Orlando, Florida

==Etymology==
Fort Gatlin, as the Orlando area was once known, was established at what is now just south of the city limits by the [[4th U.S. Artillery]] under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander C. W. Fanning on November 9, 1838, during the construction of a series of fortified encampments across Florida during the [[Second Seminole War]].<ref name=FLhistorical>{{cite web |url=https://myfloridahistory.org/date-in-history/fort-gatlin-established |title=Fort Gatlin established |website=myfloridahistory.org |publisher=Florida Historical Society |access-date=March 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302114957/https://myfloridahistory.org/date-in-history/fort-gatlin-established |archive-date=March 2, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The fort and surrounding area were named for John S. Gatlin, an Army physician who was killed in [[Dade's Massacre]] on December 28, 1835. The site of construction for Fort Gatlin, a defensible position with fresh water between three small lakes, was likely chosen because the location was on a main trail and is less than 250 yards from a nearby Council Oak tree, where [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] had traditionally met. [[Ee-mat-la|King Phillip]] and [[Wild Cat (Seminole)|Coacoochee]] frequented this area and the tree was alleged to be the place where the previous [[Dade's Massacre|1835 ambush]] that had killed over 100 soldiers had been planned.<ref name=Dickenson2003>{{cite web |url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2003-07-06/news/0307040093_1_council-oak-fries-orlando |title=Giant Council Oak Is Gone, But Its Presence Is Felt|last= Wallace Dickinson|first= Joy|date=July 6, 2003 |work=The Orlando Sentinel |access-date=March 1, 2017 }}</ref> When the [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. military]] abandoned the fort in 1839, the surrounding community was built up by settlers.<ref name=FLhistorical />

Prior to being known by its current name, Orlando was once known as Jernigan. This name originates from the first European permanent settlers, Issac and [[Aaron Jernigan]], cattlemen who moved from the state of Georgia and acquired land {{convert|2|mi|km|abbr=}} northwest of Fort Gatlin along the west end of Lake Holden in July 1843 by the terms of the [[Armed Occupation Act]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Dickinson|first=Joy Wallace|title=Orlando : city of dreams|year=2003|publisher=Arcadia Pub.|location=Charleston, South Carolina|isbn=978-0-7385-2442-9|pages=21–22}}</ref><ref name= Andrews2000>{{cite web |url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2000-05-07/news/0005060156_1_seminole-gatlin-fort |title=Site's Key To Orlando History: Fort Gatlin|last= Andrews|first=Mark |date=May 7, 2000 |work=The Orlando Sentinel |access-date=March 1, 2017 }}</ref> Aaron Jernigan became Orange County's first state representative in 1845, but his pleas for additional military protection went unanswered.<ref>{{Cite web |last=By |date=1998-06-14 |title=AARON JERNIGAN: POSTMASTER, LEGISLATOR – MURDER SUSPECT |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1998/06/14/aaron-jernigan-postmaster-legislator-murder-suspect/ |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=Orlando Sentinel |language=en-US}}</ref>

Fort Gatlin was briefly reoccupied by the military for a few weeks during October and November 1849, and subsequently a volunteer militia was left to defend the settlement.<ref name="Andrews2000" /> A historical marker indicates that by 1850, the Jernigan homestead (or Fort Gatlin in some sources)<ref name="Andrews1998" /> served as the nucleus of a village named Jernigan.<ref name="marker">[http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMH4KB Orlando's First Settler, Aaron Jernigan] Retrieved March 2, 2017.</ref> According to an account written years later by his daughter, at that time, about 80 settlers were forced to shelter for about a year in "a [[stockade]] that Aaron Jernigan built on the north side of Lake Conway". One of the county's first records, a [[grand jury]]'s report, mentions a stockade where it states homesteaders were "driven from their homes and forced to huddle together in hasty defences [sic]." Aaron Jernigan led a local volunteer militia during 1852.<ref name="Andrews2000" />

A post office opened at Jernigan in 1850. Jernigan appears on an 1855 map of Florida, and by 1856, the area had become the [[county seat]] of Orange County.<ref name=Dickinson2005 >{{cite web |url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2005-03-13/news/0503110527_1_jernigan-tom-cruise-lake-eola |title=You're Really Living in the Land of Jernigan|last=Dickinson|first=Joy Wallace|date=March 13, 2005 |work=The Orlando Sentinel |access-date=March 4, 2017 }}</ref><ref name=FLhistorical /> In 1857, the post office was removed from Jernigan, and opened under the name of Orlando at a new location in present-day downtown Orlando.<ref name= Andrews2000 /> During the [[American Civil War]], the post office closed, but reopened in 1866. The move is believed to be sparked, in part, by Aaron Jernigan's fall from grace after he was relieved of his militia command by military officials in 1856. His behavior was so notorious that [[United States Secretary of War]] [[Jefferson Davis]] wrote, "It is said they [Jernigan's militia] are more dreadful than the Indians."<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney" /> In 1859, Jernigan and his sons were accused of committing a murder at the town's post office. They were then transported to [[Ocala]], but escaped.<ref name=marker />

