of James Monroe.

   In the 1823 case of Johnson v. M'Intosh, the United States Supreme Court decided that Indians could occupy and control lands within the United States, but could not hold title to those lands.
   However, by 1823, with James Monroe still president, The United States government had already begun "treaties" that would force the Natives to "trade" their land, be removed from the Southeast, and be sent to reservations in the midwest.

   Jackson opposed Washington's policy of establishing treaties with Indian tribes as if they were foreign nations. Thus, he believed that the creation of Indian jurisdictions was a violation of state sovereignty under Article IV, Section 3 of the Constitution. Jackson thought that either Indians lands comprised sovereign states (which violated the Constitution) or they were subject to the laws of existing states of the Union. Jackson urged Indians to assimilate and obey state laws and felt that he could only accommodate the desire for Indian self-rule in federal territories, which required resettlement west of the Mississippi River on federal lands.
   The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, especially in Georgia, which was the largest state in 1802 and was involved in a jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokee. President Jackson hoped that removal would resolve the Georgia crisis.
   Besides the Five Civilized Tribes, additional tribes affected included: the Wyandot, the Kickapoo, the Potowatomi, the Shawnee, and the Lenape.

1830 - Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act

   In 1829, Soon after Jackson the Indian fighter and leader of the Democratic Party became Andrew Jackson, the president of the United States, he pushed through Congress an Indian Removal Act Andrew Jackson sought to renew the policy for the removal of the Natives from these lands and worked toward enacting a law for Indian removal. In his 1829 State of the Union address, Jackson called for Indian removal.
   The Indian Removal Act was put in place to give the Southern states the land that belonged to the Native Americans. The law authorized the president to 'negotiate' with southern (including Mid-Atlantic) Native American tribes for their removal to federal territory west of the Mississippi River in exchange for the American settlement of their ancestral lands. The Act was strongly enforced under Jackson's administration and that of his successor, Martin Van Buren, which extended until 1841.
   The Act was supported by southern and northwestern populations, but was opposed by Native tribes and the Whig Party (later Republican Party).

   The Indian Removal Act was controversial. Although many Americans favored its passage, there was also a significant opposition. Many Christian missionaries protested against it. Most notable of which was missionary organizer Jeremiah Evarts. In Congress, New Jersey Senator Theodore Frelinghuysen and Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett spoke out against the legislation.
   After a bitter debate in Congress, The Removal Act was passed.
   On April 24, 1830, the Senate passed the Indian Removal Act by a vote of 28 to 19.
   On May 26, 1830, the House of Representatives passed the Act by a vote of 101 to 97.
   On May 28, 1830, the Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson.
   The Indian Removal Act agreed to divide the United States territory west of the Mississippi River into districts for tribes to replace the land from which they were removed.

   With the advancement of settled life and the decline of tribal nations in the American northeast, Jackson saw the demise of Indian tribal nations as inevitable. He called the Northern critics hypocrites, given the North's history regarding tribes within their territory.

   Jackson stated that:
   "progress requires moving forward.
   Humanity has often wept over the fate of the aborigines of this country and philanthropy has long been busily employed in devising means to avert it, but its progress has never for a moment been arrested, and one by one have many powerful tribes disappeared from the earth...
   But true philanthropy reconciles the mind to these vicissitudes as it does to the extinction of one generation to make room for another...
   In the monuments and fortresses of an unknown people, spread over the extensive regions of the West, we behold the memorials of a once powerful race, which was exterminated or has disappeared to make room for the existing savage tribes...
   Philanthropy could not wish to see this continent restored to the condition in which it was found by our forefathers.
   What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms, embellished with all the improvements which art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more than 12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the blessings of liberty, civilization, and religion?"

   According to historian H. W. Brands, Jackson sincerely believed that his population transfer was a "wise and humane policy" that would save the Indians from "utter annihilation". Jackson portrayed the removal as a generous act of mercy.

1835 - Native Revolt and The Second Seminole War

   The Cherokee people worked together to try to stop this relocation, but were unsuccessful. Eventually, they were forcibly removed by the United States government in a mass exodus march to the west, that later became known as the Trail of Tears.
   Some tribes began signing the treaties and moving West.
   However, the Seminoles and other tribes did not leave peacefully, as they resisted the removal, along with fugitive slaves.
   This led to the Second Seminole War, which lasted from 1835 to 1842 and resulted in the government allowing them to remain in the south Florida swamplands. Around 3,000 were removed in the war and only a small number remained.

