April 5, 2006
+front+porch.jpg)
+house.jpg)
 |
| Net photo (2014) of the house that currently occupies the former site of the George R. Newell Family Home at the corner of Lake Street and Agnes |
I found what I thought was the original
George R. Newell house circa 1885 (pictured) at the corner of Lake St.
and Agnes St., facing East out across Lake Cherokee. Painters were at
work in the house so I invited myself in and began to interview the
painters. They said that the original house had been built along what is
still called Honeymoon row, a string of upscale Victorian houses built in the
late 1800's by young newly-wed couples. According to the painters, there
had been a movement afoot sometimeinthe mid 1970's to preserve the old house, but sometime in the night it was
mysteriously leveled by a bulldozer. Another house with a remarkable
resemblance to the old one has been built on the same site. The current
owners, a Mr Lotz and his wife were described as "artists," with Mr.
Lotz being on the faculty at U.C.F. in the Art Dept.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today, while leafing through an old book** I'd rescued from the family house on 12th Street, I noticed the picture of a steamboat identified as the Volusia, which (I believe) is the same Volusia that George and Harry Newell rode from Jacksonville to Mellonville FL on, in 1880. The book had been a Christmas gift I'd given to Mac, some time back in the late 1980's, and it had been sitting on his bookshelf until the house was sold last year.
**Victorian Florida, America's Last Frontier, by Floyd and Marion Rinhart, Peachtree Publishers LTD, Atlanta Ga. (1986) p.136.
**Victorian Florida, America's Last Frontier, by Floyd and Marion Rinhart, Peachtree Publishers LTD, Atlanta Ga. (1986) p.13
I had guessed that George and Harry had gone to from Jacksonville to Mellonville by streamer, but did not know that, or the name of the vessel, until I received an e-mail from Sara Nielsen, in Feb. 2014. I'd been looking for a picture of the Volusia ever since. The pieces all came together today, ironically the picture had been sitting unrecognized, on my father's bookshelf for past 3 decades. (see below)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afterword: March 25, 2014
Last month I received an e-mail from Sara Nielsen, with an attached newspaper article from the Orlando Sentinel, dated May 15, 1994.* It referenced a series of newspaper columns written by Georgr Rippard Newell between Nov. 1880 and Feb. 1881 that, when I can access them, should add important new information to George and Harry Newell's story.
From the fragments I've seen, George probably travelled to Florida in the company of his younger brother Henry A. Newell (Harry). They travelled from Savannah to Jacksonville by rail, and from Jacksonville they travelled by the steamship Volusia to the rail dock at Mellonville, Florida. George expresses some frustration with the Volusia's upriver progress which took 46 hours, and not the 15 to 36 hours that travelers of the day had come to expect. His comments give insights into his personality as well as providing valuable first hand details about the journey.
As more information comes in, I will certianly continue to update and repost it to this blog
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Wed. Nov. 25, 2015
Alec,
I have attached 23 pages for you to see, I'm going to try and get the originals to you before Christmas. Just a little back ground as we spoke, my boyfriends father has been a collector of any and every item he ever came across, not only things of value but also items that had a story behind them. He lived in the Orlando area since 1961, he owed a pawn shop in Orlando and somewhere down the line he came across these letters. He brought them home and just put them away. His son Craig Keesee while moving him from Orlando to Ohio came across these letters, I (Sharon Hastings) started to read the letters and found them to be very interesting, I sat down with Craig and his father Willard and read the letters to them. We all decided I should do some research to see if I could find a living relative that may want these letters. I researched for a few hours and everyone I came across had passed away. I went into the ancestor directory and came across your name. I am so happy we were able to contact you and get these priceless letters to you. Please share with the family and if we find anything else I will make sure to contact you. As previously stated I'm going to try and get these to you ASAP. Have a great Thanksgiving.
