Letter from Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase (December 22, 1913)

Letter from Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase (December 22, 1913)

Chase Correspondence (December 22, 1913)

Windermere (Fla.)

Chase, Sydney Octavius, 1860-1941

Chase, Joshua Coffin, 1858-1948

Citrus fruit industry--Florida

Citrus--Florida

Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)

Freezes (Meteorology)--Florida--History

Orange industry--Florida

Oranges--Florida

An original letter of correspondence between brothers and business partners Joshua Coffin Chase and Sydney Octavius Chase. Topics discussed in the letter include A. Q. Lancaster's block contract to clean newly purchased land at Isleworth Grove, management plans for the acreage in case of decreased prices or a damaging freeze, and resuming operations on oranges.

Chase & Company was established by Joshua Chase and his brother Sydney 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. Isleworth Grove covered a total of 1,300 acres along the Butler Chain of Lakes. 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, Joshua Coffin

Original letter from Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase, December 22, 1913: box 49, folder 20.84, Chase Collection (MS 14), Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.

1913-12-22

Digital reproduction of original letter from Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase, December 22, 1913.

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.

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

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193 KB

1-page typewritten letter on Chase & Company letterhead

eng

Text

St. James Building, Jacksonville, Florida

Chase & Company Office, Sanford, Florida

Isleworth Grove, Windermere, Florida

Donation

History 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.

"Joshua Coffin Chase (1858-1948)." Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. Copyright 2012.

"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.

CHASE & COMPANY
ST. JAMES BUILDING
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

Dec. 22, 1913.

Mr. S. O. Chase,
Sanford, Fla.

Dear Sir:-

ISLEWORTH. Note yours of the 20th regarding Lancaster's block contract to clean land on the new purchase, Presume that this would be the most economical way of handling the matter. Also note that we now have enough nursery stock to plant 45 acres, of which 11 acres are cleared. This means that we would have to clear up in the neighborhood of 36 additional acres at an expense of about $25 per acre, or in the neighborhood of $1,000

There is only one matter to be considered, and that is the up keep of all this new acreage if we go up against low prices or a damaging freeze. Have already passed along to you the financial outlook as it appears to me and also the [?] we will probably realize for citrus fruit.

All of this means an additional care to you, and I am perfectly willing to leave the matter with you. My feelings are not the ones to b e consulted in the matter, but to quote a familiar saying, I do not like to bite off more than I can chew.

It is a good thing to keep the men busy at Isleworth as we may want the force in the house to resume operations on oranges. It is beginning to look as if it would be good policy on our part to ship the balance of the seedling oranges and also the oranges from the transplanted trees sough of the old boarding house just as soon after Christmas as weather conditions will permit.

Yours very truly,

J.C. Chase

jcc/b

1 page typewritten letter on Chase & Company letterhead