Loring Augustus Chase
(1839-1906)

Died aged c. 67

Loring A. Chase was born in 1839 in Nashua, New Hampshire and went to work in Boston as a bookkeeper. In 1880 his physician advised him to go south to cure his chronic bronchitis. Arriving in what is now Winter Park, he contacted an old friend, Oliver E. Chapman of Canton, Massachusetts. They purchased 600 acres and laid out a new town, naming it Winter Park. From 1881 to 1885 Chase and Chapman advertised Winter Park as a resort for wealthy northerners, opened streets, planted orange trees and built cottages. In 1885 Chapman sold his interest to Chase and incorporated the Winter Park Company. Chase sold his interest in the Winter Park Company to Francis B. Knowles in 1886 and retired. The following year the Town of Winter Park was incorporated. Loring A. Chase died in 1906.

OpenPlaques

Loring Augustus Chase (born July 1, 1839 in Nashua, New Hampshire - August 21, 1906) was a cofounder of Winter Park, Florida as one of the incorporators of the Winter Park Company. He is listed as a Great Floridian. Born to Otis Nelson Chase and Joanna (Colburn) Chase, Loring Chase became an orphan at the age of two after his mother died on May 4, 1841 and after his father died on August 6, 1841. He was sent to live with his uncle Albert M. Chase and his aunt Mary in Canton, Massachusetts. In October 1862, Loring Chase enlisted in a Massachusetts regiment and served nine months in a North Carolina camp during the U.S. Civil War. He was honorably discharged in June 1863, returned to Canton, Massachusetts, and became a bookkeeper for a wholesale firm in Boston. On December 6, 1864 Chase arrived in Chicago and worked as a bookkeeper at the first National Bank. He enrolled in the Bryant & Stratton Business College and entered Illinois State Normal University. He worked as a real estate broker, teacher at Bryant & Stratton, and with the Pantagraph Stationary Co. He visited Winter Park, Florida for health issues and "fell in love with the landscape and climate." In 1881, he purchased six hundred acres of land with his lifelong friend Oliver Everett Chapman and set out establishing a new town. He also supervised the construction of the Seminole Hotel (1886) and Knowles Hall at Rollins College. Loring's incorporation plan was supported by Gus C. Henderson who assisted with the city's establishment with the inclusion of Hanibal Square. He encouraged black residents to vote for the plan.

DbPedia

Wikidata Wikipedia