Joseph Bumby: Orlando Pioneer

Pioneer resident Joseph Bumby traveled across an ocean before settling his family in Central Florida. He and his offspring left an indelible mark on the city, from the first public transportation to providing the literal building blocks of Orlando.  

Joseph Bumby was born in 1843 in Essex, England.¹ By the time he was seven years old, he was living with his widowed mother and brother in the home of his paternal grandfather and namesake, Joseph Bumby, an agricultural laborer.² Bumby married Mary Elderkin in 1867 and worked as a railway signalman, all the while dreaming of a better life for his growing family.³ In 1873 “Joe” and Mary, along with their three children, boarded a ship bound for America, towards the promise of land and prosperity.⁴  

Initially, the family intended to head from their original port of arrival in Nova Scotia to Denver, Colorado, but decided to first take a southern detour to visit with a cousin, Central Florida resident Jesse Bumby.⁵ They arrived via steamship to Jacksonville and then traveled on a paddle wheeler, Lolly Boy, to Mellonville (present-day Sanford).⁶ However, the visit with cousin Jesse proved that Orlando was the perfect place to live, and Bumby abandoned his plans for Colorado. Mary Bumby had long since lost her appetite for travel after a particularly rough voyage across the Atlantic and was happy with the decision to stay.⁷  

Bumby settled his family on a 160-acre homestead plot acquired for a four-dollar filing fee (equivalent to approximately $120 today).⁸ The Bumbys set to work “proving up” their land, which stretched from the area of present-day Summerlin Avenue to the Orlando Executive Airport. A log and frame building was erected on their property, an orange grove planted, and a warehouse constructed on the corner of West Church Street and Sweet Street (now Colonial Drive) where the Bumbys sold hay, grain, and fertilizer.⁹ While their orange trees grew, Bumby carried the mail from Orlando to Mellonville on horseback.¹⁰ This route eventually landed him a contract to carry passengers and freight in horse-drawn wagons, a twelve-hour round trip that was Central Florida’s first public transportation, nicknamed “Bumby’s Express.”¹¹ His success enabled him to build a large, beautiful colonial-style home on Bumby Street where Joe, Mary, their three daughters, and six sons (also known as “the Bumby boys”) had plenty of room.¹²  

In 1880, the South Florida Railroad came to Orlando. Bumby was hired as the first freight and ticket agent for the railroad in Orlando because of his experience working for the railways of England, and because his warehouse served as the train depot while Church Street Station was under construction.¹³ In 1886, the Joseph Bumby Hardware Company’s impressive brick building was constructed.¹⁴  

Having achieved his vision of the American dream, Bumby proudly signed his naturalization papers in 1897 to become an American citizen.¹⁵ By the turn of the century, he had not only built a life for his family in Orlando, including a comfortable home and thriving business, but he had also become one of Orlando’s founding pioneers. Many of Orlando’s residents used materials purchased from Bumby’s hardware store in the construction of the city. Joseph Bumby passed away in 1911 at the age of sixty-eight. Tragically, that same year, his beautiful home was struck by lightning and burned to the ground.¹⁶ Bumby Hardware remained in the family and the business that bore his name stood as a testament to his legacy until 1967.¹⁷ The two-story, brick building still bears the Bumby name and is currently in use as a restaurant.  

1. “England and Wales Census, 1851,” database with images, FamilySearch, entry for Joseph Bumby, accessed July 15, 2023, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGVW-V1J

2. “1851 Census,” FamilySearch, entry for Joseph Bumby.

3. William Fremont Blackman, History of Orange County, Florida: Narrative and Biographical (Deland: E. O. Painter Printing Co., 1927), 340, RICHES of Central Florida, accessed July 8, 2023, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/1384.; “England and Wales Census, 1871,” database with images, FamilySearch, entry for Joseph Bumby, accessed July 15, 2023, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VFFJ-4Q6.  

4. Joy Wallace Dickinson, “Young Londers took detour into history,” Orlando Sentinel, June 1, 2008, J12.

5. Dickinson, “Young Londers.”

6. Dickinson, “Young Londers.” 

7. Dickinson, “Young Londers.”  

8. “United States Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, 1800-c. 1955,” database with images, FamilySearch, entry for Joseph Bumby, accessed July 15, 2023, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NVM-2YYZ

9. Eve Bacon, Orlando: A Centennial History (Chuluota: Mickler House Publishers, 1975), I: 49. 

10. Dickinson, “Young Londers.”

11. Dickinson, “Young Londers.”; Kena Fries, Orlando in the Long, Long Ago…and Now (Orlando: Florida Press, Inc., 1938), 55, accessed July 15, 2023, https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/270280332.pdf  

12. Bacon, Orlando, 49.

13. Bacon, Orlando, 49.

14. Dickinson, “Young Londers.”

15. Bacon, Orlando, 49.

16. “Bumby, The Grand Dame, Bows Out of Business,” Orlando Sentinel, November 20, 1966, F6-F9.

17. Dickinson, “Young Londers.”