Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to A. Q. Lancaster (March 31, 1923)
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to A. Q. Lancaster (March 31, 1923)
Alternative Title
Chase Correspondence (March 31, 1923)
Subject
Chase, Joshua Coffin, 1858-1948
Citrus fruit industry--Florida
Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)
Windermere (Fla.)
Chase, Sydney Octavius, 1860-1941
Description
An original letter of correspondence between Joshua Coffin Chase and A. Q. Lancaster. Topics discussed include Lancaster's claim of unfair treatment from Chase's brother, Sydney Octavius Chase, and Lancaster's inability to work at Isleworth Grove due to poor health and his subsequent replacement.
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.
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.
Creator
Chase, Joshua Coffin
Source
Original letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to A. Q. Lancaster, March 31, 1923: box 49, folder 20.84, Chase Collection (MS 14), Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Date Created
1923-03-31
Is Format Of
Digital reproduction of original letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to A. Q. Lancaster, March 31, 1923.
Is Part Of
Chase Collection (MS 14), box 49, folder 20.84, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Isleworth Collection, Citrus 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
197 KB
Medium
1-page typewritten letter
Language
eng
Type
Text
Coverage
Isleworth Grove, Windermere, Florida
Pinecastle, 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
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.
"Joshua Coffin Chase (1858-1948)." Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. Copyright 2012. http://floridacitrushalloffame.com/index.php/inductees/inductee-name/?ref_cID=89&bID=0&dd_asId=960.
Transcript
Mar 31 1923
Mr. A. Q. Lancaster,
Pinecastle, Florida.
Dear Mr. Lancaster:
This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 28th, and certainly take exception to any statement you make to to being treated unfairly by my brother. You have been associated with him too long to even intimate that he has been unfair to you or yours or to anyone else. Unfairness is not a part of his composition.
You also know that he would prefer to have you at Isleworth provided you were, living there and looking after the job. Unfortunately your health would not permit you to live there and we could not afford to have valuable interests suffer for lack of personal attention. Absent treatment is not sufficient, and it was with a great deal of regret that we felt compelled to place someone at Isleworth who would remain there all of the time and be on the job twenty-four hours every day. If the quality of the service rendered by the superintendent of Isleworth is unsatisfactory, it may make future changes necessary.
It is a matter of personal regret to the writer that it was not possible for you to continue on at Isleworth, and he wants you to feel that wherever you go or whatever you do, you will have his best wishes for success. In the meantime please get out of your head any thought that you have been treated unfairly, as we do not feel that way and we do not want you to so express yourself.
Yours very truly,
JCC/s
Mr. A. Q. Lancaster,
Pinecastle, Florida.
Dear Mr. Lancaster:
This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 28th, and certainly take exception to any statement you make to to being treated unfairly by my brother. You have been associated with him too long to even intimate that he has been unfair to you or yours or to anyone else. Unfairness is not a part of his composition.
You also know that he would prefer to have you at Isleworth provided you were, living there and looking after the job. Unfortunately your health would not permit you to live there and we could not afford to have valuable interests suffer for lack of personal attention. Absent treatment is not sufficient, and it was with a great deal of regret that we felt compelled to place someone at Isleworth who would remain there all of the time and be on the job twenty-four hours every day. If the quality of the service rendered by the superintendent of Isleworth is unsatisfactory, it may make future changes necessary.
It is a matter of personal regret to the writer that it was not possible for you to continue on at Isleworth, and he wants you to feel that wherever you go or whatever you do, you will have his best wishes for success. In the meantime please get out of your head any thought that you have been treated unfairly, as we do not feel that way and we do not want you to so express yourself.
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 A. Q. Lancaster (March 31, 1923),” RICHES, accessed April 24, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/2698.