Philip St. George Cocke Plantation Papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MSS 0-66

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The materials in this collection deal with Philip St. George Cocke's plantations. There is a plantation record book entitled "Plantation & farm, instruction, regulation, record, inventory & account book". This book is "for use of the managers on the estate of Philip St. George Cocke, and for the better ordering and management of plantation and farm business in every particular," and contains holograph daily records of work and production on the plantation, as well as an inventory of slaves, live stock, implements and supplies.

The collection also contains a letter from Robert G. V. Smith to Mr. Cocke, dated July 30, 1852, and a holograph note from the manager at Delmead in Powhatan, Virginia, allowing "Robert" to visit his wife on the plantation of Mr. James Miller in Cumberland County.

Online Copies Available

Materials from this collection have been digitized and are available through the FSU Digital Library.

Dates

created: 1855-1856
Other: Date acquired: 07/18/1967

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open to all researchers.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Biographical or Historical Information

Philip St. George Cocke (April 17, 1809-December 26, 1861) was a soldier, plantation owner, and writer on agriculture. He was born at "Bremo," Franklin County, Virginia, third child of John Hartwell Cocke and his wife Anna Blaus Barraud. Attended the University of Virginia and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Resigned from the Army in 1834 to manage his extensive plantations in Virginia and Mississippi. Served for Virginia during the Civil War as a brigadier-general until ill health forced him to retire after Bull's Run. He was married June 4, 1834 to Sally Elizabeth Courtney Bowdoin. Together they had four sons and seven daughters. Suffering from ill health and melancholia, he committed suicide December 26, 1861. Note written by Dictionary of American Biography, Vol. IV