Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase (December 7, 1921)
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase (December 7, 1921)
Alternative Title
Chase Correspondence (December 7, 1921)
Subject
Bunnell (Fla.)
Chase, Sydney Octavius, 1860-1941
Chase, Joshua Coffin, 1858-1948
Ku Klux Klan (1915- )--Florida
Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)
Description
An original letter of correspondence between brothers and business partners Joshua Coffin Chase and Sydney Octavius Chase. Topics discussed in the letter include copies of letters between Sydney, Cary D. Landis, and S. V. Stephens; a copy of Sydney's letter to Landis regarding the Ku Klux Klan demonstration in Sanford on the eve of an election; and a newspaper clipping from The Tampa Tribune on the KKK.
Chase & Company was established in 1884 by brothers Sydney Octavius Chase and Joshua Coffin Chase. The company sold insurance and later invested in storage facilities and fertilizer sales. Chase & Company was known mainly for its agricultural interests and maintained a series of citrus groves throughout Central Florida. The company was based out of Sanford and became one of the city's largest employers into the early twentieth century.
The Ku Klux Klan was first organized by ex-Confederate soldiers in in Tennessee in 1866, but was disbanded by the first Imperial Wizard Nathan Bedford Forest in 1869 in order to avoid government sanctions. The second Klan was reformed in 1915 by William J. Simmons. Although the KKK deteriorated nationally during the Great Depression, it still flourished in Florida until a $685,000 lien was filed against the national Klan in 1944 for back taxes from the 1920s. In 1948, Dr. Samuel Green of Atlanta revived the KKK in Georgia, which spread to Florida and other states. In 1951, the Florida KKK responded violently to the activities of Harry Tyson Moore's Progressive Voters' League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) during a period dubbed "The Florida Terror." As of the early 2000s, the Florida KKK remained to be on of the more active Klans in the country.
Chase & Company was established in 1884 by brothers Sydney Octavius Chase and Joshua Coffin Chase. The company sold insurance and later invested in storage facilities and fertilizer sales. Chase & Company was known mainly for its agricultural interests and maintained a series of citrus groves throughout Central Florida. The company was based out of Sanford and became one of the city's largest employers into the early twentieth century.
The Ku Klux Klan was first organized by ex-Confederate soldiers in in Tennessee in 1866, but was disbanded by the first Imperial Wizard Nathan Bedford Forest in 1869 in order to avoid government sanctions. The second Klan was reformed in 1915 by William J. Simmons. Although the KKK deteriorated nationally during the Great Depression, it still flourished in Florida until a $685,000 lien was filed against the national Klan in 1944 for back taxes from the 1920s. In 1948, Dr. Samuel Green of Atlanta revived the KKK in Georgia, which spread to Florida and other states. In 1951, the Florida KKK responded violently to the activities of Harry Tyson Moore's Progressive Voters' League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) during a period dubbed "The Florida Terror." As of the early 2000s, the Florida KKK remained to be on of the more active Klans in the country.
Creator
Chase, Joshua Coffin
Source
Original letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase, December 7, 1921: box 173, folder 2.36, Chase Collection (MS 14), Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Date Created
1921-12-07
Is Format Of
Digital reproduction of original letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase, December 7, 1921.
Is Part Of
Chase Collection (MS 14), box 173, folder 2.36, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Sanford Collection, Chase Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.
Is Referenced By
Folder referenced in Chase Collection finding guide, http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/chase.htm.
Format
image/jpg
Extent
113 KB
Medium
1-page typewritten letter
Language
eng
Type
Text
Coverage
Chase & Company Office, Sanford, Florida
Bunnell, Florida
Accrual Method
Donation
Mediator
History Teacher
Provenance
Entire Chase Collection is comprised of four separate accessions from various donors, including Cecilia Johnson, the granddaughter of Joshua Coffin Chase and the children of Randall Chase.
Rights Holder
The displayed collection item is housed at Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Rights to this item belong to the said institution, and therefore inquiries about the item should be directed there. RICHES of Central Florida has obtained permission from Special and Area Studies Collections at the University of Florida to display this item for educational purposes only.
Contributing Project
Special and Area Studies Collections, University of Florida
Digital Collections (UFDC), University of Florida
Curator
Cepero, Laura
Digital Collection
Source Repository
University of Florida, Special and Area Studies Collections
External Reference
"Sydney Chase Sr. (1860-1941)." Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. Copyright 2012. http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?ref_cID=89&bID=0&dd_asId=600.
Newton, Michael. The Invisible Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Florida. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001.
Transcript
Dec. 7th 1931
Mr. S.O. Chase
Sanford, Florida.
Dear Syd:
Note copies of letters exchanged between you, Cary D. Landis and S.M. Stephens, and hope you are right in letting Landis work it out his way. Landis plays politics just like everybody else, but whether or not he will double-cross you in this matter is one of the things we do not propose to worry about.
KU KLUS: Note copy of your letter to Landis on this subject and also have a clipping from the Tampa Tribune. The Junior also made us a report. Perhaps Mayo Dade could tell you something about this man, Berber, from Bunnell. This place harbors and is headquarters for boot-leggers and desperadoes and undoubtedly came to the support of the Honorable F.L. Mayo lived for quite a while at Bunnell and is pretty well acquainted with everybody.
Yours very truly,
JCC/s
Mr. S.O. Chase
Sanford, Florida.
Dear Syd:
Note copies of letters exchanged between you, Cary D. Landis and S.M. Stephens, and hope you are right in letting Landis work it out his way. Landis plays politics just like everybody else, but whether or not he will double-cross you in this matter is one of the things we do not propose to worry about.
KU KLUS: Note copy of your letter to Landis on this subject and also have a clipping from the Tampa Tribune. The Junior also made us a report. Perhaps Mayo Dade could tell you something about this man, Berber, from Bunnell. This place harbors and is headquarters for boot-leggers and desperadoes and undoubtedly came to the support of the Honorable F.L. Mayo lived for quite a while at Bunnell and is pretty well acquainted with everybody.
Yours very truly,
JCC/s
Document Item Type Metadata
Original Format
1-page typewritten letter
Collection
Citation
Chase, Joshua Coffin, “Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase (December 7, 1921),” RICHES, accessed April 25, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/2529.