Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase (May 11, 1929)

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Dublin Core

Title

Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase (May 11, 1929)

Alternative Title

Chase Correspondence (May 11, 1929)

Subject

Windermere (Fla.)
Chase, Sydney Octavius, 1860-1941
Chase, Joshua Coffin, 1858-1948
Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)
Citrus fruit industry--Florida
Citrus--Florida
Orange industry--Florida
Oranges--Florida

Description

An original letter of correspondence between brothers and business partners Joshua Coffin Chase and Sydney Octavius Chase. Topics discussed in the letter include estimates of crop balances at Isleworth Grove, upcoming shipments, and a letter from Joshua written to S. M. Crowell.

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 Sydney Octavius Chase, May 11, 1929: 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

1929-05-11

Is Format Of

Digital reproduction of original letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase, May 11, 1929.

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

189 KB

Medium

1-page typewritten letter

Language

eng

Type

Text

Coverage

Isleworth Grove, Windermere, Florida
Chase & Company Office, Sanford, Florida

Accrual Method

Donation

Mediator

History Teacher
Economics Teacher
Geography 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

Digital Collections (UFDC), University of Florida

Curator

Cepero, Laura

Digital Collection

Source Repository

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.
"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.

Transcript

May 11, 1929.

Mr. S. O. Chase,
Sanford, Florida;

Dear Syd:

ISLEWORTH. Upon my visit there this morning there was one car packed and in the precooling room, and a second car was well on its way. These will be the only two cars moved from Isleworth today, making a total of 12 cars for the week. Hutchinson estimates the balance of the crop approximately as follows, both in field crates in the house and on the trees:

4 cars field crates in the packing house
5 cars on the trees to be picked Monday and Tuesday. This fruit shows much better color than the fruit now in the house.
1 car approximately, of Lamb Summer and
1 car of Pineapple late bloom.
11 cars approximately,

to be packed the coming week unless there is some ruling against it. The writer will hold over in the precooling rooms, 3 or 4 cars of good colored Valencias for loading and shipping Monday, week beginning May 20th. We believe we can load all of these cars and move them for sale in New York the following week, as small sized are in demand and bringing the most money in New York. We would do well with the Lamb Summer and late bloom Pineapples.

Attached find copy of a letter to Crowell which is self-explanatory. If you have any reason for disagreeing with these views, please countermand same. The writer does not want Dr. Newell or anyone connected with the Plant Board to complain later if trouble develops at Isleworth, that he prevented the Plant Board clean-up crew mopping up Isleworth. We only don't want to prevent it, be we want to invite them to go in and find fruit that may have been left on the trees by our crews.

Yours very truly,

JCC:AF.

Document Item Type Metadata

Original Format

1-page typewritten letter

Citation

Chase, Joshua Coffin, “Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase (May 11, 1929),” RICHES, accessed March 19, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/2733.

Locations

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