Uncovering the History of Gabriel Cox’s Family

08 Sunday Mar 2026

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This week I want to go back and fill in what I can, estimate even if possible, for Gabriel Cox’s family.

Previously published genealogies/biographies provide an estimated birth for Gabriel as 1718. His death in 1778 in Ohio County, Virginia is documented by the proving of his will. In land records, he is referred to as a yeoman.

yeoman – a man holding and cultivating a small landed estate

A land record from Hampshire County, Virginia recorded in 1767 names his wife Eleanor. Eleanor was also one of the executors of Gabriel’s estate in August 1778.

Gabriel’s will names his children as: David Cox, Israel Cox, Mary Ann Spencer, Margaret McCoy, Diana Cox, Peter Cox. Are they in order by age? Possibly. Mary Ann and Margaret are/were married. There is no mention of anyone being a minor. Peter received the lion’s share of the estate. Was he the oldest? Unknown. Was Israel the oldest? He was named a co-executor of the will. The estate inventory was recorded in February 1779.

The 1777 Virginia Oath of Allegiance was required of men over the age of sixteen. Gabriel and his three sons all are documented as taking the oath in Ohio County. Based on the date of the will, David, Peter and Israel were all at least 21 in 1778 and therefore born prior to 1757.

The Cox Family in America mentions that Israel married Elizabeth Newkirk. They had two sons and seven daughters. The youngest child was born about 1794. The oldest son was named Israel as well. Israel Jr’s headstone states he was 68 when he died in 1846. That would put his birth in 1777 or 1778 and his parents’ marriage around 1776. The family was in Ohio County at that time, so it is probable that the marriage took place there. Assuming Israel was of age when he married Elizabeth, that would set his date of birth back to 1755.

A deposition made by Israel, son of Gabriel, in 1830 mentions that Israel is 80 years old. This would put his date of birth at 1750. This also means he was still alive in 1830. The deposition was part of a land dispute involving the McGuire family in Brooke County, Virginia. The deposition was collected in Morgan County, Ohio.

A land tract book for Muskingum County, Ohio, recorded a purchase by Israel Cox from Brooke County, Virginia in February 1830. Cox Family did say that all of Gabriel’s children moved to Ohio.

An interesting document that surfaced was an 1825 complaint in Morgan County, Ohio regarding the election of the county sheriff. An Israel Cox was named as an ineligible voter who cast a ballot. The case was ultimately dismissed.1 I am not 100% sure this is one of my Israel Cox’s but it very well could be.

I still need to track down census records for Israel to corroborate where he was and when. I have an 1820 census for Steubenville, Jefferson County, Ohio, but I’m starting to doubt that this is my Israel. Something to explore in the coming week. I’m a visual person so I constructed the tree below in PowerPoint. I can add to it and update as I go along.

FamilySearch has introduced an alternative way to do Full Text Search called “Simple Search”. It can be found under the Experiments section for now. You can enter a simple prompt like “Search for Gabriel Cox who was born in 1718 and died in Ohio, County, Virginia in 1778” and it will find documents for you. You might need to narrow them down a little using the filters if it returns too many documents. I used it this week for my research on Gabriel’s family and found several documents that I did not find previously using the original Full Text Search. I definitely recommend trying it out!

In my search, I stumbled across a Cox family genealogy titled Cox Characters. The family described in that manuscript is not related to my Cox family, however, they were in the same general area of Pennsylvania at about the same time. My Isaac Coxes did manage a two page mention.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4893 errors in the tree–384 possible duplicates, 4062 with no documents, 447 other errors.

  • The mother-in-law of a distant cousin. As stated before, I am pruning extended family.
  • The husband of a distant cousin needs a source and a first name. I managed to find his death certificate and fill in some blanks for his wife as well. As it turns out, his wife is a step-daughter of a cousin. I’ll delete them as well.
  • Finally a distant cousin who needs a source. I managed to locate a public record with a partial birthdate. Better than nothing.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,188 people
End of Week: 27,209 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
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky
  1. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C911-3HYG-S?view=fullText&keywords=Israel%20Cox%2COhio&lang=en&groupId= ↩︎

Researching the Cox Family: Insights & Discoveries

01 Sunday Mar 2026

Posted by in DNA Matches, Genealogy

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I started the week with a DNA match with a common ancestor down my Lankford line. It was easy enough to complete since I already had most of their line completed due to another previous match. I’m actually excited to move on to the Winkler and Lankford lines to research. Unfortunately, I probably won’t be able to add very many generations to those lines. I have not been able to get much further back on George Winkler, my third great grandfather. He seems to have appeared in the Edwardsport area out of thin air. Conflicting information about where he was born does not help the situation either. I will likely need to do a wide area canvas of Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana for any Winklers between 1840 and 1860. That I’m not looking forward to.

I will be able to document at least one generation of the Lankford family and most of it has been built out to this point. Again, I’ll likely need to do a wide area search across three states to find Benjamin Lankford’s roots.

And not to get too far ahead of myself, but the current plan is to finish the Cox family, stopping at Isaac Sr. I will likely include the limited information I have on Gabriel and Friend, his assumed brothers. Unless I can find something to substantiate they really were brothers, Isaac will be the last chapter in this section and I want it finished up by the end of 2026. Next will be the Winklers which likely will only be one chapter long. With the extensive three state search planned, I hope I can wrap that up by end of year 2027. I’ll begin research on the McCulloughs in 2028. That line could take a while to complete as I have three or four generations to research, including a possible Revolutionary War Patriot.

Back to my Cox family. I’m going to talk my way through the references listed in Evelyn Adams’ Coxes of Cox Creek KY

  1. Pages 63 and 250 of The Cox Family in America postulate that Isaac Cox, Gabriel Cox, and Friend Cox were brothers and possibly were born in Switzerland. One of the reasons given that Isaac and Friend might have been brothers, or at the very least is the frequent use of the uncommon name Friend, and other names, in both families. I haven’t built out all of Isaac’s grandchildren at this point. I will need to revisit this claim once I do. Friend does occur in later generations of Gabriel’s family. Relatively close proximity of their residences along the Monongahela River and similarities in family lore regarding where the family originated (Germany and Switzerland). I will need to look into the border region between those two countries.
  2. Volume II of the Hampshire County (WV) Deed Book contains several transactions involving Gabriel Cox and his wife Eleanor, identifying him as a yeoman (farmer).
  3. The Ohio County (WV) will book includes Gabriel’s Last Will and Testament which names six children.
  4. Cox Family provided some of the descendants of Gabriel on page 63.
  5. Cox Family provided some of the descendants of Friend on page 250.
  6. The Official Roster of Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in Ohio provides a brief bio of Friend’s son Benjamin. Many of the details are questionable at best. The information seems to have comingled details for this man and his younger cousin also named Benjamin.

