University of North Carolina at Asheville
D.H. Ramsey Library
Special Collections/University Archives

Manuscript Register
for

Tench Coxe Collection
(1798-1910)

M79.16.1

Green River House, south steps - about 1900 - In the picture are, Col. and Mrs. Frank Coxe, Tench Coxe - against post to left, Frank (S.) Coxe - against post to right, Sallie P. (Mrs. Tench) near center looking to her right to a nurse, with Frank Coxe (baby). Others not identified although believe Daisy Coxe (Mrs. William T. Wright) is near center. Other children could be Daisy Wright (the daughter) - William C. (Buzzie) Wright, son. Seated center, bottom steps - Otis Mills Coxe. To left of Mrs. Frank Coxe is Maude Coxe. Near right knee of Maude Coxe is Tench Francis Coxe, son of Otis M. Coxe and Mary Connely Coxe - he died in Asheville, Nov. 1922 [Frank Coxe Collection, [coxe0016]

       Tench Coxe was born May 22, 1755 in Philadelphia.  He was the second of fifteen children born to William and Mary Francis Coxe, and became a well-known figure in American history before and after the Revolutionary War.  By 1785 he was a strict Federalist and in 1789 he was Pennsylvania’s delegate to the Continental Congress.  He was Assistant Secretary of the Treasurer under Alexander Hamilton in 1790, and in 1792 became the Commissioner of Revenue.  He later reversed his political sympathies and gave his support to Thomas Jefferson.

            Coxe believed in technology as a means for social growth and supported industrialization and land speculation.  In the spring of 1795 Coxe entered the speculation trade with the Rutherford Land Company, having been approached by Andrew Baird and Louis Beard.  During the next year he had speculative land ventures in both North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and came close to bankruptcy several times.  While Coxe also made speculation deals with his subordinates in the Treasury Department, and was seen by some as an opportunist, his activity was not uncommon in the day. 

See Speculation Lands Collection - Coxe Family

2

Misc. Correspondence of French Broad and Granite Brick Co. A-C. [70 items]

3

Misc. Correspondence of French Broad and Granite Brick Co. D-F. [33 items]

4

Misc. Correspondence of French Broad and Granite Brick Co. G-H. [59 items]

5

Misc. Correspondence of French Broad and Granite Brick Co. I-J. [25 items]

6

Misc. Correspondence of French Broad and Granite Brick Co. K-M. [50 items]

7

Misc. Correspondence of French Broad and Granite Brick Co. N-O. [26 items]

8

Misc. Correspondence of French Broad and Granite Brick Co. P-Q. [11 items]

9

Misc. Correspondence of French Broad and Granite Brick Co. R-S. [61 items]

10

Misc. Correspondence of French Broad and Granite Brick Co. T-V. [63 items]

11

Misc. Correspondence of French Broad and Granite Brick Co. W-Z. [19 items]

12

Copy of The Clay-Worker, 1910. [1 item]

13

Coxe memoranda. [1 item]

14

Correspondence regarding purchase of Okeefinokee Swamp (sic). [1 item]

15

Correspondence of Colonel Frank Coxe. [27 items]

16

Published items re: railroads and related activities. [7 items]

Items

Bundles of railway passes. 1888-1890 [4 bundles, approx. 200 passes]