Edward Coles (December 15, 1786 – July 7, 1868) was an American abolitionist and politician, elected as the second governor of Illinois (1822 to 1826). From an old Virginia family, Coles as a young man was a neighbor and associate of presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, as well as secretary to President James Madison from 1810 to 1815.
An anti-slavery advocate throughout his adult life, Coles inherited a plantation and slaves but eventually left Virginia for the Illinois Territory to set his slaves free. He manumitted 19 slaves in 1819 and acquired land for them. In Illinois, he first participated in a campaign to block extending existing slavery in the new state, and then two years later at his inauguration as Governor, he called for the end of slavery in Illinois altogether, which was later achieved. Coles corresponded with and advised both Jefferson and Madison to free their slaves, and publicly supported abolition. In his final years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he helped shape early historians' views of the presidents' republican ideals.
Early life and education Coles was born on December 15, 1786, at Enniscorthy, a plantation in central Virginia's Albemarle County on the Hardware River, a tributary of the James River. He was the youngest male among ten surviving children of John Coles (1745–1808) and Rebecca Tucker (1750–1826). Young Coles' earliest teachers were prominent lawyer Wilson Cary Nicholas and Mr. (probably Rev.) White who lived by Dyer's Store. After a term at Hampden-Sydney College in Hampden-Sydney, Virginia, Coles transferred to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.
While at William and Mary, Coles was strongly influenced by the enlightenment ideals taught by the Rt. Rev. James Madison (first Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia and President of the College). The teacher and cleric considered slavery morally indefensible, but a problem without a clear solution. Young Coles determined not to be a slaveholder and not to live where slavery was accepted. However, he kept these views from his father, whose illness (and that of his elder brother) caused Coles to end his formal education in the summer of 1807, for fear that his father would substitute other property for slaves when writing his last will and testament. His bachelor uncles in Norfolk, Travis and John Tucker, had freed slaves when such had become legal in Virginia, and Coles' father John noted that some of the slaves freed by Travis (a devout Methodist) were now living in near starvation. Keeping quiet thus ensured that Coles would inherit slaves, thus providing him with the opportunity to give freedom.Document:Coles, Edward. "Autobiography." April 1844. Coles Collection, Historical Society of PennsylvaniaWashburne, 1882 Chapter II, p.16
When his father died in 1808, Coles received 12 slaves and a 782-acre plantation on the Rockfish River in Nelson County, Virginia, subject to a mortgage. After John Coles' estate was settled on Christmas Eve, 1808, Edward Coles revealed his emancipation plans to his family, to great consternation. As he sorted through the challenges posed by family resistance and Virginia law (which since 1806 required freed slaves to leave the state within a year, and had also increased restrictions on already free blacks), Coles abandoned his earliest plan to free his slaves in Virginia. He went to Kentucky in the summer of 1809 to investigate a land claim of his uncle Travis Tucker, but came home without plans to move to that new state (which allowed slavery).
Coles placed his plantation for sale in December, 1809, despite the collapsed real estate market during the depression of 1807, and began to plan for a move to the Northwest Territory (where slavery had been at least technically abolished in 1787). However, for years he received no reasonable offers, and so continued to operate it through an overseer. Coles turned down offers to exchange his slaves for other property, but honored the requests of his family and neighbors to keep his plans secret from his slaves.Leichtle and Carveth, pp. 25-27.
Family The Coles family was one of the First Families of Virginia. His great-grandfather, Walter Coles, had been a customs officer in Enniscorthy, Ireland and died there in 1640. His grandfather John had been one of the petitioners requesting for Richmond to be recognized as a new town, and he continued to develop the family's business and social ties through marriage to the youngest daughter of Quaker merchant Isaac Winston. Edward Coles's father, John, or John II, developed Enniscorthy from a hunting camp into a profitable farm, and continued the family's business and social success.
Edward Coles's maternal grandfather was born in Bermuda, and related to Virginia jurist St. George Tucker. His mother's maternal ancestors were among the "first & most respectable settlers at old Jamestown."
Edward's elder brother, Isaac A. Coles, served as private secretary to both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison during their administrations. Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation was nearby in Albemarle County. Furthermore, the wife of James Madison, Dolley Payne Todd Madison, was Coles's first cousin, and Coles became a frequent guest at their Montpelier plantation also nearby. James Monroe owned Ash Lawn-Highland plantation on the other side of Green Mountain for 24 years (until forced to sell it in 1825 due to financial problems), and offered young Coles use of his library, although the relationship with this family was more distant since Monroe split his time at Oak Hill plantation in Loudoun County.
