William Jackson Brack (June 17, 1837 – April 30, 1901) was the first

mayor of Orlando The city of Orlando, Florida, was incorporated in 1875. The first mayor, William Jackson Brack, took office in 1875. The Orlando mayor is officially a nonpartisan election. The current mayor is Buddy Dyer, who was first elected in a special e ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

from 1875 to 1877. He served in the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

from

Brevard County Brevard County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 606,612, making it the 10th-most populated county in Florida. The official county seat is located in T ...

from 1885 to 1887. He was born to John and Eliza (McCall) Brack in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

on June 17, 1837. He married firstly to the former Olive Chancey (1838–1864) of

Clinch County, Georgia Clinch County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,749. The county seat is Homerville. The county was created on February 14, 1850, named in honor of Duncan Lamo ...

, by whom he had two sons who died young. The Bracks removed to

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the prin ...

before the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. During that conflict, the future mayor served in Company C of the 27th Louisiana Infantry Regiment.Mount Peace Cemetery, Saint Cloud, Florida. After the war, the widowed Brack came to Florida, where he married his second wife Amy (July 5, 1847 - May 25, 1880). They had three daughters before her untimely death: Olive, Bessie, and Josphine Brack.1880 Census, Orange County, Florida, page 432a. It is unclear exactly when Brack settled in the

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

area. He was certainly there by October 16, 1873, when he was mentioned as guardian ad litem for the orphans of Mrs. Lucinda Hughey Terrell in a lawsuit filed in the circuit court of

Orange County, Florida Orange County is located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,429,908, making it Florida's fifth most populous county. The county seat is Orlando. Orange County is the central county ...

. In 1875, when Orlando was formally incorporated, Brack was elected its first mayor. He was subsequently re-elected to a second one-year term. After leaving office, the former mayor remained in the Orlando area as a farmer and fruit grower until at least 1880. He was married there to his third wife Eliza Alpha Tyson on March 6, 1881. They had eight children: John Percy ("Jack"), Rosa Banner, Gussie, Emma Hortense, Ruby B, Blanche Alice, and Lillian Bell Brack, William Jackson, Jr1910 Census, Precinct 8, Osceola County, Florida, page 8. The Bracks left Orlando to live on the north shore of

Lake Tohopekaliga Lake Tohopekaliga, Tohopeka (from tohopke meaning fence, fort); Tohopekaliga (from tohopke meaning fence, fort + likv meaning site), also referred to as Lake Toho, West Lake, or simply Toho, is the largest lake in Osceola County, Flori ...

in what is now

Osceola County, Florida Osceola County (, ) is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 388,656. Its county seat is Kissimmee. Osceola County is included in the Orlando–Kissimmee– Sanford, Fl ...

, where they operated a general store and sawmill at "Brack's Landing." From that point, he also captained a 35-foot sidewheel

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

called "Spray" along the inland canals that connected the

Kissimmee River The Kissimmee River is a river in south-central Florida, United States that forms the north part of the Everglades wetlands area. The river begins at East Lake Tohopekaliga south of Orlando, flowing south through Lake Kissimmee into the large, sh ...

valley to

Fort Myers, Florida Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

on the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

. The former mayor retired to a cattle ranch near Narcoossee, Florida, where he died April 30, 1901. He is buried at Mount Peace Cemetery in Saint Cloud, Florida.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brack, William Jackson 1837 births 1901 deaths Confederate States Army soldiers Mayors of Orlando, Florida Members of the Florida House of Representatives People from Brevard County, Florida People from Osceola County, Florida 19th-century American politicians

See also

References