The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1919-11-14
Compiled by Miss Rosalie Martin
and Taken from Illustrated Edi-
ton OF the Lakeland Advertiser)


and Taken from Illustrated Edi-
ton OF the Lakeland Advertiser)
The original settlers in this coun-
try were Indians, as we all know. In
1887 several Of tke/ lister settlers,
white men, who were living in the vi
entity of what is now Lakeland,
sprang into prominence as Indian
fighters in the Indian Seven Years
War. Of their exploits, little is now
known, but some of them left their
traces in more definite degree upon
local history, Lake Boney being
named for David w. Boney, Lake
Parker for Streety Parker and Lake
Hollingsworth for an Indian fighter
by that name.
After the civil war we begin to hear
OF the homesteaders, tne men who
first started to put Lakeland on the
map. To name few of those who
were here at that time, Mr.. Jess
Keen, Rev. P. R. McCrary, who came
in 1877, and Mr.. Yves Bryant, whose
parents We're living here at the out
break OF the war, and whose mother
took her children and slaves and fled
to the Carolinas for safety during
these turbulent times. These names
borne now by another generation Of
men, the sons and 'nephews Of most
OF these cid pioneers, today, are sy-
nonymous with progressiveness.
In the early eighties this section
began to make more definite progress
in advancement and it is mostly d,fe
to the hand which Mr.. Abraham G..
Mum, of Louisville, took in the pro-
ceeding. Mr.. Num- who was a far
seeing, wise and pnilanthropic man,
purchased in 1881 several thousand
acres in the state of Florida from the
Trustees of Internal Improvement.
In 1882, his son, Morris G. Mum,
was sent to Florida to locate and
grade this land owned by Mr.. Abra-
ham G. Mum.
Mr.. Morris G. Mum was at that
time, a resident of DeLand, Florida.
In order to get to Polk County, he
took a boat to Jacksonville, and from
there Travelled south by railroad to
Cedar Keys. From Cedar Keys he
took vessel to Tampa, where the
ship anchored seven miles out in the
bay and was tranferced to the foot of
Franklin street on a launch called ].
A. Hostetter. From Tampa he tray
eled with the Star Route govern,
ment mail carrier to Barlow, the mail
at that time being carried in one
horse buggy, Arriving at Barlow,
Mr.. Mum, with the assistance of the
county surveyor, located and graded
his fathers land in Polk County.
The eighty acres which comprise
what is known as the Mum Survey,
the heart and center of Lakeland,
were laid off and plotted by Samuel
Mum, a civil engineer, and also, an
other son of Mr.. Abraham G.. Mum of
Louisville.
AT this time things begun to hap
pen which shaped the future growth
of Lakeland. The people found that
the progress of this section depended
absolutely upon some better means
of ingress and egress. The railroad
was in process of building and had
come within ten miles of Wildwood.
From the end of the railroad, a stage
line was instituted which carried the
traveller to Tampa, then If he were
headed for Polk county, the mode OF
procedure was to take passage with
the mail carrier.
In the year 1884, the railroad finally
reached Lakeland and in order to in.
duce the company to stop the trains
here instead of at Acton, one mile
above here, where there was consid-
cradle colony Of English settlers. Mr..
Abraham G. Mum gave to the rail.
road company an one hundred foot
right of way through the Mum Sur.
vey, six or seven acres of land for