Category Archives: DNA Matches

Researching Isaac Cox: Insights from Newspapers and DNA Matches

18 Sunday Jan 2026

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Yes, I skipped a week. Life has been crazy the past couple weeks and we were traveling. Let me catch you up on some odds and ends, and then maybe I’ll get some research done.

As I logged into Ancestry this week, apparently there were some new records associated with part of the DeMoss family I claim. I was able to update a couple dates and places and discovered a couple more children that I did not previously have. As a result, I updated my manuscript with the new information.

I had a couple new DNA matches with identified common ancestors this week. One of them was fairly close on my mom’s side of the family and I was able to add him to the tree with little issue.

Recently I received an email from FamilySearch touting newspaper searches. They have partnered with Storied to access their newspaper archives. Keep in mind that you will need a subscription to Storied to actually access any articles you might find.

I am currently doing a broad search on Isaac Cox in Kentucky on Newspapers.com. I am not limiting my search to any time frame because I want to see if there are any articles that mention Isaac that were published throughout the years. While most of them so far repeat the same information, I did find one article from 19341 regarding Transylvania College (now University) in Lexington. The College had been provided documentation proving that Col. Isaac Cox, my 5th great grandfather’s brother, was killed by Indians in 1788. The article stated the documents would be retained as part of the school’s history. I have emailed the school’s library to see if they still have those documents and if I can get a picture or scan of said documents. Wish me luck!

The Nelson County, Kentucky, newspapers appeared to be very invested in their county’s beginnings, especially during the 1920s and 1930s. Most of the articles that came up in those newspapers were focused on that era. The story seemed to imply that Col. Isaac arrived in Kentucky in 1775-1776 and stayed. Probably the best sourced of the written family histories by Adams puts forth a version where Col Isaac came to Kentucky, returned back to the east and then permanently relocated the family in 1780. My guess is that reality is somewhere in the middle of those two scenarios and he was “commuting” back and forth, making sure his family’s claims would not get poached over that five year period.

What I didn’t find was more information on the day to day at Cox’s Station that would provide insight into members of the family. Usually the articles mentioned that Cox’s Station was built by Col Isaac and they move on to some other topic like the Ballard Massacre or the Burnt Station. Both topics involve collateral families to the Coxes, however, the Burnt Station hits me a little closer to home as it impacted the Polk family, another of my bloodlines.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4927 errors in the tree–376 possible duplicates, 4096 with no documents, 455 other errors.

  • My first error this week was the result of a typo. The father’s death date was listed as 1834 instead of 1934. Makes a huge difference!
  • A cousin of my grandfather needed some sources added to his record. I updated his many siblings while I was at it.
  • Another distant cousin with no sources attached. I found a newspaper reference that unfortunately did not paint him in a positive light. I was able to clean up his siblings as well.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,050 people
End of Week: 27,071 people
Change = +21 persons
Tasks for coming week:

  • Continue research on Isaac Cox, “The Immigrant” and his wife Susannah Tomlinson.
  • Review Coxes of Cox Creek
  • Run newspaper search, especially for articles recounting local history
  • Review the Cox package of information from Sweden
  • Review Minutes of Yohogania Co, VA
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky
  1. “Interesting History of Transylvania College,” The News-Democrat, Carrollton, Kentucky, March 1, 1934, page 7, newspapers.com. ↩︎

2025 Week 19

11 Sunday May 2025

Posted by in DNA Matches, Genealogy

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So my main focus this week is to review the remaining five DNA matches I have for Benjamin Cox and Sarah Piety.

  • The first two are siblings. Their tree does not lead back to Benjamin and Sarah. Their Cox line stops at a John Cox in the early 1800s in Tennessee. Ancestry’s IA attempted to make a connection to Ben and Sarah through a Benjamin Cox born in Tennessee in 1786. These might connect a couple generations further back. I’ll revisit them in the next generation.
  • The third DNA match also is projected through the same Benjamin Cox who is not a son of Ben and Sarah.
  • The fourth DNA match was actually fruitful. I was able to get her added, but that family was messy–multiple marriages, and an unfortunate murder-suicide mixed in.
  • The last DNA match for the Cox line at present was connected to Benjamin’s brother Jonathan Piety Cox, however. The family was residing in Warrick Co, IN, not Knox County. I need to be on the look out for a Jonathan who married a Nancy Huston. I’ll revisit this one again later as well.

