Rose Hill Plantation

Rose Hill Plantation was a moderate sized quail hunting plantation established by Ralph Nicholson in 1950 and located in Leon County, Florida, United States.

In 1830 the western section of what would become Rose Hill was purchased by William A. Carr who already owned the William A. Carr Plantation.

John Branch purchased the land in 1834 and it then became a portion of his Live Oak Plantation. Branch died in 1863 and Live Oak became the property of Margaret Donalson. Margret had married General Daniel S. Donalson, part of the family of Mrs. Andrew (Rachel) Jackson. Mrs. Donalson stayed on the plantation through the Civil War.

In 1887, the property was purchased by John MacNicol and in 1892 it was sold to Thomas Reid who described himself in his will as "a merchant of Kilmardinny, Glasgow, Scotland."

In 1936, the property was acquired by Griscom Bettle, who owned much of the land around Lake Jackson.

The Nicholsons

In 1950, Rose Hill was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Nicholson. Nicholson was a noted newspaperman and publisher of a number of newspapers. Nicholson bought the New Orleans Item which he pulled together and sold in 1949 at a $600,000 profit, and he made a success of the St. Petersburg Independent, [ [http://poynter.org/resource/public/20040930_150014_27459.pdf Poyter.org: St. Petersburg Observer] ] and the Charlotte Observer. [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,889206,00.html Time Magazine, Hoosier Bargain, Aug. 31, 1951] ]

Nicholson was an avid sportsman and conservationist. Nicholson and wife Jane designed Rose Hill as a game refuge. Rose Hill’s large 55 acre lake, Lake Elizabeth, a natural spring fed body of water, has been a stopping place for thousands of Canadian geese and mallard ducks. While Nicholson owned Rose Hill, it was a tree farm and had a small grove of pecan trees near the plantation house. In 1979, the Florida Forestry Association honored Mrs. Jane E. B. Nicholson as the state’s "Tree Farmer of the Year".

In 1971, Ralph Nicholson died. Jane Elizabeth Blayney Harvey Nicholson died in 1982. The estate was willed to the two Nicholson daughters, Ann Blayney (Mrs. John Tillett) of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Martha Jane Fox of New Orleans, Louisiana. The property was sold to Mrs.Fox and developed by Mrs.Fox with the help of Andrew Jackson Bank. It was the first development in Leon County to embrace conservation and wildlife easements. The main house and surrounding acreage remain in the Nicholson family, via their granddaughter, Jane and her immediate family.

References