Collection ASM0410 - Lillian Frow Peacock and Eunice Peacock Merrick collection

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.