Oak Grove Plantation, Newnan Georgia

Date added: September 26, 2023 Categories: Georgia House Plantations & Farms

In 1825, the Treaty of Indian Springs was ratified and the Creek Indians turned over the last of their land in Georgia. In December 1826, the Georgia General Assembly passed an act to organize the newly acquired territory between the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers into five sections and land lots. These land lots were then distributed by lottery to the citizens of Georgia. The resulting land districts were organized into Carroll, Coweta, Lee, Muscogee, and Troup counties. Coweta County ironically named after one of the towns governed by Chief McIntosh once extended from Line Creek to the Chattahoochee River on the west and to within a short distance of the present city of Atlanta. It is currently bordered on the north by Fulton County, on the east by Fayette County, and on the west by Meriwether, Heard, and Carroll counties.

Prior to the treaty, several white families had already settled in the area while it was still Indian Territory. Aquilla Hardy, who purchased the land in the Sixth District where Oak Grove Plantation is located, had been leasing land from the Creeks and operating a trading post near Line Creek (now the intersection of State Routes 34 and 54). The first county seat, Bullsboro, was located on Grayson Trail, some two miles east of the present town of Newnan. Following the 1827 Land Lottery, settlers began streaming in from North and South Carolina and other parts of Georgia. By 1840, the census count for the county was over 10,000.

Land Lot 44, where Oak Grove Plantation is located, was drawn by Obadiah S. Morriss of Columbia County. Apparently, Morriss did not register the deed because there is no record of any real estate transactions involving this piece of land until Morrison Burney purchased 192 acres of Land Lot 44 from Alfred Cranford in 1842 for $1000 (deed book H, page 491). Burney sold this property the same day to James Arnold for $1400. This part of Land Lot 44 remained in the Arnold family until 1980.

James Arnold's father, John Arnold was born in North Carolina in 1750 and died in 1812. He was married to Mary Pettis in 1770. Their son, William Pettis Arnold married Elizabeth Eddins in 1799. William and Elizabeth both died in Madison County, Georgia in 1832 and 1847 respectively. Of John and Mary Arnold's nine children, George W., William, and James all moved to Coweta County by 1840 (1840 Census of Coweta County). John and Mary Arnold, other family members, and friends were part of a group of settlers from North Carolina that moved to Madison, Oglethorpe, and Wilkes counties in the early part of the 1800s.

Zeddie Barron, the family historian and direct descendent of Charles Arnold, recalls that the Arnold family's migration was a planned move and involved both family and friends. Another Arnold family tradition states that the plantation house was built for Charles Arnold between 1830 and 1840; however, James did not sell Land Lot 44 where the house is located to his son Charles until June 27, 1842 for the same amount he had paid for it earlier in the year. Four years later in 1846, Charles bought all of the adjacent Land Lot 21 from O.H. Kenner for $2000, adding to his property.

By 1850, the Arnold family had acquired large land holdings in Coweta County. The 1859 census lists seven Arnolds including Charles W. along with his wife Mary E. Banks and their five children. Living in the same house in addition to the Arnold children is Thomas L. Banks, a 21-year-old student and probably a relative. Aaron and Richard Terril, 26 and 30 years old respectively, also live with the Arnolds and their occupation is listed as a "ditcher". A third ditcher is Thomas Hand, 19, from Ireland. The deed between the Atlanta and LaGrange Railroad dated August 11, 1849, granting right-of-way to Charles makes reference to his house indicating that the house was standing at that time and that these ditchers who were probably working for the railroad were boarding with the Arnolds. The house was probably built around 1846 when Arnold purchased the adjacent land lot.

White's 1849 History of Georgia states that in the late 1840s Coweta County had ten post offices, schools in every community, one carding mill, one steam-powered sawmill (probably the R.D. Cole mill), six water-powered sawmills, and 12 water-powered grist mills. By 1845, the county seat of Newnan had a brick courthouse, male and female academies, as well as a number of taverns, dry goods stores, lawyers, and doctors. A cotton plantation economy had also developed in this part of Georgia by this time. Even so, Charles Arnold became disappointed in the quality of land in Coweta County and moved his family on to Texas sometime in 1858. He nonetheless had developed a prosperous cotton plantation before he left. On the 1850 slave census, Charles is listed as having 33 black slaves and four mulatto slaves worth $26,200. His father, James, who lived close by had 32 black slaves and 12 mulattos valued at $3,500. George W. Arnold owned 28 black slaves and five mulattos who were valued at $20,500.