[Contributors: Jason Brown]



Next Article: 1830s-1870s - The Swamp Fox of Okahumpka and Bugg Spring







1830s-1870s - The Swamp Fox of Okahumpka and Bugg Spring

A History of Nearby Okahumpka and Bugg Spring

   Okahumpka was an important place to the local Native American tribes. The name is believed to be a combination of the Hitchiti "oki," meaning water, and the Creek "hamken," meaning one, or, freely translated, "single lake." It was also the name of a tribal town of some importance in the Sumter County area, which was home to Chief Mico-an-opa (Micanopy).

1825 - Chief Micanopy

   Today a lake in Sumter County and the town north of Mascotte bear the name of Okahumpka. Alternate spellings were: Okahumky and Okahumkee.



   In 1823, at the Treaty of Moultie Creek, the Seminoles were ordered to live in a reservation, much of which was located in modern day Lake County.
   One large tribal camp was located about five miles northwest of present day Groveland in the area of Tuscanooga. The area was named after their leader, Halpatter Tustenugee. Records indicate there were somewhere between 180 to 300 members of the tribe living there. Tustenugee led his warriors to participate in what became known as the Dade Battle, which took place 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.



   A magnificent spring on the edge of Okahumpka holds a unique place in Florida history. The spring is quite remarkable and the grounds surrounding it hold great historical significance. According to the St. Johns River Water Management District, Bugg Spring is a second magnitude spring that is 170-175 feet deep. Clear and cold, the water has been a focal point of life in the area for many years. The waters from the spring flow north into both Lake Denham and Lake Harris.

   The archaeologist Clarence B. Moore "investigated" (a.k.a. destroyed) the Native American mounds at Bugg Spring, which showed evidence that Native Americans had used the spring for thousands of years.
   Although the exact site is debated, the spring is one of the sites in the vicinity believed to be a possible location of the Seminole Indian town of Okahumpka. This important town was the scene of much planning during the days leading up to the Second Seminole War and warriors from here, along with those living in Tuscanooga, took part in Dade's Battle in nearby Bushnell, Florida.

   After The War Between the States, Bugg Spring became the home of the noted Confederate officer, John Jackson Dickison.


The Swamp Fox - General John Jackson Dickison in 1864 and c. 1880


Home of Capt. J.J. "Swamp Fox" and Mary Dickison

   He was called the "Swamp Fox of the Confederacy" because of the similarity of his tactics to the famed Southern officer of the American Revolution, Francis Marion. Dickison was a captain for most of the war, although he often commanded battalion size units. He was a terror to Union forces in East and Central Florida.
   The "Swamp Fox" struck when and where attacks were least expected and achieved solid results for the Confederate war effort. One of his most dramatic hauls was the Union steamboat Columbine that Dickison ambushed with artillery on the St. Johns River. Among his prisoners was Maj. Gen. J.G. Foster.
   Although he was promoted to colonel at the end of the war, Dickison did not receive the news until after he gave his parole. He later served as a general in the state service.

   During their years living at Bugg Spring, his wife, Mary Dickison wrote a sentimental biography of her husband that she titled Dickison and His Men. It is one of the best known books on the role of Florida in the war and includes many first hand observations of Dickison and the men who served with him.

   Bugg Spring is currently privately owned and is not open to the public, because it is leased by the U.S. Navy which conducts acoustic research on the site.



[Contributors: Jason Brown]



Next Article: 1835-1842 - 2nd Seminole War







1835-1842 - The Second Seminole War

1835 - Second Seminole War



   In 1823, at the Treaty of Moultie Creek, the Seminoles were ordered to live in a reservation, much of which was located in modern day Lake County.
   One large tribal camp was located about five miles northwest of present day Groveland in the area of Tuscanooga. The area was named after their leader, Halpatter Tustenugee. Records indicate there were somewhere between 180 to 300 members of the tribe living there.

   The Second Seminole War began as a result of the United States, under the presedency of Andrew Jackson, leader of the Democratic Party, voiding the Treaty of Moultrie Creek by instituting the 1830 Indian Removal Act and demanding that all Seminoles relocate to Indian Territory in what is present-day Oklahoma.

Some tribes relented and signed treaties, such as the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832, which exchanged portions of Seminole ancestral lands for those in the midwest.

   The Seminole tribes began a resistance against the United States' Indian Removal Act.

1835 - Dade Battlefield and Tuscanooga

1835 - Seminole Indian Reserve
[1835 Map showing the undefined boundaries of the Seminole Reservation. The eastern boundary can be seen passing through the Clermont/Lake Apopka area. Showing that the Groveland and Mascotte areas were still contained within the Reservation.]
[The site of the Dade Massacre can be seen on this map of Important Sites during the 2nd Seminole War.]

