The man considered by some to be Florida’s first millionaire left a legacy mostly lost until now. Author and researcher Sharyn Heiland Shields has written a history of Benjamin Chaires, who founded the massive Verdura Plantation in east Leon County before the Civil War and also had dreams of transporting the area’s cotton harvest by railroad to the Gulf. Joining Shields is Bob Holladay from the Tallahassee Community College history department.
Perspectives: Benjamin Chaires
