After reaching legal age and marrying, Eppes operated the Poplar Forest plantation which his grandfather President Thomas Jefferson had established in Bedford County, Virginia, which he inherited.

Long interested in education, in 1856 Eppes donated land and money to designate a school in Tallahassee as one of the first two state-supported seminaries, now known as Florida State University.

When he was born, his parents resided approximately 90 miles to the southeast at Mont Blanco plantation in Chesterfield County.

Eppes' father soon moved his household and slaves from Mont Blanco, to another of his plantations, Millbrook, in Buckingham County, much closer to Monticello.

Francis spent considerable time at Monticello with his maternal aunt Martha Randolph and his widower grandfather, Thomas Jefferson.

Two years later, Eppes married Susan Margaret Ware Crouch (February 14, 1815 – September 1, 1887), the widowed daughter of U.S.

Initially, Eppes operated the Poplar Forest plantation in Bedford County, Virginia, which his grandfather Thomas Jefferson had established and where he often lived in his later years.

In 1829, Eppes moved with his family from Poplar Forest to Leon County, Florida, settling just east of Tallahassee.

[6] He established the Francis Eppes Plantation in Leon County, Florida, raising cotton as a commodity crop by the use of extensive slave labor.

He first won election as the community grew concerned about lawlessness, particularly duels among leading men in territorial Florida.

Florida Militia Brigadier General Leigh Read had recently been killed by Willis Alston, in a case attracting much attention.

That year, the existing Florida Institute in Tallahassee was designated as the State Seminary West of the Suwannee River.

Since the late 19th century, the cemetery has been owned and operated by the Monticello Association, a private lineage society of descendants of Jefferson and Martha Wayles.

[14] In 2021, FSU President John Thrasher accepted the recommendation from the Task Force on Anti-Racism, Equality, and Inclusion and directed that Eppes' name be removed from the building housing the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice.