The 15 acre tract that John R. Coles purchased from William Carr in 1871 sits in the middle of Hollymead and Forest Lakes. This land is probably the best reminder of the close historical connection between these neighborhoods and the nearby village of Proffit.
The lot is almost completely wooded and several of the trails that criss-cross the neighborhood extend through and around the tract. The land is still owned by the Coles family today.
John Coles was born enslaved in 1825. At emancipation he was around 40 years old.
In the 1870 census, the first taken after emancipation, Coles was living in the Proffit area (probably on the land he would purchase in 1871) with his wife Patsy and their children William, Nelson, Rachael, James, and Daniel. Two additional people, 24 year old Eliza and 12 year old Mariah Weeks, were living with the family.
The census records illustrate the harsh reality that African Americans faced post-emancipation. It had been illegal to teach slaves to read or write and everyone in the household was illiterate. Coles and the other African American families listed on the same census page (living at Proffit) owned no real estate and had no personal property worth listing. This stands in contrast to the two white neighbors on the same page, H.O. Austin and William G. Carr, who each owned sizable nearby farms and had personal property valued at $1163 and $1720, respectively.
In June, 1878 Patsy Coles died of tuberculosis.
By 1880 Coles had remarried and his household consisted of wife Fannie and her daughter Eliza, his daughter Rachael and her infant son John, his son James, and two other children named William and Nellie Brown. Rachael was now listed as being able to read and write and James was able to read.
Coles’ son William and wife Cary are listed as the next census household, indicating they were neighbors and possibly living on the same property.
Agricultural records from 1880 indicate that his farm was worth $200 and he was growing five acres of corn and raising two pigs and 15 chickens.
In 1900 Coles was now 76 years old. His household was made up of Fannie, three grandchildren, and two young boys listed as his sons. The grandchildren had each attended school and were able to read. Coles’ daughter Rachael was living nearby, possibly on the same property, with her husband, four children, and a granddaughter.
Although John Coles died around 1910, a visible reminder of his presence existed until late 2015. A chimney, likely the remnants of the original Coles home, stood on a walking trail next to Powell Creek. A street in Forest Lakes South called Chimney Ridge overlooks this area. The chimney collapsed around December 2015.
This property also includes a small family cemetery with at least 21 burials. Only one grave has a modern tombstone, the rest are unmarked field stones of varying sizes.
