Cole Digges | |
---|---|
Member of the Council of State for the Colony of Virginia | |
In office 1720-1744 | |
Member of the House of Burgesses for Warwick County,Colony of Virginia | |
In office 1715-1720 | |
Preceded by | William Harwood |
Succeeded by | James Roscoe |
Personal details | |
Born | 1691 E.D. plantation,York County,Virginia,Colony of Virginia |
Died | 1744 Colony of Virginia |
Spouse | Elizabeth Folliott Power |
Children | Edward,William,Dudley and at least 3 daughters |
Parent(s) | Dudley Digges,Susanna Cole |
Relatives | Edward Digges(grandfather) |
Occupation | planter,politician |
Cole Digges (1691-1744) was a Virginia merchant,planter and politician who helped establish Yorktown,Virginia,and served more than two decades on the Virginia Governor's Council after representing Warwick County in the House of Burgesses. [1]
Complicating matters,his three sons each named one of their sons after this man (their grandfather),and genealogists disagree as to their respective parentage. One of the three cousins died young circa 1769,the other in 1777 and the last,Cole Digges (patriot) became not only a significant politician like his grandfather and a Revolutionary War officer,but also built the other of the two historic houses in Virginia colloquially named the "Cole Digges House."
The eldest son of prominent planter and politician Dudley Digges(1665-1710) and his wife,the former Susanna Cole (1674-1708). She was the daughter of Captain William Cole,who had a plantation in Warwick County called Denbigh. His name presumably honors that maternal grandfather,whose plantations this man inherited. His birth family included two younger brothers,Edward (who died in England in 1711) and Dudley Digges Jr. (who moved several times as well as married Mary Hubard who bore two sons and three daughters,all of whom died without issue),and a sister Elizabeth. [2] He received a private education appropriate to his class.
Digges inherited the E.D. plantation in York County from his father,as well as plantations in Warwick Counties from his mother. [3] He operated them using enslaved labor.
He became an officer in the local militias,and in September 1728 Digges took the oath required to command the joint militias for Warwick,York and Elizabeth City Counties. [3]
Warwick County voters first elected him as one of the burgesses representing them in the House of Burgesses in 1715,and he won re-election twice before becoming a member of the Virginia Governor's Council,on which he served for decades. [4]
Digges married the former Elizabeth Foliott Power (daughter of Dr. Henry Power of York County and granddaughter of Rev. Edward Foliott of Hampton Parish). They had three sons who reached adulthood and served in the House of Burgesses and at least three daughters.
Digges died in 1744,as did his daughter Mary. The National Park Service restored the Yorktown property he bought in 1713 during the 1960s,but further archeological studies four decades later showed it had been constructed during this man's ownership,and so it is now named the "Cole Digges House" and the business place of Mobjack Bay Coffee Roasters (which also has an outdoor cafe for customers). [9] Also in the 1960s,archeological excavations were undertaken at the former Denbigh and Boldrup plantation before residential and industrial development in what had become Newport News,Virginia. [10] The other historic Cole Digges House is in Richmond,constructed by his grandson Cole Digges (patriot) and the headquarters of Preservation Virginia. [11]
Thomas Nelson Jr. was a Founding Father of the United States,general in the Revolutionary War,member of the Continental Congress,and a Virginia planter. In addition to serving many terms in the Virginia General Assembly,he twice represented Virginia in the Congress,where he signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Fellow Virginia legislators elected him to serve as the commonwealth's governor in 1781,the same year he fought as a brigadier general in the siege of Yorktown,the final battle of the war.
Edward Digges was an English barrister and colonist who became a premium tobacco planter and official in the Virginia colony. The son of the English politician Dudley Digges represented the colony before the Virginia Company of London and the royal government,as well as served for two decades on the colony's Council of State. Digges served as interim Colonial Governor of Virginia from March 1655 to December 1656,and for longer periods as the colony's receiver general and auditor-general. He is also known for planting mulberry trees and promoting the silk industry in the colony.
Sir Dudley Digges was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1629. Digges was also a "Virginia adventurer," an investor who ventured his capital in the Virginia Company of London;his son Edward Digges would go on to be Governor of Virginia. Dudley Digges was responsible for the rebuilding of Chilham Castle,completed in around 1616.
Colonel John Page was an English-born planter,merchant,slave trader and politician who spent most of his life in North America. Born in East Bedfont,Middlesex,Page eventually migrated to the English colony of Virginia,where he lived in Middle Plantation and served as a member of the House of Burgesses from 1665 to 1677 and a member of the Virginia Governor's Council from 1677 to 1692. A wealthy landowner,Page donated land and funds towards construction of the Bruton Parish Church. Page was also involved in the establishment of the College of William &Mary in 1693,as well as being a chief proponent of Middle Plantation being designated the colony's capital in 1698.
Captain Samuel Mathews was a Virginia planter,political figure,and the father of Governor Samuel Mathews. Also known as Colonel Mathews,the elder Samuel became one of the most prominent men in the colony.
Lt. Col. Samuel Mathews (1630–1660),Commonwealth Governor of Virginia,of Warwick County in the English Colony of Virginia,was a member of the House of Burgesses,the Governor's Council,and served as Commonwealth Governor of Virginia from 1656 until he died in office in January 1660. There was no Royal Governorship at the time of the "Protectorate",and the Governor technically answered to the Cromwellian Parliament,although Royalist sentiment was prevalent in the colony of Virginia at this time. The former Royalist governor Berkeley arrived to replace him on March 13,1660.
