John Houstoun McIntosh, son of George McIntosh, was born at Rice Hope on May 1, 1773. As a young man he settled in East Florida and became a leader of the U.S. citizens living there. In 1812 he was appointed Governor or Director of the Republic of Florida. After a stormy career in Florida, he returned to Georgia, and in 1818 served in the Seminole War as General in the Militia. In 1825 he began intensive cultivation of sugar cane on his plantation in Camden County, where he installed the first horizontal sugar mill ever worked by cattle power.