Chloe Merrick Reed

Chloe Merrick (1832–1897) was an American educator who worked to educate and improve the welfare of freedmen and their children. She established a school on Amelia Island, Florida during and after the American Civil War. In addition to teaching, she conducted appeals to her hometown of Syracuse, New York for contributions of money, goods, and clothes. She also established an orphanage. She later taught freedmen in North Carolina, where she moved for her health. In 1869, Merrick married Florida Republican Governor Harrison M. Reed. She is believed to have influenced his administration in its support for education and welfare for all residents. Public education was expanded in the state in the early 1870s for both black and white children. After Reed left office, Merrick continued to work on those issues, serving in Jacksonville, Florida for several years on the board of the new St. Luke's Hospital Association in the 1880s, which founded the city's first hospital.

Life Merrick was born near Syracuse, New York in 1832, the youngest child of Sylvanus and Achsah (Pollard) Merrick, who lived near the city. Her siblings, and their ages when she was born, were Montgomery, 20, and Charles, 17, and Emma, 3. Their mother died when Chloe was young and the family moved into the city. With growth after the completion of the Erie Canal through the Mohawk Valley, the city offered many opportunities.

She and her brothers were influenced by the abolitionist movement, which strengthened from the 1840s, and growing support for women's suffrage and rights. Her brothers resisted the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, taking part in freeing a fugitive slave from court to gain him freedom in Canada.

He was influenced by her efforts to support education and ease the plight of the poor with legislative programs. This included seeking a bill to establish a state university. They had a son, Harrison Jr., together. The public schools in Florida continued to grow: in 1870 there were 250 schools with 7500 children; by 1872, there were 444 schools serving 16,258.