Under her supervision, more illustrations brightened the pages. They had two sons, Leonard Kimball (1881) and Yorke Poitevent (1883). The union established the Daily Picayune as a leading paper and its circulation tripled. They set about removing the debt and the lawsuits, although it would take years. George and Eliza Jane were married in June, 1878 he was 58, Eliza Jane 35. After several months Eliza agreed and George bought a 25% interest. George Nicholson, a native of Leeds, England and the business manager of the newspaper, offered to see her through with money he had saved. Eliza Jane inherited the newspaper but her family urged the young widow to give up the paper and come home. In January, 1876, the paper was reportedly $80,000 in debt and beset by lawsuits when Holbrook died. In May, 1872, Holbrook and Eliza Jane married, she being only 29 at the time.īy late 1873, the syndicate was failing and sold the Daily Picayune back to Holbrook for about 20 cents on the dollar. The Daily Picayune was deeply in debt and Holbrook sold the newspaper to a syndicate of New Orleans businessmen known as The New Orleans Printing and Publishing Association. Eliza was barely 4 feet tall, with round blue eyes, a snub nose and a deceptively fragile expression. In January, 1872, Holbrook was divorced, dashing, and 63 years old. In 1914, the Daily Picayune merged with The Times– Democrat to became the Times-Picayune we all know so well today. The Picayune (the newspaper’s original name) was named for a small Spanish coin worth about 6 1/4 cents, the paper’s purchase price in 1837. Alva Morris Holbrook, was so impressed that he asked her to accept the post of literary editor of its Sunday edition. In the country atmosphere, she discovered an affinity for nature and an ability to attract wildlife that was mirrored in her poetry.Ī number of national publications accepted her poems, including the Gainesville (Miss.) Star, the New Orleans Times, and the Daily Picayune, another New Orleans newspaper. Eliza was reared by her aunt and uncle, Leonard and Jane Kimball, in Hobolochitto, Miss. She wrote under the pseudonym “Pearl Rivers” – adopted from the tranquil stream flowing near her home.Įliza Jane Poitevent was born near Gainesville, Miss., in 1843, one of a large family whose mother was too ill to care for her. But even she did not dare to use her own name. Over the protests of her family, Eliza Jane did all three. Her story is as fascinating as any for a woman of her time: a time when it was “not quite nice” for a Southern lady to write at all, to write for publication was distasteful, and to write for money was unthinkable. The Story of Eliza Jane Poitevent Holbrook NicholsonĬompiled from the research of Mike Fitzwilliam, 2017.Įliza Jane Nicholson was the first female publisher of a major daily newspaper in the United States. In honor of Eliza Jane, we have named our On-Line Catalog System after her.

She became the first woman publisher of an important daily newspaper, the Daily Picayune in New Orleans. (Pearl River County and Picayune history)Įliza Jane Poitevent Holbrook Nicholson (1843-96) was a 19th century poet and publisher.

Eliza jane