Walter Coles

Walter Coles (December 8, 1790 – November 9, 1857) was a Virginia planter, military officer and Democratic politician who served in the Virginia House of Delegates and in the U.S. House of Representatives. Early and family life He was born at Coles Ferry in Halifax County, Virginia, the son of the former Catherine Thompson, the second wife of Isaac Coles. His father was a planter and legislator who served in the Virginia House of Delegates and Virginia's Ratification Convention of 1788, then in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was named for either his great-grandfather, who had become provost of Wxford County, Ireland in 1703, or for an uncle, Walter Coles (patriot), who had represented Halifax County in the House of Burgesses and Virginia Senate. His paternal grandfather, merchant John Coles, helped found Richmond, Virginia, and bought large tracts of land in southern Virginia, particularly along the upper James River as well the Roanoke River and its tributary, the Staunton River. His uncle, also John Coles, had inherited land in what was Goochland County but became Albemarle and even later Nelson Counties, and one of his sons, Edward Coles (this man's cousin), became the secretary to President James Madison and later moved to the Illinois Territory, freed his slaves, and served as Governor of Illinois before moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raising a family. According to different accounts, his mother was the sister of a former member of the Queen's Guards or a beauty descended from the Beekman family of New York City. His parents met during Isaac Coles' congressional service in New York City. Her sister Anne Thompson (1767-1848) married the elderly bachelor Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, who had been one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and held many offices including Governor of Massachusetts, Congressman and vice president of the United States. Ultimately, his father would be defeated for re-election by fellow Democratic-Republican Matthew Clay, who criticized the elder Coles for not marrying a Virginia woman. In any event, Catherine Thompson Coles had several children and survived her husband by decades. This man's elder half-brother, Isaac Coles Jr. (1777-1814) also served in the Virginia House of Delegates, and his cousin Isaac H. Coles (son of his uncle Walter Coles) in the Virginia state senate. Education