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Algernon Sidney Speer³ (William¹, Alexander²) was a surgeon, pioneer, Judge, historic orange grove planter, soldier, steamboat owner and operator, community leader, politician and family man. He was born about 1818 to Reverend Alexander Speer² and Elizabeth Middleton in Abbeville District, South Carolina (CHAPTER 6).

Alexander Speer² moved his family to Culloden, Monroe County, Georgia in 1832 (CHAPTER 6). Algernon Sidney was about 14 years old at the time. He evidently soon met his future wife.

Both Arthur and Mary were born in Ireland but died in Orange County, Florida; Mary before 1870 and Arthur before 1876.

The Ginns lived for a time in Culloden where they became good friends with the Speer family. Arthur Ginn was an avid peach grower in Culloden and soon he and Algernon Sidney both moved their families to Florida and began that state’s most famous orange grove^A.

Algernon Sidney³ and Christiana had six children (CHAPTER 1). Christiana died on June 2, 1853 less than a year after the birth of her daughter Ella.

Algernon settled on the west bank of the St. John’s River near Ft. Mellon which was located on the southeast shore of Lake Monroe. Ft. Mellon played a significant role in the early Seminole Wars when an attack by 400 Indians was repelled on February 8, 1837.

Algernon’s river-side location was ideal since the fertile lands along the river were prime candidates for crop cultivation and the river itself was the principle travel and freight transportation for the numerous new communities that were springing up along it’s course. Algernon³ and his father-in-law partner quickly pursued both the farming and river transportation potential of their new home. 

Florida had become a US Territory in 1823 and pioneer settlements were encouraged by government-granted homesteads. However Indian attacks were frequent and by 1823 numerous small military forts were in existence. Civilian populations quickly sprang up around the forts. Fort Mellon (first called Camp Monroe) was the farthest fort inside former Indian territory and this is where Algernon Sidney brought his family. The community became known as Mellonville. On June 12, 1843 he applied for a 160-acre homestead on a high point of land on the west side of the St. John’s River^E. See Figure 15-1 his signature as it appears on his homestead application.

Algernon³, who had already been in Florida for three years^E, built a two-room log cabin on his homestead^F. The rooms were separated by an open breezeway^D and were probably covered by a single arched roof with sleeping quarters in the attic above the rooms and breezeway.

Algernon³ apparently brought slaves with him from Georgia^F. He soon cleared fields and planted the first orange grove in Florida (see Orange Grove section below). Algernon also soon became a Judge and County Commissioner^D. In 1854, he became the first Orange County Representative in the State Legislature. 

Very few people lived in this part of Florida when Algernon Sidney settled in Mellonville. The 1850 Census for Orange County, which was much larger in size than it is today, listed only 466 residents!

By the summer of 1837, some Seminoles were being transported west and white settlements in the area were growing quickly. The original Spanish ‘Mosquito County’ was reduced in size and renamed Orange County on January 30, 1845. On March third of that year, Florida became a State. Due to the rapidly growing population, Seminole County, which includes Mellonville (now called Sanford), was carved out of Orange County in 1913.

After the vote, Judge James G. Speer³ suggested ‘Orlando’, one of Shakespeare’s characters, as the name for the new County Seat. Everyone agreed and today the city of Orlando owes its origins to this mid-nineteenth century battle between two prominent Speer men.

By 1866 Florida’s orange growing industry was becoming famous and the Speer Grove became a tourist attraction. In 1877 Sanford, which started as a community adjacent to Mellonville, was incorporated and soon over ran Mellonville, which ceased to exist in 1883 or 1884.

Indian attacks were a constant threat. Isolated settlers had been attacked and massacred before. One night, strange noises were heard; an attack seemed imminent and most of the local residents gathered at the Speer cabin. Arthur Alexander Speer⁴, the thirteen-year-old son of Algernon Sidney, was sent to the Hughey home about one half mile away to alert the occupants. Mrs. Hughey and her children quickly grabbed a few items and ran to the Speer cabin.

The cabin was hastily fortified with pine logs and fence rails over the windows and enclosing the breezeway. Logs and rails were also used to construct breastworks from which the men could fire their rifles if attacked. The women rallied and molded lead bullets for the rifles. Suddenly Amanda, a young house servant of Speer’s, ran out of the orange grove screaming wildly. She told of how the Indians had caught her and placed her on a pile of wood intending to burn her alive. She escaped only after a desperate struggle. The men searched the nearby woods but found no trace of her captives or the wood pile.

The settlers spent three days at the Speer cabin and then joined others at the larger Duval house where they waited six anxious weeks for soldiers to come to their rescue. Instead they were relieved by an unruly volunteer cavalry which proved to be nearly as disastrous as the Indians themselves. The volunteers proceeded to plunder the surrounding farms causing much damage and fear to the settlers. Finally, after long delays and much pleading with authorities, US soldiers arrived and returned peace and order.

The Indian attack never came but tensions in the settlement remained high for many years. Years later and not long before her death, Amanda admitted that she, as a very home-sick young girl, had perpetrated the entire episode in an attempt to scare the Speer family into moving back to Georgia in the hope they would take her with them!

