Walt Disney’s ties to Florida reach back to Paisley settlers

ORLANDO, Fla. – Unless you’ve been nether a rock, you person heard that arsenic of Oct. 1, Walt Disney World has officially been a portion of Central Florida’s past for a half-century.

For galore folks who were astir then, Walt Disney was not a firm sanction but a existent idiosyncratic — an avuncular fig who mesmerized kids with speech of his California wonderland connected Sunday evening television. Like Central Florida’s ain Uncle Walt — kids’ TV big Walt Sickles, an after-school fixture successful the 1950s and ’60s — Disney sported a mustache.

And Disney was, successful fact, a subordinate of Central Florida’s family. His parents, Flora Call and Elias Disney, were joined successful Lake County, wherever his grandparents and different relatives are buried. His oldest brother, Herbert, was calved successful Florida.

Fleeing harsh winters

After respective harsh Kansas winters, Disney’s maternal grandparents, Charles and Henrietta Call, heard the telephone of Florida and successful 1884 became Lake County pioneers, settling astir a mile northbound of the Paisley colony (then successful Orange County).

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The Calls’ Kansas neighbour Kepple Disney and his lad Elias besides made the travel southbound and settled successful the Paisley area. Kepple Disney returned to Kansas successful 1887, but Elias stayed successful Florida, and connected Jan. 1, helium and the Calls’ girl Flora were wed successful a small religion successful Kismet (a vanished settlement).

The mates whitethorn person lived for a clip successful Daytona Beach. In an October 1965 interrogation with Walt Disney, the Sentinel’s Emily Bavar wrote that helium had mentioned a “sentimental involvement successful Daytona Beach, wherever his parents lived aboriginal successful their marriage.” His oldest brother, Herbert, was calved Dec. 8, 1888, successful Florida.

Walt Disney biographer Neal Gabler notes that the decease of Flora’s father, Charles Call, successful January 1890 “loosened the couple’s enslaved to Florida.” Call had an mishap portion clearing pines from his onshore adjacent Paisley and ne'er afloat recovered. One household subordinate cited a Disney household inclination toward wanderlust to explicate Elia and Flora’s outpouring 1890 determination from Florida to Chicago, with young Herbert successful tow.

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The couple’s 2nd son, Raymond, was calved successful Chicago successful precocious 1890, followed by Roy successful 1893 and Walter Elias Disney successful 1901. The boys’ lone sister, Ruth, joined them successful 1902, and successful 1906, the household moved to a 48-acre workplace adjacent Marceline, Missouri, connected the mainline of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, astir 100 miles northeast of Kansas City. (Marceline is said to beryllium the inspiration for the Main Street areas astatine the Disney parks.) In a fewer years, the household moved to Kansas City.

Aunt Jessie and Uncle Albert

Back successful Florida, Walt Disney’s uncle Albert Perkins became the postmaster of Paisley successful 1902 and served until 1935. (Perkins had joined Flora’s sister Jessie successful 1887.)

Jessie Call Perkins taught successful respective Lake County schools and yet served arsenic main of Eustis High School. When her hubby died, she succeeded him arsenic postmaster and served until 1946. She was besides the caput and treasurer of the relation that cared for the Ponceannah Cemetery successful Paisley, wherever her parents had been buried. She outlived her husband, Albert, by astir 20 years and died successful 1956, not excessively agelong aft she posed for a representation with her celebrated nephew, with whom she corresponded.

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The communicative goes that the young Walt and Roy Disney visited Jessie and Albert successful Florida during their summertime vacations from school. If that’s true, it indispensable person been 1 of the agleam lights for Walt successful a boyhood shaped by hard enactment and harsh discipline.

When Walt was 9, helium got retired of furniture each time astatine 3:30 a.m. to assistance his begetter present newspapers successful Kansas City, immoderate the weather. It’s apt the lad did find enjoyment successful drawing, adjacent astatine an aboriginal age. One communicative has it that his archetypal brushwork progressive tar, which was utilized connected the household workplace for patching roofs and fixing drains.

Eventually, helium enrolled successful 1 of those correspondence-school cartooning courses — the benignant you utilized to spot advertised connected matchbook covers — and erstwhile helium was 14, helium joined a Saturday greeting people astatine the Kansas City Art Institute.

More than 130 years aft his Grandfather Call’s decease and aft his parents near Florida, radical permission mementos by the graves of his grandparents successful the small, agrarian Ponceannah Cemetery successful Lake County. Recently, tiny figures of Mickey Mouse sat adjacent faded silk roses and a tiny American flag.

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“I judge the canny creator who rode to fame and luck connected an animated rodent named Mickey is susceptible of gathering thing from a parkland to an full metropolis successful a Central Florida pasture,” Bavar wrote astatine the extremity of her October 1965 interrogation with Disney. Amen to that.

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