Sharon Hastings
On Wed, Nov 25, 2015 at 10:57 AM, sharonsmail47 . <sharonsmail47@gmail.com> wrote:
Alec,
Alec,
I have been searching for a living relative of George R Newell and came across your name. I have several letters dated back as far as 1914 addressed to Mrs. George R Newell and was wondering if this is a relative of yours. I have attached a few copies for you to see along with a memorial that Leigh G. Newell wrote for Carl Robinson. I'm not trying to sell these letters I just would like to get them to a family member. Please let me know if these letters are from members of your family.Thank you,Sharon Hastings
*The article, written by staff writer Mark Andrews, is entitled "1880's Writer Sees Gems in Winter's Flowers and Gold in Florida's Oranges." In it he references a series of articles, originally authored by George Rippard
TAP LINES
THE SOUTH FLORIDA RAILROAD
BY
Donald R. Hensley, Jr.
BY
Donald R. Hensley, Jr.
Part I
Early Construction
It was in 1879 that the Lake Monroe & Orlando Railroad was in deep trouble. The company was in danger of losing their charter and the land grants promised by the State of Florida if by the end of 1880 they did not complete the road. The railroad’s promoters could not raise the cash needed to start construction and they called what they thought would be their last meeting in November of 1879. It was during this meeting that a glimmer of hop shined down through the dark clouds of despair when Mr. E. E. Henck of Longwood, Florida stood up and announced that if he and his fledging South Florida Railroad was given their State Charter along with its generous land grants he would push the railroad through from Sanford to Orlando in time to save the project.Early Construction
Now Mr. Henck (after years of research I have never learned his given name) promptly transferred the charter to his South Florida RR, which had been unable to obtain one due to the close proximity of the Lake Monroe & Orlando RR and the States reluctance to grant charters and land for duplicate routes. The South Florida RR was incorporated on October 16, 1878 by Henck, E.F. Crafts, H. Mercer, and Dr. C.C. Haskell, all of Orange County, Florida. These men hired F. C. Tucker as chief engineer and he located a line running Lake Monroe (on the St. Johns River) at Sanford to Orlando by December of 1879. The road was projected to run from Sanford all the way down the state to Charlotte Harbor on the Gulf of Mexico. The South Florida was also having trouble raising money but when Mr. Henck obtained the charter of the LM&O he knew this would be his last chance.
Now Dr. Haskell of Maitland, Florida had a brother in Boston, Mass. by the name of E. B. Haskell, who was a partner with the famous R. H. Pulsifer, in the Boston Herald newspaper. Mr. Henck borrowed seventy-five dollars from a friend and headed north to Boston, which was also his old hometown also. Messrs. Haskell and Pulsifer agreed to a thirty-minute meeting in which Henck could state his case. In that short period of time the old promoter was able to convince the two men that a railroad from Sanford to Orlando and then onward to the gulf through a new and undeveloped Florida was a solid investment. They agreed to put up the cash for the venture, subscribing to a majority of the stock and making them the first and only newspaper to build and own a railroad.
Mr. Henck was made president of the railroad and on his way back to Florida he stopped in Pittsburgh, PA to purchase ten miles of thirty-pound rail and a little narrow gauge locomotive from Porter on November 12, 1879. This little thirty-six inch gauge wood burning 2-4-0 had 7x12 inch cylinders, 30 inch drivers and a 4 wheel tender holding 300 gallons of water. The shipping weight of Porter c/n 353 was only 7 tons!
Getting back to Florida Henck gathered his forces together and on January 10, 1880 they began the road in style with visiting ex-President U.S. Grant throwing the first shovel of dirt upon the line of grade. Then the entire day was spent in celebration of this blessed event with plenty of food and drink for everyone.
An early South Florida RR pass. From the Florida State Photographic Archives.
Despite this grand beginning, actual construction was slow as labor was hard to come by in this undeveloped region and most of the labor was imported from other states. The little “Seminole” along with 75 tons of rail arrived at Sanford by the end of January 1880. However by March 13 only five miles of road had been graded but at this pointed over 400 hands were at work and slowly the line advance towards Orlando. By May 20 seven miles of iron had been laid to Shroder’s Mill, this increased to nineteen miles by the first of July, leaving only three miles left to reach Orlando.
