Cosby, Dabney, 1779-1862

Halifax Court House (Halifax Co.), Va. resident.

Dabney Cosby (1779-1862) of Raleigh, N.C., was a builder engaged in contructing courthouses, jails, houses, and other buildings in Virginia and North Carolina.

Dabney Cosby (1779-1862) of Raleigh, N.C., was a builder engaged in constructing courthouses, jails, churches, houses, and other buildings in North Carolina and Virginia. He worked on construction of the original buildings at the University of Virginia in the 1820s. He built the Sussex County, Va., courthouse in 1825. He also built the courthouse and several plantation houses in Halifax County, Va., between 1835 and 1850. From 1845 to 1847, Cosby worked under architect A. J. Davis as subcontractor in charge of masonry on additions to the Old East and Old West buildings at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Dabney Cosby was the son of Zacheus and Susan Dabney Cosby. He was born in Louisa County, Va., on 11 August 1779. In 1801, he married Frances Davenport Tapp (1785-1867). They lived in Staunton, Va.; then in Buckingham County, Va.; and, from 1840, in Raleigh, N.C. They had many children of whom the seventh was Dabney Minor Cosby (1813-1898). Dabney Cosby died in Raleigh on 8 July 1862.

Dabney Minor Cosby (1813-1898) was also a builder. He lived in Halifax, Va. Dabney Minor Cosby married Margaret Ann Curd (1811-1890). Among their children was a son, Dabney Cosby (1836-1886), who served first in the 53rd Virginia Infantry Regiment and then as Ordnance Officer for Wharton's Brigade of the Confederate Army.

See also Dictionary of North Carolina Biography .