Born (1908) and raised in Sanford, Florida, Frank W. Chase, Sr., tells of riding up and down Florida’s rivers on steam driven paddle boats; narrow and standard gauge trains; air plane rides; and Florida’s citrus industry.
This interview was conducted on April 16, 1975 by Harry Ferron for the Friends of the Orlando Public Library’s Oral History Committee. We are grateful for the Orange County Regional History Center‘s making this recording available for Orlando Memory.
Photographs of the paddle steamers mentioned in the first part of this interview, the City of Jacksonville and the Osceola, along with other photographs of early Florida, may be seen on the Florida Memory website.
Interview Part 1 (31:09)
Interview Part 2 (33:36)
Learn more about the Chase family and the Chase Collection at the George Smather’s Library.
Listen to interviews with more Orlando pioneers.
Back to top
Frank W. Chase, Sr.
Frank W. Chase, Sr.
Interview with Frank W. Chase, Sr. - Part 2
Franklin W. Chase, Sr. was born in Sanford on January 20, 1908 and enjoyed visiting the family cottage on Lake Louise so much that when he graduated from Princeton University he took over managing the family's Isleworth groves and made the cottage his home until his death in 1986.
The Times of Winter Garden published this obituary in the October 2, 1986 issue. This and other articles about notable Orlandoans may be found in the Biography Vertical Files of the Orlando Public Library.
Be sure to hear the oral history interview with Mr. Chase.
I recently bought some items that belonged to Mr. Chase. They were very nice items and it lead me to wonder about his history. My grandparents lived at Mount Dora and when my mother who was born in 1918, they lived in Sanford when she was a small girl. My grandfather worked on a celery farm. I was just curious.
Hi Muriel,
Frank Chase is my grandfather, just curious about the items you bought and also your grandfathers name. I could do some research and see if there is a connection. Thanks for inquiring about this. True old Florida history is so precious and rare these days!
Greetings Beth! Thanks for visiting Orlando Memory. We are curious, too. Please update the post if find anything exciting in the papers. ORLANDO MEMORY TEAM