Benjamin Chaires

John Brady transferred a lot in trust to Chaires and Francis Ross as the site for a courthouse.

He was among several prominent men in Florida who felt that the allocations by the government for the rations were not sufficient to support the Seminoles, in part because the lands included in the reservation were among the agriculturally poorest in the territory.

Along with his extensive lands near Tallahassee, he had large interests in the areas around St. Marks and St. Joseph.

In 1830, Chaires bought land on the north side of Tallahassee and built the house called The Columns.

Chaires used such bricks for the Columns and the mansion and outbuildings at Verdura, and he and his brothers supplied bricks for the Apalachicola Arsenal in Chattahoochee, Florida, the second state capital building in Tallahassee, and other buildings in Tallahassee.

He also was involved in the creation of the Lake Wimico and St. Joseph Canal and Railroad Company.

When that railroad decided to lay a new line in early 1837 from St. Joseph to what became Iola on the Apalachicola River, Chaires received the construction contract.

The Panic of 1837 dried up credit and cash, and the railroad tried to pay its debts in company scrip.

Chaires refused to accept the scrip, and took various financial assets of the company as payment, while continuing construction at a slow pace.

[21][22][15][23][24] Chaires and R. H. Berry financed the construction of the General Samuel Parkhill, a ship designed to carry cotton directly from the Apalachee Bay ports of Magnolia, Port Leon and St. Marks to Liverpool, bypassing agents in the northern U.S.[25] By reputation, Chaires was the richest man in Florida.

[1] In Tallahassee, Chaires became part of "The Nucleus", a political faction consisting mostly of friends and associates of Andrew Jackson.

Tax records that year showed Chaire's estate to consist of 9,440 acres (3,820 ha), 80 slaves, and "pleasure carriages" worth $800.

In 1842, his estate foreclosed on property, including land and slaves, valued at $35,570 (~$1.08 million in 2023).

In 1845, the County Court authorized the division of the estate among the heirs, including about 10,000 acres, slaves, provisions, livestock, and equipment.

[29][28] In 1860, Joseph Chaires owned a plantation of 3,800 acres (1,500 ha) in southeastern Leon County.