Dabney Cosby

Dabney Cosby (c. 1793 – August 1862) was an American architect, slaveowner,[1] and builder active primarily in Virginia and North Carolina. His earliest known work dates to the 1820s; he is known to have been active until the time of his death.

For his great-grandson, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, see Dabney Cosby (politician).
Venable Hall at Hampden–Sydney College, designed by Cosby (1824–1830)

Biography

Cosby is said to have worked with Thomas Jefferson on the construction of some of the original buildings of the University of Virginia early in his career, but the precise nature of their collaboration remains unknown.[2] His earliest documented work is the courthouse of Sussex County, Virginia, dated to 1825. Cosby was well known around southern Virginia and North Carolina, and worked in many styles throughout his career. In 1840 he purchased a lot in Raleigh, North Carolina, living in that town until his death; his letters indicate that he travelled greatly during this time.

Most of Cosby's surviving buildings are in Virginia. These include Cumberland County Courthouse in Cumberland, Virginia; Grace Church in the former community of Ca Ira; Halifax County Courthouse in Halifax, Virginia, Venable Hall, on the campus of Hampden–Sydney College; the Sussex County Courthouse in Sussex, and the Goochland County Courthouse complex in Goochland, all of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as Hotel A, one of the buildings designed by Jefferson that comprise the core of the University of Virginia, which has long housed the Virginia Quarterly Review.

In North Carolina he designed the Dr. Beverly Jones House near Bethania, Forsyth County, North Carolina.[3]

Cosby died in 1862.

References
  1. "The African American Community at the University pre-1865". President's Commission on Slavery and the University (PDF) (Report). The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. 2018. p. 17. Retrieved 17 October 2020. During construction, the University hired anywhere from twelve to more than thirty people annually as well as many others who were hired for specific tasks and shorter periods of time. In addition, many of the white contractors hired by the University also owned and hired slaves, between three and eight people each according to the 1820 census. Some, however, owned considerably more, such as John M. Perry, who owned thirty-seven people in 1820 and Dabney Cosby, also a contractor, who owned fourteen. The work done to supply and create the University's built landscape was overwhelmingly done by enslaved people, who terraced land, hauled dirt, dug foundations, shaped and fired bricks, and did tinwork, carpentry, roofing, and stone masonry.
  2. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission staff (October 1980), "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Grace Church" (PDF), Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Virginia Department of Historic Resources
  3. Ruth Little-Stokes and Charles Greer Suttlemyre, Jr. (March 1976). "Dr. Beverly Jones House" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places – Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 2014-11-01.


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