But by then the South Florida’s supply of rails had been exhausted and because of the railroad building boom in the country there would be a three-month lull in completing the road to Orlando. To make the most of this delay Henck began construction of the Lake Monroe-St. Johns River wharf at Sanford, which was 800 feet long and could accommodate five steamboats at a time.
Finally the rails were arrived in October and the last three miles were quickly laid. The first public timetable was issued on November 11, 1880. The railroad still only owned the little “Seminole”. She hauled the North bound train leaving Orlando at 7:00 AM and arrived in Sanford at 8:40 AM. After switching in Sanford for most of the day the “Seminole” became the southbound train, departing Sanford at 4:00 PM, tying up for the night at Orlando at 5:40 PM.
South Florida RR #2, the “Herald” , from the collection of Harold K. Vollrath.
The “Seminole” was soon joined in January of 1881 by Baldwin c/n 5435 and numbered 2 and named the “Herald”, a small 2-6-0 with 9x16 inch cylinders and 35 inch drivers. The also purchased an used locomotive from the New York & Manhattan Beach RR their number 5, the “Sea Breeze”, built by Baldwin c/n 4105 in May of 1877. This 0-4-0 tank engine sported 9x16 inch cylinders and 36 inch drivers and was numbered 3 and was christened the “Kissimmee”.
Just when all seem well and okay, a purge hit the South Florida RR during its annual board meeting in December of 1880. Ousted were Henck and Tucker whom places were taken by James E. Ingrahm as president and E. R. Traford as chief engineer. Henck and Tucker were the scrape-goats of the three-month delay in finishing the last three miles to Orlando.
With this change came also a change in the philosophy of the company. Gone was the stubbornness of Henck to build to the Gulf, now the new management could not make up their minds in what direction they were to take. This was evident when on February 7, 1881 the company chartered the Sanford & Indian River Railroad, which was projected from Sanford to Titusville on the Indian River, an inlet on the Atlantic Ocean. Construction soon followed with six miles being completed between Sanford and Onoro. The road was built to three-foot gauge and was operated by the South Florida.
Then management changed their minds once again when in August of 1881 they announce their plans to extend from Orlando to Kissimmee and to abandon construction on the Sanford & Indian River. The reason behind this change of heart was due to Hamilton Disston who had pledge six miles of alternate sections to the road if they would build south to the Gulf of Mexico via Kissimmee. Disston, a Philadelphia industrialist, had purchased four million acres of Florida real estate for 25 cents an acre to bail out Florida’s Internal Improvement Fund that had been abused by Northern carpetbaggers after the Civil War. The fund was originally set up prior to the war to help finance railroad and canal construction by granting large amounts of State owned acreage. Disston’s large purchase put the fund back in the black and the State of Florida was now able to stimulate railroad construction once again, the South Florida RR being one of the roads so benefited.
Just prior to the construction of this extension it was announced that Sir Edward Reed of England and his Florida Transit Railroad was interested in purchasing the South Florida but a deal could not be worked out and the road started construction on the 18 mile extension on October 6, 1881 with completion to Kissimmee on March 25, 1882.
While this work on the extension was in progress, the South Florida amended its charter for the Apopka Branch on October 10, 1881. This was supposed to be a 56-mile railroad that would run west from a point near Altamont Springs to the Withlacoochee River by way of Apopka. Construction started soon after only to be halted in December when disagreements with property owners came to light. However in March of 1882, the narrow gauge Florida Southern Railroad began courting the South Florida that would result in both companies constructing grades toward one another, the Florida Southern by way of Leesburg and the South Florida using its unfinished Apopka Branch. By May this romance ended and the South Florida once again suspended construction. Losing interest in this project they sold the grade to the three-foot gauge Apopka & Atlantic that had built a five-mile long railroad from Mayo on the South Florida to Forest City on the Orange Belt Railway in 1886. This was sold to the Alabama, Florida & Atlantic Railway in 1887, a paper road projected from Birmingham, Alabama to Jupiter, Florida, which became inactive in 1888. The Apopka & Atlantic owned one locomotive, two coaches, one combination mail and baggage, one observation car, three flat cars and two boxcars.
