Edward Coles
Encyclopedia
Edward Coles manumitted
his slaves in 1819, was secretary to James Madison
(1810 to 1815), neighbor and anti-slavery associate of Thomas Jefferson
and was the second Governor of Illinois
, serving from 1822 to 1826. He is credited with leading a political campaign that was successful in preventing the legitimization of slavery in the Illinois
constitution. His brothers-in-law were John Rutherfoord
, who served as governor of Virginia
, and Andrew Stevenson
, who served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
and American minister to the United Kingdom.
(Hampden-Sydney, Virginia) and the College of William and Mary
(Williamsburg, Virginia). While at William and Mary, Coles was strongly influenced by the enlightenment
ideals taught by the Rev. James Madison (fist Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia and President of the College). He determined not to be a slaveholder and not to live where slavery was accepted and kept these views from his father. This subterfuge ensured that he would receive slaves through inheritance, thus providing him with the opportunity to give freedom.
When his father died in 1808, Coles received 12 slaves and a 782-acre plantation farm on the Rockfish River
, (Nelson County, Virginia). Coles revealed his views to his family, resulting in a stressful family controversy. Coles’ early plan to free his slaves in Virginia was abandoned as he sorted through the legal, social and practical challenges posed by Virginia law and family resistance. He placed his plantation for sale and began to plan for a move to the west, but at the request of his family he kept his plans secret from his slaves.
. (Dolley Madison
was Coles’ first cousin and Edward’s brother, Isaac Coles, had been secretary to both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison during their administrations.) This opportunity delayed Coles’ plans to free his slaves. He gained political experience as a Madison advisor, served as Madison’s primary emissary to Congress and managed much of the patronage flowing from the executive branch. A tour of northeast states in 1811 brought him in contact with John Adams
, the result of which was the start of warming relation between Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Coles toured the Northwest Territory
(Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois) in June 1815 in search of land he could purchase and a settlement that was agreeable as a destination for himself and the slaves he still proposed to free.
Coles was delayed again in fulfilling his covenant with freedom by a diplomatic trip to Russia (1816–1817) at the request of President Madison. Returning to America, Coles embarked on a second reconnaissance mission to the Northwest Territories (1818) and participated in the Illinois Constitutional Convention at Kaskaskia.
, where the party boarded a pair of flatboats and began a water-bound journey north to Pittsburgh, then west along the Ohio River toward Illinois. Coles selected a point west of Pittsburgh to announce to his slaves their immediate freedom and also his plan to provide land to each head of a family. The scene is captured in a biographical letter written by Coles some 25 years later. It is also the subject of a mural in the first floor (south hall) of the Illinois State Capitol. Coles gave each head of family 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) of land.
The Coles party arrived in Edwardsville, Illinois
, early in May 1819. Coles provided employment and other ongoing support for those he had freed. He had been granted the position of Register of Lands by President James Monroe
(also a neighbor of Coles from Albemarle County, Virginia) and served in that capacity from 1819 through 1822.
. He won the election by a very tight margin. Coles’ inaugural address included a clear call for the end of slavery in Illinois and revision of the Black Code
. A proslavery faction had hoped to strengthen the legality of slavery in the new state of Illinois; Coles’ bold call for an end to slavery stiffened their resolve and led to a rancorous legislative effort (the Shaw-Hansen Affair) to force passage of a bill approving a referendum to hold a constitutional convention. Governor Edward Coles led the opposition to the convention, recognizing it as a dishonest attempt to more clearly legalize slavery in the state. He committed the entirety of his income as governor to the project and led a committee of anti-slavery citizens and legislators in a public campaign to defeat the call for a constitutional convention. The resulting 18-month political struggle resulted in defeat of the proposal.
(Orange County, Virginia), Madison confided in Coles his wish to manumit his own slaves and called on Coles’ experience in trying to sort out the challenge of finding the right way in which to do this. Believing that Madison had committed to freeing his slaves in his will, Coles was devastated when, after the passing of James Madison, the terms of the will were made known and the slaves had not been freed but passed to his cousin, Dolley Madison.
, February 8, 1862). Coles was recognized as one of the few remaining men with close personal knowledge of both Madison and Jefferson and burnished their reputations as champions of the republican ideals that had motivated Coles during his entire life.
He died in 1868 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
ethos that was at the heart of the American enlightenment. His efforts to end slavery in Illinois were decisive in setting that state on a slow road toward greater racial justice. He is also noteworthy for his attempts to pressure Thomas Jefferson to work for the end of slavery in Virginia and James Madison to free his slaves.
Coles County, Illinois
was named for him. An elementary school on the south side of Chicago is also named after him.
The Governor Coles State Memorial
, dedicated to Coles, is located in Edwardsville, Illinois
Manumission
Manumission is the act of a slave owner freeing his or her slaves. In the United States before the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished most slavery, this often happened upon the death of the owner, under conditions in his will.-Motivations:The...
his slaves in 1819, was secretary to James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
(1810 to 1815), neighbor and anti-slavery associate of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and was the second Governor of Illinois
Governor of Illinois
The Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state....
