Letter from E. R. Trafford per William Beardall to Henry Shelton Sanford (June 22, 1884)

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Dublin Core

Title

Letter from E. R. Trafford per William Beardall to Henry Shelton Sanford (June 22, 1884)

Alternative Title

Letter from Trafford to Sanford (June 22, 1884)

Subject

Sanford (Fla.)
Real estate--Florida

Description

A letter from E. R. Trafford per William Beardall to Henry Shelton Sanford, dated June 22, 1884. In the letter, Trafford requested Sanford's signature for three enclosed deeds, two of which were in the City of Sanford, Florida, the third was near Henry Sanford's St. Gertrude's Grove.

Trafford was a company agent for the Florida Land and Colonization Company (FLCC) from 1882 to 1886. He served as the company’s local representative, managing the company office in Sanford, Florida. He was selected by the board of the FLCC, despite resistance from the President and Chairman of the Board, Henry Shelton Sanford. Unlike his predecessor, James Ingraham, Trafford provided Henry Sanford with little confidential, first-hand information about events in Florida. As a result, Sanford regularly advocated for Trafford’s replacement. However, the company’s other board members, distrustful of Henry Sanford’s business acumen, retained Trafford precisely because his first loyalties remained with the company in London and not Henry Sanford. His tenure as FLCC agent is reflective of the often tense relationship between Henry Sanford and his fellow board members as well as the increasingly limited influence Sanford had in company affairs. The FLCC was a joint-stock venture that invested in Florida land development and sales in the 1880s and early 1890s. The company was formed by Henry Shelton Sanford with help from a group of British investors. Located at 13 Austin Friars in London, the company was officially registered in London on June 10, 1880. With the formation of the FLCC, all of Henry Sanford's Florida properties were transferred to the company in exchange for a ₤10,000 cash payment and another ₤50,000 in company stock. Sanford was named President and Chairman of the Board. In 1880, the company owned 26,000 acres scattered across Florida, including in the cities of Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Sanford, as well as in Alachua and Marion counties. Almost from the outset, there was serious friction between the British board members and Henry Sanford. Disagreements erupted over business strategy, as Sanford frequently proposed initiatives deemed too bold for the cautious British investors. As a result of consistently meager profits from its inception, following Henry Sanford's death in 1891 many of the investors lost the motivation to continue. On September 15, 1892, the various directors acted to dissolve the company. Its assets, including roughly 65,000 acres of Florida land, were divided among shareholders.

Creator

Trafford, E. R.
Beardall, William

Source

Original letter from E. R. Trafford per William Beardall to Henry Shelton Sanford, June 22, 1884: box 54, folder 18, subfolder 54.18.36, Henry Shelton Sanford Papers, General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.

Date Created

1884-06-22

Is Format Of

Digital reproduction of original letter from E. R. Trafford per William Beardall to Henry Shelton Sanford, June 22, 1884.

Is Part Of

Box 54, Folder 18, Henry Shelton Sanford Papers, General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.
Florida Land Colonization Company Collection, Henry Shelton Sanford Papers Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.

Format

image/jpg

Extent

144 KB

Medium

1-page handwritten letter

Language

eng

Type

Text

Coverage

Florida Land and Colonization Company Office, Sanford, Florida

Accrual Method

Donation

Mediator

History Teacher
Economics Teacher

Provenance

Originally created by E. R. Trafford.
Donated to the Connecticut Historical Society after 1901.
Loaned to the Tennessee State Library and Archives for processing until June 1, 1960.
Donated to the General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, Sanford Museum in 1960.

Rights Holder

The displayed collection item is housed at the General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, Sanford Museum in Sanford, 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 the Sanford Museum to display this item for educational purposes only.

Curator

Fedorka, Drew M.

Digital Collection

Source Repository

General Henry S. Sanford Memorial Library, Sanford Museum

External Reference

Fry, Joseph A. Diplomacy and Business in Nineteenth-Century America. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 1982.

Citation

Trafford, E. R. and Beardall, William, “Letter from E. R. Trafford per William Beardall to Henry Shelton Sanford (June 22, 1884),” RICHES, accessed March 19, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/7703.

Locations

Categories