Jacob Summerlin

Jacob Summerlin (February 20, 1820 – November 4, 1893), aka the King of the Crackers and King of the Cracker Cow Hunters, was reputed to be the first child born in Florida after the land was ceded by Spain. He is known for his contributions to the early settlement of Florida, and especially for founding the county seats of Orange and Polk counties, which are Orlando and Bartow, respectively. In the years prior to the Civil War, he was a slaveowner.

Summerlin earned much of his early fortune raising cattle along the Peace River and Kissimmee River. Wild cattle brought to North America by the Spanish conquistadors roamed free across these vast stretches of land; entrepreneurs could capture, breed, drive and sell these cows for twelve to sixteen dollars each. Summerlin and his business partners developed a lucrative trade with Havana and with the US Naval Base at Key West. During the Civil War, he and his partners smuggled beef and medicine to Confederate troops past the Union blockade. With Confederate money he earned, he bought the 160-acre (0.65 km²) Blount homestead, much of which would later be given to Polk County. (Ft. Blount was the earlier name of Bartow, the present county seat.) After the war, when Confederate money became worthless, he began selling cattle to the Union soldiers at Fort Myers.

He amassed a fortune of 15,000 to 20,000 of head of cattle during this period, and was considered one of the wealthiest Floridians before he reached age 40. In this pre-banking era, Jacob kept his gold and silver at his cabin in trunks, meal sacks, tin meat cans, woolen socks, cigar boxes, behind door frames, in the rafters, or tossed in a corner. He used his wealth to purchase large tracts of land sprawling from Fort Meade to Fort Myers. He bought a wharf at Punta Rassa and a thousand acres (4 km²) nearby for cow pens, some of which he rented to other cattlemen.

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