On February 8th, 1858, presumably when Charles moved his family to Texas, 1417½ acres of land were sold to Samuel L. Arnold by Charles W. Arnold including Land Lots 21 and 44. Samuel L. was the son of Park Eddins and Charles's nephew.

The 1860 census lists Samuel along with his wife, Mary Barbara Cosby White, nicknamed "Babbie" by her family, and several children. Babbie had lived with her family, Thomas and Rebecca Meriwether White and two sisters on a plantation just north of Palmetto in Fulton County. Babbie was valedictorian of her class at Madison Female College in Madison, Morgan County, and married Samuel Arnold on December 20th, 1855, the year after she graduated.

Babbie and Samuel had three children before his untimely death in 1864. Their first child, Sara Mina, died at age six, and their first son was stillborn. Both are buried in the Arnold family cemetery. After Samuel's death, Babbie married W.A. Osbourne in 1871 and moved with him to Kentucky along with her son, Thomas Park Eddins Arnold (b. October 3^rd, 1858 - d. March 7th, 1930), who was 13 at the time. At the time of Samuel's death, the estate had 125 tilled acres and 175 acres of woodland valued at $1500 with livestock and machinery totaling another $425. He had $2000 worth of farm products: eight "milch" cows, 12 cows, six calves, 350 pounds of butter, ten sheep, four lambs, six fleeces, 25 swine, 100 barnyard chickens, and 250 dozen eggs produced over the year. There were 19 acres of Indian corn totaling 300 bushels, six acres of wheat totaling 25 bushels, 100 acres of cotton and 33 bales, 60 cords of wood, and $90 worth of forest products.

Unhappy with his new stepfather, Thomas Park (T.P. as he was called) returned to Georgia and later played an important role in the development of Palmetto in Fulton County. Babbie was also unhappy with her situation and returned to Georgia where she died in August 1877. Babbie had been appointed permanent administrator of her husband's estate after his death and she, in turn, got the court to acknowledge T.P. as Samuel's son and heir. In spite of this legal action, family tradition reports that the Osbourne family took away all of the furniture, silver, and china leaving T.P. only a bed, table, and pie safe. His stepfather also tried to take the land but with the help of his grandparents, T.P. was able to save his heritage. He continued to live on the plantation, named Oak Grove by his mother, until his marriage to Cora Virginia Ballard on September 12th, 1888.

Cora had been raised in her family's Greek Revival-style house ( Levi Ballard House) north of Palmetto in Fulton County and did not want to leave "town" for the "country". Obligingly, T.P. moved to Palmetto, and the "big house" was thereafter occupied by various plantation overseers. T.P. continued to farm and traveled from Palmetto to the Arnold plantation daily. He was elected mayor of Palmetto in 1896 and left office in 1899. He continued to be a community leader throughout the greatest period of growth in Palmetto.

Even though he lived in town, T.P. treasured his plantation, and fond memories of his life on a working plantation are provided by his granddaughter Mrs. Zeddie Barron, Jr., who was born August 7th, 1917, and used to accompany him on trips to Oak Grove. T.P.'s son, Thomas Eddins Arnold (b. October 3^rd, 1907- d. February 20th, 1980) equally cherished the land. His relationship to Palmetto was similar to that of his father. His business interests lay outside the city, yet he was active in civic affairs. He served as mayor from 1937 to 1939 and also worked for the First National Bank of Atlanta. Mr. Leslie Smith was the main overseer and lived in the "big house" from the 1940s until 1980 when the property was sold.

Thomas never married and lived with his sister Cora in Palmetto until his death on February 20th, 1980. He is buried in Floral Hill Cemetery in Palmetto. Since no Arnolds in the immediate family line were able to live at Oak Grove, it was sold shortly after his death. The current owners, George and Elizabeth Tedder, acquired the house and 20 acres in 1983. The remainder of the Arnold property was sold to Buckeye Cellulose Corporation and Vulcan Materials Company in 1980.

Building Description

Oak Grove Plantation is located in a rural section of northeast Coweta County, approximately six miles from the county seat of Newnan and just north of the community of McCollum. The property encompasses an antebellum-period main house, several outbuildings, a terraced field, and a family cemetery. A dirt drive leads from U.S. Highway 29 towards the main house and ends in a circle directly in front of the house. The drive crosses the CSX Railroad, originally the Atlanta and LaGrange Railroad, which runs along the east side of U.S. Highway 29.

