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| Born |
12 Dec 1777 |
Hanover, Virginia  |
| Died |
9 Sep 1820 |
Halifax County, Virginia |
| Buried |
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| Sources |
- [S150] Photograph, http://www.victorianvilla.com/sims-mitchell/local/coles/isaac/sler/.
Portrait of Catherine Thompson (Mrs. Isaac) Coles, by John Ramage.
Notes
The portrait of Edward Coles is from Portrait and Biographical Album of Champaign County, Illinois, Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1887 (see associated article, and a further biographical sketch hosted by Illinois Periodicals Online).
Apparently author Wharton is incorrect in her statement concerning Edward Coles' position as secretary to Jefferson. According to Nocholas Gordon, The Man Who Freed His Slaves: A Narrative of the Life of Edward Coles, Isaac Coles was secretary to Presidents Jefferson and Madison from 1805-1809; and Edward Coles was secretary to President Madison from 1810 to 1815. (Research assistance was provided by Melly Scofield.)
The miniature portraits by John Ramage (see biography, which includes his portrait of Elbridge Gerry) of Mrs. Isaac Coles and her sister Mrs. Elbridge Gerry are from Anne Hollingsworth Wharton, Social Life in the Early Republic, J. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1902, facing p. 65. The same images are also found facing p. 200 of Maud Carter Clement, The History of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, 1929. Mrs. Clement states that the Thompson sisters were English, and notes that their brother Jacob Thompson was a member of the Queen's Guard. The names Elbridge Gerry and Jacob Thompson have been given to male offspring in the Coles family of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, down to the present era.
On p. 201 of her History (see previous note), Mrs. Clement observes that ?when the question of slavery came before Congress, Col. [Isaac] Coles of Virginia voted to abolish the practice of slavery, while his brother-in-law Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts voted to retain the same.?
Dolley Madison's mother Mary Coles Payne was a double-first-cousin of both the abovementioned Col. Coles brothers of Virginia: Col. John Coles of Albemarle County, and Col. Isaac Coles of Halifax and Pittsylvania Counties. The double-first-cousin relationship occurred because brothers William Coles (Mary's father) and John Coles (Col. John and Col. Isaac's father) had married sisters Lucy Winston and Mary Ann Winston. A third Winston sister Sarah married John Henry, and thus their son the patriot Patrick Henry was also a first cousin of Mary Coles Payne, Col. Isaac Coles, and Col. John Coles. (See a Winston and Coles genealogical website.) Edward Coles (mentioned in the Wharton text above), secretary to Jefferson and Madison and governor of Illinois, was a son of Col. John Coles of Albemarle County, and thus a brother of Sally, Emily, and Eliza.
A third Coles brother (of Col. Isaac and Col. John), Walter, married Mildred Lightfoot, and therefore their children were also Dolley's double-second-cousins. Among them was Sarah ?Sally? Coles (not to be confused with her above-mentioned first cousin Sally), who married James Bruce of Halifax County. Their son James Coles Bruce expanded his father's home into the famed Greek Revival edifice Berry Hill along the Dan River in Halifax County. When Sarah Coles Bruce died, her husband married Elvira Cabell Henry, widow of Patrick Henry, Jr. (Sarah Coles Bruce's second cousin). James and Elvira Henry Bruce had a son Charles Bruce (therefore half-brother of James Coles Bruce) who built the also well-known Gothic ?castle? Staunton Hill along the Staunton River in Charlotte County. (See further discussion of the Bruces and Berry Hill.)
Many of the given names of the Coles family are used in multiple generations, and multiple times within the same generation, a practice not uncommon for the era, but leading to many temporary puzzles for the modern researcher.
The Dolley Madison Project at the University of Virginia discusses the various family relationships of individuals appearing in Madison White House documents; for example, Isaac Coles is listed as Dolley Madison's uncle. The designation ?uncle? is not necessarily in error, as it is often colloquially used in recognition of the fact that a double-first-cousin relationship is genetically similar to that of a sibling.
Maud Carter Clement's ?Antrim Parish, Halifax County 1752-1767? seems to call into question author Whartons' assertion regarding the ?first? Episcopal Church in Halifax County.
For more regarding Mrs. Madison, see ?Dolley Payne Madison: A Belle of a Washington Hostess?.
Further information regarding Col. Isaac Coles is found in an article about Coles Ferry. Four of the homes of the children of Isaac and Catherine Coles still exist in Pittsylvania County: The Oaks (home of son Dr. Robert Coles) in Chatham; The Columns (its early portion was the home of daughter Mary Coles Whittle) in Chatham; Coles Hill (home of son Walter Coles) east of Chatham; and Elkhorn (home of son Jacob Thompson Coles) east of Chatham.
Editorial notes are by Henry Mitchell.
Research assistance was provided by Sarah E. Mitchell.
Digital formatting is by Jonathan Mitchell.
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