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The History of the Williams-LeRoy House
The families associated with the Williams-LeRoy House have a long history deeply entwined with the City of Alachua and Alachua County as well as Newnansville, Alachua’s predecessor town and one of Florida’s original inland pioneer settlements. Furman E. Williams, the builder of this amazing turn-of-the-century house, is credited, along with brothers Charles and Jack, with establishing the town of Alachua.
Born in 1852, Furman E. Williams moved to the area from South Carolina as a young boy. He settled in Newnansville at age 25, and found success with Charles and Jack in farming and general merchandise.
In the 1880s, when the railroads came to the Newnansville area, a depot was established at the foot of town’s rolling hills in an area knownas “Williams’ Hammock.” There, the Williams brothers began dividing the acreage into one acre plots, keeping their favorite locations for their own business enterprises. Except for a few holdouts, other Newnansville businessmen followed their lead. In 1887, Furman Williams successfully petitioned for a new post office at the Alachua Depot.
It was about this time that Furman’s bride-to-be, Ida, moved to Alachua from Kentucky with her five-year old nephew, Henry LeRoy. In 1898, Furman and Ida began constructing their grand Queen Anne Victorian home in the center of town. A story has been handed down through the years that Mr. Williams felled and milled a huge, ancient tree from his Newnansville property for much of the heartwood pine used to construct the front lobby and grand staircase. It has also been said that from his office in the home’s third-story tower, Furman Williams kept a watchful eye on his various business enterprises at the local bank, railroad depot, cotton warehouse and general store.
Williams’ nephew and heir, Henry N. LeRoy, became an important local businessman who served both as mayor and city commissioner for Alachua. In 1905, the year his Uncle Furman died, Henry married Eliza Dell, daughter of Colonel John B. Dell, prominent country politician and landowner. Eliza’s grandfather, Maxey Dell, and his brothers were among the first settlers in the Newnansville/Alachua area. (In fact, Newnansville was originally called Dell’s Post Office.) When Furman Williams’ widow, Ida, died in 1920, Henry, Eliza, and their daughter, Blanche, inherited the estate.
Henry LeRoy went on to become prominent in local business and politics. Eliza LeRoy was known not only as a fashionable, active, social member of the Alachua Community, but also as an excellent cook. Blanche matured into a quiet, reserved, young woman, active in church affairs and involved in her father’s Hartford Insurance Agency.
Eliza LeRoy passed away in 1952. When Henry LeRoy followed in 1968 at the ripe old age of 86, daughter Blanche became the owner of the house and continued running the insurance agency with the family friend, Daurice Bohannon. At Blanche’s death in 1986, Daurice became the owner. Her niece, Joan Sresovich, inherited the house after Mrs. Bohannon’s passing.
Today this beautiful home is open to the public as one of Alachua’s finest restaurants.
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