Folkway #22 - Order

So, how did Central Florida's pioneers establish order on the frontier--and how did they maintain it?


As noted in previous posts, our area's first settlers did not simply appear out of thin air.  They brought with them a host of traditions from their prior residences, and they tended to replicate or adapt them to suit the environment here.


Order first must be defined.  What is what, and where are the boundaries?  So, naming the features of the wilderness landscape was a big first step in taming it.


According to Pine Castle's founder Will Wallace Harney, the Seminoles called the area around Lake Conway "Okehitanatchee," a word he translated as "Land of Fair Waters."


Evidently, it was too difficult for the average settler to remember or pronounce.  They simply called the area "Oak Ridge," for the forested highland to the west of the chain of lakes.  And, when government surveyor Benjamin Whitner prepared the first official map of the area, he named the waters for his boss: Surveyor General Valentine Conway.


Before Florida achieved statehood, much of the Central Florida frontier was included in the unfortunately-named "Mosquito County."  It was not surprising when pioneer settler Aaron Jernigan was elected to the new state legislature that he introduced a bill to give his new residence the more appealing name "Orange County."


With the area properly named and land boundaries defined in terms of Whitner's section, township, and range map, responsibility for maintaining law and order was vested in the new Orange County Government.


The county courthouse, which has moved several times since the pioneer era, was the repository of all the records related to frontier property transactions and the inevitable legal disputes that arose with the influx of more settlers. 


The Orange County sheriff was the official who was primarily responsible for enforcing the laws passed by county commissioners and fulfilling orders issued by circuit court judges.  Pine Castle has been home to at least three sheriffs over the years: William Patrick, Jim Black, and Dave Starr.


For many years, local law enforcement had no official place to keep suspects and convicted criminals.  The nearest jail was up in Ocala, and it was not a top-notch facility.  Many were able to escape either en route or by hoodwinking the jailer there--including the aforementioned Aaron Jernigan, who was charged with murder but fled captivity to live as a fugitive in Texas on the eve of the War Between the States.


To learn more about our local history and ongoing efforts to preserve it, please visit www.pinecastlepioneerdays.org.