Cordell, Presley

Presley Cordell, born in 1779, was the seventh child of George Edward and Catherine Basye Cordell of Leesburg. Cordell, a longtime resident of the town of Leesburg, married Keziah Ressy Wilson in 1801. Keziah died within three months of their marriage. Presley then married Amelia Conner on 16 September 1802. They had twelve children.  

Cordell apprenticed with his father to learn the trades of silversmithing, clockmaking, and watchmaking, and likely partnered with him for nine years. His shop was located on the west side of King Street in Leesburg, across from the Eagle Tavern.  

In 1831, after years of business success and public service in Leesburg, Cordell was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. After his term of service in the Virginia General Assembly, he was elected mayor of Leesburg in 1833. Cordell was a member of the Whig Party and was strongly anti-Jackson. He was a director for the Bank of Leesburg and supported the American Colonization Society (which aimed to resettle African Americans in Africa) as well as Wicke’s Female Academy.  

Like many residents of Loudoun County, Cordell owned a plantation and depended on enslaved labor. He later moved to St. Louis County, Missouri, where his daughter Helen had gone in 1835 with her husband and infant son. Cordell died there on 18 July 1849 at the age of seventy. 

By Cassandra Farrell