SANFORD, Fla. – During the Second Seminole War, around two dozen deaths occurred at Fort Mellon, which is in what we now know as Sanford.
The Treaty of Payne’s Landing in 1832 required Native Americans in Florida to leave their homes and move west. In 1835, the U.S. Army arrived to enforce the treaty, and war broke out.
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In 1836, Camp Monroe was established as the East Florida headquarters for the US Army along the southern shore of Lake Monroe on the St. Johns River.
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According to the Historical Marker Database, the Battle of Camp Monroe took place on Feb. 8, 1837, when it was attacked by the Seminoles. Capt. Charles Mellon was killed in the battle and the camp was renamed Fort Mellon a few days later.
Mellon was said to be buried near where he was killed under a large tree. Over the following months, the other soldiers killed at Fort Mellon were buried at a cemetery nearby the fort.
Since it was considered a battlefield death, Mellon’s body was said to be exhumed at the end of the Second Seminole War. His body, and the 400 other battlefield dead from the war, were interred at the St. Augustine National Cemetery.
According to Museum of Seminole County History Coordinator Bennett LLoyd, not all of those who died near present-day Sanford were exhumed. The remaining dead, about 20-26, who were buried at Fort Mellon are still there – and nobody knows exactly where they are.
Fort Mellon took up a large portion of land and the dead are believed to be buried in the west wall of the fort in the area where the Mayfair Inn stands. This has led to many spooky tales reported at the Mayfair Inn, near where some of the worst fighting of the Battle of Camp Monroe happened.
Becoming Sanford
In 1845, Mellonville became the county seat of the newly created Orange County where it retained the position until 1856, when the seat was moved to Orlando.
By 1870, Mellonville was a bustling town with a commercial district and because of its proximity to the river, a distribution point for goods for the area. In the same year, Henry Shelton Sanford purchased the land west of Mellonville.
In 1877, the city of Sanford was incorporated and Mellonville was annexed six years later.
On April 25, 1913, Seminole County was officially established and Sanford designated, the county seat.
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