City of Orlando Historic Preservation Officer Jennifer Fritz-Hunter Presents “The Men Who Signed the Articles of Incorporation” for Orlando’s 150 Year Anniversary

City of Orlando Historic Preservation Officer Jennifer Fritz-Hunter at the 150th Anniversary of Orlando Kickoff Celebration. Photo by Jane Tracy

The men, it was all men who signed our incorporation papers and notice to the legislature petition to become a city. Who were they? They’re signatures on a piece of paper, right? But where did they come from? And they all spun into Orlando as we led into 1875 and then where did they spin off to afterwards? So, I have a snapshot of what they did in July 31 of 1875.

Listen as City of Orlando Historic Preservation Officer Jennifer Fritz-Hunter presents “The Men Who Signed the Articles of Incorporation for Orlando”, at the Orlando Remembered meeting October 15, 2025 at the Orlando Public Library.

But I’m going to try to fill in the gaps before and after on who these people were. And, you know, I would like to think they were superheroes, that they had the foresight, they knew we were going to be a world class city. But, you know, as I research more and more about them, they’re just like you and me.

Jernigan the Town Becomes Orlando a City

They had a plan. They wanted to make a difference. And so, they set about to make Orlando or Jernigan as it was then, a town. There were 22 of them which represented 2/5 of the registered voters. So I did the math and Jernigan had approximately 50 registered voters. Now according to the 1868 State Constitution that allowed Florida to be readmitted to the Union, they had to extend voting rights to all male persons regardless of race, religion and a whole bunch of other qualifiers. But the men had to be at least 21 years of age, who were citizens of the United States, they had resided in the state for one year and they had been in the county for six months. So of that pool there were only 50 of them. And then 22 of them signed the incorporation papers to meet the 2/5 requirements. There was a 23rd and I don’t know why he wasn’t listed on the incorporation papers, but we’re going to talk about him first.

James P. Hughey

So the first gentleman to sign was actually the Clerk, his name was James P. Hughey. He was actually from Georgia and he settled here in 1855 on the west shore of Lake Lucerne and he claimed that he had found the fountain of youth in this small spring. This was called Hughey’s Peninsula, back in the day, they called it Hughey’s Peninsula. But his house was actually here at the corner of Macy and Grace, in that area. He had a 160 acres and it extended all the way from Lake Lucerne west to Parramore. And it was the first log house at the corner of Macy and Grace. Then he moved to Grace and Hughey which was a little bit further even west from that. And then he built a really big house at the corner of Irving and Hughey that is smack dab underneath 408 right now. So that house no longer exists unfortunately. That last house was built be a gentleman by the name of Mr. Graham. And Mr. Hughey opened a ditch between Lake Cherokee and Lake Davis to help with the flow of the water. I think we discovered in Lake Ian that that ditch might still be there. I think it helps create Lake Chavis when it rains too much.

First City Clerk

So Mr. Hughey was the Clerk of the Circuit Court from 1870 to1883. And he was the City’s first Clerk in 1875. He was elected to the Board of Alderman as they were called at that time in 1882. And he was a county commissioner in 1887.

First Mail Carrier

He was one of the first mail carriers to bring letters from Mellonville as Sanford was known then. And it took it three days to do round trip… So an interesting story, I found out about Mr. Hughey was gophers were a problem for the early farmers, so he would track them and then set them free in the wilds of the swamp on the way back and forth from Mellonville. And during the Civil War, he would make supply runs, twice a month to Gainesville for provisions for Central Florida. He was the Treasurer of the Board of Education in 1871. He had two sons and a daughter. He did pass away in 1890 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

He is not listed in the incorporation papers as an elector which I find unusual because he had obviously lived here more than a year. He had been a citizen of the United States. He was a registered voter. But he was not listed specifically as an elector just as the clerk, the county clerk. And then he was elected as the city clerk. I love this picture of his family:

He is seated in the hat, but look at that background. Where would we have to go now to find that? Probably Wekiva, right? But that was down there on the peninsula.

Jacob Summerlin

Jacob Summerlin, a name we should all know. He was big and important. He was, in the 1820s, he was dubbed: “The King of the Crackers” by friends and “The Cattle King of Florida.” He was believed to be the first American child born in the newly acquired territory from the Spanish when we got Florida from them. He was considered quiet, courteous and kind, but could be tough when the situation demanded it. He was given cows by his father when he turned 16. And he grew and increased the herd, trading twenty slaves he also inherited in the 1840s, for more cattle. And by the 1850s, his cattle ranch was situated on the site, pretty much the present day Bartow. So he was southwest of here.

