1
100
1
-
https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/files/original/6e57a481e51e0feeacb735b920598873.pdf
d73144e4757737ffc21f214facddb88e
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
Florida Land Colonization Company Collection
Alternative Title
FLCC Collection
Subject
Sanford, Henry Shelton, 1823-1891
Sanford (Fla.)
Mackinnon, William, 1823-1893
Polk County (Fla.)
Sumter County (Fla.)
Hernando County (Fla.)
Brevard County (Fla.)
Volusia County (Fla.)
Manayunk (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Is Part Of
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka2/collections/show/107" target="_blank">William MacKinnon Collection</a>, Henry Shelton Sanford Papers Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Language
eng
Type
Collection
Coverage
Sanford, Florida
Manayunk Bank, Manayunk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
New York City, New York
Washington, D.C.
Brussels, Belgium
Gingelom, Belgium
Hombourg, Belgium
Berlin, Germany
Florida Land and Colonization Company, London, England, United Kingdom
Curator
Cepero, Laura
Fedorka, Drew M.
Digital Collection
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
Source Repository
General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, <a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a>
External Reference
<span>Fry, Joseph A. </span><a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8475473" target="_blank"><em>Henry S. Sanford: Diplomacy and Business in Nineteenth-Century America</em></a><span>. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 1982.</span>
Tischendorf, Alfred P. "<a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/35894049" target="_blank">Florida and the British Investor: 1880-1914</a>." <em>Florida Historical Quarterly</em> 33, no. 2 (Oct. 1954): 120-129.
Amundson, Richard J. "<a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4894931414" target="_blank">The Florida Land and Colonization Company</a>." <em>Florida Historical Quarterly</em> 44, no. 3 (Jan. 1966): 153-168.
Munro, J. Forbes. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57653564"><em>Maritime Enterprise and Empire: Sir William MacKinnon and His Business Network, 1823-1893</em></a>. Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, 2003.
Kendall, John S. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1836396" target="_blank"><em>History of New Orleans</em></a>. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, 1922.
Description
The Florida Land and Colonization Company (FLCC) was a joint-stock venture that invested in Florida land development and sales in the 1880s and early 1890s. The company was formed by Henry Shelton Sanford (1823-1891) with help from a group of British investors. The original impetus for the company's formation was Sanford's inability to continue his land acquisition and development efforts in Florida independently. In 1879, faced with financial difficulties, Sanford turned to a trusted associate in the United Kingdom, a Scottish industrialist named Sir William Mackinnon (1823-1893), to help him attract investors. The formation of the company was in large part due to the efforts of MacKinnon, whose reputation and influence helped bring investors on board.<br /><br />Located at 13 Austin Friars, the company was officially registered in London on June 10, 1880. With the formation of the FLCC, all of Henry Sanford's Florida properties were transferred to the company in exchange for a £10,000 cash payment and another £50,000 in company stock. The one-time cash payment was a needed reprieve for Sanford, who faced financial difficulties by the end of the 1870s. The board of directors included Mackinnon, as well as W. C. Gray and Edwyn Sandys Dawes, partners in Gray-Dawes and Company, a London-based banking and investment house. Other directors included Alexander Fraser, Anthony Norris, George A. Thomson, and Eli Lee. Sanford was named President and Chairman of the Board. In 1880, the company owned 26,000 acres scattered across Florida, including in the cities of Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Sanford, as well as in Alachua County and Marion County. <br /><br />Almost from the outset, there was serious friction between the British board members and Henry Sanford. Disagreements erupted over business strategy, as Sanford frequently proposed initiatives deemed too bold for the cautious British investors. From 1882 to 1892, the company saw steady, if meager, profits. Most of its income came from the sale of lots in the city of Sanford. From 1885 until 1890, the company, while remaining solvent, continued to see declining profits. From 1886 to 1890, the profits were so modest that the company declined to pay dividends on its yearly profits. Needed improvements and developments in the city of Sanford during the late 1880s sapped much of the company's income. Following Henry Sanford's death in 1891, many of the investors lost the motivation to continue. On September 15, 1892, the various directors acted to dissolve the company. Its assets, including roughly 65,000 acres of Florida land, were divided among shareholders.
Contributor
<a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a>
Provenance
<span>Collection dontated to the </span><a href="http://www.chs.org/" target="_blank">Connecticut Historical Society</a><span> after 1901.</span>
<span>Collection loaned to the </span><a href="http://www.tn.gov/tsla/" target="_blank">Tennessee State Library and Archives</a><span> for processing until June 1, 1960.</span>
<span>Collection acquired by the General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, </span><a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a><span> in 1960.</span>
Rights Holder
<span>The displayed collection items are housed at the General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, </span><a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a><span> in Sanford, Florida. Rights to these items belong to the said institution, and therefore inquiries about items should be directed there. </span><a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a><span> has obtained permission from the </span><a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a><span> to display this item for educational purposes only.</span>
Document
A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text.
