Edward Coles (1786–1868)
In 1815 or 1816 Bushrod Washington wrote Coles regarding a dinner invitation from President James Madison.
Edward Coles, a cousin of Dolley Madison, was born on 15 December 1786 at Enniscorthy, a plantation in Albemarle County, Virginia. After studying at Hampden-Sydney College and The College of William and Mary, he served as secretary to President James Madison. In 1819 Coles freed his slaves en route to Illinois, fulfilling the antislavery beliefs he had developed at William and Mary.
"Edward Coles." Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/BT2310015788/UHIC?u=viva_uva&sid=UHIC&xid=2df0a811. Accessed 12 October 2022.
Dan Monroe, "Edward Coles, Patrician Emancipator," Illinois History Teacher, Volume 12, Number 1 (2005), 2–10.
"To James Madison from Edward Coles, 20 March 1817," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/04-01-02-0017. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Retirement Series, vol. 1, 4 March 1817 – 31 January 1820, ed. David B. Mattern, J. C. A. Stagg, Mary Parke Johnson, and Anne Mandeville Colony. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, pp. 15–16.]
Bruce Carveth, "Edward Coles (1786–1868)," Encyclopedia Virginia.
Douglas Evans, "Edward Coles," Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia.
"Coles, Edward (1786–1868)," in Holly C. Shuman, ed., The Dolley Madison Digital Edition.
Coles Family Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Edward Coles Papers, 1797–1881, Manuscripts Division, Princeton University Library, New Jersey.
Edward Coles at Find a Grave.
Edward Coles at FamilySearch.