At a meeting in 1857, debate had grown concerning the name of the town. Pioneer William B. Hull recalled how James Speer (a local resident, and prominent figure in the stories behind the naming of Orlando) rose in the heat of the argument and said, "This place is often spoken of as 'Orlando's Grave.' Let's drop the word 'grave' and let the county seat be Orlando."<ref name="Andrews1998" /><ref name="Dickinson, Cheney" />

The origin of the name is unknown but at least five stories relate how Orlando got its name. The most common stories are that the name Orlando originated from the tale of a man who died in 1835 during an attack by Native Americans in the area during the [[Second Seminole War]]. Several of the stories relay an oral history of the marker for a person named Orlando, and the ''[[double entendre]]'', "Here lies Orlando." One variant includes a man named Orlando who was passing by on his way to [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]] with a herd of [[oxen]], died, and was buried in a marked grave.<ref name="travel">[http://www.florida-backroads-travel.com/history-of-orlando.html History of Orlando] Florida Backroads Travel. Retrieved March 2, 2017.</ref>

Through a retelling of history, a marker of some sort was believed to have been found by one of the original pioneers, but Speer's family has since claimed that Speer simply used the Orlando Reeves legend to help push his plan for naming the settlement after the Shakespearean character from ''[[As You Like It]]'', his favorite play.<ref name=Andrews1998 /> This has become the most common accepted version of how Orlando got its name.

===Orlando Reeves===

Historians agree that likely no soldier was named Orlando Reeves.<ref name=Dickenson2001>{{cite web |url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2001-01-28/news/0101260436_1_lake-eola-park-city-of-orlando-orlando-reeves |title=Mystery of Name Tracked Down Long, Winding Trail|last=Dickinson |first=Joy Wallace  |date=January 28, 2001 |work=Orlando Sentinel |access-date=March 3, 2017 }}</ref> [[Folklore]] is that Reeves was acting as a [[Border guard|sentinel]] for a company of soldiers that had set up camp for the night on the banks of [[Lake Eola|Sandy Beach Lake]].<ref name="Dickinson, Reeves">{{cite book|last=Dickinson|first=Joy Wallace|title=Orlando : city of dreams|year=2003|publisher=Arcadia Pub.|location=Charleston, South Carolina|isbn=978-0-7385-2442-9|pages=13–14, 24}}</ref> Several different lakes are mentioned in the various versions, as no soldiers were in what is now downtown during 1835.<ref name=Andrews1994>{{cite web |url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1994-11-13/news/9411100492_1_lake-eola-orlando-reeves-seminoles |title=The Legend of Orlando's Name Crumbles Under Expert Scrutiny|last= Andrews|first= Mark|date= November 13, 1994|work=Orlando Sentinel |access-date=March 4, 2017 }}</ref>

The legend grew throughout the early 1900s, particularly with local historian Olive Brumbaugh (or Kena Fries<ref name="Dickinson, Reeves" />{{verify source|date=March 2017}}) retelling in various writings and on local radio station [[WDBO (AM)|WDBO]] in 1929.<ref name=Andrews1998 /> Another historian, Eldon H. Gore, promoted the Reeves legend in ''History of Orlando'' published in 1949.<ref name=Andrews1998>{{cite web |url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1998-01-18/news/9801161380_1_lake-eola-orlando-reeves-orlando-public |title=Legendary Orlando Reeves Was A Remarkable Man – Or Was He?|last= Andrews|first= Mark|date= January 18, 1998 |work=Orlando Sentinel |access-date=March 3, 2017 }}</ref> A memorial beside [[Lake Eola]] – originally placed by students of Orlando's Cherokee Junior School in 1939 and updated in 1990 – designates the spot where the city's supposed namesake fell.<ref name=Dickenson2001 /><ref name="Dickinson, Reeves" />

