Great Oaks

Built in 1842 by Rev. Nathaniel Pratt, one of Roswell’s founders and the founding minister of Roswell Presbyterian Church. The home was to have been built of lumber but the lumber was destroyed by fire. Determined to continue with building, Rev. Pratt resorted to bricks made from Georgia clay and water from a meadow stream. During the Union occupation of Roswell, the house was the headquarters of General Kenner Garrard’s cavalry. Knowing that the first thing soldiers did was to ransack a house and take anything of value, Rev. Pratt devised a way to save the family possessions and not have to lie about where they were. Family members and servants too all the fine things to the third floor where they removed the flooring from the eaves, placed the objects in the space and replaced the flooring. In a hurried ceremony, Rev. Pratt named the left side “Augusta” and the right side “Macon.” By the time they made their way down the stairs, the first troops had arrived and were searching the ground floor demanding to know the whereabouts of the silver that should go with such a fine house. In a voice ringing with conviction, the servant was able to say, “half of it is in Augusta and the other half is in Macon!”