Working on the descendants of Gabriel (item 4 above), some researchers have identified Eleanor’s last name to be Peterson. There are marriage records in Philadelphia for a Gabriel Cox marrying an Eleanor Peterson in 1735. It’s entirely possible, although, older written histories didn’t mention the family migrating through Philadelphia at any time.

Geography Note: Brooke County, Virginia was formed from Ohio County. It is adjacent to Jefferson County, Ohio.

Gabriel’s son Israel and his wife Elizabeth were both alive at least until 1800 based on a land deed record recorded in Brooke County, Virginia. There was a suit filed against an Israel Cox Sr in 1805 in Jefferson County, Ohio. An Israel Cox was listed in an 1810 probate inventory for Jacob Durrant in Jefferson County.

Unable to find the 1810 US Census for Ohio, I decided to browse the 1820 Census for Jefferson County. The Israel listed below could be Gabriel’s son. There is both a male and female over 45 years old which would be consistent with Israel and Elizabeth. The younger individuals could be a widowed son and his children.

  • Isaac Cox with the following enumeration in Steubenville Township: 2 males under 10, 1 male 26-44, 1 male over 45, 5 females under 10, and 1 female 16-25.
  • Josiah Cox with the following enumeration in Knox Township: 2 males under 10, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 16-25, 1 male 26-44, 1 female under 10, 1 female 26-44, 1 female over 45.
  • Israel Cox with the following enumeration in Steubenville Township: 1 male 10-15, 1 male 16-25, 1 male 26-44, 1 male over 45, 1 female 10-15, 1 female over 45.
  • Garret Cox with the following enumeration in Wayne Township: 4 males under 10, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 26-44, 2 females under 10, 1 female 26-44.
  • Mary Cox with the following enumeration in Wayne Township: 2 females under 10, 1 female 26-44, 1female over 45.
  • Benjamin Cox with the following enumeration in Wayne Township: 1 male 16-25, 2 females under 10, 1 female 26-44.
  • John Cox with the following enumeration in Wayne Township: 1 male under 10, 2 males 10-15, 1 male over 45, 1 female under 10, 1 female 10-15, 1 female over 45.

Also, an Israel Cox purchased a tract of land from Cornelius Sammons in 1823.1 No wife was listed for Israel…did Elizabeth die between 1820 and 1823? An Israel Cox married a Margaret Fellows on September 29, 1825 in Wells Township.2 The marriage ledger described the groom as a “young man”.3 In 1830, Israel and Margaret sold the land that was purchased in 1823.4 As details start to emerge, this may not be the Israel I am researching. It could be a younger relative or a completely different Cox line entirely.

While Cox Family does not account for all of Gabriel’s children named in his will, it does state that all of them except Israel were killed by Indians. It does not mention if any of them had descendants or what their fate might have been. Peter, Margaret and Mary were married at the time of Gabriel’s death, but I have not yet found anything additional.

Working on the descendants of Friend (item 5 above), not much has been identified. His son John remained in Washington County. His son Benjamin moved westward to Highland County, Ohio. I need to spend more time building out this part of the tree in the next week.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4898 errors in the tree–382 possible duplicates, 4069 with no documents, 447 other errors.

  • The mother-in-law of a distant cousin. As stated before, I am pruning extended family.
  • A third cousin needed a source. Once again the California Birth Index comes to the rescue.
  • The last “error” was a repeat that was previously resolved.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,135 people
End of Week: 27,188 people
Change = +53 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
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky
  1. Deeds, Jefferson County, Ohio, 1818-1824, volume H, pp. 380-381, Image Group 004021842, images 487-488, FamilySearch. ↩︎
  2. Marriage Certificates, Jefferson County, Ohio, 1824-1831, volume 3, p. 33, Image Group 007485906, image 75, FamilySearch. ↩︎
  3. Marriage Record, Jefferson County, Ohio, 1824-1831, volume 3, Image Group 004701465, image 145, FamilySearch. ↩︎
  4. Deeds, Jefferson County, Ohio, 1828-1831, volume M, p. 620, Image Group 004021942, image 663, FamilySearch. ↩︎

Uncovering Family History: Discoveries in Virginia and Beyond

22 Sunday Feb 2026

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A couple interesting developments happened this week. About a month ago, I found a newspaper article from 1934 stating documentation about Colonel Isaac Cox had been donated to Transylvania University since he had been an early trustee of the institution. I wrote to them to see if they had said documents. I received a response back from their Archivist and Special Collections Librarian this week. She thanked me for the newspaper article, but stated the documents are no longer in possession of the university. She was kind enough to suggest some other repositories which may have received the documents at a later date. After thinking on it, they could have also made their way to the Filson Club since Rogers Clark Thruston was such a big deal there. She did provide me with a link to a book available online that listed Isaac as a trustee up until 1788 when he was listed as “resigned”. It was surprising, because the date of his resignation was just after the date his estate was entered into probate. At any rate, I have additional places to visit when I make a research trip to Kentucky, at some yet undetermined date.

The second cool thing that happened this week was discovering a YouTube video made by a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution titled “The Legend of Jean Marie Cardinal“. Cardinal is my grandmother’s maiden name so I was excited to check it out. It is well done and I highly recommend it. I won’t give away any spoilers, but as it turns out Jean Marie is my eighth cousin 2 times removed.

As I planned last week, I am working through Evelyn Adams’ “Coxes of Cox Creek” and her cited references. The focus of the narrative is Isaac’s family since they solely were the ones who migrated to Kentucky and established Cox’s Station. There is some information on Gabriel and Friend Cox who are postulated to be brothers of the older Isaac, sometimes labeled as “Isaac the Immigrant”. There are documents putting the three men in the same locations which would lend to that theory. Individual family units did not relocate by themselves during that era. They moved in larger groups, if for nothing else safety reasons. Also, there seems to be some commonality with names of children.

