Chloe Merrick was born into a family of abolitionists. Growing up in Syracuse, New York, she trained to be a teacher. Her social circles were that of like-minded individuals, often filled with zealous anti-slavery fervor.

Chloe and her family were the real deal. In 1851, a fugitive slave named Jerry was on his way to Canada, and freedom, when he was arrested and thrown in jail under the Fugitive Slave Act. Chloe’s father, Sylvanus, and two of her brothers, Montgomery and Charles, along with a small posse, broke Jerry out during his court hearing. They helped Jerry escape by mobbing the courtroom and overpowering the bailiff. The trio was forced to leave town for a while to let things cool down. Thereafter, Sylvanus was known as the “Great Abolitionist” amongst his neighbors.

Continuing her family’s abolitionist traditions, Chloe moved to Fernandina Beach during the Civil War. There, in Confederate General Finnegan’s confiscated mansion, Chloe set up a school and orphanage for Black children and the biracial children of Union soldiers who had been abandoned.

The school and orphanage, overseen by the Freedman’s Bureau, were a success. The children were eager to learn, as literacy had been something denied to them and their families for a long time. Nothing in life is free, so it was accepted that Chloe actively solicited donations for the children. Finances were tight. The National Freedman’s Relief Association, a group of private donors, provided funding and donations of all kinds were accepted.

Chloe’s superiors were impressed, as noted in a letter to Cmdr. Oliver O. Howard from Asst. Cmdr. John G. Foster, Oct. 1, 1866:

The Superintendent, Miss Chloe Merrick, assisted by Miss Abbie W. Johnson, is laboring with commendable zeal. Fifty children, gathered from various parts, are here clothed, instructed and fed, and made to feel neither want nor orphanage.

The local community, many of whom were loyal to the confederacy, didn’t make life easy for the orphanage. Northern teachers like Chloe were subjected to verbal abuse and shunning. They were seen as “Yankee busybodies”, and their romantic racialism was viewed as unrealistic. Support for these types of social programs was fading, and Jim Crow was on the horizon.

And so, it seems that nothing good lasts forever. In June 1866, former General Joseph Finnegan regained ownership of his mansion. It appears that the property was acquired through an unconstitutional land grab by the federal government. This meant that Chloe and the children were out in the hot Florida sunshine.

Whether Finnegan had anything to do with the relocation of the orphanage or school is not known. Still, ironically, the children were transferred to the Magnolia Springs Hotel in Clay County. Finnegan once owned the land where the hotel was located. The children were loaded onto the steamer Darlington and shipped upriver to Magnolia.

The Magnolia site attracted not only orphans but also other destitute persons. From General Foster's Freedmen's Bureau 1866 report:

“This institution was reestablished at Magnolia, twenty miles below Jacksonville, on the St. John's River, in March of this year, by Colonel Osborn, and now contains forty-one destitutes, who are utterly incapacitated by age, infirmities, or insanity from obtaining any means of subsistence. None are admitted whose friends are able to afford assistance or support. The hospital is wholly supported by the bureau and is under the charge of Dr. J. W Applegate, surgeon of volunteers. The State of Florida has no asylum of the kind.”

Chloe oversaw the opening of the orphanage, but due to the stress created by the disruptions, she fell ill. She later recovered, only to see her dream shattered. Unfortunately for the children, the NFRA began to decline, and the orphanage lost its funding. The Freedman’s Bureau, which had provided supplies, did a poor job of distributing them. In December of 1866, the orphanage was closed. Some of the children were given apprenticeships, while most were sent to schools and orphanages in North Carolina.

Florida lost its first orphanage. However, Florida did not lose Chloe. She had an admirer whom she married, named Harrison Reed. Some 20 years older than Chloe, Reed became the ninth governor of Florida. He was the Reconstruction governor and was elected under federal Reconstruction rules. Floridians saw him as a carpetbagger of the first degree and a Unionist puppet. For Chloe, her marriage to Reed was an asset. She was able to bring about real legislative change through her husband’s position. She continued to work in the community, helping the poor, the orphaned and the illiterate.

In 1882, she was the first Vice President of the Board of Directors at St. Luke’s Hospital in Jacksonville. Waxing quixotic, she wrote to her friend Gerrit Smith, “The longer I remain in the south...the more I see remains to be done.”

In 1897, Chloe took ill and checked into St. Luke’s Hospital, where in the early morning hours of Aug. 5, she died. Her life’s work was done. She was survived by her husband and their son, Harrison Merrick Reed.

For more information about this topic or anything related to Clay County history, don't hesitate to get in touch with Clay County Clerk of Court’s Historical Archives Division personnel at (904) 371-0027 or by email at clayarchives@clayclerk.com.

The Archives Center is part of the Old Jail at the county’s Historic Triangle, 21 Gratio Place, Green Cove Springs, and is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stop by for a self-guided tour of the Old Jail or to seek research assistance from staff.