, serving from 1822 to 1826. He is credited with leading a political campaign that was successful in preventing the legitimization of slavery in the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
constitution. His brothers-in-law were John Rutherfoord
John Rutherfoord
John Rutherfoord was a U.S. political figure. He served as Acting Governor of Virginia between 1841 and 1842. He was the brother-in-law of Edward Coles.-External links:* at...
, who served as governor of Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, and Andrew Stevenson
Andrew Stevenson
Andrew Stevenson was a Democratic politician in the United States. Educated at the College of William and Mary, he married three times. His second wife, Sarah Coles, was a cousin of Dolley Madison and sister of Edward Coles, a governor of Illinois...
, who served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and American minister to the United Kingdom.
Early years
Edward Coles was born (December 15, 1786) at Enniscorthy, a plantation in Albemarle County (central Virginia). He was the youngest male among ten surviving children of John (1745–1808) and Rebecca (1750–1826) Coles. His schooling included terms at Hampden-Sydney CollegeHampden-Sydney College
Hampden–Sydney College is a liberal arts college for men located in Hampden Sydney, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1775, Hampden–Sydney is the oldest private charter college in the Southern U.S., the last college founded before the American Revolution, and one of only three four-year,...
(Hampden-Sydney, Virginia) and the College of William and Mary
College of William and Mary
The College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
(Williamsburg, Virginia). While at William and Mary, Coles was strongly influenced by the enlightenment
American Enlightenment
The American Enlightenment is the intellectual thriving period in America in the mid-to-late 18th century, especially as it relates to American Revolution on the one hand and the European Enlightenment on the other...
ideals taught by the Rev. James Madison (fist Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia and President of the College). He determined not to be a slaveholder and not to live where slavery was accepted and kept these views from his father. This subterfuge ensured that he would receive slaves through inheritance, thus providing him with the opportunity to give freedom.
When his father died in 1808, Coles received 12 slaves and a 782-acre plantation farm on the Rockfish River
Rockfish River
The Rockfish River is a tributary of the James River in central Virginia in the United States. Via the James River, it is part of the watershed of Chesapeake Bay.-Course:...
, (Nelson County, Virginia). Coles revealed his views to his family, resulting in a stressful family controversy. Coles’ early plan to free his slaves in Virginia was abandoned as he sorted through the legal, social and practical challenges posed by Virginia law and family resistance. He placed his plantation for sale and began to plan for a move to the west, but at the request of his family he kept his plans secret from his slaves.
Service in the White House (January 1810 to approx. March 1815)
Some months after taking office President James Madison invited Coles to fill the role of private secretarySecretary to the President of the United States
The Secretary to the President was an old 19th and early 20th century White House position that carried out all the tasks now spread throughout the modern White House Office...
. (Dolley Madison
Dolley Madison
Dolley Payne Todd Madison was the spouse of the fourth President of the United States, James Madison, and was First Lady of the United States from 1809 to 1817...
was Coles’ first cousin and Edward’s brother, Isaac Coles, had been secretary to both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison during their administrations.) This opportunity delayed Coles’ plans to free his slaves. He gained political experience as a Madison advisor, served as Madison’s primary emissary to Congress and managed much of the patronage flowing from the executive branch. A tour of northeast states in 1811 brought him in contact with John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
, the result of which was the start of warming relation between Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Coles toured the Northwest Territory
Northwest Territory
The Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, more commonly known as the Northwest Territory, was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 13, 1787, until March 1, 1803, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Ohio...
(Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois) in June 1815 in search of land he could purchase and a settlement that was agreeable as a destination for himself and the slaves he still proposed to free.
Correspondence with Jefferson concerning slavery
In 1814 Coles wrote a letter to his Albemarle County neighbor Thomas Jefferson, asking the former President to publicly work for an end to slavery in Virginia. Jefferson’s response has become a signal document in the study of Jefferson’s troubling and complex relationship with the institution of slavery. Jefferson unequivocally declined Cole’s request, advising his young associate to stay in Virginia to help in the long-term demise of slavery. Coles’ disappointment is clear in his return letter of September 26, 1814.Coles was delayed again in fulfilling his covenant with freedom by a diplomatic trip to Russia (1816–1817) at the request of President Madison. Returning to America, Coles embarked on a second reconnaissance mission to the Northwest Territories (1818) and participated in the Illinois Constitutional Convention at Kaskaskia.
The manumission of Coles’ slaves
Coles embarked from his plantation in April 1819; his 17 slaves (6 adults; 11 children) traveled separately by wagon. They met at Brownsville, PennsylvaniaBrownsville, Pennsylvania
Brownsville is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States, officially founded in 1785 located 35 miles south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River...
, where the party boarded a pair of flatboats and began a water-bound journey north to Pittsburgh, then west along the Ohio River toward Illinois. Coles selected a point west of Pittsburgh to announce to his slaves their immediate freedom and also his plan to provide land to each head of a family. The scene is captured in a biographical letter written by Coles some 25 years later. It is also the subject of a mural in the first floor (south hall) of the Illinois State Capitol. Coles gave each head of family 160 acre (0.6474976 km²) of land.
