Abstract:
William R. Poole, born in 1796, was a conservationist. His greatest love was for the pine tree, and he reportedly patrolled the land around his Raleigh property even after his death in 1889. Yankees came to his mansion during the Civil War in search of Poole's gold which he had already buried in the woods. After his death, a 75-acre tract of land was named Poole's Woods and conserved until bought by a logging company in the 1920s. As a twist of fate, the trees proved worthless as lumber, the timber having rotted internally.