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Farming For A Better Future, page 39
39 - COLBERT
(Above) Quin Ivy Stands in Front of the Newly Unveiled Historic Marker Commemorating NORALA, Quinvy Studios, and His Work. On the Reverse Side is a Tribute to Percy Sledge and the Song “When a Man Loves a Woman,” 2014
(Times Daily, September 30, 2014 - Jim Hannon)
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The Oaks Plantation
The Oaks Plantation, also referred to as Abraham Ricks Plantation for its owner, is located southwest of
Leighton along Ricks Lane. Abraham Ricks (1791-1852) was originally from Halifax, North Carolina. He, his
family, and his slaves moved to then-Franklin County in the early 1820s. Ricks first purchased a large plantation known as Cotton Garden but he quickly sold it in 1826 in favor of what would become The Oaks. When Ricks purchased the property, there was already a log house on site. The family moved into the log house while a large addition was added - as a whole this became the manor at The Oaks, which still
(Below) 1860 Non-Population, Agricultural Census
Showing Abraham Ricks Owning 2600 Acres of Land and Wife, Charlotte, Owning Another 660 Acres of Land with a Combined Value of over $55,000 (National Archives and
Records Administration via Ancestry.com)
(Above) Slave Cabin at The Oaks, 1933 (Library of Congress) (Right) Old Slave Kitchen next to The Oaks, 1976 (National Register of Historic Places Nomination)
stands today. The manor took two years to build and was completed by 1832.
The Oaks Plantation grew to be one of the largest in Franklin/Colbert County. According to the National Register nomination, by the time Abraham Ricks died in 1852, he owned several thousand acres of land and over 300 slaves. The census and slave schedules record Ricks owning 49 slaves in 1830 and 104 slaves in 1840. By 1850, Abraham Ricks' real estate - (4567)