Sunday, February 28, 1954 STAR-BANNER, OCALA, FLORIDA

“Point” on Old Wire Road

History of Summerfield Goes Back to Early Days When Harmon Crum, Jr. Was Settler
By Joe R. Allsopp

The old Wire Road led south from Fort King for some 30 miles, thence in a southwesterly direction to Fort Brooke. It was the policy of the government to establish “points” or forts at intervals of approximately 16 miles along the route from Palatka to Fort Brooke.

It is interesting to note that Whitesville (which later became Summerfield) was located just about 16 miles south of Fort King. Therefore it is only reasonable to assume that it was one of those “points” or sub-forts on the old Wire Road.

The Wire Road derived its name from the fact that the War Department ran a telegraph wire down the state, from Palatka to Fort Brook, and in so doing cut a right-of-way through the mass of wilderness and pine forest.

Early travelers found it convenient to follow the wire. At first this was only possible for horseback riders or foot travelers. But as time passed, the logs and stumps were removed, and the Wire Road became the stage route.

The “points” along the road became exchange stations, where passengers rested and horses were relayed.

Fort Brooke

In due course, Fort Brooke became a part of the City of Tampa. Fort King, located less that tow miles west of Silver Springs, went out of existence after the establishment of Ocala.

Ocala, a nameless settlement prior to the year 1846, was names and christened in that year. General Robert Bullock, who could qualify as a first citizen, is responsible for the following statement regarding Ocala’s name and origin:

“I came to Fort King, November 10. 1841, which was situated three miles east of Ocala. Fort King was one of the most important of a series of points, or forts that extended at intervals of say 16 miles, from Palatka, through the state, to Fort Brooke at Tampa.

“The first board of county commissioners met a Fort King, Feb. 20, 1846, consisting of Judge McIntosh, Thomas Barnes, S. M. Haliday, and Abram Geiger.

“There was a spirited contest over selecting a name for the new town. Many favored palos, for the city from which Columbus set sail for America, but Ocala won as it should, thereby perpetuating an important Indian name.”

First Settler

Harmon Crum, Jr., born in Lowndes County, Georgia, in the year 1803, is credited with being the first white settler to move to the area that later became Whitesville and Summerfield. The exact date of his coming is not recorded, but it is of certainty that he came after Florida had be acquired. (Florida was acquired by treaty and purchase in July, 1821.)

It is also certain that he was here before hostilities commenced with the Seminole nation in 1832. This conclusion is based on the fact that many Indians lived in the area where he settled, and they were friendly, so much so that the Crum children learned to speak the Seminole dialect from the Indian children with whom they mingled.

Crum eventually moved south to Mascotte, in Sumter County (no part of Lake County), and later to Homeland, in Polk County. But this was not until after the Summerfield-Whitesville community had become fairly thickly settled.

In spite of the significant part which he had in bring civilization to this section, the only evidence now that he ever lived there, is the cemetery which bears his name, located about two miles southwest of the Summerfield Post Office.

Crum Cemetery

An everlasting pity is the absence of more specific data regarding the first settlers to our county. Only by word of mouth from our oldest citizens, are we able to piece together, fragments of our early history.

Some of those oldsters can remember the time, when they were young; they sat and listened to the old timers of that day. In is manner we are able to grasp only a flickering knowledge of the past, for memory is a figment that vanishes with the years.

Indeed, we will never know all. For there is no record of the people who came to settle the area bout which we write. But this burial ground, which has been called for more than a hundred years, the Crum Cemetery, bears mute testimony of its antiquity.

Certainly we do not know who were the first persons buried here. Many graves were marked only with limestone boulders, which group we may assume to be the more ancient. A later group of stones appear to have been carved but bear no epitaphs. Inscriptions, if any have ever existed, have been obliterated by time and the elements.

Stones which belong to the group upon which the lettering is legible reveal to some extent, the antiquity of the older groups. The first of these stones carries the date of June 3, 1854.

Harmon Crum died at Homeland. But an old story persists that his widow, determined that he be interred in the old burial ground at Summerfield, started north with the body in a wagon. Reminded of the long journey and the jot weather that would hamper the success of her mission, Mrs. Crum is said to have replied:

“I’ll do it, if I have to fight the buzzards every step of the way.”

Except for such courage and determination as was manifest in our pioneers our country would still be an impenetrable wilderness.

Following the trail blazed by Harmon Crum, came new settlers. Some of whom brought slaves. Of these, the one of who most is know was Colonel Adam Summers. Many have clamed that he brought with him a thousand slaves, but it is believed that the number was likely to have been nearer one hundred.

With the end of the Civil War, Colonel Summers established each slave upon a tract of land, and a shack to call his own. Not much, to be sure, but more vital to the ex-slaves that their new found freedom. Not much, but a great deal for a former master, who had been pauperized by the Cause that had lost.

Colonel Summer’s negroes had places to live and were scattered over an area from Belleview to the Sumter County Line.

The only slave of Colonel Summer who is still alive is David Crocket Elmore, and he is uncertain about his age. Some white people who have known him for 70 years say he was nearly 20 and a plow-hand when the war ended.

Elmore remembers that he had a place to live, and plenty of corn meal, but no utensils for cooking. “We buried the dough,” he said, “and built a fire on top, to cook our corn bread.”

Many and varied were the names assumed by the slaves of Colonel Summers. One, Joe Brooks, was said to have taken the name because it was the name of a man he knew was a good fighter. Another, Peter Cassel, shoes his name because he thought his father was going to use it, but later found his father preferred something else. Some, of course, took the name of Summers.

Richard Lewis Clyburn

The author is indebted to Richard L. Clyburn (Cousin Dickie), for aid in gathering material for this story. He is another pioneer, who at the age of 15 came from Lancaster County, SC with his father Thomas H. and his brother Robert Lee, who was five years older.

Clyburn himself has written the history of Summerfield, in which he mentions the immigrations of many families from South Carolina in the year 1883.

These include Peter B. Perry and eight brothers. Peter Perry had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery in the Mexican War, where he served under General Winfield Scott. The influence of the Spanish language, acquired while in Mexico, caused Perry to call his new home Pedro, the Castilian translations of his own name.

Some of the families listed as coming with the Perry’s were the Grenshaws, Gambles, Lewises, Belle, and Johnson.

Whitesville

The original community of Whitesville had its most disastrous setback when in 1880 the new railroad was denied a right-of-way through the village. The railroad retaliated by building around the town and refusing a station

Two miles further south a station was established and called lake weir. (ten years later, a spur was built from this station to the shores of Lake weir at Weirsdale.) The railroad’s boycott eventually spelled doom for any place called Whitesville, but in 1867 a compromise was reached. A new station, at a new location, and with a new name, was agreed upon and Summerfield was born.

Nathan Mayo

Clyburn give this sketch: “It was in 1901 that our most outstanding citizen, hon. Nathan Mayo, came to this section. Interested first in the naval stores operations of the vicinity, he later turned to the mercantile business, expanding his store building to four times its original capacity, and for many years prospering beyond all expectations.

“He was at one time elected county commissioner and at another time sent to the state legislature as representative from Marion County.

“Soon after this, he was appointed by Gov. Hardee to fill an exquired term as Commissioner of Agriculture for the state of Florida, and honor and an office which he has held to the present time, being elected, and re-elected, each successive term since his appointment.

“Other honors have come to Mr. Mayo. At one time he was chosen national president of the Commissioners of Agriculture.