Death of George Coggill
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- Title:
- Death of George Coggill
- Collection:
- 19th Century Prison Reform Collection
- Date:
- 1867-01-15
- ID Number:
- RMM01157_B01_F13_001
- Collection Number:
- 1157
- File Name:
- RMM01157_B01_F13_001.pdf
- Work Type:
- documents
- Description:
- "George Coggill was a man of considerable prominence in the New York commercial world in the first half of the 19th century, as evidenced by the obituary that appeared in the New York Times, January 13th, 1867. I will quote it in full not only because it is a good summary of his life, but also because it is a fine example of the orotund Victorian obituary style in full flight.
"The record of the death of George Coggill, Esq., at his residence, no. 288 Fifth-avenue [now torn down] on the 11th inst., will awaken many memories of the past in our mercantile community. There is probably no older New-York merchant now living of any more prominence than was Mr. Coggill at the time of his demise. He came to the city from England in 1811, one of those old-fashioned, well-educated English merchants who gave tone and character to our business relations, which have been so well sustained by their successors.
"He was for many years at the head of the wool trade in this country. Mr. Coggill continued his English connection for many years, and his correspondents abroad of the old houses of Overend Gurney & Co., Fielden & Co., Pickersgill & Co. and George Peabody and Co., of London, will join his friends here at the deep regret at the loss of a man who did such great credit to the name of a New-York merchant.
"In all the relations of society, as a Christian gentleman, a kind father, a generous benefactor and a fond parent, he will be long remembered. At the advanced age of eighty-six, in the possession of all his faculties, surrounded by a large and affectionate family and cherished friends, he has gone to his reward."
George Coggill first came to this country in 1805, when he was a junior partner in the firm of Walker & Coggill, which was engaged in the woolen cloth trade. According to his great grandson, James C. Coggill, he emigrated to this country permanently in 1812, not 1811 as stated in the Times, and was caught in mid-Atlantic by the outbreak of war between England and the United States. His ship was captured by a privateer out of Newport, Rhode Island, and he and his family were interned in Fishkill, New York, for the duration of the war.
After the war he engaged in real estate speculation and in general shipping in addition to dominating the wool trade. Together with his sons, he owned three ships at the outbreak of the Civil War. One, the Urania, was built at Brookhaven in 1855. Its portrait--a fine one--was in the possession of James C. Coggill in 1981. At the outbreak of the Civil War, one of the ships was caught by a Confederate raider and burned at sea. The other two ships were promptly sold." - Cite As:
- Enos Thompson Throop. Papers, #1157. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- Enos Thompson Throop Papers
- Box:
- 1
- Folder:
- 13
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The content in the 19th Century Prison Reform Collection is believed to be in the public domain by virtue of its age, and is presented by Cornell University Library under the Guidelines for Using Text, Images, Audio, and Video from Cornell University Library Collections [http://hdl.handle.net/1813.001/CULCopyright]. This collection was digitized by Cornell University Library in 2017 from print materials held in the Rare and Manuscript Collections, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Katherine Thorsteinson. For more information about these volumes, please contact the Rare and Manuscript Collections at rareref@cornell.edu. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.