Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

William Cobbs Letters, 1827-1841, are part of Lynchburg (Va.) Chancery Cause: John Motley & wife, Etc. vs. John P. Cobbs, Etc. [1848-002] and are digitized and available through the Chancery Records Index on the website of the Library of Virginia. The image range for the letters within the case is roughly image 111-153. Please use digital images.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

William Cobbs Letters, 1827-1841. Accession 41683. Personal papers collection. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These items came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from the City of Lynchburg.

Processing Information

The original chancery cause came in through a transfer of court records which was described and processed by the local record department as part of the Chancery digitization project. The identified letters where then photocopied and gifted to the private papers department where they were described as a personal papers collection.

Encoded by G. Crawford, 2005; edited by M. Mason, November 2023.

Biographical/Historical Information

William Cobbs was born March 2, 1792 in Campbell County, Virginia. He attended Hampden-Sydney College. After graduating, Cobbs managed his father's plantations in Campbell and Bedford Counties and his business activities in Kanawha Salines in present-day West Virginia. In 1828, he purchased Poplar Forest from Thomas Jefferson's grandson, Francis Eppes. Cobbs died September 6, 1852 in Bedford County, Virginia.

Scope and Content

William Cobbs Letters, 1827-1841, consist of correspondence used as evidence in the Lynchburg, Va., Chancery cause styled John Motley & wife, Etc. vs. John P. Cobbs, Etc. which excuses William of inadequately fulfilling his role as executor to Robert Cobbs, his father's, estate.

The letters are primarily between William Cobbs and William R. Cox and concern Cox's management of his finances and primarily concern William Cobbs' affairs as an enslaver. The correspondence highlight white enslaver's treatment of enslaved Black individuals as chattel. Many of the letters concern the most advantageous hiring out agreements for Harry, George and Peter, three Black men enslaved by Cobbs. Additionally, there are mentions of Harry's poor mental health, the self-emancipation of Ned and Tom and their pursuit to flee to Ohio or Canada, death of Moses, and sale of Stephen.

Related Material

The chancery suit, John Motley and wife and others versus John P. Cobbs and others, can be found in the Local Records Collection at the Library of Virginia. The index number is Chancery Cause 1848-002.

See also: Lynchburg (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1805-1945

See also: Robert Lewis Cobbs letters, 1817

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Lynchburg (Va.) Chancery Causes, 1805-1945 at the Library of Virginia.