The name Cokesbury is a combination of the last names of the first two American Methodist bishops, Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury, both elected in 1784.
Evans' brother-in-law, Brigadier General Martin Witherspoon Gary, joined Davis' party at Greensboro and they both accompanied the president until he spent the night of May 1, 1865, at the Gary family home in Cokesbury, South Carolina.