I felt it was important for historical accuracy to identify the state at the time the events took place, not the current day state. West Virginia did not separate from Virginia until 1863.

For Gabriel Cox (c1718-1778), I have located the following documents:

  • Recorded land survey report dated January 30, 1762 in Hampshire County, Virginia.
  • A series of land transfer deeds from June 9, 1767 in Hampshire County, Virginia, identifying Eleanor as Gabriel’s wife.
  • A list of men who took and subscribed to the Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity to the Commonwealth of Virginia on October 6, 1777, in Ohio County, Virginia, included Gabriel Cox and his three sons–David Cox, Israel Cox, and Peter Cox.
  • His Last Will and Testament dated June 6, 1778 from Ohio County, Virginia.
  • The Administrator’s Document dated August 3, 1778 in Ohio County, Virginia. This names Eleanor, the widow, and Israel, his son. This document also narrows down when Gabriel died.
  • The estate inventory dated February 24, 1779, in Ohio County, Virginia.

I also had some scheduled library time this week and focused first on the Hampshire County, (West) Virginia records available.

  • A rather useful book I had at my disposal is Early Records: Hampshire County, Virginia, a compilation by Clara McCormack Sage ad Laura Sage Jones that was originally published in 1939. It was reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Company in 1969 and later again in 1976. It is basically an index of early records. There were several land transfers involving Cox family members as well as several entries where a Cox individual served as a witness. The original has been digitized and is on the FamilySearch website. It is restricted from downloading.

Moving on to Frederick County, Virginia books, I found some limited information in the following book:

  • Frederick County, Virginia: Settlement and Some First Families of Back Creek Valley 1730-1830, by Wilmer L Kerns. There was mention of Friend Cox in George Washington’s papers from 1756. Unfortunately, the papers of our first president are not available digitally. There is a copy of the volume I need at the Arizona State University Library. If I am feeling adventurous, I might take a trip across town to check it out.

Interestingly, I also checked for possible DeMosses in both counties while I was at it. Several entries suggested that DeMosses lived in the same general area that the Coxes did.

There are many books on Virginia in general that I still need to check. I can leave that for a future library day. I will continue checking Ms. Adams’ citations to better understand the conclusions she has drawn. I think I am finished for this week.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4903 errors in the tree–382 possible duplicates, 4074 with no documents, 447 other errors.

  • A distant cousin needing sources. Gotta love the California Birth Index! I was also able to find sources for a couple siblings as well.
  • A husband of a distant cousin needed a first name and a source. He was a second husband and luckily I found their marriage record.
  • The last error to clear up was a repeat that I had already resolved. She was a twin who died at age 10 in 1918. While the newspaper did not say, I have to wonder if it wasn’t from the Spanish flu. Kansas death certificates are not available online, so I likely will never know. I was able to narrow down when a sibling died using several of the family obituaries.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,092 people
End of Week: 27,135 people
Change = +43 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
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Genealogy Progress: DNA Matches and Document Insights

15 Sunday Feb 2026

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Been a bit busy this past week, so not a lot of genealogy actually happening. I did have a couple DNA matches with an common ancestor identified pop up so I am always happy to see those. Nothing on the lines I am currently focusing on, but something for future work. I may take a few weeks later this year and just focus on incorporating some of those into my tree.

Looking through the documents I have on the early Cox generations, I have an typed copy of an article by David Hall that was published in the Kentucky Standard in 1985. Unfortunately, the 1985 issues of this paper are not digitized on newspapers.com. At any rate, this article heavily relies on information in Coxes of Cox’s Creek by Evelyn Adams. At least Ms. Adams’ article from the Filson Club History Quarterly contains references.

Re-examining the Adams document, I believe my best course of action is to simultaneously work on the families of Isaac (my 6th ggf) and his brothers Gabriel and Friend. I will be able to incorporate everything from this document with one pass instead of having to come back to it yet again later.

Adams does reference The Cox Family in America by Henry M. Cox, published in 1912. Unfortunately, CFA does not include citations for the information it contains. I can only surmise that any information I cannot substantiate with other documents was provided as family traditions and may or may not be fact. The information on Isaac, Gabriel, and Friend was presented as separate family units. Because they seemed to be in many of the same locales at nearly the same time, it could be postulated that the three men were related in some fashion. The identity of their parents was not presented to the reader, only that the earlier generation(s) of the family likely were from England and migrated to Switzerland to escape the religious and political volatility of the 1670s.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4906 errors in the tree–382 possible duplicates, 4078 with no documents, 446 other errors.

  • The wife of a distant cousin needs some sources. She lived in the early 20th century, so I have several documents from her, especially census records. I was able to fill out her family as she had several children. Because of the census records, they are sourced and will not add to my error total.
  • Another wife of a distant cousin needing sources. She also needs a maiden name. Not having much luck tracking her or her husband down.
  • And yet another wife of a distant cousin in need of sources. I was able to supply a source for both her and her husband.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,088 people
End of Week: 27,092 people
Change = +4 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
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Navigating Historical Boundaries for Genealogy Research

08 Sunday Feb 2026

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I’m going to start this week off with DNA. Ancestry sent me an email stating I had a match. It’s never done that before. It was 76 cM so I hoped it would be an easy match. I opened it up and she’s got an unlinked tree with only six people in it. Only one person actually had a name. So I looked at the shared matches. WOW! Lots of matches including my dad’s sister. Saw a match that was only identified as initials because it is managed by someone else. It matched the initials of the sole person in her tree. An obituary would be my best bet for finding a connection…and it was! This new match was a granddaughter of my existing match. YAY! She’s related on my Winkler line. However, there were some matches identified on my maternal side. Looking at the potential ancestors, she could also tie into my Pea line. This could be amplifying the DNA content slightly. I’ll worry about that at another time though.

