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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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. ↩︎