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Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Octavius Coke Papers #04846, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Provenance

Received from J. Douglas Mattox of Raleigh, N.C., in October 1996 (Acc. 96152).

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

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• Coke, Octavius, 1840-1895.
• North Carolina--Economic conditions--19th century.
• North Carolina. Secretary of State.
• Politicians--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Spanish-American War, 1898--Campaigns--Cuba.
• United States. Army. North Carolina Volunteer Infantry, 1st.
• Coke, Octavius.

Octavius Coke (1840-1895) was a lawyer, Democratic politician, and North Carolina secretary of state, 1891-1895. He was born in Williamsburg, Va., moved to Edenton, N.C., after the Civil War and to Raleigh in 1880. With his first wife, who died in 1876, he had two children, Carolina and Octavius, Jr. With his second wife, Kate Fisher, he had four more children.

Letters, notes on tariffs and state banks, and an internal revenue statement for 1891. Three of the letters were written by Octavius Coke, Jr., in the 1890s. Letters to his sister Caroline and to his stepmother in 1897 describe his position with the American Tobacco Company and his life in Cincinnati. A letter, 14 January 1899, to his stepmother from Havana, Cuba, describes his life in the 1st North Carolina Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War.