Cooke’s Outline Map of North Carolina – In 1852, William Dewey Cooke, Principal of the North Carolina Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind,[[Cooke left North Carolina c1858 to take a similar position in Georgia. From 1868-1871 he was the first principal of the newly opened Maryland School for the Deaf. By late 1871, he had moved back to Staunton, Virginia, from whence he had come to North Carolina in the 1840s.]] published an outline map of the State, showing its political divisions. Cooke advertised the map in December 1852, as follows:
OUTLINE MAP OF NORTH CAROLINA
This map is about 10 by 19 inches and is intended to give a correct representation of the form and relative position of all the counties in the State with their Federal Population, and average amount of Taxes for five years. It is the only map of the State that has ever been published in which all the counties are accurately laid down.[[https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn85042141/1852-12-11/ed-1/seq-4/#words=MAP+OUTLINE]]
Cooke did not advertise a price for the map, but stated that a copy would be provided free to “Any person sending us a club of eight or more subscribers…” Cooke was referring to subscriptions to The Southern Weekly Post, a periodical published in the print shop at the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind.
The production of this map apparently was a response to legislative action.
Wednesday, October 13, 1852 – Journal of the Senate
Resolved, That a message be sent to the House of Commons, proposing to raise a Joint Select Committee of two on the part of each House, whose duty it shall be to prepare or cause to be prepared, a skeleton map of the State, dividing the same into counties, with the federal population of each county, agreeable to the last census, and the average amount of taxes paid by each county, as reported by the Comptroller, laid down thereon.[[https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p249901coll22/id/493159]]
On Tuesday, October 19, 1852, the Legislature approved a resolution “in favor of Charles Sully Wheeler”, though no particulars are provided in the published House and Senate Journals. Documented in a newspaper synopsis of the legislative session, however, is a resolution “to pay Charles Sully Wheeler $20 for preparing ten skeleton maps for the Legislature.”[[https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn85042059/1853-01-27/ed-1/seq-1/]]
Two days later…
Thursday, October 21, 1852 – Journal of the Senate
Mr. Boyd, from the Select Committee, to whom was referred the duty of procuring a skeleton map of the State, &c., reported, that the committee had procured a map, showing the relative position of the several counties in the State, the federal population, and the average amount of taxes paid by each county… and recommended that ten copies be printed for the use of the members of the Legislature. [I interpret this as a proposal to print an engraved or lithographed version of Wheeler’s manuscript map. I welcome any opinions via the “What’s on your mind?” comment box at the very bottom of this page.]
Mr. Steele moved to amend the report by striking out ten, and inserting ‘one copy for each member of the Legislature’; which was agreed to, and the report, as amended, concurred in.[[https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p249901coll22/id/493177]]
The following day, the amendment to print more than ten copies was reconsidered and rejected. However, six weeks later, the Legislature completed a “360”, approving the purchase of enough maps for each member, and indicating Cooke as the publisher of the map:
December 4, 1852 – Journal of the House of Commons
Resolved, That the clerk of this House procure a copy of the outline map by Wm. D. Cook of this city, for each member of the General Assembly, provided the cost does not exceed fifty cents each, and that the public treasurer be allowed the same in his public accounts.[[https://digital.ncdcr.gov/digital/collection/p249901coll22/id/493937]]
Based on the above tidbits, a definitively accurate narrative cannot be provided. Neither an 1852 “skeleton map” nor “outline map” are listed in the State Archives on line catalog[[I still miss MARS, which was not as user friendly, but better at finding “stuff”]], nor in WorldCat, and neither is found on the NC Maps web site.[[The map is listed in Laney, Francis Baker, and Katharine Hill Wood. 1909. Bibliography of North Carolina geology, mineralogy and geography: with a list of maps. Raleigh: E.M. Uzzell & Co., p296, giving the Library of Congress as a holding institution. Laney’s entry is as follows: 1852. Outline Map of North Carolina by William D. Cooke. 9 ¾ x 18 in. Printed at the office of the “Southern Weekly Post,” Raleigh, N.C., 1852. (L.C.). However, the map is not listed in Phillips, Philip L. A List of Maps of America in the Library of Congress. Washington: G.P.O, 1901. Interestingly, Laney does not include the 1872 Outline Map discussed subsequently.]] We know that, in late 1852, Wheeler made a manuscript “skeleton map” (plus 9 duplicate manuscript copies), and we know that Cooke printed an “outline map” containing essentially the same data as Wheeler’s map. It would be a logical assumption that Cooke’s map was a printed version of Wheeler’s map.
