Letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Chase & Company Members (March 11, 1925)
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Chase & Company Members (March 11, 1925)
Alternative Title
Chase Correspondence (March 11, 1925)
Subject
Chase, Sydney Octavius, 1860-1941
Grapefruit--Florida
Citrus fruit industry--Florida
Grapefruit industry--Florida
Leesburg (Fla.)
Description
An original letter of correspondence written by Sydney Octavius Chase to employees at Chase & Company in Orlando. In the letter, Chase identifies his dissatisfaction with the Florida Citrus Exchange and its role in negatively impacting the market value of Florida grapefruits. The letter also shares some of the doubts and distrust Chase & Company felt toward the Exchange, a state organization comprised of a large number of Florida citrus growers. While members who trusted the Exchange praised the organization as a united group of growers that promoted better distribution and marketing of their citrus products, growers such as Chase & Company were hesitant to hand over all of their power to a larger organization with poor marketing strategies. These opinions were apparent during the 1924-1925 growing season when the Exchange underwent major changes. On June 5, 1924, Dr. John Harvey Ross resigned as president of the Exchange, a move that upset a large portion of members. The Exchange immediately elected L. C. Edwards of Thonatasassa as the new president.
Chase & Company was established 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.
Chase & Company was established 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.
Creator
Chase, Sydney Octavius
Source
Original letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Chase & Company Members, March 11, 1925: Chase Collection (MS 14), box 7, folder 14.10A, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
Date Created
1925-03-11
Is Format Of
Digital reproduction of original letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Chase & Company Members, March 11, 1925.
Is Part Of
Chase Collection (MS 14), box 7, folder 14.10A, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
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.
Requires
Format
application/pdf
Extent
3,155 KB
Medium
2 page typewritten letter on Chase & Company letterhead
Language
eng
Type
Text
Coverage
Jacksonville, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Leesburg, Florida
Spatial Coverage
30.3167, -81.6500
28.538084, -81.378593
28.810987, -81.877041
Temporal Coverage
1925-03-08/1925-03-11
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
Marra, Katherine
Digital Collection
Source Repository
University of Florida, Special and Area Studies Collections
External Reference
"The History of Seald-Sweet." Seald Sweet International. http://www.sealdsweet.com/welcome/our-history.php.
Warner, S.C. "Development of Marketing Citrus Fruits in Florida." Florida State Horticultural Society vol. 36 (1923): 198-200.
"Mayo Dade Offers Helpful Aid on Fruit Picking." Florida Clearing House News, August 25, 1930.
Hopkins, James T. Fifty Years of Citrus, the Florida Citrus Exchange: 1909-1959. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press: 1960.
"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.
External Reference Title
Transcript
CHASE & CO.
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA
March 11, 1925
Chase & Company,
Orlando, Fla.
Gentlemen:- Attention Mr. Mouser.
I am returning Mr. L. C. Edwards' letter addressed to you under date of March 9.
It looks to me as if Exchange and the xchange are making their plans to pass the buck on their vailure to ob¬tain satisfactory prices on Florida grapefruit to the in¬dependents, if possible. He admits controlling fifty per cent of Afterpefruit. .:.fter he reviews the activity the Exchange have been taking in advocating the planting of grapefruit for the past ten years he will rExchangehat the Exehangs and a few nurserymen are alone responsible for the present market condition on grapefruit.
The Exchange has never failed in their get together meetint to advise all growers to plant all the grapefruit they could, that the market could not be over-supplied, and if they could not sell for 2.00 on the trees to shiExchangehru the Exohange, and they would getExchangeue. The Exohange evidently does not want to shoulder the responsibility for having, for years, advocated in a reckless manner an increase in the grapefruit acreage. It strikes me as about time *en exchanging letters with these people to touch them up on this point. These facts should be laid at ExChangeof the ExChfinge in the same manner that Edwards wants pricesioeapricesprices received for grapefruit at the door, or doors, of the independent shippers. It Exchangebe a goodExchanger the Tjxchfinge to turn loose and ship all the grapefruit they can, and as rapidly as they can, which may result in a reaction in psome on with mmesome few people who do not want to engage in the grapefruit fight, but hold onto their goods and dispose of them later.
I an passing Mr. Edwards' letter on to J.C.C. as requested.
Co. #2
All cooperative organisations seem to think that they have the right of way over well establishes lines of business, and any independent who does notget out of their way should be ruined, and if he has enough baok-bone to stand up for his rights, he is then a public nuisance and an organization of night riders should be created to eliminate him from the business altogether. I have heard this advocated at meetings of the Citrus Exchange, one of which was held in Orlando some ten years ago when this man woods, who is Secretary of the chamber of Commerce in Leesburg, and hails from Kentucky, publicly reoommended a body of night riders to force growers to become members of the Exchange, or eliminate them from the face of the earth. Doctor Ross, who was than a member of the exchange, never protested against the sentiment expressed by 'woods.
Yours very truly,
CC- Mr. J. C. Chase, Jacksonville, la
SOC
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA
March 11, 1925
Chase & Company,
Orlando, Fla.
Gentlemen:- Attention Mr. Mouser.
I am returning Mr. L. C. Edwards' letter addressed to you under date of March 9.
It looks to me as if Exchange and the xchange are making their plans to pass the buck on their vailure to ob¬tain satisfactory prices on Florida grapefruit to the in¬dependents, if possible. He admits controlling fifty per cent of Afterpefruit. .:.fter he reviews the activity the Exchange have been taking in advocating the planting of grapefruit for the past ten years he will rExchangehat the Exehangs and a few nurserymen are alone responsible for the present market condition on grapefruit.
The Exchange has never failed in their get together meetint to advise all growers to plant all the grapefruit they could, that the market could not be over-supplied, and if they could not sell for 2.00 on the trees to shiExchangehru the Exohange, and they would getExchangeue. The Exohange evidently does not want to shoulder the responsibility for having, for years, advocated in a reckless manner an increase in the grapefruit acreage. It strikes me as about time *en exchanging letters with these people to touch them up on this point. These facts should be laid at ExChangeof the ExChfinge in the same manner that Edwards wants pricesioeapricesprices received for grapefruit at the door, or doors, of the independent shippers. It Exchangebe a goodExchanger the Tjxchfinge to turn loose and ship all the grapefruit they can, and as rapidly as they can, which may result in a reaction in psome on with mmesome few people who do not want to engage in the grapefruit fight, but hold onto their goods and dispose of them later.
I an passing Mr. Edwards' letter on to J.C.C. as requested.
Co. #2
All cooperative organisations seem to think that they have the right of way over well establishes lines of business, and any independent who does notget out of their way should be ruined, and if he has enough baok-bone to stand up for his rights, he is then a public nuisance and an organization of night riders should be created to eliminate him from the business altogether. I have heard this advocated at meetings of the Citrus Exchange, one of which was held in Orlando some ten years ago when this man woods, who is Secretary of the chamber of Commerce in Leesburg, and hails from Kentucky, publicly reoommended a body of night riders to force growers to become members of the Exchange, or eliminate them from the face of the earth. Doctor Ross, who was than a member of the exchange, never protested against the sentiment expressed by 'woods.
Yours very truly,
CC- Mr. J. C. Chase, Jacksonville, la
SOC
Document Item Type Metadata
Original Format
2 page typewritten letter on Chase & Company letterhead
Collection
Citation
Chase, Sydney Octavius, “Letter from Sydney Octavius Chase to Chase & Company Members (March 11, 1925),” RICHES, accessed December 31, 2024, https://richesmi.cah.ucf.edu/omeka/items/show/774.