As I transition between Yohogania County and Washington County to Hampshire County, a little boundary history is necessary to optimize my search for information on Isaac Cox Sr. Hampshire County was originally formed on paper in 1754 from Frederick County and Augusta County in Virginia. Due to hostilities in the area, organized settlement of the area was delayed a few years. In 1785, Hampshire County was split in two, forming Hardy County from the southern half. No further changes in county lines were noted after 1785. In 1863 Hampshire County, along with 49 other counties to form West Virginia. Mineral County was carved out in 1866 and Grant County was formed from Hardy County. Previous publications on this Cox family have mentioned the Cacapon River which runs north-south in the eastern part of Hampshire County. Records search will focus mainly on that area.

Source: mapofus.org

A search for Isaac Cox in newspapers came up empty for the desired time period. That is not surprising since the Hampshire County area was not widely populated or developed in the mid 1700s.

I would be remiss if I didn’t utilize the reference materials available to me at the local genealogical library. In their stacks was a copy of the two volume Biographical Record of Washington County, PA originally published in 1893. Contained within its pages was a biography of a Noah Cox (b. 1819). In the biography, it stated that Noah was the grandson of a Christopher Cox who emigrated from Germany and settled in the Greene County, PA area prior to 1762. Greene County was formed from Washington County in 1796. Based on this information, this particular family is likely to not be related to my Coxes, but the info is helpful as I sort individuals out. Christopher’s children are listed as: John, Jessie, Hiram, Aaron, Christopher, Moses, Jacob, Matilda, Mary and India.

Document findings

  • Early Landowners of Pennsylvania: Atlas of Township Warrantee Maps of Washington County, PA compiled by MacInnes & MacInnes. The plats are broken down by township with plenty of maps to illustrate. Gabriel Cox held two warrantees in present day Union Township (previously part of Peters Township) for parcels labeled “Coxburg” or “Coxbury” and “Cox’s Addition”. His brother John Cox held an adjacent parcel “Belmont”.
  • In a land transfer deed between Isaac Cox and John Decker on July 9, 1778, the parcel of land in question, Mingo Bottom, bordered the Ohio River. It was to the south of a parcel owned by Isaac’s sister Ann and her husband William McMahan. George Cox, Ann and Isaac’s brother, served as one of the witnesses. Since the Ohio River is not in Washington County, this land may have been partially in present day Ohio County, WV.
  • In a land transfer deed between Isaac Cox and Andrew Nye dated August 16, 1779, the parcel of land was adjacent to a tract owned by Isaac’s brother David. David and Gabriel witnessed the document.
  • In a land transfer deed between Isaac Cox and Garrett Vinnaman dated February 9, 1778, the parcel of land on Harrod’s Town Fork. Gabriel served as witness.
  • The brothers John, Isaac, Gabriel and David Cox were mentioned in a land transfer deed between Moses Holladay and Samuel Irwin for a parcel along Peters Creek in May 1779. Peters Creek is in the northeastern portion of Washington County. It would seem the Cox family holdings were somewhat extensive and spread across the county. This land was likely in present day Union Township mentioned previously above.
  • Deed transfer from Isaac & Mary Cox and Gabriel & Sarah Cox to Edward McGuire in Hampshire County, VA, December 8, 1772. Mary and Sarah were daughters of Enoch Enochs.

It has occurred to me that because Isaac and Gabriel were selling off land in Hampshire County in 1772 and they were presumably in Yohogania County at the time of its formation in late 1775. Purchases of the land noted above were possibly recorded in the District of West Augusta. There are some court minutes available which I have already looked through.

In the coming week, I will focus on Hampshire County and what I can find there for the family. I will also return to the previously published sources for potential resources to seek out.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4913 errors in the tree–382 possible duplicates, 4085 with no documents, 446 other errors.

  • The first error to fix is for the mother-in-law of a distant cousin. With the limitations I am imposing on my tree, she will be pruned along with her husband.
  • The second one might be difficult. This is the daughter of a second cousin so she is still fairly young. I was able to find her brother so I will have to take that as a consolation prize in this case.
  • The last error to fix this week was for a distant cousin with no records attached. I was able to add at least one source to several members of this family and get them off the list.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,081 people
End of Week: 27,088 people
Change = +7 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
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Researching Yohogania County, Virginia

01 Sunday Feb 2026

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Last week I did not finish resolving the hints from the Cawood family that were identified as “new” by Ancestry. The last one was for my 8th great grandmother Anne Terrett. She married Stephen Cawood and then John Wynne. An article entitled “Berry Family of Charles County” postulates that after John’s death, Anne married James Berry in St Mary’s County, Maryland in 1686. It will be interesting to research the Cawoods as the published family genealogies surrounding this branch go back into the 17th Century Tidewater Region. I am excited to start this chapter at some point in the future.

As I review the many newspaper articles recounting historical information about Yohogania County, there is mention in the early days of the county that the sheriff was ordered to erect a “Ducking Stool” in the Monongahela River. So, what is a Ducking Stool? According to Google, it is a medieval punishment device, mostly used to publicly humiliate disorderly women for offenses like scolding, gossiping, or behaving like a shrew. It consisted of a chair affixed to the end of a long beam suspended over water. The offender would be strapped to the chair and repeatedly dunked into the water. In some instances, the dunkings were severe and resulted in death by drowning.

Most of the newspaper references to Yohogania in Allegheny County during the first half of the twentieth century were in reference to the Yohogania Chapter of the Daughters of American Colonists. The articles referencing the short history of the lost county usually mentioned the boundary struggles between Virginia and Pennsylvania, the commissioning of instruments of punishment such as the ducking stool or stocks, or identifying which counties now occupy the region. Little specific information is provided about individuals who may have resided in Yohogania County.

Articles written in Fayette County publications tend to focus on the roles Colonel William Crawford and Zachariah Connell played in the county’s history. One particular article1 goes into gross detail regarding the gruesome death of Colonel Crawford at the hands of British forces and their allies the Indians at Sandusky in 1782.

Little to no reference was made to my Cox family in the articles about Yohogania’s history. I attribute the lack of information to the fact that the family did not stay in the area. Yes, Colonel Isaac played a role in the county government and was a ranking member of the militia, however, their departure to Kentucky placed them in the honorable mention category at best. Having perused the papers on Newspapers.com from Allegheny, Fayette and Washington County, I will resume my search in Crumrine’s works.

Examination of all mentions of Cox in the History of Washington County, Pennsylvania show individuals with the surname Cox were in the area as early as 1756. These early individuals likely were not related to the family I am currently researching. Their presence, however, is a clear indication that I should proceed with caution.

