[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 91 (Tuesday, July 9, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1211]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1211]]



IN RECOGNITION OF ACHIEVEMENTS OF MADISON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY IN 
                            EDWARDSVILLE, IL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOHN SHIMKUS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 9, 2002

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the achievements 
of the Madison County Historical Society in the Edwardsville, Illinois 
area.
  Edward Coles was the second Governor of the State of Illinois. Born 
in central Virginia in 1786 to a wealthy father who grew tobacco and 
was a slave owner, Coles would later in life decide that owning slaves 
was not the right thing to do. It is thought that this idea was 
instilled in him when he studied at William and Mary College in 
Williamsburg, VA. He did not support the philosophy that people could 
own other people when a professor raised it at the school.
  Coles father died in 1807 leaving Edward a 782-acre farm and 23 
slaves. He decided that freeing the slaves would be the right thing to 
do, but that would have been impossible because of the strict 
provisions in Virginia. The law stated that any freed slave must leave 
the State within a year of emancipation, which insured the failure of 
the slaves as free citizens. On top of that the other slave owners in 
the area would have surely hung Coles for his betrayal of their highly 
prized trade.
  In 1810 Edward became Personal Secretary for President Madison in 
Washington DC. He was very successful in the world of politics, but 
still wanted to free the slaves under his control. After President 
Madison's first term Coles quit the White House and went west looking 
for a place to free his slaves. He came back from his excursion with a 
plan and an idea.
  After a brief stint as a diplomat to Russia, Coles bought 3,500 acres 
in Illinois and accepted an appointment as land Registrar in 
Edwardsville, Illinois. He packed up his belongings and 22 slaves and 
headed towards Edwardsville. Coles waited until he was West of the Ohio 
River before he let anyone know his plan to free the slaves that worked 
for him. After he told them that they were free to go 5 went to 
Kentucky, 7 to Missouri, and 10 followed Coles the rest of the way. It 
is said that Edward provided the slaves that followed him with land of 
their own. He also provided all of his former slaves with money and 
supplies, as they needed them.
  Later in life Coles was Governor of Illinois for one term. He ran for 
Congress in 1832 and lost, which is when he came to the conclusion that 
he wanted to move back to the East Coast. He moved to Philadelphia 
where he married a lady named Sally Logan Roberts, and had three 
children with her.
  Some people do not only look for reward in the form of offices or 
titles, but in gratification for doing the right thing. Mr. Edward 
Coles was one of these people, and without his support and belief in 
the abolitionist movement many more people would have been sold as 
property and treated as less than human. Mr. Coles was a man who did 
the right thing when the challenge presented itself.
  I want to commend the Madison County Historical Society for their 
efforts to keep the Coles Legacy of freedom and decency alive.

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