To recap, I have 9 Cox DNA matches that need extensive research to add to my tree. Hopefully I’ll be able to place them while working a future generation. For now, I need to get busy on Ben and Sarah.

This week Ancestry gave me three new errors to resolve. I have 5276 errors in the tree–372 possible duplicates, 4298 with no documents, 606 other errors.

  • The first error was for someone entered as James. He had no last name and was only connected to two other people in the tree who were not connected to the tree in any way. I removed all three.
  • Helen is my second error for the week. She has sources but is not connected to the tree. I’ll remove her too.
  • The last error for this week is a 6th cousin who doesn’t have any sources attached. She is a granddaughter of a DNA match. She has lots of hints, so I’ll get her cleaned up as well as her siblings and parents.

This week in the past…
I’d like to take an opportunity to celebrate the anniversaries of births, marriages, and deaths of my bloodlines which will occur during the week ahead.
301 years ago – death of Jacques Cardinal (8th ggf)
222 years ago – birth of Nicholaus Sievers (4th ggf)
186 years ago – birth of Louisa Reeve (3rd ggm)

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,833 people
End of Week: 27,868 people
Change = +35 person
Tasks for coming week:

  • Start 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
  • Review History of Mariah Creek Christian Church
  • Review bio of James Ballard, husband of Susannah Cox

2025 Week 17

27 Sunday Apr 2025

Posted by in DNA Matches, Genealogy

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It’s been a productive week for me in the world of genealogy. First and foremost, I finished writing the chapter on the family of Gabriel Cox and Nancy Squires. I documented the last two daughters and put together what I hope is a coherent and cohesive argument for John S Cox to be Gabe and Nancy’s son. I do need to look up a few Indiana marriage records to complete citations at the library next weekend. I’ll let it meld and marinate for a while, then revisit it for possible revisions. I will continue to search for documents periodically on this family to hopefully add more about their lives.

Moving on! The next family unit to research is Gabriel’s parents Benjamin Cox and Sarah Piety. My first task is to attempt to resolve the DNA matches I have tagged for this couple. There were a dozen or so when I pulled up the list. So far I have been successful in connecting two of them.

  • P.H. – The algorithm tries to connect this individual through a Nancy Cox to Ben and Sarah. I am not aware of them having a daughter named Nancy, let alone one that was born in Maryland. Nancy may be a descendant of Isaac Cox (Ben’s father) or one of his brothers.
  • L.D. – The algorithm has misidentified the Albert Cox in this match’s line to a grandson of Ben and Sarah. The Albert Cox belonging to L.D. resided in Pike County, Indiana, whereas my Albert Cox did not. The Albert in question may descend down a different line from Ben or from one of his brothers.
  • M.H. – When I originally tagged this one, the algorithm suggested that Ben and Sarah were the common ancestors. That assertion has been removed. I will leave it tagged for Ben and Sarah for now, but this one could be a hard one to sort out. The match’s mother was involved in a bit of dramatic scandal as a baby so parentage is questionable.
  • K.P. – This is another match that was originally attributed to Ben and Sarah but no longer are. I’ll definitely monitor the situation.
  • M.C. – This match also was previously tied to Ben and Sarah. I did note that she was descended from a step-granddaughter of Ben and Sarah when I first tried to resolve the match. We don’t have any shared matches which is concerning for me.

I still have five matches to work through this week before I start reviewing the data I already have on Ben and start collecting as much detail as I can on my 5th great grandfather.

This week Ancestry gave me three new errors to resolve. I have 5275 errors in the tree–376 possible duplicates, 4294 with no documents, 607 other errors.

  • A 5th cousin 1x removed needed some documentation. She’s a cousin down my Ireland line which I haven’t worked on in a long time.
  • A 5th cousin also needed to be documented. For whatever reason, I listed her last name as her mother’s maiden name in error. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any documents for her.
  • The spouse of a 3rd cousin 2x removed was undocumented. He had several references to update his record with.

This week in the past…
I’d like to take an opportunity to celebrate the anniversaries of births, marriages, and deaths of my bloodlines which will occur during the week ahead.
316 years ago – marriage of Jacques Duguay (8th ggf) to his second wife Anne Baillargeon
145 years ago – death of Robert C. Thompson (3rd ggf)

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,769 people
End of Week: 27,829 people
Change = +60 person
Tasks for coming week:

  • Document retrieval at FamilySearch Affiliate Library
  • Resolve remaining Ben Cox DNA matches
  • Start data mining on Ben Cox