Cole Digges (1691-1744) was a Virginia merchant, planter and politician who helped establish

Yorktown, Virginia Yorktown is a town in York County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of York County, one of the eight original shires formed in Colony of Virginia, colonial Virginia in 1682. Yorktown's population was 195 as of the 2010 census, while ...

, and served more than two decades on the

Virginia Governor's Council The Governor's Council, also known as the Privy Council and Council of State, was the upper house of the legislature of the Colony of Virginia (the House of Burgesses being the other house). It also served as an advisory body to the List of colon ...

after representing Warwick County in the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...

. 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."

Early life and education

The eldest son of prominent planter and politician

Dudley Digges 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 s ...

(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 Denbigh ( ; ) is a market town and a community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. It was the original county town of the Denbighshire (historic), historic county of Denbighshire created in 1536. Denbigh's Welsh name () translates to ...

. 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."Pedigree of a Representative Virginia Planter" in Genealogies of Virginia Families from the William & Mary Quarterley (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company 1982) vol. 2 pp. 173-174 He received a private education appropriate to his class.

Career

Digges inherited the E.D. plantation in York County from his father, as well as plantations in Warwick Counties from his mother.John Frederick Dorman, Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia 1607-1624/5 (Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc. (4th Ed. 2004)) vol. 1, p. 830 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. 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.

Personal life

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

and at least three daughters. #Eldest son

Edward Digges (burgess) Edward Digges (1716-March 22, 1769) was a Virginia merchant, planter and politician who represented York County in the House of Burgesses.John Frederick Dorman, Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia 1607-1624/5 (Genealogical Publishing Co. In ...

(1716-1769) began public life as a lieutenant in the York County militia in 1734, and also represented the county in the House of Burgesses, but more than a decade after marrying Anne Harrison, moved westward to

Stafford County, Virginia Stafford County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is approximately south of Washington, D.C. It is part of the Northern Virginia region, and the D.C area. It is one of the fastest-growing and highest-income counties in ...

. Edward and Anne had thirteen children, of whom two sons became patriots during the American Revolutionary war, as well as legislators like their father and uncles. These included:

William Digges (patriot) William Digges (December 29, 1742 – 1804) 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 ...

(1742-1798) who inherited E.D. plantation (renamed Bellfield or Bellefield), Cole Digges (1744-1777), Edward Digges Jr. (1746-1818), Thomas Digges (1750-1818), Dudley Digges (1760-1842), Mary Digges Fitzhugh (1748-1848), Sarah Digges Fitzhugh (1757-1817) #Middle son William Digges (burgess) (1721-1784) inherited the

, became a justice of the peace for Warwick County in 1749 and represented that county as a burgess, as had had this man his father, but for nearly two decades. Most probably his son Cole Digges(d. 1817) became the most distinguished soldier of the family during the American Revolutionary war, as well as a legislator. Their sisters (this man's daughters) Mary (1717-1744) and Susanna (1723-1770) married into the Harrison family of Virginia, another of the

First Families of Virginia The First Families of Virginia, or FFV, are a group of early settler families who became a socially and politically dominant group in the British Colony of Virginia and later the Commonwealth of Virginia. They descend from European colonists who ...

. #Youngest son Dudley Digges (patriot) (1724-1790) succeeded to the York County legislative seat in 1752 and won re-election numerous times until the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, during which he sided with the patriot cause.

Death and legacy

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). Also in the 1960s, archeological excavations were undertaken at the former

and Boldrup plantation before residential and industrial development in what had become

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

. The other historic Cole Digges House is in Richmond, constructed by his grandson Cole Digges (patriot) and the headquarters of

Preservation Virginia Founded in 1889, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities was the United States' first statewide historic preservation group. In 2003 the organization adopted the new name APVA Preservation Virginia to reflect a broader focus ...

.https://historicrichmond.com/property/cole-diggs-house/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Digges, Cole Merchants from colonial Virginia 18th-century American merchants House of Burgesses members People from York County, Virginia People from Warwick County, Virginia 1694 births 1744 deaths Slave owners from the Thirteen Colonies 18th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly