Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase (May 23, 1924)
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase (May 23, 1924)
Alternative Title
Chase Correspondence (May 23, 1924)
Subject
Windermere (Fla.)
Chase, Sydney Octavius, 1860-1941
Chase, Joshua Coffin, 1858-1948
Citrus fruit industry--Florida
Citrus--Florida
Chase and Company (Sanford, Fla.)
Tangerine industry
Tangerine
Cabbage palmetto
Description
An original letter of correspondence between brothers and business partners Joshua Coffin Chase and Sydney Octavius Chase. Topics discussed in the letter include C. E. Browne's opinion regarding the quantity of fruit and the moving and cutting of bearing trees at Isleworth Grove, as well as J. Q. Barker's proposition to purchase the cabbage palmetto at Tosohatchee Palmetto.
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 Sydney Octavius Chase, May 23, 1924: 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
1924-05-23
Is Format Of
Digital reproduction of original letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase, May 23, 1924.
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
191 KB
Medium
1-page typewritten letter
Language
eng
Type
Text
Coverage
Isleworth Grove, Windermere, Florida
Chase & Company Office, Sanford, Florida
Tosohatchee Palmetto, Christmas, 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
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.
"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 23 1924
Mr. S. O.Chase,
Sanford, Florida.
Dear Syd:-
ISLEWORTH: Referring to your letter of the 21st reporting on your visit to Isleworth, Note Browne's opinion regarding the quantity of fruit, and trust that the output of tangerines will show equal to last year.
We have been moving large bearing trees and cutting the bearing tops off of others, so that it is hardly reasonable to expect that under such circumstances the yield will show any increase. As a matter of fact, the writer believes there will be a decided falling off in the volume of business from Isleworth until the mutilated trees come back into production.
TOSOHATCHEE PALMETTO: Note that J.Q.Barker, representing Major W.B. Doe,of 959 Riverside Avenue, with an office in the Bisbee Building, has made you a proposition to purchase the cabbage palmetto on the ranch on the basis of $ 2.00 per acre for the palmetto timber, paying one-half down in crash and the balance in one and two years, with the privilege of removal any time within ten years.
The telephone book does not show any one by the name of J. Q. Barker but it does show W.B.Doe, Lumber, Bisbee Building, and also with an office on Commodores Point. Frank Bisbee knows practically nothing about this party with the exception that he pays his rent very promptly. He does not know of anyone in town who is well acquainted with him.
We are now trying to reach George D. Baldwin,Vice-President of the Commodores Point Terminal Company, who may be able to give us some information. Will pass it along to you.
Have you figured out how much acreage you have to cabbage palmetto, and considered how a contract of this kind might affect unfavorably a sale of the entire property, should an opportunity offer? It might be a disadvantage to have it hanging over the land.
Yours very truly,
Mr. S. O.Chase,
Sanford, Florida.
Dear Syd:-
ISLEWORTH: Referring to your letter of the 21st reporting on your visit to Isleworth, Note Browne's opinion regarding the quantity of fruit, and trust that the output of tangerines will show equal to last year.
We have been moving large bearing trees and cutting the bearing tops off of others, so that it is hardly reasonable to expect that under such circumstances the yield will show any increase. As a matter of fact, the writer believes there will be a decided falling off in the volume of business from Isleworth until the mutilated trees come back into production.
TOSOHATCHEE PALMETTO: Note that J.Q.Barker, representing Major W.B. Doe,of 959 Riverside Avenue, with an office in the Bisbee Building, has made you a proposition to purchase the cabbage palmetto on the ranch on the basis of $ 2.00 per acre for the palmetto timber, paying one-half down in crash and the balance in one and two years, with the privilege of removal any time within ten years.
The telephone book does not show any one by the name of J. Q. Barker but it does show W.B.Doe, Lumber, Bisbee Building, and also with an office on Commodores Point. Frank Bisbee knows practically nothing about this party with the exception that he pays his rent very promptly. He does not know of anyone in town who is well acquainted with him.
We are now trying to reach George D. Baldwin,Vice-President of the Commodores Point Terminal Company, who may be able to give us some information. Will pass it along to you.
Have you figured out how much acreage you have to cabbage palmetto, and considered how a contract of this kind might affect unfavorably a sale of the entire property, should an opportunity offer? It might be a disadvantage to have it hanging over the land.
Yours very truly,
Document Item Type Metadata
Original Format
1-page typewritten letter
Collection
Citation
Chase, Joshua Coffin, “Letter from Joshua Coffin Chase to Sydney Octavius Chase (May 23, 1924),” RICHES, accessed April 20, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/2735.