Letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Joshua Coffin Chase (December 6, 1921)

Letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Joshua Coffin Chase (December 6, 1921)

Chase Correspondence (December 6, 1921)

Sanford (Fla.)

Chase, Sydney Octavius, 1860-1941

Chase, Joshua Coffin, 1858-1948

Ku Klux Klan (1915- )--Florida

Citrus fruit industry--Florida

Citrus--Florida

Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)

Windermere (Fla.)

An original letter of correspondence between brothers and business partners Joshua Coffin Chase and Sydney Octavius Chase. Topics discussed in the letter include a copy of a letter to Cary D. Landis in regards to the Brevard County Road, a copy of a letter to Landis regarding a Ku Klux Klan demonstration in Sanford on the eve of an election, a rumor that Forrest Lake arranged for the KKK to intimidate African-American voters, and movement of fruit at Isleworth Grove. Chase & Company was established by the brothers in 1884. The company sold insurance and later invested in storage facilities and fertilizer sales.

Chase & Company was established by brothers Sydney Octavius Chase and Joshua Coffin Chase in 1884. 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. By 1886, the Chase brothers purchased several citrus groves to expand their business, including Isleworth Grove in Windermere, Florida. Isleworth Grove covered a total of 1,300 acres along the Butler Chain of Lakes. Between 1894 and 1895, Central Florida was hit by several freezes and most of the citrus crop was destroyed. Chase & Company did not grow citrus crops again until 1904 when Joshua came back from an extended stay in California. Between 1894 and 1900, different types of pesticide equipment was created, including equipment driven by steam, machines, and horses.Randall Chase joined in the family business soon after his brother, Sydney Chase, Jr., did in 1922. Randall became the president of Chase & Company from 1948-1965. The Isleworth property stayed in the Chase family until 1984 when Franklin Chase, the son of Sydney Chase, sold the property to famed golfer Arnold Palmer.

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, Sydney Octavius

Original letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Joshua Coffin Chase, December 6, 1921: box 173, folder 2.36, Chase Collection (MS 14), Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

1921-12-06

Digital reproduction of original letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Joshua Coffin Chase, December 6, 1921.

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.

Folder referenced in Chase Collection finding guide, http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/pkyonge/chase.htm.

application/pdf

343 KB

2-page typewritten letter on Chase & Company letterhead

eng

Text

Chase & Company Office, Sanford, Florida

Chase & Company Office, Jacksonville, Florida

Isleworth Grove, Windermere, Florida

Donation

History Teacher

Civics/Government Teacher

Economics Teacher

Geography Teacher

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.

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.

Special and Area Studies Collections, University of Florida

Digital Collections (UFDC), University of Florida

Cepero, Laura

University of Florida, Special and Area Studies Collections

Warner, S.C. "Development of Marketing Citrus Fruits in Florida." Florida State Horticultural Society vol. 36 (1923): 198-200.

Hopkins, James T. Fifty Years of Citrus, the Florida Citrus Exchange: 1909-1959. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press: 1960.

Newton, Michael. The Invisible Empire: The Ku Klux Klan in Florida. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2001.

"Franklin Chase, 'Towering Figure in Citrus Industry.'" The Orlando Sentinel, September 30, 1986. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1986-09-30/news/0260060057_1_chase-isleworth-golf-florida-citrus.

"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.

2-page typewritten letter on Chase & Company letterhead