Confederacy Beef Contracts

He initially secured a contract to provide beef to the Confederacy. Florida was the number one producer of beef for the Confederacy during the Civil War. In all told, he gave 25,000 steers by driving them north to the Georgia line which took 40 days in over two years. He was supposed to be paid $8.00 a head, but he was never paid for that work.

Blockade Running from Fort Myers to Cuba

So he then decided to take his steers and he turned to blockade running between basically Fort Myers and Cuba. And he got paid $30.00 a head to do that. So it was much more profitable. It was said that he could not be cheated. He would not gamble. And he never drank. He used the gold he got trading cattle with the Spanish in Cuba in blockade running to buy more and more land.

The Summerlin Institute – First Free Public School in Florida

And he opened the Summerlin Institute as the first free public school in Florida in Bartow.

Large House Built on current site of the Orlando Public Library

In 1873 he finally moved to Orlando. He built a large house on the east side of Main Street facing the courthouse in the current location of the Library, basically where we are right now. And he purchased another 200 acres surrounding all of Lake Eola. Now he did turn this house that was on this site into a rooming house. And then he built a second home at Liberty and Central which was that way which he turned into the Summerlin Hotel; which was kind of like the Waldorf Astoria of its day, like it was the high society place of its day.

$10,000 Dollars for a New Courthouse

In 1875 when General Sanford tried to convince the county commissioners to relocate to his town, he always said that General Sanford gave a pompous speech about the advantages of Sanford. Mr. Summerlin listened patiently and then quietly rebuked Sanford since the citizens of the county had chosen Orlando in 1856. However, he did offer $10,000 dollars for a new courthouse if the county seat would stay and they didn’t have to pay him back. However, they did pay him back later. So in 1892 the courthouse that he paid for was picked up and moved down the street, down Magnolia to be come part of the Tremont Hotel. So that is the fourth courthouse being moved.

Reverter’s Clause for Lake Eola

In 1883 he also donated all that land he owned around Lake Eola to the City with the reverter’s clause that to this day, if the City does not keep the land free and open as a park, his descendants can take it back. And in 1886 they actually threatened to do that because the park had been neglected. So the City turned it into a racetrack. Did anyone know that was a racetrack at one time? It was a racetrack and they did that to clean up the park. He did pass away in 1893 of, back then they called it dropsy, but today we would call it edema, so swelling and then fluid retention…

James Montahue

I can’t find a lot of information about everybody, unfortunately we’ll get to those people. But sometimes, the only picture I could find was of their grave site. So he lived from 1844 until 1910. He was a native of Virginia. He was wounded three times in the Civil War. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1871 and then moved to Orlando. So he married Fanny Preston who was the daughter of Dr. Preston in 1875. He’s like one of the first doctors in Orlando. They had a grocery store with McQuaig which was on the southeast corner of Orange and Church; which the southeast corner is basically the plaza in front of DTO today. He was a partner at Points and Montahue Law Firm. And he served six years as our tax collector for the county. He purchased an orange grove on the north side of Lake Jennie Jewel as his property. And then he was an Alderman in 1875 and 1876.

Confederate Soldier Pension

As a Confederate soldier he did receive a pension. In 1910 he received a $100.00 for a year. It’s amazing what you can find in these files, right. He is buried at Greenwood Cemetery and he had four daughters. But it’s really hard to trace daughters. We all know that, right. So the Montahue name isn’t really around anymore.

Edward Speer

Edward Speer was one of our incorporators. He was born in 1834 in Florida. He took his 160 acres and settled on the north side of Lake Eola in 1860. He married Mary Francis Mizelle who was the daughter of Sherriff Mizelle and they had five children together. It said that he built the first frame house in the city with cut lumber as opposed to just logs and log cabins or those wigwams things with like palm fronds that were also very popular when families would first come to the area. He had a general store with a log building on Main Street between Central and Duke…

First Postmaster

He did add drugs to his store when the first doctor arrived, a gentleman by the way of Dr. Whittle. In 1870 he was the county treasurer. He served as our first postmaster and did a permanent building on the southwest corner of Pine and Main which you can see in the 1892 map. And that building is basically where Papi Smash’d sits today. That’s not the same building unfortunately. In 1875 he did serve as a city Alderman.