Renewed hostilities threatened some pioneer communities in the late 1840’s and early 1850’s (see related story above). The militia was requested by the Governor to protect settlers from those Seminoles who were violating their earlier agreements and were causing great alarm throughout the central portion of the state. Algernon Sidney³ volunteered for this effort on March 2, 1852 and served as Surgeon in Captain Aaron Jarigan’s Company, General B. Hopkin’s Division, Florida State Militia^I. The militia pursued the Indians and patrolled a large portion of the state, but encountered little actual fighting. The Seminoles quickly disbanded and ceased hostilities. No longer needed, the militia disbanded December 13, 1852^I.

Arthur Ginn, Algernon Sidney’s father-in-law, served as Lieutenant Colonel and Quarter Master for the same militia unit, having joined April 23, 1852^I.

The final campaigns of the Seminole Wars occurred between 1855 and 1858 but again Speer’s or Ginn’s participation is not known.

Algernon Sidney³ and Julia had one child born in 1856.

Ginn’s Grove was also planted about 1844 in the fertile, crushed-shell soil of the Sanford Indian Mound^F, which was part of Speer’s homestead. Both men also planted additional groves in later years. While the Speer Grove became the most famous, Arthur Ginn’s abilities with the cultivation of citrus trees became the foundation of Florida’s agriculture for the next 150 years. Ginn’s groves provided another milestone: 

"The first consignment of oranges to have been shipped out of the state were grown by Captain {Arthur} Ginn in 1873. He sold them in Jacksonville for $1 a bushel, and his one acre of trees produced two or three hundred bushes of delicious fruit, which was packed in barrels."^G

An historic 1884 Library of Congress photograph of the Speer Grove indicates that the trees were about 40 years old at that time and produced over one million oranges that year^H.

Orange orchards soon were cultivated throughout Florida and became the state’s leading agriculture. The historic Speer Grove became a tourist attraction by 1866 and today the site is marked by a small city park and a rough-hewed granite monument that was erected in 1941 (Figure 15-2).

The Great Freeze of February 6, 1895 destroyed most of the groves in Florida. Nearly every grove owner lost everything they had. The livelihood of three-fourths of the people of Florida was swept away by this single freeze!^D

To overcome the economic devastation, many of the dead orange trees around Sanford were quickly cleared away and vegetables were planted, particularly lettuce and celery. J. E. Pace, husband of Ella Speer⁴, daughter of Algernon Sidney³, shipped the first head of lettuce from Sanford in the winter of 1896-97, thus paving the way for the enormous vegetable industry that sprang up in the years since the freeze^C. Other farmers followed suit and soon Sanford became the ‘Vegetable Growing Capital of the World’.

Like all the other groves, the Speer Grove was also destroyed by the Great Freeze. However, a single tree re-sprouted from the stump of a tree first thought to have been killed by the freeze. Today this tree is over 150 years old and is still producing fruit! See Figure 15-3 for a picture of the great-grandson and great-great-great grandson of Algernon Sidney Speer³ standing in front of the most famous orange tree in the world.

These three small boats carried passengers, freight and the US Mail throughout the upper St. John’s River during the late 1840’s and the early 1850’s. For most of the settlers, these boats were their only contact with the outside world. The boats eventually became obsolete as newer steamers, railroads and trucks gained more and more of the market.

Algernon Sidney , who was a good swimmer, apparently drowned while trying to save his Negro servant who could not swim. Algernon Sidney³ was aboard his private steamboat with his son George Algernon Speer⁴, Mr. P. Everlett, and the Negro servant. The small steamer was being towed to Jacksonville for repairs by the larger steamboat "Darlington" when it was swamped and sank during a storm. Captain Jacob Brock of the "Darlington" sent a small boat and rescued Mr. Everlett while George Algernon⁴ was picked up by the larger steamer after clinging to a floating box. Algernon Sidney³ and the Negro were not found and it was assumed they drowned together. Algernon Sidney’s body was recovered four months later and he was buried September 7, 1857 in Volusia, Florida.

Born Died

1) Arthur Alexander Speer⁴ 21 Jan 1839 1889

2) Mary Christiana Speer⁴ 1843 26 Oct 1920

3) Algernon Sidney Speer, Jr.⁴ 28 Oct 1845 22 Sep 1917

4) Catharina Speer⁴ 1846

5) Fredrick T. Speer⁴ 1849

6) Ella Speer⁴ 1852 1912

7) Lula Josephine Middleton Speer⁴ 1856 1895

1) Arthur Alexander Speer⁴ (William¹, Alexander², Algernon³) was born on January 21, 1839 in Georgia and grew up on his father’s homestead in Mellonville, Florida. Arthur served as Private in Bullock’s Company of the Florida Mounted Volunteers during the Seminole War in 1856-57 at the age of 17. In October 1861, he joined the Confederate States Army under Florid’s 1st Infantry, which was later reorganized into Company E, 10th Regiment. He was promoted to Second Sergeant on March 1, 1862. On February 20, 1864, Arthur Alexander was severely wounded during the only Civil War battle in Florida, the Battle of Olustee (Ocean Pond). He was unable to serve for the remainder of the war.

