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Papers of Kate (Flanagan) Coles, 1913-1940, Accession #10322 , Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
This collection was given to the library on March 13, 1979, by Mrs. Guy A. Cardwell of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Kate (Flanagan) Coles was born on January 7 (or 17?), 1856 or 1857 at "Gale Hill," the home of William Wardlaw Minor in Albemarle County, Virginia. She was the daughter of James and Ann (Johnson) Flanagan, the coachman and seamstress at "Gale Hill." James Flanagan's mother was "Mammy Kate," the housekeeper for Richmond Terrell at "Glen Echo" after the marriage of his daughter, Mary Waters Terrell, to William Wardlaw Minor. James Flanagan came to "Gale Hill" with Mary Waters Terrell after her marriage and married Ann, the daughter of Judy Johnson, a Minor servant who had always lived at "Gale Hill." Judy Johnson was first taken into the house as a young nurse and eventually became head seamstress, as did her daughter Ann. James and Ann Flanagan lived in the "old double quarters" at "Gale Hill" until they moved into their own home near Proffit, Virginia, after the Civil War.
Kate Flanagan was one of the last blacks born at "Gale Hill" before emancipation and was taught to read and write by Malvina "Mal" Terrell, aunt of Mary Waters (Terrell) Minor, who taught school for both blacks and whites at "Gale Hill." She moved to Proffit with her parents where she married Jeff Coles. She and Jeff had six children: James, Jeff "Jeppey," Hastings, Carry, William, and Olive. Kate Coles died on April 12, 1943.
This collection consists of ca. 80 items, 1913 to 1940, relating to Kate (Flanagan) Coles, one of the last slaves born before emancipation at "Gale Hill," Albemarle County, Virginia, home of William Wardlaw Minor. Approximately 70 letters are from Kate Coles to numerous members of the Bryan family, primarily Margaret Randolph (Minor) Bryan and her daughters. In several instances, Mrs. Coles wrote her letters on the verso of letters written to her, so that both sides of the correspondence appear. The letters contain family news but are also of interest in revealing the relationship between blacks and whites in Virginia during the early twentieth century. In addition to Margaret Bryan, correspondents include her daughters, Margaret R. (Bryan) Williston, Evelyn (Bryan) Bullitt, Elizabeth Coalter (Bryan) Williston, and Isobel Stewart (Bryan) Richmond, and two of Evelyn's children, James and Margaret Bullitt. Also included in the collection is a 75-page typed transcript of many of Kate Cole's letters from this collection, along with several letters from accessions #10322-a and #10322-b.
Eight letters, 1913 to 1916, are from William Wardlaw Minor II of "Windieknowe" in Albemarle County, Virginia, to his brother, Richmond T. Minor and to his sister. They deal mainly with family matters, crops, books, religion, and politics. "Windieknowe" was purchased around 1840 by Richmond Terrell of Louisa County, Virginia, but he soon traded it to his son-in-law, William Wardlaw Minor of "Gale Hill," for "Glen Echo," so that Terrell could live near his daughter at Gale Hill.