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If you recall back in Week 34, I had an overview of the many Benjamin Coxes there were in this family. I’m now deep-diving into Benjamin #2 from that list.

I’ve exhausted what I can easily find on Ancestry for Benjamin. In searching on FamilySearch from home, the vast majority of documents pertain to deed transactions in Shelby County, KY on the inherited property from his father. There are restrictions on Knox County, IN documents in FamilySearch; I will need to put that on my to do list for next Saturday when I am at the library. I really want to find something indicating that he died in 1887. He did file for a father’s pension in 1885 for his son Virgil who died in the Civil War.

Not much is known about Ben’s first wife, Elizabeth Shepherd. She died about 1845. Together they had four children.

Ben’s second wife, Lucinda, was the widow of Leonard Williams and together they had four daughters. Ben and Lucy did not have any children together. An obituary for Lucy stated she was 87 at the time of her death in 1898.

Ben and Lizzie’s oldest child, Sarah, married Amos Farmer and they had two children. By 1870, the children were living with Ben and Lucy, so it is not clear what happened to Sarah and Amos. Their son Virgil was born in late 1861. Amos served in the Civil War, however, he was reported as a deserter in October 1862. I will need to check the guardianship and probate records at the library to see if any further details might surface.

Sarah and Amos’s son Virgil was the center of a supposed scandal in July 1895, according to the local newspapers.1 Supposedly Virgil disappeared, leaving his wife and children to fend for themselves, and a pile of debt to deal with. His wife Carrie apparently filed desertion charges against him. The rumor was that he took off with his ex-wife. It was never disclosed where he went or what he did. The rumor was discounted in that the ex-wife was happily at home in Linton with her current husband. Virgil did return, he resigned from his position as deputy sheriff, and apparently he and Carrie sorted things out as they were listed in the same household in 1900.

Ben and Lizzie’s oldest son, Albert, is quite the conundrum. He appears in the 1850 census with the blended family, but he is not present in 1860. Granted he would be about 23 and possibly on his own. Some researchers have attributed him to an Albert Cox who married Caroline Sprinkle in 1867 in Warrick County. Albert who resided in Warrick County is more likely to be the son of William Cox and Rachel Underwood who migrated to Pike County, Indiana from North Carolina. This assignment would be more logical since Pike County borders Warrick County.

Without any proof linking Knox County Albert to Warrick County Albert, I will refrain from assuming they are the same person.

Third child Virgil joined the 51st Indiana Infantry Regiment in 1861. He became ill in Missouri and died of disease after only serving a few months. He is buried in the national cemetery in St Louis. His father Ben filed for a survivor’s pension in 1885.

The youngest of Ben and Lizzie’s children was John Shepherd Cox. He too served in the 51st Indiana Infantry Regiment. After returning from the war, he married Caroline House and they raised at least four children. The family resided in Labette County, Kansas, for several years before returning to Knox County. At some point prior to 1900 it would seem that John and Caroline divorced. Nothing was reported in the papers, but maybe something will turn up in the court records. An account of the 50th wedding anniversary celebration for Caroline’s parents in 1894 gives the impression that they were still married at that time.2 It is also possible that they merely separated and did not obtain a formal divorce.

Tree Ratings are back! I have 3 from this week to resolve. I have 4950 errors in the tree–374 possible duplicates, 4119 with no documents, 457 other errors.

  • A distant cousin with no documentation. Found him in the 1950 census and put a first name to his father.
  • A father-in-law of a great granduncle with a logic error associated to him. Since his is not a blood relative or married to one, I have removed him and his wife.
  • The last is the spouse of a distant cousin with no sources.

This week in the past…
I’d like to take an opportunity to celebrate the anniversaries of births, marriages, and deaths of my bloodlines from the week ahead.
343 years ago – marriage of Anna Shepard (9th ggm) and Daniel Quincy (9th ggf)
236 years ago – death of Margaret Moore Short (7th ggm)
227 years ago – death of Benjamin Bonnell (7th ggf)
205 years ago – marriage of Phillip Catt (7th ggf) and his second wife Sally Kimmons
202 years ago – birth of Oliver McCullough (3rd ggf)
192 years ago – birth of Henry V Gravel (3rd ggf)
131 years ago – death of John W Fielden (3rd ggf)
109 years ago – marriage of Magdelena Kaiser (ggm) and Emmett Keller (ggf)
107 years ago – death of Arely Fielden (2nd ggf)

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 26,965 people
End of Week: 26,997 people
Change = +32 persons
Tasks for coming week:

  • Follow up on several items for the family of Benjamin Cox and Elizabeth Shepherd.
  • Research the family of Finetta Cox and Eldridge Arnold.
  • Review the information in The Other Polks to see if there is anything I don’t already have
  • Continue data mining on Ben Cox and Sarah Piety
  • Confirm the data from Polk Family and Kinsmen has been added for this family and page numbers are noted for easier citation adding
  • Review Coxes of Cox Creek

  1. The Western Sun, 5 Jul 1895, page 1, newspapers.com. ↩︎
  2. The Western Sun, 23 Mar 1894, page 4, newspapers.com ↩︎