Conflicting legends exist. One legend has Reeves killed during an extended battle with the Seminoles after being field promoted after his platoon commander fell.<ref name=Andrews1998 /> An in-depth review of military records in the 1970s and 1980s, though, turned up no record of Orlando Reeves ever existing.<ref name=Andrews1998 /><ref name=Dickenson2001 /><ref name="Dickinson, Reeves" /> Some versions attempt to account for Reeves having no military records by using the name of other people named Orlando that exist in some written records – Orlando Acosta; however, not much is known about Acosta or whether he even existed. Another version of the story has Orlando Reed, supposedly an Englishman and mail carrier between Fort Gatlin and [[Fort Mellon]], allegedly killed while camping with his friends near Fort Gatlin.<ref name=Andrews1998 />

A second variation also places the story in 1835 during the Second Seminole War. This name is taken from a [[South Carolinian]] [[cattle ranching|cattle rancher]] named Orlando Savage Rees. Rees owned a [[Volusia County]] [[sugar mill]] and [[plantation]], as well as several large estates in Florida and [[Mississippi]].<ref name=Andrews1998 /> Rees' sugar farms in the area were burned out in the Seminole attacks of 1835 (the year Orlando Reeves supposedly died). Subsequently, Rees led an expedition to recover stolen slaves and cattle. In 1837, Rees also attempted to stop a peace treaty with the Seminoles because it did not reimburse him for the loss of slaves and crops.<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney">{{cite book|last=Dickinson|first=Joy Wallace|title=Orlando : city of dreams|year=2003|publisher=Arcadia Pub.|location=Charleston, South Carolina|isbn=978-0-7385-2442-9|pages=24–25}}</ref>

Rees could have left a pine-bough marker with his name next to the trail; later residents misread "Rees" as "Reeves" and also mistook it as a grave maker.<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney"/> In subsequent years, this story has merged with the Orlando Reeves story (which may have originally incorporated part of Dr. Gatlin's story).<ref name=Andrews1998 />

On two separate occasions, relatives of Rees claimed their ancestor was the namesake of the city. F. K. Bull of South Carolina (Rees' great-grandson) told an Orlando reporter of a story in 1955; years later, Charles M. Bull Jr., of Orlando (Rees' great-great-grandson) offered local historians similar information.<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney"/> Unlike Orlando Reeves, who cannot be traced to any historical record, the record is considerable that Orlando Rees did exist and was in Florida during that time. For example, in 1832, [[John James Audubon]] met with Rees in his large estate at Spring Garden, about 45 minutes from Orlando.<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney"/>

===Orlando (''As You Like It'')===
[[File:Lake Lucerne, Orlando, FL.jpg|thumb|Lake Lucerne, c. 1905]]

The final variation has the city named after [[Orlando (As You Like It)|the protagonist]] in the Shakespeare play ''[[As You Like It]]''.<ref name=Andrews1998 />

In 1975, Judge Donald A. Cheney put forth a new version of the story in an ''[[Orlando Sentinel]]'' article.<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney"/> Cheney (a local historian and then chairman of the county historical commission<ref>{{cite web |title=About |url=http://cflhistory.org/about/#:~:text=In%201957%2C%20when%20the%20red%2Dbrick%20courthouse%20was%20demolished%2C%20the%20Orange%20County%20Board%20of%20County%20Commissioners%20established%20a%20historical%20commission%20to%20manage%20the%20museum%20collection%20and%20tapped%20Judge%20Donald%20Cheney%20to%20be%20its%20first%20chairman. |website=Historical Society of Central Florida |access-date=April 17, 2022}}</ref>) recounted a story told to him by his father, Judge [[John Moses Cheney]] (a major figure in Orlando's history, who arrived in Orlando in 1885).

The elder Cheney recounted that another gentleman at that time, James Speer, proposed the name Orlando after the character in ''As You Like It''.<ref name=Andrews1998 /> According to Cheney, Speer, "was a gentleman of culture and an admirer of William Shakespeare ..."<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney" /> Quoting a letter that Speer wrote, "Orlando was a veritable [[Arden, Warwickshire|Forest of Arden]], the locale of ''As You Like It''."<ref name=Reflections>[http://www.thehistorycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Reflections_Fall2015-_lr.pdf ''Reflections'']. Fall 2015 Vol. 13 No. 4. {{Retrieved|access-date= March 1, 2017}}</ref> Speer's descendants have also confirmed this version of the naming and the legend has continued to grow.<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney" />

This account also has some validity in that, as mentioned above, Speer was instrumental in changing the name of the settlement from Jernigan to Orlando, though he may have used the Orlando Reeves legend in lieu of his true intent to use the Shakespearean character. According to yet another version of the story, Orlando may have been the name of one of his employees.<ref name=Andrews1998 /><ref name=travel /> One of [[downtown Orlando]]'s major streets is named Rosalind Avenue; [[Rosalind (As You Like It)|Rosalind]] is the heroine of ''As You Like It'', but this could also be a coincidence.