Robert Toombs Oak

A majestic oak tree once stood on this spot and one of the University's most endearing legends also flourished here. Robert Toombs (1810-1885) was young, and boisterous when he was dismissed from Franklin College in 1828. Five decades later it was said that Toombs returned on the next commencement day after he was expelled and spoke so eloquently under the tree that the entire audience left the chapel to hear him. Later, it was said, that the tree was struck by lightning on the day Toombs died and never recovered. The tree finally collapsed in 1908 and the remains were cut into mementos that have since been handed down by alumni. Robert Toombs was a lawyer, planter and statesman. He served in the Georgia House 1837-1840, 1842-1845, in the U.S. Congress 1845-1853, the U.S. Senate from 1853 until he resigned in 1861. Toombs was Secretary of State of the Confederacy then a brigadier general in the C.S.A. He also played a major role in Georgia's Constitutional Convention of 1877.