Cornelius Wesley Coghill Collection, PC.2133
Abstract
Cornelius Wesley Coghill (1879-1938), born in Vance County, to Kinchen W. and Fannie Lassiter Coghill, moved to Rocky Mount, Nash County, in 1889. He was an insurance and real estate executive, and collected these materials during the course of his career. Papers include indentures land grants, plats, promissory notes, receipts, a bond of apprenticeship, concerning various families and originating in several North Carolina counties, primarily Halifax and Northampton, with a small quantity from Bute, Craven, Edgecombe, Granville, and Hyde counties. There are two slave bills of sale, 1837, naming children Doona, Hilliard, Jacob and a man, Jarrot, transferred to Dr. Matt C. Whitaker, Halifax County. Includes an 1861 annual report of the Fairfield Canal Company, Hyde County, and other material of interest.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Cornelius Wesley Coghill Collection
- Call Number
- PC.2133
- Creator
- Coghill, Cornelius Wesley
- Date
- 1753-1861
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], PC.2133, Cornelius Wesley Coghill Collection, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, N.C., USA.
Collection Overview
Papers include indentures land grants, plats, promissory notes, receipts, a bond of
apprenticeship, and other materials from individuals and families including but not
limited to the Fort, Kinchen, Webb, Ricks, Whitaker, Wooten families and originating
in several North Carolina counties, primarily Halifax and Northampton. There is a
State of North Carolina Ordnance, a printed copy of the period, 21 July 1788, in regard
to future meetings of the General Assembly and referencing the plantation of Isaac
Hunter. There are three fragments, 1796, concerning commissions, justice of the peace,
appointed under John Sevier, County of Washington, State of Tennessee. There is an
indenture, 1799, between Silas Long, guardian of orphans of Benjamin Bryan, Northampton
County and Elias Forte, Halifax County. Additionally, there is small quantity of material
from Bute, Craven, Edgecombe, Granville, and Hyde counties, from the latter part of
the 18th century as late as 1861, such as an 1832 indenture issued by the Hyde County
Wardens of the Poor for one hundred acres to several citizens, including David Carter.
Of particular interest, there are two slave bills of sale, in transactions, Halifax
County from Robert Ransom (father of Robert E. Ransom, a Confederate general) to Dr.
Matt C. Whitaker, May and December 1837 and naming Doona, a six year-old girl, a man
named Jarrot, a fourteen year-old boy Hilliard, and an eight year-old named Jacob.
[See PC.865.Robert Jansom, Jr. (1828-1892) Papers.]
Papers also include a third and final annual report of the Fairfield Canal Company,
dated April 1861, by the president, David Carter, Hyde County, and a drawing of the
area. The only item in the collection that seems related to Coghill's ancestral line
is an Indenture of Apprenticeship, assigned to James O'Kelly Coghill (ca. 1812-1900),
Granville County, 1839. This was for a three-year old orphan, Parthenia J. Mitchell,
who was to be trained as a "Spinstress," with the requirement of learning to read
and write struck through. For the most part, the connections among these individuals
and families is unknown unless stated in a particular document. The only item in the
collection that seems related directly related to Coghill's ancestral line is an Indenture
of Apprenticeship, assigned to James O'Kelly Coghill (ca. 1812-1900), Granville County.
He may have been related to the Kinchen family, Halifax and Northampton counties.
Arrangement Note
Chronological
Biographical/Historical
Contents of the Collection
Transcription -
Slave Bill of Sale, 24 May 1837, by R. Ransom
For and in consideration of one Negro man named Jarrot which I hold and have received
of D. [Dr.] Mat [sic] C. Whitaker I have this day bargained Sold and delivered unto
the said Matt C. Whitaker, one Negro girl (Slave) named Doona, which girl I warrant
a good and ? Lawful unto the D. Whitaker, against the claim or claims of all persons.
Witness my hand & Seal this 24th day of May 1837.
R. Ransom (seal)
Transcription -
For and in consideration of the sum of six hundred and forty eight Dollar. 84/100
in two notes on [?] with Interest from the 1st [?] 1831 to me in hand paid by Mat
[sic] C. Whitaker. I have bargained Sold and delivered and by these present do bargain
Sell and deliver Two Negro Boys, Hilliard and Jacob, Slaves for life. Hilliard aged
about fourteen , and Jacob about eight to him and his heirs against this Claim or
Claims of all and every person or persons. I warrant and defend as good and lawful
Title. Witness my hand and seal this the 2nd day December 1837.
Rob. [Robert] Ransom.
The conditions of the above Bill of Sale is if the said Thom. [Thomas] G. Johnson
fails to pay to R. Ransom the full amt of Notes with Interest that the said Whitaker
is to pay it, the day and date above. Rob. [Robert] Ransom.
Subject Headings
Acquisitions Information
Transfer of collection, 3 August 2012, from the Braswell Memorial Library, 727 N. Grace St., Rocky Mount, N.C. 27804 . Originally the collection was a gift to the library by the widow of C.W. Coghill, Rose Putney Coghill, 1960.