Octavius Coke (October 4, 1840 – August 30, 1895) was an American lawyer and politician. A Democrat, he served in the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for ...

and as

North Carolina Secretary of State The North Carolina Secretary of State is an elected constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of North Carolina, and is fourth in the line of succession to the office of Governor of North Carolina. The se ...

from 1891 to 1895. Born in Virginia, he read law and opened a legal practice in Williamsburg before enlisting in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. He quickly attained the rank of captain and was wounded several times throughout the war. After the conflict ended he established a law practice in

Edenton, North Carolina Edenton is a town in, and the county seat of, Chowan County, North Carolina, United States, on Albemarle Sound. The population was 4,397 at the 2020 census. Edenton is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. In recent years Edenton has ...

. Taking an interest in politics, Coke was elected as a Democrat to serve in the

in 1876. In 1880 he moved to

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

where he remained active in Democratic politics. In April 1891 he was appointed Secretary of State by the governor to fill a vacancy. Elected to a full term the following year, he served in that capacity until his death.

Early life

Coke was born on October 4, 1840, in Williamsburg,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

, United States, to John Coke and Eliza Hawkins. He was a nephew of Virginia politician Richard Coke Jr.. His brother

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

later became a politician in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Octavius attended the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William II ...

from 1857 to 1858 and did not graduate. Nevertheless, he

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under th ...

and opened a legal practice in Williamsburg shortly before the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

. With the beginning of the war, Coke enlisted in the Williamsburg Junior Guards of the

. The unit later became Company C of the 32nd Virginia Infantry Regiment. He rose rapidly through the ranks and was elected captain on May 11, 1862. Coke was wounded several times during the war, incurring his most severe injuries during the

Battle of Five Forks The Battle of Five Forks was fought on April 1, 1865, southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, around the road junction of Five Forks, Dinwiddie County, at the end of the Siege of Petersburg, near the conclusion of the American Civil War. The Union Arm ...

and the

Seven Days Battles The Seven Days Battles were a series of seven battles over seven days from June 25 to July 1, 1862, near Richmond, Virginia, during the American Civil War. Confederate General Robert E. Lee drove the invading Union Army of the Potomac, comman ...

Political career

After the war, Coke moved to

, and opened a law practice. In 1867, he married Caroline Wood, with whom he would have two children. Taking an interest in politics, Coke unsuccessfully ran to be a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

delegate at the 1868 state constitutional convention. In 1872 he served as a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

for

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and editor of the '' New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressman from New York, ...

. His wife died in 1876. That year he was elected as a Democrat to serve in the

, representing Chowan County. In the Senate he became a key Democratic

floor leader In politics, floor leaders, also known as a caucus leader, are leaders of their respective political party in a body of a legislature. Philippines In the Philippines each body of the bicameral Congress has a majority floor leader and a minor ...

. In 1879, he married Kate Fisher, with whom he would have four children. In 1880, Coke permanently relocated to

. Remaining active in Democratic affairs, he chaired the party's state executive committee that year and was credited by some of contemporaries for helping the party secure large victories in that year's legislative elections. In 1884, Coke sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination at the party's state convention but was narrowly defeated by

Alfred Moore Scales Alfred Moore Scales (November 26, 1827 – February 9, 1892) was a North Carolina state legislator, Confederate general in the American Civil War, and the 45th Governor of North Carolina from 1885 to 1889. Early life Scales was born at ...

. He denounced

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

during an 1886 referendum on alcohol sales in Raleigh. In 1889, Governor Daniel Gould Fowle appointed him to the board of directors of the state insane asylum. On April 4, 1891, Governor Fowle appointed Coke to serve as

to fill a vacancy created by the death of incumbent William L. Saunders. Coke won a full term to the office in the following year's general elections.

Death

Coke died at his home in Raleigh on August 30, 1895. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery. ''

The News and Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...

'' of Raleigh printed an obituary which praised him as a man of principle. The paper's publisher,

Josephus Daniels Josephus Daniels (May 18, 1862 – January 15, 1948) was an American newspaper editor and publisher from the 1880s until his death, who controlled Raleigh's '' News & Observer'', at the time North Carolina's largest newspaper, for decades. A ...

, described Coke as "a gallant Confederate soldier, and an eloquent orator and advocate, with personal charm." Governor

Elias Carr Elias Carr (February 25, 1839 – July 22, 1900) was an American planter, lawyer, and politician who served as the 48th governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1893 to 1897. A building on the campus of the University of North Caroli ...

appointed

Charles M. Cooke Charles Mather Cooke (10 March 1844 – 16 January 1920) was a North Carolina politician who served as Speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives (1881) and as North Carolina Secretary of State (1895–1897). Cooke studied at W ...

to replace Coke at the secretariat of state. The

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sys ...

has a collection of his family papers.

References

Works cited

* {{cite book, editor-last = Cheney, editor-first = John L. Jr. , title = North Carolina Government, 1585-1979 : A Narrative and Statistical History, publisher = North Carolina Secretary of State, edition = revised, date = 1981, location = Raleigh , oclc = 1290270510, url=https://archive.org/details/northcarolinagov1975unse/ 1840 births 1895 deaths Democratic Party North Carolina state senators Secretaries of State of North Carolina North Carolina Democratic Party chairs Confederate States Army officers