Eliza Jane Nicholson

Once located on the beach front in Waveland, Mississippi, on what is now Nicholson Avenue, was a house known locally as “Fort Nicholson.” Built around 1880, the house was so named because of a substantial seawall that was built in front of the house along the beach. According to an article in the Sea Coast Echo, the high wall, unlike many other makeshift timber and piling retaining walls, created the semblance of a fortress. As recent years have shown, however, Waveland has lived up to its name and been the victim several times over of violent hurricanes and storm surges, most recently Hurricane Katrina. Thus, the original house is long since gone. More important than the house itself, however, is the life of one of its occupants. Eliza Nicholson, better known as “Pearl Rivers,” used the house as her summer home.

Born in 1843 in a rural area along the Pearl River in Hancock County, Eliza Jane Poitevent Nicholson was one of eight children. Her father, William, was a North Carolina native and a successful planter. With a busy father and a sickly mother, Eliza was sent to live with an aunt and uncle in what is today Picayune (known at the time as Hobolochitto). It is possible that Eliza was sent to live elsewhere because she was a bit wild. Certainly, she had a romantic streak. Ostensibly to “protect” her, her uncle Leonard sent her to the Amite Female Academy in Liberty, Mississippi. Eliza graduated from the school in 1859, but contrary to her uncle’s wishes still managed to have a romance with a young man named William Cole Harrison. When her uncle and the headmaster, a Baptist minister named Rev. Milton Shirk, discovered the romance (including a pile of love letters between the two) the affair was ended and Eliza went back home to Picayune, where she was essentially kept under guard by her uncle. Interestingly, Eliza considered herself the “wildest girl in school,” and the romance with William, though temporarily halted, was never entirely extinguished. The photo above is of the only structure remaining from the Amite Female Academy in Liberty.

In addition to her romantic adventures, Eliza began writing poetry at an early age under the name “Pearl Rivers.” By age eighteen, she had already been published in several prominent newspapers in New Orleans and New York. Later on, in 1873, she published a book of poetry entitled Lyrics, and, in 1893, a major work of poetry entitled “Hagar” which was published in Cosmopolitan. This poem is considered her most significant literary work. Nicholson’s greatest contribution, however, was in the publishing business. In 1870, at age twenty and against the advice of her family, who strongly objected to her joining the predominately male workforce, she accepted the position of literary editor of the New Orleans Picayune. As such, she became the first woman to work on a Louisiana newspaper staff. Apparently, she soon won the praise and admiration of her male colleagues, especially Alva Holbrook (right), the owner and editor of the Picayune. Although quite a bit older than Eliza, the two married in 1872. Successful as a writer and married to a prominent member of New Orleans society, Eliza seemingly had everything going for her. On June 17, 1872, however, everything changed, and her life would become front page news.

TO BE CONTINUED