Contents
- Descriptive Summary
- Scope and Content
- Conditions for Access
- Conditions Governing Use
- Preferred Citation
- Acquisition Information
- Biography or History
- Other Descriptive Data
- Alternate Format Available
- Indexed Terms
- Citation/Reference
- Exhibits Note
Collection Access
Edward Coles papers
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Edward Coles papers
- Dates
- 1809-1883
- Creator
- Coles, Edward, 1786-1868
- Creator
- Chicago Historical Society
- Size
- ca. 100 items.
- Language
- Material is in English unless otherwise noted.
Scope and Content
Letters by Edward Coles, chiefly to Mr. and Mrs. James Madison on historical and personal matters; 13 business letters to Isaac Prickett, 1831-44; 13 letters by Isaac A. Coles, 1809-35. Also present are later letters discussing the donation of Coles' papers to Chicago Historical Society, 1881-83. Other topics of the Coles correspondence include slavery in the U.S. and in Illinois; public lands and land speculation; Dr. P.S. Physick; and business and social affairs in Philadelphia (Penn.). Collection also includes correspondence to and from Chicago Historical Society regarding the donation of papers and portrait of Edward Coles.
Conditions for Access
Advance appointment with special permission required to view some original items.
Conditions Governing Use
Contact the archives for more information on licensing and permissions for use and reproduction.
Preferred Citation
A common citation for archives is as follows: Item, Folder number and/or title, Box number, Collection title, ID number, Repository name, location.
Acquisition Information
Field, Marshall Gift, 1909. Most of collection was part of the James Madison collection, which was donated by Field and sold by Chicago Historical Society to the Library of Congress in 1910. Gunther Estate Purchase 1923.1000. Corres to Pollock ALS, 1853 Jan 29. 21914 Coles to Lafayette, facsimile ALS 1825.Biography or History
Coles was private secretary to President James Madison, 1809-1815; settled in Edwardsville (Ill.) in 1819 and served as Governor of Illinois, 1822-26; moved to Philadelphia in 1832. While in Illinois, he was a leader of the free state forces opposed to legalizing slavery when Illinois was a new state. He brought enslaved people from Virginia to free them in Illinois.
Other Descriptive Data
Coles' son Edward refers to the historical society's resolution upon accepting the donation of his father's portrait in a letter of 1883 Oct. 21. The resolution appears in the historical society's minutes and reports, 1874-1902, p. 185.
Alternate Format Available
Microfilm copy of most of the collection is available at Chicago History Museum, Research Center.
Finding aid available.
See Archives and Manuscript card catalog photocopies for item-level descriptions of some materials.
Indexed Terms
- Armstrong, John -- 1758-1843
- Birkbeck, Morris -- 1764-1825
- Edwards, Ninian -- 1775-1833
- Coles, Edward -- 1786-1868
- Gallatin, Albert -- 1761-1849
- Hamilton, William Schuyler
- Harrison, William Henry -- 1773-1841
- Jefferson, Thomas -- 1743-1826
- Madison, James -- 1751-1836
- Physick, Philip Syng -- 1768-1837
- Smith, Theophilus Washington -- 1784-1846
- Steward, Ferdinand Campbell -- 1815-1899 -- local
- Washburne, E. B. -- (Elihu Benjamin) -- 1816-1887
- Cincinnati Association
- United States -- Ordinance of 1787
- Antislavery movements -- Illinois
- Cholera
- Real estate development -- Illinois
- Real estate investment -- Illinois
- Slavery -- United States
- Slavery -- Illinois -- United States
- Lead mines and mining -- Missouri
- Illinois -- Politics and government -- To 1865
- Philadelphia (Pa.) -- Description and travel
- United States -- History -- War of 1812
- United States -- Politics and government -- 1815-1861
- Missouri -- Description and travel
- Ohio -- Description and travel
Citation/Reference
NUCMC MS 64-1328.
Exhibits Note
Exhibited in: "We the People, Creating a New Nation," Chicago Historical Society exhibition beginning Sept. 12, 1987.Coles letter to James Madison, 1819 July 20.