On page 129, mention of an Isaac Cox is associated with a discussion about Colonel Crawford’s Sandusky Campaign. Since this event occurred in 1782, the Isaac Cox mentioned is likely not to be my 6th great grandfather or his son, as they had removed to Kentucky two years prior. This could be a son of either Friend or Gabriel Cox, brothers of Isaac Sr.

In 1770 (page 146), a Gabriel Cox acquired property on Peters Creek. The assessment roll for 1772 for Springhill Township, Bedford County included Gabriel Cox as well. This Gabriel is likely to be Isaac Sr’s brother.

In 1777 (page 186) at the Council of War at Catfish Camp, Gabriel Cox’s residence was named a proper place for magazines and 2.5 tons of lead and ammunition were to be delivered to that location. Also in 1777, the justices of the peace were tasked with obtaining the Oath of Allegiance from all males over the age of 16. The list of men who took the oath in Ohio County, Virginia2 in 1777 included Gabriel Cox, David Cox, Israel Cox, and Peter Cox. This was likely Isaac Sr’s brother Gabriel and his three sons. I have not yet found a similar listing for Yohogania County.

In late 1775 (page 205), Gabriel Cox, et al, were tasked with making a preliminary report for a road from Fort Dunmore to Henry Heath’s farm. This is likely Gabriel Cox, son of Isaac Sr. He was also involved with development of other roads within the county. Gabriel also inventoried various estates in probate. (page 210)

A George Cox served on a road commission in Augusta County in 1776 prior to the formation of Yohogania County (page 211). This is likely Isaac Sr.’s son. George’s residence was identified as Ohio County, Virginia in some of the land deeds in Nelson County, Kentucky, after his father’s death.

In 1777, Isaac Cox was part of the commission to build a courthouse and jail. (page 215).

In 1778, John Cox’s property was mentioned as a point of reference for a road commission. (page 217) His property was located near Peters Creek. He is believed to be another son of Isaac Sr as his residence was listed as Washington County, PA in the 1790 land deed.

In October 1779, Isaac Cox applied for a passport to relocate to Kentucky County, essentially tendering his resignation as a justice of the peace for Yohogania County. It was also testified by Colonel Crawford that Isaac was a junior officer in the Virginia military in 1764.

In 1781 amid the turmoil of fixing the boundary between Virginia and Pennsylvania, it was alleged that Lt. Col Gabriel Cox and his men were terrorizing citizens who had previously been loyal to Pennsylvania as opposed to Virginia. In January 1782, Gabriel was brought up on four sets of charges–two for assault and two for assault and battery. Juries of his peers acquitted him of the two incidents of assault and the assault and battery charges ended with noli [sic] prosequi.3 When pressed, the court clerk provided an explanation to Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. In a nutshell, certain male residents of the county had been “drafted” to serve under Colonel George Rogers Clark and they were evading the draft. Gabriel was tasked with rounding up these draft dodgers. His tactics were considered somewhat excessive, but warranted. It also didn’t hurt his cause that the majority of his jurors may have been former Virginians and sympathetic to his plight. (page 239)

That is going to do it for this week. I want to do another pass thru FamilySearch for Washington County before I move on to Frederick County and Hampshire County, Virginia. I’ll do that at the library on Saturday. I also want to go thru the rest of the hardcopy books they have on Washington County. I also need to create a few reminders for a future trip to the library in Salt Lake City. It’s been a month since I synced Family Tree Maker with my Ancestry tree, so I am doing that as I finish up this week’s notes.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4919 errors in the tree–380 possible duplicates, 4093 with no documents, 446 other errors.

  • The first error to resolve was the husband of a distant cousin. I had to trace back to the 1950 census for her before I could identify his first name and find a source for him.
  • The second is the father in law of a distant cousin. Considering the limitations I have imposed for my tree, this record was deleted.
  • Lastly, a 3rd great grandaunt down my Cawood line! What are they odds? I found several sources to update her record.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,075 people
End of Week: 27,081 people
Change = +6 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. “The Hero-Martyr of the Youghiogheny,” The Daily Courier, (Connellsville, PA), Friday, June 25, 1976, page B-6, newspapers.com ↩︎
  2. “The Echoer”, volume 1, number 9 (April 1968), page 5, FamilySearch.org. ↩︎
  3. nolle prosequi – a formal entry on the record by a prosecutor which voluntarily ends a criminal case before a verdict. ↩︎

Researching Early Yohogania County Families for Ancestral Clarity

25 Sunday Jan 2026

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As I was working on my errors this week, one of them was Penelope Cawood, a 6th great grandaunt. The source I found for her was a family history on the Cawoods. She was the aunt of my 5th great grandfather, Moses. Moses lived from 1725 to 1809 but I hadn’t done much research on this bloodline to date. In the biography of Moses, it mentioned that he served on the grand jury in Washington County, Virginia in 1782. This perked me up — to the best of my knowledge he is not a proven DAR Patriot and serving on a grand jury is considered patriotic service. I will definitely need to explore this line and see if I can adequately document back to Moses.

What I am starting to discover is that several of my family lines all lived in the same area at approximately the same time. The DeMosses were in Frederick County, Virginia, as were the Coxes and now the Cawoods. To date I have not found them in each others business, so they may or may not have been friendly with each other. From Frederick County, they all went in somewhat different directions.

I decided to first check the WikiTree to see what it contained for the older Isaac Cox to serve as hints. I wanted to scream! It is a total trainwreck! It would appear that information for no less than THREE Isaac Coxes were included on his record. I did not have the mental bandwidth to try and fix it. This record punctuates how much I hate community trees.

An speaking of community trees, I received my weekly notification for ancestor records I am monitoring on FamilySearch. To my 4th great grandparents Joseph Reeve and Sarah Ireland who were born in the United States and lived their until their deaths in Indiana, a woman attached an unknown John Reeve as a child and attached references from England! Oh, first names match so it must be a match! Seriously? I messaged her and asked that they be removed. I’ll give her a week then do it myself. Do not cross me and my ancestors!