   Hostilities led to the Second Seminole War when in December of 1835 the Seminoles successfully ambushed Major Dade and his troops as they marched through the area of modern Bushnell.
   The area now known as Tuscanooga (located west of modern Groveland) was once a 900 acre island inhabited by Native Americans.
   Led by Halpatter Tustenugee, these Natives participated in the battle against Major Dade in Bushnell, FL.
   The site is now known as Dade Battlefield State Park.
   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.

The War Continues

   The war continued for the next several years with a series of engagements throughout the Florida Territory and extending even south to the Florida Keys.
   Despite the Seminole fighters being at a tactical and numerical disadvantage, Seminole military leaders effectively used guerrilla warfare to frustrate United States military forces, whose now archaic method of fighting was designed for open fields.
   The U.S. forces eventually numbered over 30,000 including militia and additional volunteers.

   In 1836, General Thomas Sidney Jesup was sent to Florida to take command of the campaign.
   Not wanting to waste his efforts, as previous commanders had done, in pursuing parties of Seminole fighters, who could disappear into the thickets and swamps without a trace, Jesup changed tactics and engaged in a search and destroy campaign.
   Instead of fighting the warriors, Jesup targeted Seminole civilians and farms, an immoral strategy, which eventually changed the course of the war.
   Jesup also authorized the controversial abduction of Seminole leaders Osceola and Micanopy, by luring them under a false flag of truce.
   By the early 1840s, many Seminoles had been killed and many more were forced, by impending starvation due to the destruction of their farms, to surrender and be removed to Indian Territory.

   Though there was no official peace treaty, several hundred Seminoles remained in Southwest Florida after active conflict ended.

1842 - War Ends and The Armed Occupation Act


   In 1842, at the end of the Second Seminole War, Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act. It offered 160 acres of land in Florida to any man who would take up arms to protect the area against potential renewed Native hostilities. So long as he would build a habitable dwelling and live on the property for five years, while cultivating at least five acres of his homestead.
   Many American settlers accepted the challenge and joined the blacks and previous settlers who were already engaged in farming the area.
   Settlements and small towns began to quickly appear and some vanished just as fast.

   The Native Americans left this area following the end of the Third Seminole Indian War.


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

[Contributors: Mary Helen Myers, Jason Brown]



Next Article: 1835-1842 - 2nd Seminole War







Next Article: 1845 - Florida Becomes a State






1845 - Florida Becomes a State

1845 - Florida Becomes a State

   The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted into the Union as the state of Florida and officially became our 27th state. By 1860, after just 15 years, the white population would swell to almost 78,000.





[Contributors: Mary Helen Myers, Jason Brown]

Next Article: 1840s-1880s - Anchors Away and All Aboard! - First Stop: Umatilla






1840s-1880s - Anchors Away and All Aboard! - First Stop: Umatilla

1840s - Any Port Will Do

   The early settlers of what would become Lake County, made their way here aboard steamships along the St. John's River from Jacksonville to Mellonville (now Sanford). They would then walk on small dirt paths, either West to Fort Mason (located 2 miles north of Lake Eustis), which was the first town in the area, or South to Orlando.

   In 1850, there were still only about 500 people living in Orange County.

   Before 1840, there was only one steamboat port along this area of the St. John's River: Fort Mellon at Lake Monroe in Mellonville (later Sanford).
   Although a port had already been established in the town of Mellonville, William Backhouse Astor bought 8,000 acres of land and created the city of Astor. The port of Fort Butler in Astor began competing with the one in Sanford as it now allowed passengers to reduce their travel time by about 30 miles. They could now depart the steamships along the St. John's much sooner, as they made their way to the areas that would later become Fort Mason, Umatilla, Tavares, and Eustis.

   The early settlers had to walk or take another steamboat along the Ocklawaha River from Astor to the Ocklawaha Hotel in Pendryville (Later known as Eustis).
   The Ocklawaha [Dark Crooked River] River was cleared, so steamboats could navigate to Lake Griffin.
   Before the railroads reached into central Florida, long distance travel and shipping relied on the steamboats, so the early settlements were concentrated along navigable waterways.
   Mr. Hart ran steamboats on the Ocklawaha River.


1850s-1860s - Umatilla

In 1856, Umatilla was founded by Nathan J. Trowell. The name was suggested by William A. Whitcomb. The name, Umatilla, was taken from an Oregon town of the same name and it is an Native American name meaning "laughing waters." In 1867, John A. MacDonald was the first to homestead in the area of Eustis. He soon began selling land to later homesteaders.

1870s - Alligators and Steamships and Serpents, Oh My!



