The document below details how Philip's wife Eliza, a free woman, purchased Philip and was now petitioning for his freedom so he could remain in the state, and they could remain a family. After the petition was denied the family moved north.
Coming from Virginia the Cooley family settled in Tottenville after Abraham Cole Totten, a mariner sailing regularly to the South, sold them property (see maps below). Eliza is buried at the Rossville AME Zion Church (see the headstone below).