In 1851, Anderson Mayo and Francis Ederington of South Carolina visited Hernando County and were very much impressed with what they found. Ederington and Mayo were wealthy plantation owners from the Piedmont section in South Carolina. Francis Ederington purchased from Colonel Byrd Pearson the property now referred to as Chinsegut Hill. Ederington then returned home to Fairfield County, South Carolina. In 1852, Francis Ederington and his family moved from South Carolina to Florida, bringing with them their livestock, farming equipment and household goods together with slaves. They settled on the hill and named it Mount Airy. Colonel Pearson had built a small home there, which Francis Ederington enlarged until it was about the size of the present manor house. The main initial production at Mount Airy was sugar cane, cotton, and corn. They expanded into citrus and livestock and also harvesting timber. When the Great Freeze of Florida came in 1895, even though groves were frozen out, several trees on top of Mount Airy/ Snow Hill survived and were used to provide bud stock for nurseries and groves that were later acquired and helped to restart Florida's citrus production. It is believed to be the oldest house standing in Hernando County.