Chloe Merrick was 23 years younger than her oldest sibling in a family of eight children, born to native New Yorkers. By 1850, her mother had died and her father was living with her brother Charles and his family. Both Charles and their brother Montgomery were stone masons, employing other stone masons. Chloe's sister Emma had married Ansel Kinne, who was a teacher. Chloe went to live with them and began teaching in the Syracuse public schools.
In 1863, she traveled south to Fernandina, Florida to teach freed slave children. She was one of the earliest teachers to work with the Freedmen's Bureau, a federal agency established to help and protect the newly freed blacks. She opened a Freedmen's School and also organized the Orphan Asylum at Fernandina. During that time, she met Harrison Reed, who had been appointed by President Lincoln and sent to Florida to serve as Tax Commissioner, responsible for dealing with confiscated confederate property. He helped her get backers to secure a building to start the orphanage.
She left Fernandina and moved on to Wilmington, North Carolina to continue her work teaching freed slaves. She kept in touch with Harrison Reed, who was soon elected as Florida's ninth governor. A year later, on August 10, 1869, she married him. She had a strong influence on legislation designed to address the social issues of the day, particularly education and needs of the poor. She and Harrison had one child, Harrison Merrick Reed. When Harrison's term as governor ended, they moved back to Jacksonville to their home on Flagler Avenue.
In later years, she was recognized as a great Floridian. Her Great Floridian plaque is located at the Simmons-Merrick House, 102 South 10th Street, Fernandina Beach, Florida. When she died, she was buried in Historic St Nicholas Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, but both she and her husband were moved to Oaklawn Cemetery on June 8, 1938, to the plot where their only son would be interred in 1949.(Bio by: Claudia L. Naugle)
In 1863, she traveled south to Fernandina, Florida to teach freed slave children. She was one of the earliest teachers to work with the Freedmen's Bureau, a federal agency established to help and protect the newly freed blacks. She opened a Freedmen's School and also organized the Orphan Asylum at Fernandina. During that time, she met Harrison Reed, who had been appointed by President Lincoln and sent to Florida to serve as Tax Commissioner, responsible for dealing with confiscated confederate property. He helped her get backers to secure a building to start the orphanage.
She left Fernandina and moved on to Wilmington, North Carolina to continue her work teaching freed slaves. She kept in touch with Harrison Reed, who was soon elected as Florida's ninth governor. A year later, on August 10, 1869, she married him. She had a strong influence on legislation designed to address the social issues of the day, particularly education and needs of the poor. She and Harrison had one child, Harrison Merrick Reed. When Harrison's term as governor ended, they moved back to Jacksonville to their home on Flagler Avenue.
In later years, she was recognized as a great Floridian. Her Great Floridian plaque is located at the Simmons-Merrick House, 102 South 10th Street, Fernandina Beach, Florida. When she died, she was buried in Historic St Nicholas Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, but both she and her husband were moved to Oaklawn Cemetery on June 8, 1938, to the plot where their only son would be interred in 1949.(Bio by: Claudia L. Naugle)
Chloe Merrick was 23 years younger than her oldest sibling in a family of eight children, born to native New Yorkers. By 1850, her mother had died and her father was living with her brother Charles and his family. Both Charles and their brother Montgomery were stone masons, employing other stone masons. Chloe's sister Emma had married Ansel Kinne, who was a teacher. Chloe went to live with them and began teaching in the Syracuse public schools.
In 1863, she traveled south to Fernandina, Florida to teach freed slave children. She was one of the earliest teachers to work with the Freedmen's Bureau, a federal agency established to help and protect the newly freed blacks. She opened a Freedmen's School and also organized the Orphan Asylum at Fernandina. During that time, she met Harrison Reed, who had been appointed by President Lincoln and sent to Florida to serve as Tax Commissioner, responsible for dealing with confiscated confederate property. He helped her get backers to secure a building to start the orphanage.
She left Fernandina and moved on to Wilmington, North Carolina to continue her work teaching freed slaves. She kept in touch with Harrison Reed, who was soon elected as Florida's ninth governor. A year later, on August 10, 1869, she married him. She had a strong influence on legislation designed to address the social issues of the day, particularly education and needs of the poor. She and Harrison had one child, Harrison Merrick Reed. When Harrison's term as governor ended, they moved back to Jacksonville to their home on Flagler Avenue.
In later years, she was recognized as a great Floridian. Her Great Floridian plaque is located at the Simmons-Merrick House, 102 South 10th Street, Fernandina Beach, Florida. When she died, she was buried in Historic St Nicholas Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, but both she and her husband were moved to Oaklawn Cemetery on June 8, 1938, to the plot where their only son would be interred in 1949.(Bio by: Claudia L. Naugle)
In 1863, she traveled south to Fernandina, Florida to teach freed slave children. She was one of the earliest teachers to work with the Freedmen's Bureau, a federal agency established to help and protect the newly freed blacks. She opened a Freedmen's School and also organized the Orphan Asylum at Fernandina. During that time, she met Harrison Reed, who had been appointed by President Lincoln and sent to Florida to serve as Tax Commissioner, responsible for dealing with confiscated confederate property. He helped her get backers to secure a building to start the orphanage.
She left Fernandina and moved on to Wilmington, North Carolina to continue her work teaching freed slaves. She kept in touch with Harrison Reed, who was soon elected as Florida's ninth governor. A year later, on August 10, 1869, she married him. She had a strong influence on legislation designed to address the social issues of the day, particularly education and needs of the poor. She and Harrison had one child, Harrison Merrick Reed. When Harrison's term as governor ended, they moved back to Jacksonville to their home on Flagler Avenue.
In later years, she was recognized as a great Floridian. Her Great Floridian plaque is located at the Simmons-Merrick House, 102 South 10th Street, Fernandina Beach, Florida. When she died, she was buried in Historic St Nicholas Cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, but both she and her husband were moved to Oaklawn Cemetery on June 8, 1938, to the plot where their only son would be interred in 1949.(Bio by: Claudia L. Naugle)
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Married August 10, 1869 to Harrison Reed
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