The Coles party arrived in Edwardsville, Illinois
Edwardsville, Illinois
Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,293. It is the county seat of Madison County and is the third oldest city in the State of Illinois. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, then Governor of the Illinois...
, early in May 1819. Coles provided employment and other ongoing support for those he had freed. He had been granted the position of Register of Lands by President James Monroe
James Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
(also a neighbor of Coles from Albemarle County, Virginia) and served in that capacity from 1819 through 1822.
Coles’ term as Governor and the referendum on a constitutional convention
Edward Coles ran for governor in the election of 1822Illinois gubernatorial election, 1822
The 1822 Illinois gubernatorial election was Illinois's second gubernatorial election and its first competitive election. All candidates in the election represented the Democratic-Republican Party.-Results:-References:...
. He won the election by a very tight margin. Coles’ inaugural address included a clear call for the end of slavery in Illinois and revision of the Black Code
Black Code
Black Code or Black Codes may refer to:*Code Noir, or Black Code, in France*Black Codes , discriminatory state and local laws passed after the Civil War*Black Codes , a 1985 album by Wynton Marsalis...
. A proslavery faction had hoped to strengthen the legality of slavery in the new state of Illinois; Coles’ bold call for an end to slavery stiffened their resolve and led to a rancorous legislative effort (the Shaw-Hansen Affair) to force passage of a bill approving a referendum to hold a constitutional convention. Governor Edward Coles led the opposition to the convention, recognizing it as a dishonest attempt to more clearly legalize slavery in the state. He committed the entirety of his income as governor to the project and led a committee of anti-slavery citizens and legislators in a public campaign to defeat the call for a constitutional convention. The resulting 18-month political struggle resulted in defeat of the proposal.
Coles’ efforts to assist Madison in manumitting slaves
Coles ran for the U.S. Senate in the election of 1831 but had been out of public view for some years and was unwilling to align himself with any political party. He lost the election and decided to leave the state. At the end of 1831, while visiting James and Dolley Madison at MontpelierMontpelier
Montpelier or Montpellier is the name of several places:in Canada:* Montpellier, Quebec* Montpellier , a train station in Montreal, Canadain France:* Montpellier, a city in southern France** The University of Montpellierin Ireland:...
(Orange County, Virginia), Madison confided in Coles his wish to manumit his own slaves and called on Coles’ experience in trying to sort out the challenge of finding the right way in which to do this. Believing that Madison had committed to freeing his slaves in his will, Coles was devastated when, after the passing of James Madison, the terms of the will were made known and the slaves had not been freed but passed to his cousin, Dolley Madison.
Later years
Edward Coles married Sally Logan Roberts (1809 to 1883) on November 28, 1833. Sally Coles bore three children, Mary Coles, Edward Coles, Jr., and Roberts Coles (who died during the Civil War at the Battle of Roanoke IslandBattle of Roanoke Island
The opening phase of what came to be called the Burnside Expedition, the Battle of Roanoke Island was an amphibious operation of the American Civil War, fought on February 7–8, 1862, in the North Carolina Sounds a short distance south of the Virginia border...
, February 8, 1862). Coles was recognized as one of the few remaining men with close personal knowledge of both Madison and Jefferson and burnished their reputations as champions of the republican ideals that had motivated Coles during his entire life.
He died in 1868 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Legacy
Edward Coles was among the very few slaveholders who manumitted his slaves entirely as a testament to the republicanRepublicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
ethos that was at the heart of the American enlightenment. His efforts to end slavery in Illinois were decisive in setting that state on a slow road toward greater racial justice. He is also noteworthy for his attempts to pressure Thomas Jefferson to work for the end of slavery in Virginia and James Madison to free his slaves.
Coles County, Illinois
Coles County, Illinois
Coles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 53,873, which is an increase of 1.3% from 53,196 in 2000. Its county seat is Charleston, which is also the home of Eastern Illinois University....
was named for him. An elementary school on the south side of Chicago is also named after him.
The Governor Coles State Memorial
Governor Coles State Memorial
Governor Coles State Memorial is a concrete memorial dedicated to Edward Coles, the second governor of Illinois. Erected between 1928-1929, the memorial features a bronze portrait of Coles sculpted by Leon Hermant, and is maintained by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency as a state historic...
, dedicated to Coles, is located in Edwardsville, Illinois
Edwardsville, Illinois
Edwardsville is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 24,293. It is the county seat of Madison County and is the third oldest city in the State of Illinois. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, then Governor of the Illinois...
External links
- Biography of Governor Edward Coles
- The Coles Family papers, containing correspondence, various papers and materials belonging to Edward Coles, are available for research use at the Historical Society of PennsylvaniaHistorical Society of PennsylvaniaThe Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a historical society founded in 1824 and based in Philadelphia. The Society's building, designed by Addison Hutton and listed on Philadelphia's Register of Historical Places, houses some 600,000 printed items and over 19 million manuscript and graphic items...
. - Edward Coles, Patrician Emancipator
- Governor Edward Coles Fellowship – Illinois Human Rights Commission