The main house, built c.1842-1847, is a wood-framed, two-story, Georgian-type house with a one-story rear addition. Exterior features include paired, brick, side-gable chimneys partially covered with stucco, modillions in the eaves, boxed cornice returns, a wide band of trim beneath the cornice, six-over-nine and four-over-six double-hung windows on the second story, nine-over-nine double-hung windows on the first floor, and decorative window surrounds. The original portico was replaced with a full-width, Victorian-style porch in the late 1890s. The Victorian-style porch was removed in 1980 and the current front portico was constructed to resemble the original portico. There is a small shed-roof porch on the north facade between the two chimneys. Flush wide-board siding is located around the front door and side porch door; the remainder of the exterior is sheathed in weatherboard. The double single-panel front doors have five-light sidelights on each side. The door surround consists of a decorative lintel with exaggerated corner blocks and keystone supported by fluted pilasters. Window surrounds on the first and second floor repeat this motif. On the side facades, only those windows closest to the front and the attic window have this same window surround. The house is of heavy timber-frame construction with a granite pier foundation that has been infilled with brick.

The interior floor plan of the central block corresponds to the Georgian-plan house: a two-story building two rooms deep with a central hall. The staircase is located towards the rear of the central hallway. There is a second, enclosed stair leading from the first-floor bedroom to the northwest bedroom on the second floor. A closet is located on the first floor under each stairway.

The interior retains its original features including the original plaster (first floor) and wood-board (second floor) ceilings, plaster walls, paneled wainscoting, faux bois on some of the wainscoting and baseboards, interior doors and surrounds, wide board floors, and mantels. The central hall on the first floor features paneled wainscoting and a fluted door surround with corner blocks.

The interior doors are double-paneled and many have been grained to resemble birds-eye maple. The front and back doors feature decorative surrounds with corner blocks and fluting. All of the mantels in the house are original and feature a wide, high profile with simple classical details. The main stair has a simple balustrade with a hand-planed banister and mortised return on the second floor.

The second floor and attic have plaster walls with wide-board ceilings. The second-floor rooms feature original mantels and simple baseboards and window and door surrounds.

Changes to the house include replacing the 1890s Victorian-style full-width hipped-roof porch with a replicated front portico and adding a one-story addition to the rear of the house for a kitchen and bath in the 1980s.

A historic well house is located northwest of the main house. The well house features square posts and a hipped roof and the well is constructed of fieldstone. A dirt road, which is located to the north of the main house, leads to the main barn, two tenant-house complexes, and a fenced terraced field.

The frame, transverse-crib main barn is located just north of the main house. The barn features weatherboard siding, a metal roof, and two shed additions.

The first tenant house complex (c.1920) is comprised of a double-pen house, transverse-crib barn, single-crib barn, and well. The double-pen house with a rear shed addition features a metal roof, two brick gable-end chimneys with fieldstone bases, a full-width front porch, and weatherboard siding. The frame, transverse-crib barn features two shed additions and vertical wood siding. The frame, single-crib barn features two shed additions, a front-gable metal roof, and weatherboard siding. The well house features square posts and a gable roof.

The second tenant house complex (c.1920) is located north of the first tenant house complex at the end of the dirt road. The saddlebag house features a metal roof, full-width front porch, weatherboard siding, and a rear shed addition. The transverse crib-barn is located east of the saddlebag house and features two shed additions, a front-gable metal roof, and vertical siding.

The Arnold family cemetery is located to the southeast of the main house. The earliest grave is dated 1848 and latest grave is dated 1884. The original wrought iron gate with the name "Arnold" still stands. Members of the Arnold family, including Samuel L. Arnold and his wife Mary Barbara Cosby Arnold who purchased the property in 1858, are buried in the cemetery. Grave markers are generally marble or granite.

Landscaping surrounding the main house features mature trees, planted beds, foundation plantings, and low stone walls. Two large oaks trees and foundation plants are located on either side of the front walk. A variety of fenced gardens such as herb, flower, and vegetable are located along the sides and rear of the main house. The agricultural outbuildings area also fenced with simple picket and rail fences. The former agricultural field retains its historic terracing.