Isaac managed and ultimately inherited Enniscorthy, subject to a life estate held by his mother, who died in 1826. His brother Walter had drawn his share of the inheritance early and managed Woodville plantation for many years before his father's death. John Coles III built a mansion called Estouteville on his inherited portion, and Tucker Coles built Tallwood plantation on the upper acres that he inherited—both married daughters of Sir Peyton Skipwith, the only baronet in Virginia. Their sister Rebecca became the second wife of South Carolina planter Richard Singleton, with whom she had five children. Her sister Elizabeth (Betsy) never married. Mary Coles married Robert Carter and moved to his nearby Redlands plantation. Their sister Emily married Richmond lawyer John Rutherfoord, who owned Tuckahoe plantation in Goochland County and later served as acting governor of Virginia (1841–42). Their son John Coles Rutherfoord witnessed the Civil War's devastation, and his grandson W.A.R. Goodwin became an Episcopal minister and helped found Colonial Williamsburg. Their sister Callie (Sarah) married Andrew Stevenson, who served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives as well as American minister to the United Kingdom.
Career Service in the White House Some months after taking office as President, James Madison invited Coles to become his private secretary. His brother Isaac had been performing those duties, as well as delicate courier tasks (particularly with France in the days leading up to the War of 1812). However, Isaac Coles, perhaps inappropriately acting out his earlier military career dreams, beat up Maryland representative Roger Nelson and, after a critical Congressional report concerning the incident, was forced to submit his resignation on December 29, 1809.Leichtle, 2011 pp. 27-28. Neighbor James Monroe (soon to become Secretary of State) convinced Edward Coles to accept that secretarial position, and Coles served from January 1810 to March 1815, despite intervals of ill-health.Leichtle, 2011 pp. 28-38.
Coles' term as presidential secretary delayed his plans to free his slaves. However, Coles developed a good relationship with Madison, with whom he would often speak with "perfect candor", and formed a lasting admiration for the president. While Madison's secretary, Coles initiated private correspondence with Thomas Jefferson over the issue of slavery, as discussed below.Washburne, 1882 p.21 Coles gained political experience as Madison's assistant, served as his primary emissary to Congress, and managed much of the patronage flowing from the 162-employee executive branch. Among other duties, Coles hand-copied the president's official correspondence for the national archives.Washburne, 1882 pp.9-10, 19, 38.
Coles met John Adams during a tour of north-eastern states in 1811. Along with Benjamin Rush, Coles worked to diminish tensions and rewarm relations between Adams and Thomas Jefferson.Document:Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Rush, December 5, 1811, in Ford, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 298. Coles also spent considerable time in Philadelphia receiving medical treatment from Dr. Physick, among others, as well as began a long friendship with Nicholas Biddle, who became controversial as a banker and anti-slavery advocate. As the War of 1812 ended, Coles resigned due to continued ill health in February 1815.Leichtle, 2011 pp. 40-41, 50.
Upon recovering in June, Coles and his 40-year-old mulatto slave and coachman, Ralph Crawford, toured the Northwest Territory in search of land Coles could purchase and develop as a home for himself and a place for the slaves he still proposed to free.Norton, 1920 p.12Leichtle, 2011 pp. 50-52. Coles wrote letters to President Madison and to relatives expressing dissatisfaction with the high land prices in Ohio, then with squatters, real estate speculators and fraudulent businessmen as he travelled further west into the Indiana (and what became the Illinois) Territory. In the Missouri Territory Coles bought some land for investment, before finally embarking in St. Louis on a keel boat for his trip down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, from where Coles ultimately sailed home to Virginia.
Coles was delayed again in fulfilling his covenant with freedom by a diplomatic trip to Russia (1816–1817) at President Madison's request, to resolve a diplomatic incident concerning the Russian consul's arrest in Philadelphia for sexually assaulting a maid. After successfully completing his mission in St. Petersburg, Coles toured Brussels, Paris and England. While in England, Coles met ambassador John Quincy Adams and social reformer Morris Birkbeck. Coles extolled such enthusiasm about Illinois that Birkbeck bought land, moved and established a settlement.Leichtle, 2011 pp. 53-55. Upon his return, Coles wrote a paper comparing slavery and Russian serfdom, so if an ulterior motive for the diplomatic assignment was dissuading Coles from his manumission plan, it failed.Leichtle, 2011 p. 56--better cite needed than general no-page cite to Coles' autobiography Moreover, Coles wrote about (and long remembered) the pervasive bribery and unethical business practices he encountered in Russia.
Correspondence with Jefferson