Cole Digges (patriot)

Cole Digges
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates for Warwick County, Colony of Virginia
In office
1778-1784
Preceded byEdward Harwood
Succeeded byJohn Langhorne
Personal details
Born1748
E.D. plantation, York County, Virginia, Colony of Virginia
Died1788
SpouseMary Robinson of Isle of Wight County
Parent(s)Dudley Digges (patriot), Marthe Burwell Armistead
RelativesCole Digges (grandfather)
Residence(s)Denbigh plantation, Warwick County, Virginia
EducationCollege of William & Mary
Occupationplanter, military officer, politician
Military service
AllegianceContinental Army
Branch/service Virginia Militia
Ranklieutenant
Unit1st Continental Light Dragoons
Battles/warsAmerican Revolutionary War
Battle of Brandywine

Cole Digges (1748–1788) was a Virginia planter, military officer and politician who represented now-defunct Warwick County, in the Virginia House of Delegates (1778–1784) and during the Virginia Ratification Convention of 1788. Possibly the most famous of three related men of the same name who served in the Virginia legislature during the 18th century, and despite genealogical disagreement this man was most likely the son of Dudley Digges of Yorktown and Williamsburg and his first wife, Martha Burwell Armistead. He served during the American Revolutionary War as a dragoon in the Continental Army, rising from the rank of cornet to lieutenant before resigning and starting his legislative career.[1][2][3] The other two related men of the same name were his grandfather, Yorktown merchant Cole Digges who served in both houses of the Virginia legislature, and his cousin Cole Digges (d. 1777) who briefly represented Warwick County in the House of Delegates before his death and this man's succession.

  1. ^ Tyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. (1915). Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Vol. IV. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 180.
  2. ^ Tyler, Lyon G., "Pedigree of a Representative Virginia Planter", William & Mary Quarterly Jan. 1893 [1] also in Genealogies of Virginia Families: From the William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc.) 1982) vol. II, pp. 173-174, 185
  3. ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, The Virginia General Assembly pp. 127, 131, 135, 139, 143, 147, 151, 174