Pioneers
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
Josiah Benjamin Clouser
1838-1920 Concern for the health of his wife (Eliza), Josiah B. Clouser moved his family from Pennsylvania to Longwood in 1881. He saw the town in newspaper ads placed by […]