Oaklawn Plantation was a large plantation of 5326 acres (21½ km²) in northern Leon County

Leon County, Florida

Leon County is a county located in the state of Florida, named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. At the 2010 Census, the population was 275,487. The county seat of Leon County is Tallahassee which also serves as the state capital. The county seat is home to two of Florida's major...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. It was established around 1850 by Captain William Lester (born December 24, 1790) of Burke County, Georgia

Burke County, Georgia

Burke County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of 2000, the population was 22,243. The 2007 Census Estimate showed a population of 22,754...

.

Location

Oaklawn Plantation was located on two tracts of land. The first and northern most tract would become what is now parts of Killearn Lakes Plantation and the private hunting preserve of Horseshoe Plantation

Horseshoe Plantation

Horseshoe Plantation is an cotton plantation located in northern Leon County, Florida and established around 1840 by Dr. Edward Bradford, a planter from Enfield, North Carolina.It is currently owned and maintained by Frederic C. Hamilton. Mr...

 and extending south to Bradfordville

Bradfordville, Florida

Bradfordville is an unincorporated community in northern Leon County, Florida, United States. It is north of Tallahassee and south of the Florida/Georgia state line by at the intersection of US 319 and County Road 0342 . Elevation is 237 feet .- Geography :Bradfordville has rolling hills and...

. The second and southern most tract would become properties on Ox Bottom Rd and edge Thomasville Road.

Plantation statistics

The Leon County Florida 1860 Agricultural Census shows that Oaklawn Plantation had the following:

• Improved Land: 1200 acres (5 km²)
• Unimproved Land: 4440 acres (18 km²)
• Cash value of plantation: $
  United States dollar
  The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
  
  26,720
• Cash value of farm implements/machinery: $600
• Cash value of farm animals: $5,925
• Number of slaves: 156
• Bushels of corn: 5000
• Bales of cotton: 300

Plantation home

The plantation home was known as The Lester-Lauder House. The house was an antebellum

Antebellum architecture

Antebellum architecture is a term used to describe the characteristic neoclassical architectural style of the Southern United States, especially the Old South, from after the birth of the United States in the American Revolution, to the start of the American Civil War...

 I-house

I-house

The I-house is a vernacular house type, popular in the United States from the colonial period onward. The I-house was so named in the 1930s by Fred Kniffen, a specialist in folk architecture who identified and analyzed the type in his 1936 study of Louisiana house types...

 with Carolina type porch and enclosed rear shed rooms.

The owner

In 1834, prior to coming to Florida, Lester became the head of vigilante

Vigilante

A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....

 committee called "The Regulators" during the funeral of a Mr. Roundtree. In May 1846, the Florida Superior Court the grand jury investigated the deaths of two Georgia

Thomas County, Georgia

Thomas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. The 2010 Census showed a population of 44,720. The county seat is Thomasville.-History:...

 citizens at the hands of The Regulators. Judge Scarborough instructed the grand jury not to indict The Regulators for murder, but to issue a warning that they would be indicted the next time. The grand jury called on the officers of The Regulators to dismiss the body that was no longer needed for the purpose it was organized.

William Lester was a signee to the Southern Rights Association of Centreville District on secession from the Union for the protection of Southern interests and the vindication of Southern rights to preserve and protect the Constitution in its purity as the basis of Federal compact, and the only foundation on which the Union of the States was made, or on which that Union should be preserved.

By 1870, he owned 5,000 acres (20 km²) of land in Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, and Florida.

Lester Cemetery had an ormanental iron fence. An obelisk marked the location of Captain Lester and his wife Rhoda. A total of 11 interments with brick vaults were at this cemetery before its removal. Pieces of pearlware sherd were found around the graveyard.

In 1997, the Lester-Lauder house was razed to the ground to make way for a commercial interest called Bannerman Crossing.