Prior to migrating to Kentucky, the Cox family settled a few years in Yohogania County, Virginia. Yohogania County is sometimes referred to as a “lost county” because it no longer exists. It was formed in 1776 from Augusta County, Virginia. The northern boundary of the county consisted partially of the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, while the Monongahela River bisected the area. Yohogania County ceased to exist after 1780 when the area was ceded to Pennsylvania and became parts of current day Washington, Fayette, Beaver, Westmoreland, and Allegheny Counties.

As I try to sort where my 6th great grandfather Isaac was living, as well as his children and siblings, it will be useful to track down the Oath of Allegiance that was mandated by the General Assembly of Virginia in May 1777. If my grandfather and my uncle were residing in two different counties, they would be on two different lists.

A quick newspaper search for Isaac Cox in Washington County, Pennsylvania returned some 500 results, many from the first half of the twentieth century. It would seem there still might be some distant Cox cousins who remained in that area. One historical article in particular caught my eye and made me reconsider my search parameters since I am only interested in information regarding Isaac and family during the time Yohogania County was in existence. This significantly reduced the articles returned to five. Removing the Cox restriction on the search expanded the available documents to 50. While these articles do not mention my Cox family, they do provide some general information on who the movers and shakers were at the time. For example, a Mrs. S Kussart had a regular column in the Monongahela publication The Daily Herald during the 1930s. One of the pioneers she shared was a Paul Froman. I do recall seeing some dealings between Colonel Isaac and a Froman, possible kinfolk of Paul, in the Kentucky records.

Also of note is a regular column entitled “Early Western Pennsylvania” which regularly discussed historical figures from Yohogania County. It was written by Richard T Wiley and published in same newspaper.

Because parts of Yohogania County eventually became part of Allegheny, Westmoreland, Beaver and Fayette Counties, surveys of newspapers in those areas should also be made.

Since today was a library day for me, I took the time to look through an actual book. One book that they had on the shelf was Virginia Court Records in Southwestern Pennsylvania by Boyd Crumrine. This is the consolidated edition that contains records from the District of West Augusta, Ohio and Yohogania Counties from 1775 to 1780. The index made this task a breeze. In two hours I summarized the publicly documented activities of possibly twelve men and one woman with the Cox surname. Some were brothers of Colonel Isaac and others were likely his cousins. I’m happy to have some sort of activities to include with their biographies when the time comes to write them.

History of Washington County, Pennsylvania with Biological Sketches, edited by Crumrine contains a significant portion of the court records from the previously mentioned tome, however, additional information has been incorporated to provide a more detailed historical narrative than the simple minutes transcription can provide. I will be continuing my data mining this week.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4917 errors in the tree–378 possible duplicates, 4093 with no documents, 446 other errors.

  • First up is a very distant cousin without any source records. I found a record with a birth date so that one is cleared.
  • Next is a 6th great grandaunt with no sources. Ancestry has a new collection titled “US, Family History Books” which has come up several times in my hints recently. There appears to be one for Cawood which I plan to make good use of when I get to that surname.
  • Finally, I have a “Jo” without a maiden name and no sources. She married into the family. A clue in her father-in-law’s obituary led me to her husband’s obituary and a plethora of hints, mostly school yearbook photos.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,071 people
End of Week: 27,075 people
Change = +4 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
  • Review History of Washington County, Pennsylvania.
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Researching Isaac Cox: Insights from Newspapers and DNA Matches

18 Sunday Jan 2026

Posted by in DNA Matches, Genealogy, Newspapers

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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. ↩︎

Researching Isaac Cox: A Genealogy Journey

04 Sunday Jan 2026

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It’s a new year for research and I have a new family unit to research. I am moving back one generation on my Cox line to Isaac Cox and Susannah Tomlinson. This research segment should prove to be a little challenging. Granted, there are several publications dating back over a hundred years detailing the history of Isaac and Susannah, however, I want to be thorough and verify and supplement that material with historical documents that might be available.

Isaac and Susannah lived in the eighteenth century. They, and their progeny, were pioneers in their own right. They pushed the boundaries of civilization into the western frontier. They were instrumental in developing the infrastructure and government in these newly settled areas. They also suffered tragic loss as a result of the risks they took. I am humbled to carry their DNA.

Last week I lamented the errors that currently exist on the public trees that confuse all the various Isaac Coxes that were peppered across the Colonies. This week I am starting the task of compiling documents specifically for my 6th great-grandfather Isaac Cox. Along the way I will likely also collect documents for his son who was commonly referred to as Colonel Isaac Cox. At times it could be difficult to determine which of the two men documents refer to. Knowing that both men died in Kentucky while it was still part of Virginia, I will start my search there and work my way backward in time.

One thing I have learned about genealogy is it is more than just history. It involves geography! One of the first documents I have found in the Full Text Search on FamilySearch is a Tax Records ledger for Jefferson County for 1799. It identifies parcels of land that were originally granted to Isaac Cox. Which Isaac Cox is unknown, however, the water course and county where the parcels were in 1799 are included. The ledger states the parcels are along the Green River and Rolling Fork and are in Hardin County. The Rolling Fork makes up the natural boundary between Hardin County and Nelson County. Hardin County was formed from Nelson County in 1792. This demonstrates the potential vastness of the Cox landholdings in early Kentucky.

Jefferson County Court minutes from 1784 names Isaac Cox as a “gentleman justice”. Gentleman Justices typically were not lawyers, but were respected large landowners in the community who presided over county courts, managing local affairs, petty disputes, and administering oaths. Think county commissioners on steroids. Because the elder Isaac Cox is believed to have died in 1783, this Isaac Cox was most likely his son.

A series of land transactions were made by the younger Isaac Cox and his wife Mary in Nelson County in 1787. Some county court minutes were found listing him as a justice in early 1788, as well. His will was written on September 6, 1786. It was presented in court on April 8, 1788.1 Some sources estimate his death to be March 31st which coincides with the attack on the Bland Ballard family.2 Isaac was present in County Court on March 12th. His death was sometime between March 12th and April 8th.

A good number of land deed transactions were recorded referencing “Isaac Cox, dec’d” after 1788. It proved to be a bit challenging to sort the documents, and the associated heirs, out, especially since the will for the elder Isaac doesn’t appear to be available and many of the beneficiaries overlap. One key detail found (or missing, as the case may be) is that the younger Isaac did not include his mother Susannah in his will. This is the determining factor I used to sort out which transactions belong to each estate.

