People
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Eldon E. Williamson
E. E. Williamson Road is a major east-west side road connecting Markham Woods Road with Longwood Hills Road, crossing Interstate 4 in the process. It was named after Eldon E. […]
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Francis Oliver, Oral History
Local historian Jason Byrne interviews Francis Oliver on July 2, 2018 11:50AM at Patio Grill in Sanford. Francis is a civil rights activist, community leader, career educator, founder of the […]
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John Neill and Eva Searcy
John Neill Searcy arrived in Mellonville (Sanford) by steamboat and homesteaded in the Longwood area in 1873. He first settled near the Longdale/Sky Lark/Candyland Park area before relocating to the […]
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John Otto Fries
1838-1931 Surveyor
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Aaron Jernigan
Martha B Jernigan Tyler (1838-1926) was quoted in Kenna Fries’ 1937 book “Orlando in the Long Long Ago” as writing: “My father was Captain Aaron Jernigan, a brave soldier. Father […]
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Mahlon Gore
Gore said in 1908 of his first encounter with Orlando: “I walked over from Sanford, taking two days to make the trip. The sand was deep and the last end […]
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Thomas W Lund, Jr.
The Frederick DeBarry steamship was captained by Thomas Lund, Jr. It was part of the Clyde Steamship Line from Jacksonville to Enterprise and Sanford. The Lund family—Thomas Lund Senior and […]
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Frederic Henry Rand
One of the earliest settlers of Longwood was Frederic H. Rand who arrived in Longwood the year the post office was established. Like Henck he was from Boston. He purchased […]
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Edward Warren Henck
Edward Henck (1846-1930) arrived in Mellonville (Sanford) by steamboat in November 1872 from Boston. He looked at some maps of available homesteads and picked out a few promising locations. Horses […]
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Stephen John Levi Hooker
Stephen John Levi Hooker was born to a pioneer family in Alachua County in 1837. Among his other siblings he was especially close to older brother William Pearch Hooker. It […]