John's River, near the present village of Orange Park. Here
she established her son Frederick as a cotton planter, and here he
remained for two years. This location did not, however, prove entirely
satisfactory, nor did the raising of cotton prove to be, under the
circumstances, a profitable business. After visiting Florida during
the winter of 1866-67, at which time her attention was drawn to the
beauties and superior advantages of Mandarin on the east side of the
river, Mrs. Stowe writes from Hartford, May 29, 1867, to Rev. Charles
Beecher:--
My dear Brother,--We are now thinking seriously of a place in Mandarin
much more beautiful than any other in the vicinity. It has on it five
large date palms, an olive tree in full bearing, besides a fine orange
grove which this year will yield about seventy-five thousand oranges.
If we get that, then I want you to consider the expediency of buying
the one next to it. It contains about two hundred acres of land, on
which is a fine orange grove, the fruit from which last year brought
in two thousand dollars as sold at the wharf. It is right on the
river, and four steamboats pass it each week, on their way to Savannah
and Charleston. There is on the place a very comfortable cottage, as
houses go out there, where they do not need to be built as
substantially as with us.
I am now in correspondence with the Bishop of Florida, with a view to
establishing a line of churches along the St.
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