Fast forward twenty years and you’ll find another “outline map” advertised and credited to William Dewey Cooke. An editorial notice in the January 16, 1872 issue of The Daily Carolinian (Raleigh, NC) reads as follows:
Map of the State.—We have been shown an outline map of North Carolina, the invention and handiwork of our worthy townsman, Mr. W. D. Cooke, twenty years ago, when he was Principal of the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind. The counties established since have been added and the impression of the form with these additions we have seen. The map speaks well for Mr. C.’s genius…[[https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn85042085/1872-01-16/ed-1/seq-3/#words=map+outline]]
That description makes no mention of population, congressional districts, or other data. A map in the North Carolina Collection, at UNC-CH, may be an example of the map seen by the editor of The Daily Carolinian, though this copy contains extensive manuscript annotations referencing population and congressional district boundaries:
The map includes images of two contemporary Raleigh landmarks, the State Capitol (lower left) and the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind (upper left). This map, with its extensive manuscript additions, may have been used as the template for the final version, or conversely, someone who had this early copy may have updated it based on the final version. By June, 1872, newspaper advertisements paint an entirely new picture of the “Outline Map”:
POLITICAL OUTLINE MAP OF
NORTH CAROLINA
We have just published, for the proprietor [Cooke?], an OUTLINE MAP OF THE STATE, in colors, size 10×18 ½ inches, showing the Congressional Districts and giving the aggregate voting population of each, as well as that of the counties; the vote for Attorney General in 1870, and that for and against Convention, in 1871; the Senatorial Districts, and the number of Representatives to which the respective counties are entitled.
Members of all parties should have this Map, as it is useful in many ways.
PRICES—50 cents; folded and in stout covers, for the pocket, $1.00, including postage. Send orders to NICHOLS & GORMAN.[[https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn84026559/1872-06-11/ed-1/seq-2/#words=MAP+OUTLINE]]
The above advertisement and the following editorial notice, published in the June 26, 1872, issue of Blasting-powder for Democrats and Conservatives (seriously, that was the name of this newspaper) leave no doubt that the June advertised map is a significantly revised version of the 1872 Outline Map in the North Carolina Collection:
COOKE’S OUTLINE MAP.—We are indebted to Messrs. Nichols & Gorman for a copy of Cooke’s Outline Map of North Carolina as now laid out into Congressional districts. The map is handsomely printed, neatly colored, with the Districts distinctly marked and numbered. The map is the work of Mr. W. D. Cooke, formerly Principle of our Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and the Blind, and is well printed by Messrs. Nichols & Gorman. The map also gives in tabular form the voting population of every county I the State, of the several Congressional Districts, and gives also the State Senatorial Districts, the number of members each District is entitled to, the House of Representatives, &c. It is in brief a very useful sheet, and is sold at the low price of 50 cents by mail. A pocket edition, handsomely bound, is published at $1. The tables have been carefully compiled by Mr. Gilbert, of this city. Address Nichols & Gorman, Raleigh.[[ https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92072984/1872-06-26/ed-1/seq-1/#words=Map+Outline]]
The final 1872 version had significantly more statistical data than is seen on the North Carolina Collection’s early 1872 issue. Also, the final version was sold colored, unlike the uncolored copy in the NCC. I have been unable to locate an example of the final version of Cooke’s 1872 Outline Map of North Carolina. One might wonder if the vignettes in the upper and lower left on the January 1872 issue had to be sacrificed to make room for the abundant tabular data included on the June 1872 issue. I have also been unable to definitively identify “Mr. Gilbert,” who compiled the tables. It is a great disappointment that Cooke’s 1852 Outline Map and the final edition of his 1872 Outline Map are apparently lost to posterity. Do you know of any surviving copies of either map? Any information or comments, questions, or corrections would be greatly appreciated. Please use the “What’s on your mind?” comment box at the very bottom of this page. If you want to read more about William D. Cooke’s large wall map of North Carolina, please see the PDF available here: https://ncmaps.org/1857-cooke-map-of-north-carolina/.