Digges is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Colonel William Digges was a prominent planter,soldier and politician in the Colony of Virginia and Province of Maryland. The eldest son of Edward Digges (1620-1674/5),who sat on the Virginia Governor's Council for two decades but died shortly before Bacon's Rebellion,Digges fled to Maryland where he married Lord Calvert's stepdaughter and served on the Maryland Proprietary Council until losing his office in 1689 during the Protestant Revolution,when a Puritan revolt upset the Calvert Proprietorship. His eldest son Edward sold his primary Virginia plantation to his uncle Dudley Digges. It is now within Naval Station Yorktown. His former Maryland estate,Warburton Manor,is now within Fort Washington Park. Two additional related men with the same name served in the Virginia General Assembly,both descended from this man's uncle and his grandson Cole Digges (burgess):William Digges (burgess) and his nephew and son-in-law William Digges Jr. both represented now-defunct Warwick County,Virginia.
Mayfield Cottage is a historic plantation house located near the grounds of Central State Hospital near Petersburg,Dinwiddie County,Virginia. Believed to be the oldest existing brick house in Dinwiddie County,it was built around 1750 and the residence of Robert Ruffin until 1769,when he moved to King William County. From 1885,the property was used by the hospital for its headquarters. The house remained part of the hospital complex until 1969. It was moved from its original site about .5 miles (0.80 km) to the southeast of the present site in 1969.
Denbigh Plantation,also known as Mathews Manor,is a historic archaeological site located at Newport News,Virginia.
Dudley Digges (1665–1711) was a Virginia merchant,planter and politician who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly,as well as agent of the Royal African Company and factor for British merchants John Jeffreys and Micajah Perry Sr. After his marriage,Digges twice represented Warwick County in the House of Burgesses before being appointed to the Virginia Governor's Council in 1698. Digges also served as auditor and surveyor-general of Virginia from 1705 until his death,and purchased the E.D. Plantation where he had been born from his nephew Edward upon the death of his brother William in Maryland. That property,renamed Bellfield plantation,is now part of Naval Weapons Station Yorktown. His sons Cole and Dudley Digges Jr. would also continue the family's planter and political traditions.
Dudley Digges (1694–1771) was a Virginia attorney,merchant,planter and politician who served in the House of Burgesses representing the newly created Goochland County (1730–1732). Possibly the least known of three related men of the same name who served in the Virginia legislature during the 18th century,this man was the son of Dudley Digges Sr. who served in both houses of the Virginia legislature and bought the family's historic E.D. plantation in York County from his cousin. Geneologist John Frederick Dorman found that although this Dudley Digges was appointed a justice of the peace in Goochland County in 1735,three years later he bought 600 acres and moved back to James City County.
Dudley Digges was a Virginia attorney,planter,military officer and politician who served in the House of Burgesses (1752-1776) and all the Virginia Revolutionary conventions representing York County. Possibly the most famous of three related men of the same name who served in the Virginia legislature during the 18th century,this man was the third son of Yorktown merchant Cole Digges who served in both houses of the Virginia legislature.
Cole Digges (1748–1788) was a Virginia planter,military officer and politician who represented now-defunct Warwick County,in the Virginia House of Delegates (1778–1784) and during the Virginia Ratification Convention of 1788. Possibly the most famous of three related men of the same name who served in the Virginia legislature during the 18th century,and despite genealogical disagreement this man was most likely the son of Dudley Digges of Yorktown and Williamsburg and his first wife,Martha Burwell Armistead. He served during the American Revolutionary War as a dragoon in the Continental Army,rising from the rank of cornet to lieutenant before resigning and starting his legislative career. The other two related men of the same name were his grandfather,Yorktown merchant Cole Digges who served in both houses of the Virginia legislature,and his cousin Cole Digges who briefly represented Warwick County in the House of Delegates before his death and this man's succession.
William Cole (1691-1729) was a planter and politician who represented Warwick County in the House of Burgesses (1715-1728).
William Digges was a planter and politician in the Colony of Virginia,who represented Warwick County,Virginia in the House of Burgesses from 1752 until 1771.
Edward Digges was a Virginia merchant,planter and politician who represented York County in the House of Burgesses.
William Digges was a Virginia planter and politician who represented now-defunct Warwick County,in the Virginia House of Delegates (1790-1802). Although genealogists disagree as to his father,he was the grandson of Cole Digges who helped found Yorktown. The other related men of the same name were:
Thomas Pate was a British merchant who became a planter,military officer,ferry owner and politician who served a term as burgess representing Gloucester County in the House of Burgesses. Rebel Nathaniel Bacon commandeered this man's house in Gloucester County during Bacon's Rebellion,and later Governor Howard also lived there. Across Mobjack Bay,the restored historic Yorktown home once named after this man is now renamed the "Cole Digges" house after a politically powerful successor owner and resident since recent archeological research indicates it was probably built decades after this man's death.
Edward Harwood was a planter,justice of the peace,military officer and politician who represented Warwick County in the Virginia House of Delegates.