Original Format
2-page handwritten letter
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
Letter from William MacKinnon to Henry Shelton Sanford (November 21, 1879)
Alternative Title
MacKinnon to Sanford (November 21, 1879)
Subject
MacKinnon, William, 1823-1893
Sanford, Henry Shelton, 1823-1891
Description
A letter from Sir William MacKinnon (1823-1893) to Henry Shelton Sanford (1823-1891) dated November 21, 1879. The letter was a brief note informing Sanford of his travel plans, which included going to Brussels, Belgium, via ferry from Dover, England. MacKinnon hoped to meet with Sanford in Brussels. He also informed Sanford that he was scheduled to meet with King Leopold II of Belgium (1835-1909). <br /><br />Sir William MacKinnon was a Scottish ship-owner and businessman who established significant trade networks and commercial interests in British India and later in East Africa. Among other business ventures, he founded the British India Steam Navigation Company and the short-lived Imperial British East Africa Company. During his lifetime, he was one of the leading ship-owners in the British Empire. By the 1880s, he controlled more shipping tonnage than any other individual in Britain.<br /><br />MacKinnon met Henry Shelton Sanford sometime in the late 1870s and the two began corresponding regularly in 1879. MacKinnon's interest in Sanford stemmed from the former American ambassador's close proximity to Leopold II and the Brussels inner-circle of businessmen, politicians, and diplomats. Sanford, living in a château in Brussels, provided a valuable lifeline for MacKinnon, who sought Belgian business connections to support his expanding commercial ventures, particularly in East Africa. He was a vital factor in the formation of the Florida Land and Colonization Company (FLCC), going so far as to lend Sanford £8,000 in early January 1880. He also played an essential role in helping Sanford court early participants in the investment plan. Many of the board members of the FLCC, like Edwyn Sandys Dawes (1838-1903), were close associates of MacKinnon. With his business ventures strongly tied to British and Belgian development schemes in Africa, MacKinnon had no ostensible interest in Florida land investment. His participation in Sanford's Florida ambitions was thus directly linked to his interest in maintaining strong relations with Sanford and his valuable connections in Belgium.
Type
Text
Source
Original letter from William MacKinnon to Henry Shelton Sanford, November 21, 1879: box 127, folder 2, subfolder 127.2.19, Henry Shelton Sanford Papers, General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, <a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a>, Sanford, Florida.
Requires
<a href="http://www.adobe.com/reader.html" target="_blank">Adobe Acrobat Reader</a>
Is Part Of
Box 127, folder 2, Henry Shelton Sanford Papers, General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, <a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a>, Sanford, Florida.
Is Format Of
Digital reproduction of original letter from William MacKinnon to Henry Shelton Sanford, November 21, 1879.
Coverage
London, England, United Kingdom
Creator
MacKinnon, William
Date Created
1879-11-21
Format
application/pdf
Extent
202 KB
Medium
2-page handwritten letter
Language
eng
Mediator
History Teacher
Provenance
Originally created by William MacKinnon.
Donated to the <a href="http://www.chs.org/" target="_blank">Connecticut Historical Society</a> after 1901.
Loaned to the <a href="http://www.tn.gov/tsla/" target="_blank">Tennessee State Library and Archives</a> for processing until June 1, 1960.
Acquired by the General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, <a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a> in 1960.
Rights Holder
The displayed collection item is housed at the General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, <a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a> in Sanford, Florida. Rights to this item belong to the said institution, and therefore inquiries about the item should be directed there. <a href="http://riches.cah.ucf.edu/" target="_blank">RICHES of Central Florida</a> has obtained permission from the <a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a> to display this item for educational purposes only.
Accrual Method
Donation
Curator
Fedorka, Drew M.
Digital Collection
<a href="https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/map/" target="_blank">RICHES MI</a>
Source Repository
<a href="http://www.sanfordfl.gov/index.aspx?page=456" target="_blank">Sanford Museum</a>
External Reference
Fry, Joseph A. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8475473" target="_blank"><em>Henry S. Sanford: Diplomacy and Business in Nineteenth-Century America</em></a>. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 1982.
Hochschild, Adam. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39042794" target="_blank"><em>King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa</em></a>. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
Munro, J. Forbes. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57653564"><em>Maritime Enterprise and Empire: Sir William MacKinnon and His Business Network, 1823-1893</em></a>. Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, 2003.
Munro, J. Forbes. “"<a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/772540825" target="_blank">Shipping Subsidies and Railway Guarantees</a>" <em>The Journal of African History</em> 28, no. 2 (1987): 209-230.
Boulger, Demetrius Charles. <a href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2129362"><em>The Congo State or, the Growth of Civilization in Central Africa</em></a>. London: Thacker, 1898.
Transcript
30 Old Burlington St.
London Nov., 21, 1879
Dear Mr. Sanford
Thanks for your telegram and note. I shall do my best with [?] and one or two others. I am so glad that you will be able to be in Brussels when I am there. The King has fixed Tuesday, and Strauch [?] me to let him know [?] [?] I came by and the [?] of arrival.
I propose [?] to go to Dover on Monday evening sleep there and cross to Calais on Tuesday morning. There on to Brussels arriving at the South Station at 4:55. Shall you arrive before me or at same time? [?] [?] many kind [?] for Mrs. Sanford/ if there with you [?] and yourself.
Believe me
Very truly yours,
W. MacKinnon
Brussels, Belgium
Dover, England
Leopold II
MacKinnon, William
Sanford, Henry Shelton
Strauch, Maximilien