Chronicles of the Coe Colony - Softcover

Coe, Samuel S; Adams, R A

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0979771315 ISBN 13: 9780979771316

Publisher: Xerxes Publishing, 2007

Synopsis

Samuel Coe was born in the Coe Ridge Colony of freed slaves in the hills of Cumberland County, Kentucky in 1879. In this book he describes the Colony and its beginnings after the Civil War. The earliest days of the community are explored, as are its citizens; along with the fatal feud with a local white family, early logging of the Cumberland River, and the recurring problem of violence with those that lived around them. Chronicles of the Coe Colony had been out of print for almost 80 years before this reprint was issued. The book brings to life a period in this infamous community of freedmen, with their mixed heritage of African American, Native American and Caucasian blood, that has rarely been seen. Told in the words of one who grew up on the ridge and experienced many of the stories firsthand, it is sure to delight those that have an interest in former slave communities that emerged after the Civil War.

About this title

About the Author

Samuel Coe was a son of Bill and Mandy Coe, and the grandson of Ezekiel and Patsy Ann Coe, the original settlers of the Coe Ridge Colony. It is thought that Samuel was born in 1879, which is corroborated in the book; for, in Chapter Ten the story is told of George Taylor's death at the "voting-place" in 1892, and later in the same chapter mentions "the writer, a boy of thirteen years." It is believed that he moved to Kansas City, Kansas when he was in his early twenties, around the turn of the century, although in this book it states, "In this very city of Indianapolis, in 1902, the writer was attacked by what is known as a bungelow gang." So the exact year Coe moved to Kansas City cannot be stated with certainty. It is generally thought that Samuel worked as a fireman in Kansas City and was also assisted with this book by members of the fire department with which he worked. He died in Kansas City in 1962.

From the Back Cover

EZEKIEL AND PATSY ANN COE had been slaves all their lives. When the Civil War ended they bought 300 acres of hard land on Pea Ridge, Kentucky, and proceeded to move their family to the new home. They brought both of their mothers and ten children with them, including six boys under the age of twenty-five. On this piece of land, covered in virgin forest, with some trees measuring nine feet in diameter, they built what came to be known as Zeketown, or, the Coe Colony.

Zeke's dream was to provide for his family, ensure their freedom, and to live in peace while doing so. But to his disappointment he found that all white men weren't as honest as his former master, and violence soon descended upon the people of the Coe Colony.

Bloodshed and heartbreak plagued this proud and determined family throughout the history of the community, which finally succumbed to political and financial pressures in the 1950's.

This book, originally written in 1930, is being printed for the first time in almost eighty years. Written by Samuel Coe, grandson of Ezekiel and Patsy Ann, it tells the story of the early years of the Coe Colony, from its inception through the turn of the 20th Century.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

In Cumberland County, State of Kentucky, just across the Tennessee-Kentucky line, in the 18th Century, were born two girls of mysterious parentage and of dark complexion. Little is known of their ancestry, because they belonged to the period of black slavery in America when little was known and less cared concerning the parentage of a dark child or the identity of such a child. According to information considered reliable, the mother was dark and the father, who was unknown, was said to be an Indian. The older sister was called Betty, and the younger one, Sukey.

Being slaves, and like all other slaves, subject to their master in everything, these girls were used just as their master saw fit to use them, and under such conditions and circumstances they grew into womanhood and became mothers at an early age. Betty was the mother of two proud sons, named Ezekiel and nicknamed Zeek and Rance; Sukey gave birth to a son who was named Riley, and a daughter, named Patsy.

Whether the children of these two sisters were related on their father's side or not is not known, but they belonged to the same master and lived and worked in the same place and under the same conditions. In the case of the girl and the boy, children of the younger sister, the boy must have been the son of some white man, because I can remember he was spoken of as being very "bright".

It is scarcely possible that the readers should be familiar with the attitude of white men of that period in regard to illegitimate children born to slave women, hence it might be well to explain that, if the mixed-breed slave child was too bright, they would "South him"; that is, they would sell him to slave traders who would take him into the worst section of the South. This is what happened to Riley. Having in his veins the blood of three races, the dominant whites, the royal Croutau, and the unconquerable Indian, and the combined peculiarities of them all, he was difficult to understand and to get along with.

For the reason just given, Riley's master, Jack Coe, decided to sell him to the "slave traders," with the expectation that they would take him to the far South, where he would serve under overseers and hard task-masters. So this boy, with the strange blood-mixture, went to the block, was sold to the highest bidder, and was carried far away to the real South, from which it was thought he would never return. But, as in many cases, the plans miscarried, as the sequel will show.

Edition details

• Publisher: Xerxes Publishing
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0979771315
• ISBN 13: 9780979771316
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200
• Editor: Guffey Billy N