The first settler in the area besides the Seminole Indians was a man by the name Captain John Rich who was born in 1839 Stamford, NY. After the civil war he went into business in South Carolina and eventually in 1874 moved to Jacksonville. Kind of hard to believe Jacksonville was this old of a city based on today its modernized look. However in Nov of 1875 Captain John Rich moved to at the time was known as Persimmon Hollow a very small community. With the help of Cyrenius Wright, J.S. Craig and O.P. Terry they built the first home and log cabin in what is known as DeLand today. John & Clara Rich a year later gave birth to the first child to be born in DeLand in the log cabin they named her Clara Belle.

Also the same year Clara Belle was born a wealthy business man Henry DeLand was passing through here. Since there was nowhere to stay Captain rich invited him and his brother in law O.P. Terry to spend the night at the cabin. DeLand entertained the Rich family for hours with stories about news from up north since that what quite a rarity to hear in these parts of the woods. At the time DeLand was very wooded and near by was many pioneer towns which later became ghost towns hence for example St. Francis which we investigated.

That night Clara Rich killed a fresh chicken dressed it and that was the start to DeLand's liking to the area. A story that Henry DeLand use to tell is how he would slide his fingers along the floor spaces and would feel the cool breeze flowing through the floor boards at night. That was the one thing that was different a century people were hospitable, simple but yet grateful. But perhaps the Rich's hospitality is what led to the formation of such a beautiful town.

After a short time of staying at the Rich's cabin in December of 1876 the first town meeting was held at the log cabin. At this time the streets were named  and even the first mayor was elected. In 1882 right inside the log captain the city of DeLand was incorporated.  The first mayor was Cyrenius Wright he was Clara Rich's father the black and white photo of the man below. One of the streets was named Rich to honor Captain John Rich the other a cross street nearby was named Clara which was named after his wife. Then the rest of course all fell into place as DeLand grew quite quickly.

There was another reason why I investigated this place however. Captain John Rich had a daughter named Clara Belle from what I researched he had a house built for her since the log cabin at the time was only a temporary residence. That house he built is the one I live in today. So do you see the connection that it is most obvious John Rich, His Wife and child Clara Belle at one time walked these halls and slept in these rooms which I now reside in. So the site of the log cabin and my house both have a historical connection.

Today what remains of the log cabin no longer exist except a house which I believe was built in the later 1800s. This house now is being used for tutoring and a psychologist office. It has a eerie feel at night and much of the trees that surrounded John Rich's cabin still stand today with vines engulfing the trunks. You can tell that at one time this was an area with a farm type of setting as the land extends far back like at one time a field was here which crops were grown. Today a memorial sits on the property and tells a brief history on the cabin site. If you walk behind the newer house built on the property there is a parking lot where at one time the cabin once sat. So alot of history and of course we will wrap up our investigation  by visiting at least one more time.

The question we must ask is does John Rich and his family haunt the property. The house that sits here today what was its purpose before it was used for tutors and psychology? What happened to the log cabin? Why does it feel so eerie farther back behind the house? Alot of mysteries surround the site some we may never know the answer too.

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Rick-AngelOfThyNight