Orlando Benevolent Association

He was a member of the Orlando Benevolent Association and they would host plays every year to raise money for the school fund. One of the first eight subscribers to the telephone system in 1882. He was also a Civil War veteran. I could not find when he passed away. I could not find an obituary and I could not find a headstone for him.

James Williams

James Williams is another one of our famous characters. He was elected the Town Marshall in 1875, in August. Then in October, just two months later, there was a drunk county deputy at a town gathering who got a little out of hand and Marshall Williams tried to calm him down. The deputy was upset that another law enforcement wasn’t respecting him and so he shot Marshall Wiliams. And he didn’t die right away unfortunately. He survived until January. I guess, again, think back then the medical treatment that was not available in the middle of nowhere, Central Florida in 1875. There’s no train. There’s no way to get him to a hospital. There wasn’t anything nearby. So he lingered for quite some time. There was a reward for the capture of his murderer, but that was never claimed.

Confederate Section of Greenwood Cemetery

So that county deputy escaped, probably to Texas because that seemed to be where everyone went. He was survived by his wife for one day. She was suffering from TB and then collapsed and died when told of his death. So they actually left three children behind as orphans that were raised by his brother and sister in law. He was also a Confederate Veteran and is buried in the Confederate section of Greenwood Cemetery.

William Stubblefield

William Stubblefield, these names are easy to research. You got to have a name like Stubblefield to go digging through files. Some of the other people you’ll see, their last name is Brown, that is very hard to research. This gentleman was born in Virginia. He was also a Confederate soldier, pretty famous. He was in the Battle of Manassas, Harpers Ferry, and Raccoon Ford among many others. He was a Chief Scout for General Lee. And had five horses shot out from under him, but he was never wounded. He married Annie Walker in Augusta, Georgia and they moved to Central Florida in 1874.

Opened the First Opera House

He was a contractor by trade and he remodeled the Summerlin House into the hotel for $15,000. which seems like a really good sum right now. He was elected in 1875 as an Alderman. He was reelected in ’76, 77, and ’87 so he served for fours years. He also opened the first Opera House in 1884 on Court Street and here it is on our ’87 Sanborn Map. It went the whole width from Court through Magnolia or Main Street as it was called then. He did move away at the turn of the century back to Georgia to become a cabinet maker. He died in 1933 at the age of 98.

Edgar Richards

Edgar Richards, also referred to as Edward, I found it both ways. But he also just went by E. A. a lot so it was hard to figure out what his true first name was. Anyways, he came here in 1869 from New Hampshire. He had a wife, Mary, and six children up there. He had been a corporal in the Grand Army of the Republic. When he first got here he cleared ten acres of land for an owner on the south side of Lake Eola and then he took five acres as payment. So he built his home there and it would eventually be owned by a Senator Overstreet…. Richards was a blacksmith and a carpenter as well. He was the city’s first undertaker in 1880. He served as Alderman in ’75, ’77, and 1880.

First Weather Observer

He ran a boarding house in 1882. In 1887 he was the second assistant to the Fire Chief. He did combine his undertaking business with Elijah Hand in 1887. Elijah Hand was the first embalmer in the city of Orlando. I talk about him on my tour. His building is still standing. In 1888, he was the town’s first weather observer. (How cool of a job is that!) So every day he climbed the three flights of stairs to the top of the old Armory building to display the weather flag, so that every one around would know what the weather was going to be. And in 1903, the weather flags were moved to the top of the San Juan Hotel. He did die in 1924 at the age of 90 in Holly Hill, Florida. He was so famous and so well known that his funeral was here in Orlando. It drew the likes of Harry P. Leu, Judge Cheney, and W.R. O’Neal were all pall bearers for him.

William Jackson Brack

William Jackson Brack was born in 1837 in Georgia. He married Olive Chauncey and they had two sons, but they died very young. And the family moved to Louisiana before the Civil War. He served in Company C of the 27th Louisiana Infantry Regiment. He was taken prisoner at Vicksburg, Missisippi… in 1863 and then released in 1865. But his rank was always that of private. He moved to Orlando a widower and married Amy and then they had three daughters here.

