Texas-born divorcee Caroline Graham (Slaughter) became the third wife of W.R. Coe in 1926. Caroline had a strong wit, and shared with Mr. Coe a love of horticulture and travel. Roses, orchids, and dahlias were favorites of Caroline, and Coe Hall was
always filled with flowers from the greenhouses. Caroline slowly won the hearts of the Coe children, becoming especially close to Natalie.

In 1930, she and Mr. Coe purchased an 11,000 acre rice plantation in Yemassee, South Carolina, from the Blakes, in whose family it had been since the seventeenth century. Caroline renamed it Cherokee Plantation, for the wild Cherokee roses that grew there. The Coes used it as a quail-shooting preserve during the early spring of each year, for which they maintained a kennel of hunting dogs, and continued to grow rice and (for the quail) sesame seed. Caroline's tastes are reflected in the newly built plantation house, with its sunny, English country style interiors. After W.R. Coe's death in 1955, Caroline sold the plantation. At one time, it was owned by Robert Evans, CEO of American Motors, who named the popular Jeep Cherokee for it. Cherokee Plantation is now an exclusive club, with its own golf course.

In her widowhood, Caroline hired architect Eric Gugler to design a more manageable house on a five-acre parcel of land at Planting Fields. Called the Manor House, a rose garden and gazebo grace the setting. Inscribed on the gazebo are the words "With Fond Memories of Planting Fields." Caroline died at the Manor House at Planting Fields on October 12, 1960, at eighty-two of bone cancer.

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Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park and Coe Hall Is Located 1395 Planting Fields Road Oyster Bay, NY 11771 (516) 922-9200

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