SIXTH GENERATION

62. George Coggill ⁽²⁾ was born on May 12 1780 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. He died on Jan 11 1867 in New York City. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York. George Coggill was a man of considerable prominence in the New York commercial world in the first half of the 19th century, as evidenced by the obituary that appeared in the New York Times, January 13th, 1867. I will quote it in full not only because it is a good summary of his life, but also because it is a fine example of the orotund Victorian obituary style in full flight.

"The record of the death of George Coggill, Esq., at his residence, no. 288 Fifth-avenue [now torn down] on the 11th inst., will awaken many memories of the past in our mercantile community. There is probably no older New-York merchant now living of any more prominence than was Mr. Coggill at the time of his demise. He came to the city from England in 1811, one of those old-fashioned, well-educated English merchants who gave tone and character to our business relations, which have been so well sustained by their successors.

"He was for many years at the head of the wool trade in this country. Mr. Coggill continued his English connection for many years, and his correspondents abroad of the old houses of Overend Gurney & Co., Fielden & Co., Pickersgill & Co. and George Peabody and Co., of London, will join his friends here at the deep regret at the loss of a man who did such great credit to the name of a New-York merchant.

"In all the relations of society, as a Christian gentleman, a kind father, a generous benefactor and a fond parent, he will be long remembered. At the advanced age of eighty-six, in the possession of all his faculties, surrounded by a large and affectionate family and cherished friends, he has gone to his reward."

George Coggill first came to this country in 1805, when he was a junior partner in the firm of Walker & Coggill, which was engaged in the woolen cloth trade. According to his great grandson, James C. Coggill, he emigrated to this country permanently in 1812, not 1811 as stated in the Times, and was caught in mid-Atlantic by the outbreak of war between England and the United States. His ship was captured by a privateer out of Newport, Rhode Island, and he and his family were interned in Fishkill, New York, for the duration of the war.

After the war he engaged in real estate speculation and in general shipping in addition to dominating the wool trade. Together with his sons, he owned three ships at the outbreak of the Civil War. One, the Urania, was built at Brookhaven in 1855. Its portrait--a fine one--was in the possession of James C. Coggill in 1981. At the outbreak of the Civil War, one of the ships was caught by a Confederate raider and burned at sea. The other two ships were promptly sold.

George Coggill donated the herd of Yorkshire black-faced sheep that grazed the sheep meadow in Central Park until 1934 and for whom the sheep meadow is named.

A pair of handsome portraits of George and Ann Coggill, painted about 1830, were in the possession of their great grandson George Coggill in 1981. He was married to Ann Atkinson on May 12 1807 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England.

63. Ann Atkinson ⁽²⁾ was born on May 3 1787 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. She was buried in 1835 in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York. She died on Jul 17 1835 in New York City. Children were:

i. Mary Ann Coggill was born on Apr 29 1808 in England. She died on Mar 18 1873.
ii. Henry Coggill was born on Mar 12 1810 in England. He died on Apr 26 1868.
iii. George Coggill was born on Apr 21 1811 in England. George Coggill died "of yellow fever, date unknown."
iv. Charles Coggill was born on Feb 9 1813. He died on Apr 7 1872.
v. Louisa Coggill was born on May 1 1815. She died on Jul 16 1865.
vi. Frederick Coggill was born on Aug 29 1822. He died on Dec 3 1870.
vii. Julia Coggill was born on Aug 8 1824. She died on Dec 12 1873.
31 viii. Catherine Matilda Coggill.

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