Mayor

In 1872, he replaced James Spear as a county commissioner. He was elected cattle inspector in 1873. He was Mayor in ’75 and ’76, back then they only served one year terms. Then he was Alderman in ’77, ’78 and 1880. Amy did die in 1880 and then he remarried Eliza Tyson. So he had three wives. Eliza was 20 years younger than him. They had two more sons and five daughters. The last son was born in 1901. I told you he was born in 1837. So he was 64 when his last son was born. He was busy. This was a man who lived life. He did die though in 1901, the same year his son was born.

“One of the best men in this section of the country…”

I hope I go this way. He was found sitting under a tree with his gun about a mile from his home in Kissimmee by his son in law, Percy. He had gone out to hunt some hogs, and didn’t return. His obituary noted he was one of the best men in this section of the country and his death is a heavy blow to the whole county. So he was well regarded. Again, he just went out in nature, sat down and didn’t get up….

Cassius Boone

Cassius Boone, there’s a name we should all know. He was a direct descendant of Daniel Boone, born in North Carolina. He attended Eastman College in Poughkeepsie, New York. He moved directly to Orlando as soon as he graduated which was in 1872. He was one of our first school teachers. He was also Deputy County Clerk, City Clerk, Tax Collector and an Alderman in ’75 and ’78. In 1881, he established the largest furniture and hardware store in the state on the northeast corner of Church and Orange… He married Sarah Huey who was the daughter of James Huey, so we talked about him first, in 1873.

105 Irving Street

And they lived at 105 Irving Street and in 1875. he had the first house to have dormer windows. I don’t know how accurate that would be. Like what do they call a dormer window and why would somebody mention that, but hey. It was demolished in 1959 to make way for the Orlando Day Nursery which used to be around Lake Lucerne. The couple had seven children together.

Greenwood Cemetery

It is said that he built a road through the woods, from the front of his house to Church Street and that it was named after him. So we all know where Boone Avenue is, right, in the middle of 408 and I-4… He formed a stock company with several other prominent Orlandoans and purchased 26 acres southeast of town, as the site for the cemetary. And that was the beginning of Greenwood Cemetary that we have today. [The principal who Boone High School is named after, is he descendant of this person.] Yes.

Boone’s Early Oranges

In 1882, he also purchased 150 acres of orange groves and experimented with oranges that would ripen early. The varietal is still called Boone’s Early today. They have that variety of oranges. I don’t get into oranges that much. He was Mayor in 1883. In ’86 he was on the Board of Directrors for the Orlando Board of Trade and again in ’87. In 1895, he traded his store for an orange grove that was bound by Colonial Drive, Amelia, Broadway and Magnolia, so that whole area up there was just a giant orange grove.

First Seven Females Register to Vote in Local Elections

I often think these early setllers that came in the ’60s and the ’70s, once the railroad came through in 1880, they like got out of dodge. They moved farther out. Like it got too crowded for them to have 3,000 people in town when they were used to only 300. So they moved further out. He was on the city council in 1891, again he cycled back on, by 1912 he was the City Clerk when the first seven females registered to vote in local elections.

Women in Orlando Could Vote in Local Elections in 1912

We all knew that women in Orlando could vote before the rest of the country, right; only in local elections. But it was an ordinance that was passed in 1912 and he was a city clerk that helped register those women to vote. I don’t know if he did it willingly, or unwillingly, but he did help them. If it was like this my job I have to let you do it, or come on in register. I’m not sure what side he was on that fence, but he did do it.

Resolution in Memory of Cassius Boone

So in December 1917, the city council adopted a resoultion in memory of Cassius Boone, a man of strictest integrity, and although modest and unassuming, he was noble of the city and public officer. (I think we should write obituaries sometimes. I just wrote my grandma’s.)

Jacob Cohen

Jacob Cohen, an interesting man, born in 1850 in Germany. His family moved to Savannah when he was one years old. And then he married Miss Rachel Williams in 1877 in Orlando. He was a member of that Orlando Benevolent Association that would do the School Fund Plays. In 1875 and 1877 he was an Alderman. However, he did move away to Tallahassee in 1879. So he kind of spun out of the Central Florida orbit. He was a merchant there for several decades before he died in 1901 of Bright’s disease which is a kidney disease that we now term Nephritis. But he was Jewish, but he was not what you would think of a typical WASP in Central Florida.