In reviewing land deeds, there was one document that gave me pause. A power of attorney was drawn up for John Cox, George Cox, and Anne Cox Machan [McMahon], wife of William Machan [McMahon] on August 10, 1789. The concerning part was that in the body of the document, William’s wife is referred to as “Nancy”.3 In various written family histories, Isaac and Susannah have a daughter named Nancy and a daughter named Anne.4 Little is known about Nancy. One source says she married a Nathan Chalfant.5 More research needs to be completed to sort this detail out as no specific source was provided. Was this Nancy really a child of Isaac and Susannah or did she belong to some other couple? Was Anne’s name really “Nancy Anne” or “Anne Nancy”?

There were at least five deeds drawn up on the elder Isaac’s estate between 1789 and 1799. The first, dated May 29, 1789, did not include John, George, or Anne. This is likely because they were not local to Nelson County. At the time this deed was recorded, the above referenced power of attorney was put into place for subsequent transactions. This first deed included the following heirs at law: Susannah (the widow), and their children David, Gabriel, Jonathan, Mary, Benjamin, and Isaac’s widow Mary. The remaining four deeds did not include the younger Isaac’s widow. Also, there is no mention of Nancy or her heirs in any of the five deed transactions. These deeds account for nine of the children born to the older Isaac and Susannah.

It is not clear why Mary Enoch Cox May was not included on all of the land deed transactions for her father-in-law’s estate. She was named in a transaction dated June 19, 1801, with John and David Cox. She was later named in another transaction in January 1805, to one of the Cox grandsons. It could be that she granted a POA to her second husband William May who also was the Cox family attorney. Alternately, it could be due to the fact that she did remarry and she was no longer eligible as an heir.

An interesting manuscript about the early days of Nelson County, even before it was known as Nelson County, was penned by Nora Lee McGee and can be found on FamilySearch.6 Ms. McGee compiled an extensive collection of quotes and summaries from depositions related to land boundary disputes that were filed in the late 1790s. These lands were those original grants obtained from Virginia in 1780. The depositions provide evidence of who was in Jefferson/Nelson/Shelby Counties during those very early years.

I finally took a look at Cox Family in America by Henry M. Cox. It was published in 1912. Many of the authorities consulted for this compilation were family histories written by other individuals. None of the information is directly attached to its source which makes it difficult to confirm where the information originated from. The information pertaining to my Cox line is fragmented at best. That said, I don’t believe I can use it as a credible source going forward.

As an aside, I went down a rabbit hole this week as well. I thought I would get a head start on the next surname I will be tackling, even though it will likely be a year before I can start it. Winkler. As I have lamented in the past, in 1880 there was a young woman named Harriet Murray listed as a half-sister in George Winkler’s household. Her mother’s name was Sophia. George’s mother’s name was Sophia, so naturally that is how I connected them. Harriet disappeared after the 1880 census and I have tried to sort through Sophia’s back story. I ended up with a few DNA matches to Sophia. These are likely due to the trees the matches are attached to. They document that Harriet’s mother’s name was Sophia Abel. For now I have disconnected Harriet from my tree and will see if those common ancestor matches remove themselves.

In trying to sort this out, I enlisted the help of ChatGPT just to keep me sane. Granted, I only recently signed up for a free account, so I have no search history saved to me as a user. As it was spewing out findings and supporting information, it kept referencing this blog…the one *I* write. After two queries of getting my own musings back, I finally clued the app in on that very fact. It was very apologetic and assured me it would use the information that I have provided here when considering responses, not just rehash what I have already come up with.

Something occurred to me as I was re-reading the last feedback I received from Chat (I really need to give him a name). George’s marriage record was not accompanied by a parental permission for him. That said, I checked into marriage laws for 1861 in Indiana. Parental permission was not required if the groom was at least 21 years of age. This would support George’s birth in 1840 not 1843. Also, the marriage record lists his last name as “Winkle”. Not sure if that is a concern or not. However, I did manually review all of the 1860 Census for Knox County and there were no Winklers (or Winkles) residing in the county at that time. I have a few more ideas to check on before I essentially give up on finding George’s parents. It’s looking like the Winkler section in my manuscript won’t take long to put together.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4929 errors in the tree–376 possible duplicates, 4097 with no documents, 456 other errors.

  • A 3rd cousin, who interestingly is connected on both my maternal and paternal sides, needed sources added.
  • A dangler. Appears she is the sister-in-law of my grandmother’s brother. Since I am not keeping extended family in that regard, she will be deleted.
  • A 6th cousin with no sources attached. She was named in her father’s obituary so that will have to do.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,019 people
End of Week: 27,050 people
Change = +31 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. Kentucky County Court, Nelson County Probate Records, volume A, pages 43-45, film 9612, images 28-29, FamilySearch.org ↩︎
  2. Evelyn C Adams, “The Coxes of Cox’s Creek, Kentucky”, Genealogies of Kentucky Families, Genealogical Publishing Co, Inc (Baltimore), 1981, page 464. ↩︎
  3. Nelson County Deeds, 1784-1795, pages 146-147, film 9618, images 576-577, FamilySearch.org ↩︎
  4. Adams, page 465. ↩︎
  5. Henry Miller Cox, The Cox Family in America, The Unionist-Gazette Association (New Jersey), 1912, page 253. ↩︎
  6. Nora Lee McGee, Early Records of Nelson County 1775-1800, film 467410, FamilySearch.org. ↩︎

2025 Week 52

28 Sunday Dec 2025

Posted by in Genealogy, Newspapers

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Wow! The last week of the year. I’m actually proud of myself that I kept up with the blog. I only missed three weeks out of the 52, so I’m just a little impressed.

I am finishing up the bio writing for Benjamin and Sarah Piety Cox’s children this week. Having this blog has helped me with organizing facts and sources. While I didn’t do the greatest job of documenting everything on the blog, I left myself enough breadcrumbs to make it worthwhile. For instance, the Find A Grave memorial for Finetta Cox Arnold stated her death was announced in the Liberty (MO) Tribune. Thing is, I don’t ever recall finding it. I had a death notice for one of her daughters in 1882, but not Finetta. So, back to the newspaper archive. After a little searching I found what I was looking for. YAY!

