Coke family papers

Descriptive Summary

Title
Coke family papers
Date
1822-1936
Extent
2.07 Cubic feet
Subjects
Farm management--Records and correspondence.
Households--Accounting.
Inventions.
Patents--United States.
Real estate business--Kentucky.
Roads--Design and construction--Kentucky.
Sawmills--Records and correspondence.
Tax returns.
Arrangement
Collection is arranged by format and chronologically.
Finding Aid Author
Finding aid prepared by Laura A. Hess
Preferred Citation
71M29: [identification of item], Coke family papers, 1822-1936, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
Repository
University of Kentucky

Collection Overview

Biography / History
James Guthrie Coke, Jr., born July 29, 1866, to James Guthrie Coke and Jane Mary Winston, lived in Logan County, Kentucky, on the McCutchins Meadows estate. He is the great-grandson of James Guthrie, a United States Senator and member of President Franklin Pierce's cabinet, and the grandson of Mary Elizabeth Guthrie, wife of John Caperton. J. Guthrie Coke, Jr. married Carrie McCutchins in 1886 and had four children. He played important roles in a political movement in 1924 to defeat a road bond issue and in 1931 to select candidates from the Democratic Party for public office by direct primaries rather than by convention.
"Edelen, McAfee, Gulick and Associated Families." Rootsweb. Ancestry.com. 13 August 2011. Web. 10 January 2012.
Scope and Content
The Coke family papers contain expense records, account books, business ledgers, correspondence, family sketches, and a scrapbook. The documents record the Coke family history and their financial and business transactions with the bulk of the materials dating from the late 1800s to early 1900s. Noteworthy correspondence includes a group of letters written from Europe by Mary Elizabeth Guthrie and her second husband, John Caperton, in 1854 to members of the family in Kentucky. Other notable items consist of a typescript of a family sketch of James Guthrie; a handwritten notebook describing the life of James Guthrie Coke; and two U.S. Patents, one for car-couplings and one for band cutters and feeders, registered to James Guthrie Coke, et al. in 1882.
A large portion of the collection relates to the Dark Tobacco Growers Cooperative Association of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. It comprises stock certificates, tax receipts, real estate reports, bank receipts, and Internal Revenue Service documents. Significant items include petitions and supporting evidence for the 1924 road bond issue as well as the movement in 1931 to select candidates by direct primaries in the Democratic Party of Kentucky.

Restrictions on Access and Use

Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
Use Restrictions
The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections.

Contents of the Collection

Will and correspondence, 1822, 1839, 1863

  • Box 1, Folder 6
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Colonel William Marshal papers, 1823-1825

  • Box 2, Folder 1
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Mary Elizabeth Guthrie letters, 1856 June 7-October 12

  • Box 2, Folder 2
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J.W. Caperton letters, 1854-1856

  • Box 2, Folder 3
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General correspondence, 1873-1888, 1873-1888

  • Box 2, Folder 4
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General correspondence, 1890-1898, 1890-1898

  • Box 2, Folder 5
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Smith and Coke correspondence, 1875

  • Box 2, Folder 6
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J. Guthrie Coke letters to son, 1885-1887

  • Box 2, Folder 7
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J.H. Caperton letters to J. Guthrie Coke, 1886-1892

  • Box 2, Folder 8
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Mr. and Mrs. J. Guthrie Coke financials and correspondence, 1893-1899

  • Box 2, Folder 9
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J. Guthrie Coke, Jr. family financial papers and correspondence, 1900-1909

  • Box 2, Folder 10
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Coke and Caperton financial and estate papers, 1905-1908

  • Box 2, Folder 11
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Coke and Caperton financial papers, 1909-1910

  • Box 2, Folder 12
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J. Guthrie Coke, Jr. family financial papers, 1911-1919, 1911-1919

  • Box 2, Folder 13
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J. Guthrie Coke, Jr. family financial papers, 1920-1923, 1920-1923

  • Box 2, Folder 14
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J. Guthrie Coke, Jr. family financial papers, 1924, 1924

  • Box 3, Folder 1
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Bond issue and Kentucky Pay-as-you-go program, 1924

  • Box 3, Folder 2
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Kentucky Pay-as-you-go program, 1924

  • Box 3, Folder 3
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Coke family, Pay-as-you-go program, and Dark Tobacco Growers financial papers, 1925

  • Box 3, Folder 4
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Logan County Fiscal Court, 1926

  • Box 3, Folder 5
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J. Guthrie Coke, Jr. income tax papers, Dark Tobacco Growers, and Pay-as-you-go papers, 1927-1928

  • Box 3, Folder 6
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Coke family financial papers, 1929, 1929

  • Box 3, Folder 7
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Coke family financial papers, 1930, 1930

  • Box 4, Folder 1
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Democratic Party of Kentucky papers, 1931-1936

  • Box 4, Folder 2
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Dark Tobacco Growers and Caperton financial papers, undated

  • Box 4, Folder 3
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Coke and Guthrie family correspondence and historical materials, undated

  • Box 4, Folder 4
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Family tree, undated

  • Box 5, Folder 1
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James Guthrie biographical materials, undated

  • Box 5, Folder 2
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Biographical and genealogical materials, undated

  • Box 5, Folder 3
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Manuscript account of James Guthrie Coke, undated

  • Box 5, Folder 4
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Patents, 1882

  • Box 5, Folder 5
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Farm ledger and stud book, 1891-1898, 1932

  • Box 5, Folder 6
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Sawmill ledger, 1884-1887

  • Box 5, Folder 7
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Shopbook and blacksmith shop ledger, 1881-1882

  • Box 5, Folder 8
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J. Guthrie Coke, Jr. Daybook, 1896-1904

  • Box 5, Folder 9
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J. Guthrie Coke notebook, undated

  • Box 5, Folder 10
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Queenie B. Coke address book, 1904, undated

  • Box 5, Folder 11
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General papers, 1887-1936, undated

  • Box 5, Folder 12
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Notebook, undated

  • Box 5, Folder 13
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Photograph, undated

  • Box 5, Folder 14
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Guthrie and Coke scrapbook, 1859-1887

  • Item 1
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Account book, 1880-1896

  • Item 2
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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.

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You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.

If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.