Edward Coles

Edward Coles was the second Governor of Illinois . From an old Virginia family, as a young man Coles was a neighbor and associate of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, as well as secretary to president James Madison . An antislavery advocate throughout his adult life, Coles inherited a plantation and slaves but eventually left Virginia for the Illinois Territory in order to set his slaves free. He manumitted his slaves in 1819, and twice led political campaigns that prevented the legitimization of slavery in the new state of Illinois. Coles corresponded with and advised both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison to free their slaves, and in his final years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania helped shape early historians views of the presidents republican ideals.

Coles was born on December 15, 1786 at Enniscorthy, a plantation in central Virginias Albemarle County on the Hardware River, a tributary of the James River. He was the youngest male among ten surviving children of John Coles and Rebecca Tucker . Young Coles earliest teachers were prominent lawyer Wilson Cary Nicholas and Mr. White who lived by Dyers Store. After a term at HampdenSydney College in HampdenSydney, Virginia, Coles transferred to the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Source: Wikipedia