Liberty Tribune, Liberty, Missouri, November 15, 1872, page 2.

Having finished writing up the biographies of Benjamin and Sarah’s family, I am now moving on to Benjamin’s parents–Isaac Cox and Susannah Tomlinson. This will prove to be challenging for several reasons. The first being that there were several Isaac Coxes who lived in the Colonies during this time, and there are researchers out there who have haphazardly intermixed details of the various men. Even within this family unit, Isaac “the Immigrant” is regularly confused with his son Colonel Isaac. My first task is to sort out the various Isaac’s while gathering documentation for my two Isaacs. On FamilySearch alone, a full text search of documents from the 1700s returned a list of almost 3000 documents. While I don’t anticipate needing to read all 3000 documents, I believe I can cull enough information from these documents to sort these gentlemen out. Hopefully other Isaac Cox researchers will find this useful as well.

Will the real Isaac Cox please stand up?

Talbot County, Maryland – There are two Isaac Coxes (father and son) who resided in Talbot County, Maryland. The elder Isaac wrote his Last Will and Testament in 1786. His wife was named Mary and he had a married daughter Elizabeth Jenkinson and sons named Isaac and Joseph. His son Isaac was named his executor and it appears the will was entered into probate May 25th, 1788. It was mentioned in the court minutes that this Isaac Cox was a Quaker.1

New York City – This Isaac Cox is previously from Philadelphia, but relocated to New York. He was a merchant with a wife named Catherine. Isaac and Catherine were purchasing a house in New York in 1785.2

Philadelphia/Bucks County, Pennsylvania – Mention of another father and son pair of Isaac Coxes surfaced in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1779. The older Isaac who is deceased, was a merchant in Philadelphia. The son’s occupation was not mentioned.3 The elder Isaac seems to have had dealings in Lancaster County and Berks County as well.

Charleston, South Carolina – Mention of an Isaac Cox from Philadelphia was made in a land transaction in Charleston, South Carolina in 1765. This very well could be the same Isaac who was mentioned as deceased in 1779.4

Culpepper County, Virginia – An Isaac Cox and his wife Lydia involved in a land transaction in New Jersey in 1792.5

Kent County, Delaware – An Isaac Cox and his wife Sarah from Philadelphia are named in a deed in Kent County, Delaware in 1796. Isaac, whose occupation is Hatter, is named as a the son of a Susannah Hunn Cox in the indenture.6 An earlier deed from 1772 names Susannah with her husband Isaac in this same county. Also mentioned is a Powell Cox who might be related.7

Nashville, Davidson County, North Carolina (now Tennessee) – An Isaac Cox from Philadelphia are party to a land transaction in 1792.8 It is highly possible that this Isaac Cox is one and the same with a previously mentioned merchant from Philadelphia.

Guilford County, North Carolina – An Isaac and a William Cox of Guilford County, sold land to a John Cox in 1771.9

New Providence, Bahamas – The Last Will and Testament of a Jacob Cox names several family members including a sister Elizabeth Marshall and a brother Isaac Cox who resides in Philadelphia. Jacob’s will was written in 1764 and names several of Isaac’s children including Martha, Altha, John, Isaac, and Mary.10

I’ll stop there, but may add to the list as I come across other Isaacs. Some of these may very well be connected to my tree. There are others with the surname of Cox who have married into my tree at various points that are not directly descended from Isaac Cox who settled in Nelson County, Kentucky. Also, I will need to use a broader set of search criteria considering where my Cox family is known to have resided through the years. Hampshire County, Virginia later became part of West Virginia. I will want to pull those documents as well as ones that might be in Virginia. I will want to examine documents from Maryland, based on previous writings about the family, but I will want to be careful of the timeline so as to not confuse my Coxes with others in the area.

What I also find fascinating is that my Cox family and my presumed DeMoss family were in the same area of Virginia at approximately the same time. Both purportedly had interactions with George Washington in his early days as a surveyor. I have to wonder if I will stumble across any documents naming both families together. Only time and research will tell.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4926 errors in the tree–376 possible duplicates, 4094 with no documents, 456 other errors.

  • Distant cousin needs sources. I was able to add sources to him and his siblings.
  • The wife of a distant cousin needs a last name and sources. I was able to update a few other family members, but not the cousin or the wife.
  • Another distant cousin from long ago who needs sources. I was able to supple a couple and add a few family members.

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.
361 years ago – marriage of Susanna Whitehead (10th ggm) and Nathaniel Bunnell Sr (10th ggf)
272 years ago – birth of James Shields (6th ggf)
245 years ago – birth of Thomas Butler (5th ggf)
233 years ago – death of Joanna Miller (8th ggm)
189 years ago – marriage of Mary Caywood (3rd ggm) and her 1st husband Ambrose Azbell
116 years ago – death of George Winkler (3rd ggf)

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,011 people
End of Week: 27,019 people
Change = +8 persons
Tasks for coming week:

  • Begin 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 Cox Family in America
  • 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. Maryland, Orphan’s Court, Talbot County, will book 4, pages 52-53, film 14454, image 542, FamilySearch.org ↩︎
  2. New York Land Records, 1630-1975, volume 42, pages 426-427, film 888346, image 244, FamilySearch.org. ↩︎
  3. Deeds, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, volume 19, pages 34-35, film 172881, image 37, FamilySearch.org. ↩︎
  4. South Carolina, Land Records, Charleston, 1764-1765, volume 3D, page 717, film 23526, image 469, FamilySearch.org. ↩︎
  5. Deeds, Gloucester County, New Jersey, volume C, pages 471-472, film 846546, image 652, FamilySearch.org. ↩︎
  6. Deed Records of Kent County, Delaware, volume F2, page 154, film 6461, image 468, FamilySearch.org. ↩︎
  7. Deed Records of Kent County, Delaware, volume V1, page 43, film 6457, image 50, FamilySearch.org. ↩︎
  8. Land Records, Davidson County, Tennessee, volume C, pages 255-256, film 332658 image 471, FamilySearch.org ↩︎
  9. Deeds, Guilford County, North Carolina, volume 1, page 99, film 19045, image 106, FamilySearch.org. ↩︎
  10. Bahamas, Wills, 1756-1766, page 175-180, film 223469, images 347-350, FamilySearch.org. ↩︎