Dabney Cosby

Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each opens its own page, with its events date by date.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 9 dated events in the chronology →

1. about 1843 Samuel Phillips builds a law office with a Tudor entrance porch on East Franklin Street About 1843 Samuel Phillips, a lawyer who taught at the university, put up a small law office on East Franklin Street; by 1847 a boys' preparatory school was meeting in it. Its stepped-gable Tudor porch matches the Eagle Hotel annex built for Polk's 1847 visit. Dabney Cosby probably built it, and the design may be his or A. J. Davis's. People: Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, Dabney Cosby Place: East Franklin Street, beside 407 East Franklin, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Eagle Hotel annexSearch the index · NC State Historic Preservation Office: Chapel Hill Historic District Boundary Increase and Additional Documentation, National Register nomination (OR1750, 2015), entry for 401 E. Franklin · Also: NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975; The Daily Tar Heel, June 3, 1982, p. 1; The Daily Tar Heel, July 21, 1983, p. 23
2. 1844–1848 Dabney Cosby takes the masonry subcontract for the lengthening of Old East and Old West Chapel Hill contractors Isaac J. Collier and Kendall B. Waitt subcontracted the masonry of the university additions to Cosby, who put enslaved workmen including the brothers Osborne and Albert on the job. Cosby and the architect Alexander Jackson Davis quarrelled over the drawings, and president David L. Swain asked the Hillsborough builder John Berry to look at the brickwork, which Berry reported was defective. People: John Berry, David L. Swain, Alexander Jackson Davis, Isaac J. Collier, Kendall B. Waitt Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: Albert, OsborneIn the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · North Carolina Architects and Builders, NC State University Libraries: Cosby, Dabney (1779-1862)
3. December 23, 1844 The university awards Isaac J. Collier and Kendall B. Waitt the contract for the Old East and Old West additions On December 23, 1844, Collier and Waitt won the contract to build A. J. Davis's three-story brick additions to Old East and Old West, at $9,360. They subcontracted the masonry to Dabney Cosby; the next day trustee secretary Charles Manly asked that they hire his enslaved carpenters. People: Isaac J. Collier, Alexander Jackson Davis, Dabney Cosby, Charles Manly, Kendall B. Waitt Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · North Carolina Architects and Builders, NC State University Libraries: Collier, Isaac J. (b. ca. 1810)
4. 1845 to 1846 Brothers Albert and Osborne, enslaved by Dabney Cosby, plaster the lengthened Old East The additions to Old East and Old West, contracted in December 1844 and finished in 1848, used the labor of Albert and Osborne, brothers enslaved by Dabney Cosby, who plastered the lengthened Old East in 1845 and 1846. Cosby praised Albert's plastering as first-rate work. People: Albert, Osborne, Dabney Cosby, Alexander Jackson Davis Place: Old East, UNCUNC University Archives (For the Record): Slave Labor and Old East
5. February 1845 Osborne begins the masonry on the additions to Old East and Old West Dabney Cosby, who held the masonry subcontract for the university additions, sent Osborne to Chapel Hill carrying a letter to the main contractors saying that Osborne would have his mortar made up. Cosby ordered meal and bacon for him and wrote that what Osborne said could be relied on. People: Osborne, Dabney Cosby Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillIn the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · North Carolina Architects and Builders, NC State University Libraries: Albert and Osborne (fl. 1820s-1850s)
6. May 11, 1846 Albert joins his brother Osborne to plaster the halls at the university Cosby sent Albert from Smithfield in Virginia to Chapel Hill, where Osborne was already at work on the additions to Old East and Old West. Albert carried a letter to university president David L. Swain saying he came to help his brother plaster the halls and would judge the sand to be used together with Osborne. People: Albert, Dabney Cosby, David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: OsborneIn the index: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · UNC Libraries, Slavery and the Making of the University: Dabney Cosby to David L. Swain, 11 May 1846
7. 1847–1849 Dabney Cosby builds the Presbyterian church on Franklin Street After the university work Cosby built a small Tuscan style church designed by Alexander Jackson Davis for the Chapel Hill Presbyterian congregation, whose members included university president David L. Swain. In March 1848 the congregation member Charles Phillips wrote to Davis that the mason could not match the lilac gray color specified for the outside. The building no longer stands. People: David L. Swain, Charles Phillips, Alexander Jackson Davis Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · North Carolina Architects and Builders, NC State University Libraries: Cosby, Dabney (1779-1862)
8. 1847 Nancy Hilliard adds a castellated annex to the Eagle Hotel for President Polk's visit For President James K. Polk's visit to the 1847 commencement, Nancy Hilliard, who kept the Eagle Hotel, added a stuccoed two-story wing with a battlemented porch in a medieval manner. The annex stood on the site of today's Graham Memorial; Dabney Cosby likely built it, perhaps to his own design or one by A. J. Davis. People: Dabney Cosby, James K. Polk, Nancy Hilliard Place: Eagle Hotel, present site of Graham Memorial, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Graham MemorialSearch the index · NC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 24 · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, April 22, 1994, p. 1
9. by 1848 Free Black cabinetmaker Thomas Day supplies woodwork and furniture for the new society halls Thomas Day, the free Black cabinetmaker of Milton, North Carolina, supplied woodwork and furniture for the halls and libraries of the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies in A. J. Davis's north additions to Old East and Old West. Little names him, with the Virginia builder Dabney Cosby, among the craftsmen who carried out Davis's design. People: Thomas Day, Dabney Cosby Place: Old East and Old West, UNC campusNC Digital Collections: M. Ruth Little, The Town and Gown Architecture of Chapel Hill, 1795-1975 (2004), p. 23