Lillian Frow Peacock and Eunice Peacock Merrick collection

Identity elements

Name and location of repository

Level of description

Collection

Title

Lillian Frow Peacock and Eunice Peacock Merrick collection

Date(s)

  • 1860-1946 (Creation)
  • 1880s (Creation)

Extent

4 Boxes

Name of creator

Biographical history

The Frows and the Peacocks were among the initial settlers of the Miami/Coconut Grove area. Simeon and his son John Frow were appointed keepers of the Cape Florida Lighthouse in 1859 and 1868 respectively. John Frow was also the first person to buy property in Coconut Grove; his brother Joseph worked as John's assistant at the lighthouse and was on the initial board to establish a school for the Coconut Grove district. In 1887, Joseph Frow traveled by foot to Lake Worth to register the required ten children which included his daughter Lillian Frow. Mrs. Joseph Frow was a charter member and first treasurer of the Coconut Grove Housekeeper's Club.

Charles and Isabella Peacock immigrated from England in 1870. They had three sons: Henry, Alfred and Charles John. Alfred Peacock married Lillian Frow (daughter of Joseph Frow); their daughter Eunice Isabella Peacock later married George Merrick, the founder of Coral Gables.

In 1882, with land purchased from John Frow, the Peacocks built the first hotel of the region, the Bay View House, later known as the Peacock Inn. The new hotel was a popular meeting place for such notable guests as Commodore Ralph Munroe, Mr. and Mrs. Kirk Munroe and Miss. Flora McFarlane, founder of the Coconut Grove's Housekeepers' Club. The First Sunday School room was built on the Peacock property as a result of Isabella Peacock's initiative and fundraising. In 1889, Mrs. Peacock's building was also being used as Coconut Grove's first school taught by Miss Flora McFarlane.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

The Lillian Frow Peacock & Eunice Peacock Photograph Collection primarily depicts the earliest settlers of Coconut Grove and Miami. The collection includes portraits of the Peacocks, the Frows, and other families, as well as historically notable places such as the Peacock Inn and the Coconut Grove School. Box 2 includes a handcrafted menu from the first Biscayne Bay Yacht Club dinner at the Peacock Inn in 1891. The photograph album in box 4 includes portraits of the Peacock's English relations as well as a few of their Coconut Grove and Miami neighbors.

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Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

This collection is open for research.

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Lillian Frow Peacock and Eunice Peacock Merrick Photograph Collection Finding Aid © 2007 University of Miami. Requests to reproduce or publish materials from this collection should be directed to asc.library@miami.edu.

Languages of the material

  • English

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Finding aids

Generated finding aid

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Custodial history

Immediate source of acquisition

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Accruals

Gift of Mildred Merrick, December 2006

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Existence and location of copies

Selected materials from this collection have been digitized.

https://digitalcollections.library.miami.edu/digital/collection/asm0410

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