Cocke and related families Papers 1846-1860

Access and use

Location of collection:
University of Virginia, Special Collections Dept.
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400110
160 McCormick Rd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Brenda Gunn
Phone: (434) 924-1037
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968

Summary

Creator:
John Page Elliott
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Four letters, 1846-1860, chiefly concerning the family of Philip St. George Cocke. In her letter of February 9, 1846, Courtney Barraudof Norfolkwrites her cousin, John Bowdoin Cocke, that she has heard about "the big house" being begun and knows that "cousin Philip" will be very busy as "no one ever was more totally emersed in building." This refers to the onset of the construction of " Belmead" in Powhatan County, designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis, based on a suggestion by Philip St. George Cocke. From the newly erected " Belmead, " a letter dated March 15, 1848 from Sally Elizabeth Courtney Bowdoin Cocketo her son, John Bowdoin Cocke, who was enrolled at Bremo Academyin Fluvanna County, mentions his father's meeting with "a Committee appointed to make arrangements for building a new Ct House." Richard F. Wilson's letter on March 23, 1857 is in answer to a request from [ John Hartwell Cocke] in Green County, Alabama, concerning the replanting of cedar trees according to Cocke's direction and clearing the graveyard at Mount Pleasant. He mentions a cenotaph, designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, on which was inscribed the names of members of the Cocke family buried at Mount Pleasantin Surry County. In an undated letter to her father, Philip St. George Cocke, Louisiana Barraud Cockeis apparently defending Richard Byrd Kennon, whom she married on June 21, 1860; she relates that she "asserted my pride & dignity as a woman should" by speaking to Kennon about the conversation between him and her father, and that she is satisfied that he is sincere and that she has not been "the dupe of anybody." This letter may have been written in September 1860 as it seems related to the letter dated September 19, 1860 by Kennon ( >#640, Box 63) in which he refers to a resolution "taken at the request of one whom I now hold dearer than life itself."

Acquisition information:
This collection was made a gift to the Library on December 9, 1986 by John Page Elliott of Charlottesville, Virginia.
Physical location:
Physical description:
4 items