Disney kin more deserving of Lake museum than Confederate general
The decision to move the statue of Confederate Gen. Kirby Smith from the U.S. Capitol to the Lake County Historical Museum in Tavares has stirred understandable controversy.
Most of the debate has centered on the idea of honoring the Confederacy and its fight to maintain slavery. But museum and county officials should consider alternatives before taking delivery on a statue that nobody else wants.
The first consideration is that Smith had almost no connection to Florida. There are Canadian snowbirds who have spent more time in Florida than Smith. He was born here — his father from Connecticut was a judge appointed to serve in territorial Florida. As a teenager, he was sent to boarding schools outside the state and later attended West Point. He spent most of the Civil War in Texas, and never returned to live in Florida.
It is strange that it is Lake County that is honoring Smith — the county wasn’t even created until 1887, more than two decades after the war ended, and nearly four decades after Smith left.
There are others who are more deserving of a statue in the museum.
County officials should consider a statue of Lake County’s only Medal of Honor winner, Marine Robert M. McTureous Jr. Born and raised in Altoona, he was rejected for military service at the outbreak of
CHICAGO TRIBUNE EDITORIAL World War II and could have remained safe at home. Rather than accept the rejection, he saved the money he earned working for the Florida Highway Department to pay for two surgeries that made him fit for duty.
After being inducted into the Marine Corps in late 1944, McTureous was sent to the Island of Okinawa during the final stages of World War II in 1945. On his own initiative, McTureous cleared the path of the enemy for his company to take control of a hill on the Oroku Peninsula. He was wounded, but drew enemy fire away from his wounded comrades until they could get to safety. McTureous died days later on a hospital ship. For his heroic efforts, McTureous was awarded the Medal of Honor. A statue of McTureous, rather than the small display the museum currently offers, would depict a true military hero, an unforgettable event and, most importantly, one of Lake’s own.
Another option would be two people who were there when Lake County was created: Elias Disney and Flora Call Disney. One of Lake County’s first marriage licenses was issued to the Disney-Calls in December of 1887, soon after Lake County was split from Orange County. Elias and Flora married at Flora’s childhood home in what was then the Lake County community of Kismet in 1888. Unable to find success in Florida, Walt’s parents moved, but Walt and his brother, Roy, returned to Paisley in north Lake County to visit an aunt and uncle during summer vacations. When he searched for a spot to build Disney World, he looked at Ocala and Orlando, places he knew from his youth. His maternal grandparents are buried at a cemetery in Paisley, and members of the Disney family still live in the county.
If Lake County officials are determined to honor someone with a link to the Civil War, they might consider a statue of Alexander Darnes. Darnes was born in the Smith house in St. Augustine, where his mother was a house slave. When Kirby Smith graduated from West Point, Darnes was given to him and began following him from one military engagement to another, finally ending up in Texas in 1865.
As a result of the war, Smith lost, and Darnes was freed. He set off for Philadelphia, where he attended Lincoln University and then earned a medical degree at Howard University. Unlike Smith, Darnes returned to Florida and became Jacksonville’s first black doctor and only the second in the state of Florida. When yellow fever swept through the city in 1888, those who could fled, but Darnes remained to treat the sick and save lives.
Darnes became one of Jacksonville’s most respected residents, and when he died, the turnout for his funeral was overwhelming. The Jacksonville Evening Telegram claimed it was the largest funeral in the city’s history.
Over the past 140 years, hundreds of thousands of people have called Lake County home, and it is a sad that county leaders can’t find a single one more deserving of a statue than Kirby Smith. These are far better choices for a statue in Lake County, and the County Commission should step in and consider them.