A. M. Hyer

A. M. Hyer arrived in Central Florida in 1870 from Georgia. He was also a Confedrate veteran and you can see that on his tombstone. They carved it in the top, that same symbol. It’s like an English cross almost. He was one of four brothers who made their mark here. The A. M. stands for Alexander Means. I found that somewhere in some very dusty tome. But he always went by A. M. He operated a delivery stable on East Pine Street and there it is in the 1884 census. And he also operated a drugstore, although I really hope they weren’t in the same location as the horses. But I couldn’t find exactly where the drugstore was located.

Mayor

He was a contractor for the third Courthouse that Summerlin paid for and it cost $7,800.00. He was an Alderman in 1877 and a Mayor in 1879. He volunteered to be a member of the fire brigade in 1885 which was right after the fire of 1884. But you know, we needed all the volunteers we could get. He is here in the 1885 Census for some reason Florida did a half year Census. But then of course we don’t have an 1890 Census. And by 1900, he’s in Pensacola. So given his interest and the things he was involved in, he possibly left because of the freezes and went further north. Because he started growing oranges up north. I think that they just thought this was too far… I don’t know. It’s a theory I have. I’m still working on these people. He died in 1933 in Chipley, Florida which is in the panhandle.

J. M. Clark

As I said, sometimes people have a common name and it becomes really hard to trace who they were or where they came from and what they ended up doing. So, this gentleman, J. M. Clark was not in Eve Bacon’s book other than mentioned as an incorporator. He’s not listed in Gore’s book from 1955. There is a J. E. Clark in Orlando in 1880 and there’s a J. A. Clark in Orlando in 1885. Both listed them as from Illinois and listed the gentleman as African American. It is listed as staying at the Saratoga Hotel in like a social article which was up in Palatka. But I really don’t have much information about this gentleman. Again, a very common name gets really hard to track when you’re removed by 150 years.

Robert L. Summerlin

Robert L. Summerlin, this was Jacob’s son. And it is said that he named Lake Eola, but not after a sweetheart. She was just supposed to be a friend not anyone in particular according to his brother Sam. And then he graduated from the University of Georgia and became an attorney and he was elected to the City Council in 1876 and 1879. He was Volusia County Court Judge in 1878. In 1880 he was Mayor of Orlando and he became a Superior Court Judge for the entire State of Florida. He moved to Bartow or should I say, he moved his wife and children to Bartow.

District Judge in Texas

And then he spun off to San Antonio, Texas where he represented cotton farmers in their lawsuit against the Chicago Board of Trade for price fixing. They thought they were setting the price of cotton too low and they weren’t giving them what they were owed. So he was a big time lawyer. He didn’t just take little mom and pop cases. He became a District Court Judge in Texas. Census shows he was married to a woman named Texas and in the 1880s she was in Bartow with their two daughters. But we’ll find out more about that later. In the 1900 Census, just his wife and daughters were in Bartow and he wasn’t there any more. He came to L.A. in 1902 and started practicing the law out in California.

California

So he divorced his first wife it looks like, her name was Texas, in 1885. But he remarried in Texas in1886 to a woman by the name of Elizabeth. And they also divorced, and then he married for a third time to a woman named Anita Barback. And then in 1901 they moved to California together. So, I think there’s a story there that needs to be found. Again, what is with these men marrying three women. He did pass away in 1926 from artierosclerosis. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in LA. His obituary listed five children. But it was mostly by initials, so it was really hard to tell how many he had by who, which ones were from which wife and which ones were male or female. I think another character who deserves more look.

Jeremiah Moody

Jeremiah Moody, he was known just as J. Moody on the incorporation papers. I did find an 1860 Census record of a 23 year old farmer in Alabama. In 1870 Census, I could find no record of any Moody in Florida. The Civil War registry had a Private from the Georgia Infantry which doesn’t really gel with Alabama. And then by the 1880 Census, here in Central Florida, there was a Jeremiah Moody who was 43 years old, he managed a grove, he was single, born in Georgia, so that would make his approximate year of birth 1837. However, with no 1890 Census and then by the time 1900 spins around, there’s no more record of a J. Moody or a Jeremiah Moody anywhere in Florida or really anywhere in the country that fit that little bit of data that I had. So it will be another mystery I’ll keep pecking away at when I get a chance.

