Rowan Oak/ Shegog-Faulkner Home/ The Bailey Place
- Jay Brothers
- 17 hours ago
- 3 min read
916 Old Taylor Rd. Oxford, MS
Circa 1844. 2-story Greek Revival plantation home with gardens
The home was built south of the Oxford Square by Col. Robert B. Shegog (1801-1860) and Mary Easley Sheegog (1807-1871). They wed in 1823. He was an Irish planter from Tennessee. The Shegog family resided there until 1872 with four acres. Shegog had a general store on Oxford Square.
The Bailey family lived there from 1872-1923. John M. Bailey (1821-1877) and (Cynthia) Ellen “Auntie” Lea Bailey (1837-1912) had lived in Clarksville, TN. His brother James S. Bailey had wed Ellen's sister Sarah and resided in nearby Tallahatchie Co.. When Sarah died after giving birth to her eighth child, the John Bryants came to help. They were childless themselves, and James gave them the newborn baby and 3-year old sister to raise as their own daughters (Sally and Ellen). Shortly afterward, in 1872, John purchased both Shegog’s home and his business to be closer to the rest of the family. The Shegog family moved to Texas to join other family members. The property became known as The Bailey Place.
After her Uncle John's death, Sarah Marie “Sallie” Bailey Bryant (1862-1939), Sally took on boarders to pay expenses. Ellen never married and lived at the home til her death in 1922. In 1923, Sallie inherited the property. Sallie wed William “Will” Clarence Bryant of Coffeeville. He was a large landowner in Coffeeville and Grenada, Their daughter Sally Bryant was married to William C. Trotter, Jr. The home was rented out occasionally for several years. In 1923, Sallie rented the property to M/M Claude Anderson of College Hill. They operated a dairy and chicken farm for a few years.
In the late 1920s, a young man contacted Sally Bryant about the home. He wished to reside there but paying no rent and making repairs to the home as he could afford to do so. He wished to save enough money to purchase in future. His name was William Faulkner, a local. Will and Sally agreed to the arrangements, and the Faulkners took residence at Bailey Place.
In his prime from 1930-1962, William Faulkner (1897-1962) and Estelle Oldham Faulkner (1897-1972) and their daughter Jill lived at and eventually owned the property. The home was in bad condition at the time. Faulkner paid over time for the property and surrounding Bailey Woods and got to know the Bailey family well. The Faulkner family remodeled and expanded the home.
It was noted that Faulkner knew even in depression times that a Southern man was only really respected when he was a landowner and that Faulkner now owned a true antebellum mansion. Faulkner named the property in 1931 as Rowan Oak from a Scottish peasant tradition of using a cross of Rowan Oak to ward off evil and create peace. The Faulkners purchased land around it and amassed 31 acres. It was/is known as Bailey Woods. Faulkner won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949 and Pulitzer and National Book Award in 1954. His works included As I Lay Dying, Absalom, Absalom!, Sartoris, The Sound and the Fury, The Unvanquished and A Fable. Their daughter, Jill Faulkner Summers, wed Paul Dilwyn Summers in 1954, and they live in Charlottesville, VA.
Ten years after Faulkner’s death, his daughter Jill F. Summers sold the home to the University of Mississippi. Currently owned by the University of Mississippi is a Faulkner museum. The home sits on 33 acres - 4 near the house and 29 acres of Bailey Woods. The Bailey family is remembered by Bailey Woods and the Bailey Woods Trail which links Rowan Oak with the University Museum.
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