 It was in this house in December 1864 that Sherman composed his famous telegram to President Lincoln, in which he communicated his desire to present to the President "as a Christmas Gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition, and also about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton"; the cotton belonged to Charles Green, the owner of the House.In 1892, local politician and judge Peter Meldrim purchased the property and lived in it a number of decades.In 1943, his heirs sold the house to St John's Church, which is located next door.