Grey Oaks

A lovely cotton plantation in the Georgia piedmont. It was first settled in 1778 by Jacob Coleridge's grandfather, but the original house was torn down to be replaced by a Greek Revival mansion around 1842. This structure was in turn destroyed by fire during Sherman's March to the Sea, though it is not entirely clear that it was burnt down by the treacherous Yankee. It was never rebuilt.

Inherited by Jacob Coleridge not long after the new house was completed, it was home to approximately 40 slaves during its antebellum heyday. By the time it was destroyed, perhaps half that number still remained on the estate, the rest having trickled away during the war.