   In the 1830s, Lake Eustis had been named after General Abraham Eustis who was a surveyor and map maker. General Eustis was also a prominent figure in the Seminole Wars, as he had skirmished with the Natives on the south shore of Lake Eustis, near present-day Tavares. Steamboats along the St. Johns River now connected the areas of Lake Eustis to Jacksonville. However, in 1871 a newspaper report of alligators attacking a steamship and a serpent in the river discouraged many of the less hearty of the homesteaders. Before railroads came in the 1880s, Eustis was a busy port for steamers plying Lakes Harris, Eustis, Dora, and Griffin. Although the U.S. opened up the area for homesteading in the 1850s, settlement was delayed by the Civil War. Surveying was finally completed in 1875 and settlement began in earnest. The area of Eustis took its time finding the right name for itsself. First it was Highlands when settlement first began around 1875, then Pendryville. In 1876, A.S. Pendry homesteaded in the area and set out a citrus grove. In 1877 he opened the Ocklawaha Hotel. The city finally received the name of Lake Eustis (Later shortened to Eustis in 1883) when it was named after General Abraham Eustis. In Eustis, a boat landing on the lake at the foot of Macdonald Avenue was the primary shipping point, and established that street as a commercial corridor. A big year was 1878 when the first telegraph line connected Eustis, Leesburg, and Sanford. Starting in 1875, Major Alexander St. Clair-Abrams began establishing the city of Tavares and paid the surveyors who began carving out Lake County from parts of Sumter and Orange Counties. The city of Tavares was started as a railroad hub. St. Clair-Abrams had come to the area after he "retired" from running his newspaper in the North, but he started another soon after arriving in Tavares. He had started in the newspaper business after writing about his experiences serving in the Confederacy and at Vicksburg. Knowing that he had a passion for the newspaper business, his friends joked that he left for Florida to edit orange groves. St. Clair-Abrams homesteaded on the shore of Lake Joanna (3 miles from Lake Eustis), which he named after his wife. He also sold land to fellow homesteaders. In 1878, the railroad reaches Umatilla from Astor. The plan was to continue it on to Fort Mason, but they ran out of money. In 1880, Andrew C. Lane finished the railroad to Fort Mason and continues it on towards Eustis, in 1883, then to Tavares.

1880s - All Aboard! The Railroad comes to Lake County

With the arrival of the St. Johns and Lake Eustis Railway in 1880, steamboats were replaced as the primary mode of transportation and shipping. The railroad arrived in 1880, the first train coming from Astor, through Umatilla, to Fort Mason, where passengers and freight made lake steamer connections to Leesburg, Helena, Yalaha, Bloomfield, Lane Park, and Tavares. The early frontier settlements begin to grow. Residents voted to incorporate Eustis in 1886. Like much of Florida, citrus was a major industry in Eustis. The Big Freeze of 1894-95 and 1898-99 devastated the citrus crop in Eustis and the surrounding areas. Says Eustis historian Louise Carter, "Even though the freeze [of 1895] brought the town's economy to a standstill, Mr. Clifford kept his lakefront general store open and extended credit until people could recover." Despite this setback and subsequent freezes, the citrus industry continued to flourish and Eustis became known as the “Orange Capital of the World.” The United States Department of Agriculture had even established a research station and laboratory in Eustis, where they studied plant diseases and hybridization. The efficiency of the railroad over steamboat and horse and carriage made travel more desirable and the number of people traveling to Eustis increased. Tourists coming to Eustis by train would arrive at the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Depot which formerly stood at the southwest corner of Magnolia Avenue and Bay Street. Later, in the 1910s, the Dixie Highway and paved roads brought automotive tourists to Eustis.

1887 - The Formation of Lake County and the Midnight Raid of Bloomfield

In May of 1887, Lake County is formed from parts of Sumter and Orange Counties. The county seat was originally established at the homestead of William D. Mendenhall in the area known as Bloomfield, until the voters could decide where it would ultimately be located. Bloomfield was located between Yalaha and Okahumpka. The first County Courthouse was the unoccupied home of one of Mendenhall's neighbors. On October 25, 1887, the first voting ended with Tavares having the most votes, but not the 51% required to establish it as the County Seat. A second voting occurred on March 10, 1888, but again Tavares did not receive the 51% majority. Again on July 17, Tavares fell short by only nine votes. Finally having enough, on the night of July 21, St. Clair-Abrams "raided" the Bloomfiel Courthouse and took the court records. Under the cover of night, he rowed his boat across the lake back to Tavares. On July 28, a meeting was held and an order was made to return all court records back to Bloomfield. On August 10, 1888, 440 days after the formation of Lake County, Judge John Dozier Broome finally ruled in favor of Tavares as the county seat.

[Contributors: Jason Brown]

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