This week I am researching Benjamin Cox, the son of Friend Cox. The Benjamin Cox who resided and died in Montgomery County, Ohio is believed to be this individual. A Revolutionary War Pension (S. file exists for the Benjamin Cox who resided in Montgomery County, Ohio. The affidavit collected on September 11, 1832 states that Benjamin is eighty years old. This would give his birth in 1752. Some sources provide his birth as early as 1742 or 1746. Photos of what is believed to be the original headstone are posted on FindAGrave.com. A nearby stone for his wife Rachel is intact, but barely legible. A more contemporary headstone now marks his grave.
Benjamin’s affidavit states he was originally from Pennsylvania, but was in North Carolina when he joined the military in the Spring of 1778 under a Captain Richard Graham and a Colonel Richard Grimes. He served a period of nine months.
The affidavit also mentions that Benjamin has a brother named David who lives in a nearby county.
The 1840 Census lists Benjamin as a pensioner at age 94. This isn’t too far off from the pension affidavit.
A land deed record from 1787 where John Cox sold land on behalf of Benjamin Cox from their father’s estate. Friend died intestate and his intentions to give this parcel of land to Benjamin was not documented. Benjamin was not present in Ohio County, Virginia to participate in the sale, so William McMahan served as power of attorney for him. Benjamin’s location is not mentioned in this document.1
A Simple Text Search on FamilySearch resulted in the following useful documents regarding Benjamin Cox who resided in Dayton, Ohio:
- Benjamin’s date of death was attested to in Montgomery County Court–December 27, 1841 in Dayton. He left no widow. Children are identified as: John, William, and Lewis of Montgomery County. Jesse, Charles, and Benjamin of Ashton County, Kentucky. There is no mention of daughters living at the time of this court (May 6, 1842).2
- 1865 Montgomery County probate records give Benjamin’s middle initial as “M”. This is likely Benjamin Jr. Lewis Neff was the administrator. There were five heirs identified: Mary Ann Breene, Nancy Hyre, Charles Franklin Cox, John S Cox, Lila G Cox. Charles, John and Lila are minors. Their guardian is Lewis Cox.3
A Simple Text Search for Friend Cox in Ohio County, Virginia in the 1700s, found the following documents:
- Court Orders from November 1783. Friend Cox was named foreman of a grand jury. Jonathan and Benjamin Cox were sworn in as members of that grand jury.4
- Court Orders from November 1784. Jonathan and Benjamin Cox sworn in as members of a grand jury, along with Peter Cox.5
- A quitclaim deed in 1788 between John Cox and a Jane Cox, wife of Joseph Cox. John was named brother and heir of Joseph.
CONCLUSION: From the documentation I have been able to find, I am not convinced that the Benjamin Cox who served during the Revolutionary War in North Carolina and died in Montgomery County, Ohio in 1840 is the son of Friend Cox. I’ll need to keep searching to truly prove this connection.
Error resolution. The last available update: I have 5025 errors in the tree–515 possible duplicates, 4062 with no documents, 448 other errors.
- Husband of a distant cousin needs resources. No hints immediately populated for him, but his wife had several including a reference to their marriage which they shared.
- A distant cousin with no references attached. Marriage and divorce records for Wisconsin were located.
- A floater who was removed.
Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,321 people
End of Week: 27,334 people
Change = +13 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
- https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4T-69QY?view=fullText&lang=en&groupId= ↩︎
- https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTZ-BS6S-L?view=fullText&keywords=Benjamin%20Cox%2CDayton%2Cdied&lang=en&groupId= ↩︎
- https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-F4SV-T8?view=fullText&keywords=Benjamin%20Cox%2CBenjamin%2CCox%2CDayton&lang=en&groupId= ↩︎
- https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9VT-Q9BT?view=fullText&keywords=Cox%2COhio%20County&lang=en&groupId= ↩︎
- https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9VT-QSSD?view=fullText&keywords=Cox%2COhio%20County&lang=en&groupId= ↩︎
Digging Up My Roots 