After the extension to Kissimmee was completed it was announced that the road would be extended to Bartow in Polk County, which was located 45 miles west of Kissimmee. Money however had run out in May of 1882 and President Ingrahm made the trip to Boston to raise more cash. He successfully returned home with enough credit to purchase thirty miles of rail along with enough material to build 20 cars and shop machinery, but no construction would be attempted until 1883. The rest of 1882 was spent in the field as Chief Engineer Trafford and his location crews surveyed every possible route from Kissimmee to Tampa Bay and Charlotte Harbor.
1882 is a good place to stop and look over the South Florida. At this time the South Florida RR was the southern most railroad in the United States and did not interchange with any railroad, its only connection was with the steamboats plying the St. Johns River at its northern terminus in Sanford. On leaving Sanford the grade rises gradually as we pass the switch to Lake Charm over the Sanford & Indian River. The main to Orlando is all uphill from here as Sanford is at only 20 feet in elevation while Orlando is at 111 feet. First we pass Belair (3 miles) and lake Mary (5 miles) before we come to Longwood (10 miles), which was the headquarters of the South Florida and the first large village south of Sanford. Longwood was also the headquarters of Peter Demens’ sawmill, which constructed all the wooden structures for the South Florida RR. Peter Demens would later build his own narrow gauge railroad from Longwood, the Orange Belt Railway in 1886.
South Florida RR Station at Sanford, FL .Photo from the Florida State Photographic Archives.
Leaving Longwood we pass Altamont Springs (13 miles) and then Mayo (14 miles) where the ill-fated Apopka branch connected to the mainline. We next pass through Maitland (15 miles), Winter Park (18 miles), before arriving at Orlando (22 miles), the county seat and largest town in Orange County. From here the line descends towards the Kissimmee River basin and en-route we pass Pine Castle (27 miles) and McKinnon (34 miles) before we reach Kissimmee at 40 mile post and the end of the line. Kissimmee is the capital of Osceola County and the head of navigation on the Kissimmee River at Lake Topopekaliga. The main industry in Orange County was the cultivation of citrus and the South Florida benefited from this seasonal traffic, which lasted from December to May. Lumber was also a big user of the railroad and almost every stop had a sawmill. Cattle was another large industry as Orlando was the headquarters of the largest cattlemen in the state and cattle free ranged over the open land south and west towards Lake Okeechobee, Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay. The growing of early vegetables also was a considerable business at this time. Sugar cane was grown in the Kissimmee-St. Cloud area and sugar and molasses were shipped north. Tourist traffic was also important during the winter months.
The South Florida by the end of 1882 owned five small wood burning narrow gauge locomotives. We are already acquainted with the first three so I will begin with number 4 the “ James T. Sanford” a Baldwin 4-4-0 that was built in January of 1882 and caring construction number 5990. She was soon joined by her sister, the number 5 “C. H. Andrews” which was issued Baldwin construction number 6294 that was built in July of 1882. Both engines had 9x16 inch cylinders and 42 inch drivers.
Other equipment at this time consisted of five coaches, two combination mail, baggage and express cars, fifteen box cars and twenty flat cars. All the freight equipment was only 25 feet in length and a capacity of only 15,000 lbs.
The timetable in 1882 consisted of four trains, 2 passenger trains and two mix trains. Passenger train number one left Sanford at 8:40AM, arriving at Orlando at 10:00AM and Kissimmee at 11:30AM. Passenger train number 2 left Kissimmee at 4:00PM stopping at Orlando at 5:30PM and terminating at Sanford at 6:50PM. Mixed train number 3 left Sanford at 4:20PM meeting train number 2 at Maitland at 5:50PM and terminating at Orlando at 6:10PM. Mixed train number 4 was actually the first train of the day, leaving Orlando at 6:50AM, arriving at Sanford by 8:40AM. No trains were run on Sundays.
South Florida Railroad’s wharf on the St. Johns River. From the Florida State Photographic Archives.
&lt;img src="http://visit.webhosting.
No comments:
Post a Comment