J. E. Brown

J. E. Brown with or without an “e” I could not find very much information about this gentleman. All of the censuses really come up blank when you have such a generic name or so many results that there’s no way to figure out which one really is the J. E. Brown that we have on our Incorporation papers. I did find one news article in The Orlando Sentinel in 1916 that he incorporated the Dixie Milling Company with a partner. There is also an article in 1920, the Orlando Sentinel just wrote an article about the history of the city and who the incorporaters were. They listed all of the incorporators and then they listed whether they were living or dead. And he was listed as diseased in 1920. So that’s all I can say about that gentleman. But I will keep looking. I don’t give up very easily. [How many total signed the incorporation papers?] Twenty two.

A. O. Sims

So A. O. Sims is another person that, I did find more information about him. But I couldn’t find his cemetery or where he might be buried. He could have been cremated. He could have been anywhere… But I do know he was born in 1848 in New York. We don’t know why he was in Central Florida in 1875. He married Elizabeth Tilford in 1878 in Indiana. And they had a daughter named Rosa while up there. In 1885, he is back here on the Central Florida Census as age 33. There is an Augusta L. Sims which I believe is this gentleman, from 1887 in our City Directory. He’s a painter for the Southern Florida Railroad and his residence is in Sanford. So that is probably the same gentleman here given all the little clues and the strings, you’re trying to tie a nice little bow. He did also have a daughter who was born in 1887 in Sanford and a son in 1890. And then the 1920 article from the Orlando Sentinel does mention that he is deceased. But again, I couldn’t really find a hard date or a burial for him. And I’m in Sanford so I will keep pecking at that one. I feel like I have enough I should be able to wrap that one up.

Nathan Beasley

Nathan Beasley was born in 1812 in Georgia. He married Charity Sweat and they had four children: Hiram, Edith, Jensie, and Elizabeth all in Georgia. He arrived in 1865 as a veteran of the Civil War. And he lived at the corner of Central and Parramore. So way out west. They said it was the site of the fire station, but there’s not even a fire station there any more. So that doesn’t help me figure out where it was. He was a charter member of the Baptist Church in 1872. In the 1870s Census he was a farmer in Central Florida. In the 1880 Census he’s still a farmer. In the 1890 Census we don’t have one. And then he dies in 1891 and is buried in Lake Hill Cemetery which is still here in Orange County. It’s just not Greenwood. [It’s interesting you reead all his children and it says parents of Hiram.] Yes, I like that Hiram is the one who got his name on the stone. [He must of been the first born son.] I believe he was.

W. J. McMillan

W. J. McMillan, I found this information. I’m not sure if it’s the same W. J. McMillan. There are a couple of loose threads I would like to pin down and make sure this is the correct gentleman. But there was a W. John born in 1843 from North Carolina. He was a veteran of the Civil War. He had a daughter born in Orlando in 1872. The 1870 Census shows he is an engineer. He is 27. He’s married to Emma and they have a son, George, and they’re living in Savannah, Georgia. I wonder if this is a skill he picked up while serving in the Civil War, being an engineer. He might have been in the engineer corps for the Confederacy.

In the 1880 Census, he’s 37. So that’s the right age. He’s married to “E” which is Emma and they have daughter. He’s working as a machinist in Orlando which is sort of like being an engineer. You would work with metal. You would make guns and swords and things of that nature. At the 1885 Census, they have a son, a W. J. Jr. There’s no 1890 Census. But by 1900 he is in Sanford and he’s widowed. In 1910, he’s in Jacksonville as a machinist, a boarder. He doesn’t own his home. He’s still widowed and then he did die in Jacksonville in 1920. So I think that’s the same gentleman. I just have a few more loose ends I have to tie up.

Hiram Beasley

Speaking of Hiram, he also got to sign our Incorporation papers. He was born in 1842. He married Caroline Dukes. They had five children, two sons and three daughters. He did serve in the Civil War alongside his father. And he came with Nathanel in 1865 from Georgia. He became the Bailiff for the County Courthouse and he served 37 years at that position. His salary was a dollar a day. And he was offered a 50 cent raise, but he refused it because he thought if the salary was raised, then someone else would want to do the job. So he didn’t take it. However, I did find court records that by the end of his term serving, before he retired he was being paid, $1.25. So he did eventually get a raise. If I did the same job for 37 years, I would want a raise.