On September 28, 1870, Arthur Alexander Speer⁴ married Henrietta W. Worthington in Mellonville, Florida. Henrietta was born January 28, 1842 in South Carolina. She died October 11, 1922 and is buried in the Forest Hill Cemetery in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama. Her parents are unknown. Arthur died January 23, 1889 and may be buried in the Lakeview Cemetery in Sanford, Florida.

Arthur Alexander Speer⁴ and Henrietta Worthington had four children:

Born Died

1-A) Christianna Speer⁵ 13 Jul 1871

1-B) Arthur Ginn Speer⁵ 3 Nov 1872

1-C) Milton Alexander Speer⁵ 22 Sep 1877 9 Oct 1908

1-D) Ella Louise Speer⁵ 1 Jan 1881 20 Aug 1955

1-A) Christianna Speer⁵ (William¹, Alexander², Algernon³, Arthur⁴) married Charles N. Swain.

1-C) Milton Alexander Speer⁵ (William¹, Alexander², Algernon³, Arthur⁴) married Jessie Eunice Sheperd and they had two children:

Born Died

1-C-1) Lois Worthington Speer⁶ 25 Feb 1903

1-C-2) Milton Alexander Speer, Jr⁶ 1906 31 Dec 1953

1-C-1) Lois Worthington Speer⁶ (William¹, Alexander², Algernon³, Arthur⁴, Milton⁵) married Carlise Clyde Crowell, who was born March 15, 1895 in Mecklingurg County, North Carolina, and died August 23, 1997. Lois Worthington and Carlise Clyde had two sons:

Born

1-C-1-A) Thomas Sheridan Crowell⁷ 13 Sep 1926

1-C-1-B) Jack Speer Crowell⁷ 28 Sep 1927

See the master genealogy list in CHAPTER 1 for their descendants.

1-D) Ella Louise Speer⁵ (William¹, Alexander², Algernon³, Arthur⁴) was born January 1, 1881 in Mellonville, Florida. She married twice; Mr. Jasperson (1878-?) and Thomas E. Greene (1877-1913).

Ella died August 20, 1955 and is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Orlando, Florida.

2) Mary Christiana Speer⁴ (William¹, Alexander², Algernon³) was born in Georgia and married Michael John Doyle (1837-1888) about 1866-67 in Orange County, Florida. They had eight children:

Born Died

2-A Ida Elly Doyle⁵ 1866 1891

2-B Arthur John Doyle⁵ 1868 1944

2-C Lula Christina Doyle⁵ 1872 1938

2-D Frederick Finley Doyle⁵ 1874

2-E Mae Speer Doyle⁵ 1877 1924

2-F Evelyn Amelia Doyle⁵ 1880 1952

2-G Edward Michael Doyle⁵ 1880

2-H Maude Julie Doyle⁵ 1882 1938

Mary Christianna, her husband Michael John, her daughters Ida Elly and Mae Speer, and her son Arthur John are buried in the Lakeview Cemetery in Sanford, Florida.

See the master genealogy list in CHAPTER 1 for more descendants of this family.

3) Algernon Sidney Speer, Jr.⁴ (William¹, Alexander², Algernon³) was born October 28, 1845 in Georgia. He married first Sarah H. Brantley (1845-1880) and they had five children:

Born Died

3-A) George Algernon Speer⁵ 1869 1936

3-B) Lucian Wilson Speer⁵ 1870

3-C) Eustis Hollard Speer⁵ 1872

3-D) Ella Amealia Speer⁵ 1876 1916

3-E) Sara H. Speer⁵ 1877 1955

Algernon Sidney Speer, Jr.⁴ married second Carrie W. Rider (1859-1939) and they had two children:

Born Died

3-F) Nettie C. Speer⁵ 6 Dec 1880 12 Mar 1947

3-G) Oscar W. Speer⁵ 12 Oct 1885 9 May 1923

Algernon Sidney Speer, Jr.⁴, Carrie W. Rider, Oscar W. Speer⁵, Nettie C. Speer⁵, Nettie’s husband John L. Ingram (1875-1928), their two children Algernon L. Ingram⁶ (1906-1907) and Mary Caroline Ingram⁶ are buried in the Lakeview Cemetery in Sanford, Florida.

See the master genealogy list in CHAPTER 1 for more on this family.

6) Ella Speer⁴ (William¹, Alexander², Algernon³) was born in 1852 in Mellonville, Florida. She married twice; George C. Brantley (1837-1878) and John E. Pace

(1853-1923). It is not know if she had children. Ella died in 1912 in Sanford, Florida.

7) Lula Josephine Middleton Speer⁴ (William¹, Alexander², Algernon³) was born in 1856 in Mellonville, Florida. She married twice; Albin P. Dearing and George W. Gill. Lula and Albin had a daughter, Julia Dearing⁵, who married Rutledge Holmes and had a son, Frank Holmes⁶.