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This post is a part of the Ormond Beach series.
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The community of Ormond Beach was originally named New Britain, in honor of a few of its most assertive developers, folks who came from New Britain, Connecticut. This was back in the mid-1870s, a few years before formal incorporation. Then, when the town was officially incorporated in 1880, it was formally named Ormond in honor of James Ormond I and his family, an earlier European immigrant and prominent family in the area.
Ormond I was an Anglo-Irish-Scotch naval captain commissioned by Spain’s King Ferdinand VII to bring settlers to and develop this area in the early 1800s, back when Florida was still Spanish territory. Ormond developed two plantation sites: one in Spruce Creek to the south and the other in what is now known as Ormond Beach.
On the edge of the Old Dixie Highway just north of town, you’ll find the James Ormond Tomb Park. On this site was Damietta, Ormond’s cotton and indigo family plantation. Ormond was one of many influential plantation developers to arrive in Volusia county during his time. Throughout the 1790s and early 1800s, when the Ormond Family first arrived, so too did Thomas Dummett, John Addison, David Fairchild, and Richard Oswald — all important developers sent to Florida by way of Spanish land grants. James Bulow established the Bulow Plantation, Bulowville, a few miles to the north in the early 1820s, when Florida became a territory of the United States (statehood didn’t occur until 1845).
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James Ormond II’s headstone. It ends with “An honest man”.
Ormond’s Damietta plantation ultimately wasn’t as large as Bulowville to the north, but it was impressive enough for the short time it existed. James Ormond I died all-too-soon, around 1817, and the family business was taken over by his son, James Ormond II, who had previously remained in Europe. Ormond II moved to Damietta to cultivate and develop the plantation. He ultimately passed away in 1829 and was buried at the Damietta plantation site, now known as the James Ormond Tomb Park, where these photographs were taken. The story of the Ormond family, however, did not end with Ormond II’s death.
Following Ormond II was James Ormond III. James Ormond III wasn’t so much a plantation man. He was more interested in developing the community and was also an active commander of the Mosquito Roarers during the Second Seminole War (1835-1842), notably serving at the Battle of Dunlawton in what is now known as Port Orange to the south. Ormond served under Lt. Douglas Dummett, the commanding officer of Company B of the Second Regiment of the Florida militia, and Major Benjamin Putnam. Dummett’s father, Thomas, had purchased and refashioned a nearby rum and sugar distillery operation along the edge of what is now known as the Old Dixie Highway. It was reportedly one of the first distillery/mill operations in the area to feature steam technology. Douglas eventually inherited the grounds near Ormond’s inherited plantation.
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James Ormond II’s tomb
Of note is that whereas Dummett and Ormond III were active Mosquito Roarers campaigning and fighting against the Seminole nation during the Second Seminole War, John Bulow to the north was not so clearly defined. Bulow resisted the Mosquito Roarers and disagreed with U. S. policy regarding the displacement of Seminoles west of the Mississippi River. Bulow even went so far as to fire a cannon at the Mosquito Roarers when they encroached upon his property during the war (detailed here).
James Ormond III ultimately faded away, as we all do, and as did the Damietta plantation. Settlement and development of the area increased with the close of the Second Seminole War and the city was eventually incorporated with the namesake Ormond in 1880, in honor of James Ormond I and his family’s impact in the area. Eventually, Ormond became Ormond Beach and, with the coming of the 20th century, the area’s development exploded (we we’ll soon see).
In 1945, the old grounds of Damietta, along with James Ormond II’s tomb, were donated to the park service and there it remains to the day, situated on the edge of the Old Dixie Highway, tucked between Tomoka and Bulow State Parks, and popularly frequented by visiting school children and the occasional wild animal.
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American black vulture (Coragyps atratus), a common bird throughout central Florida.
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Wild boar (Sus scrofa), somewhat cute but not an animal you want to mess with.
Next on Dust Tracks? We’re heading to the Dummett Mill for sugar and rum goodness. Or, at least, the ghosts of sugar and rum goodness.
~ janson
Filed under: Birds, City and Town, Florida, Landscapes, Mammals, Ormond Beach Tagged: Coragyps atratus, Sus scrofa Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
