The Coghill family was from Granville County, North Carolina. Four sons of farmer James O. Coghill and his wife, Ann, served in Co. G, 23rd North Carolina Infantry. Brothers Kinchin Wesley Coghill (b. ca. 1838), Joseph W. Coghill (b. ca. 1839), and James Norphlet Coghill (b. ca. 1841) enlisted on June 11, 1861. Joseph and James died of disease while they were stationed in Virginia in September of 1861. Jonathan Fuller Coghill (b. ca. 1842) joined his surviving brother in Co. G in February 1862. Both Kinchin and J. F. Coghill survived the war.