Third County Courthouse

So in 1875, he bought the third County Courthouse for $611.50 and he moved it to the site of the current Angebilt Hotel. And that building would hold the newspaper presses after the fire of 1884. So his obituary stated: “in all his years of living in Orlando he had always been found on the square with all who he came in contact.” So he is buried at Lake Hill Cemetery, probably pretty close to his dad. And he died in July of 1918.

John Wiley

John Wiley, another one of my mystery guys. He signed the Incorporation papers just as J. Wiley. And it’s actually spelled with two “l’s”, but I found more references with one “l” so I’m thinking again, maybe a typo. He is listed in the 1920’s article as deceased. But I could not find any John Wiley grave with the correct year ranges. So when I knew that to be an incorporator or an elector, you had to be 21 years aged to vote, right. And so, my grave search site was based off of that. So they had to be born before 1854, 21 years before 1875. And then they had to die after 1875. So on the Find a Grave website, you can search with those parameters and I could just not find any Wiley at all that fit thoses parameters. I could not find any Wiley at all on the Florida Census records either for 1870 or 1888. So, I really have like zero information on this gentleman. He’s my worst case here and I will keep finding and I will keep searching and I will find him eventually. He’s in there somewhere.

R. W. Broom

Broom, I believe it’s prounounced Broom, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Civil War. He was Chairman of the Committee to form the town. So in the spring they formed a committee to approach the legislature about becoming a town. So he was the Chairman of that committee. And then he was elected as a City Attorney right in August of 1875. He is listed as deceased in the 1920s article. But again, I could find no gravestone for a R. W. Broom with or without the “E”. Nothing in our Census record either. There’s a Civil War record. Now when you filled out your card, you were supposed to put your date of birth and a few other basic details. He has none of that on his card. He just signed it and said, “Confederacy”. So I don’t know what state he came from or where he might have gone back to, but I’ll keep looking.

Ben Mimms

Ben Mimms is an interesting character. And I think I have found an African American that signed our Incorporation papers. I am going to keep digging and make sure I have it right. So there is only one grave in the entire country that says Benjamin Mimms on it. He was born in 1826 in Tennessee. He served in the Union Army, the 14th regiment for colored troops. Even though he was in Tennesse, he would have to go north to register. He filed for invalid pension in 1887 and he died in 1895. It is possibly the same Ben Mimms, the ages line up and the 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870, which would give him the power, the ability to vote. Florida State Constitution of 1868 would have given him the ability to vote. But he could have come to town, registered even owned land, but then spun away and gone different, back up to Tennessee. So, he’s buried in Tennessee. I’ll keep researching that one because I think that would be a fabulous story to tell. [Any connection to Mims, Florida?] His name is two “M’s”. It is quite clear and his signature is two “m’s”, that other Mims is just one “m”. But he is buried in Tennessee. He came from Tennessee and he went back to Tennessee. At least the Ben Mimm’s that I found.

Marion Goodman

Marion Goodman is our last, that’s my last incorporator: Signature 22. Born in 1845 in South Carolina, also served in the Civil War. In 1870 Census, he’s in Central Florida, aged 25 as a farmer. His wife is Maria, and they had three children: John, Henry and Mary. In the 1880 Census, he’s a carpenter, kind of moved down from that. I could find no record of him in the 1900 or 1910 Census. But, by 1920, he pops back up as a farmer in Newberry. And then he dies in 1924 in Newberry, Florida and is buried in Alachua. Am I saying that right? Alachua.

[Where are you from?] I’m from Ohio. I was born in Toledo, Ohio… But I went to school at the Ohio State University. I lived in Chicago for a while, about a decade, which is when I got my master’s. And then, as I say, I spun back to Ohio. Worked in Northeast Ohio on a lot of really cool fun preservation projects and then took this great job because I was tired of the cold.

So that is everything I could find so far. But I’m not giving up. And I think there’s a few loose strings to chase down and I’d really like to find out more about that Benjamin Mimms. If it really was that African-American man who had served in the GAR [Grand Army of the Republic], what his story was. How did he get from Tennessee up to sign in the regiment for the colored persons. So I think there’s some more angles there. But that’s all I’ve got so far.

Oral History Presenter:  Jennifer Fritz-Hunter, City of Orlando Historic Preservation Officer

Oral History Presentation Recorded by:  Jane Tracy, Orlando Remembered President

Date:  October 15, 2025

Place:  Orlando Public Library