Tag Archives: Ohio

Unraveling Elzy Cox’s 1875 Death: A Genealogy Mystery

22 Sunday Mar 2026

Posted by in Genealogy

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

When I finished yesterday, I discovered an Elzy Cox who died in Morgan County, Ohio in 1875. At first I thought this was the son of Israel Cox and Ruth Richardson…but it didn’t quite fit. That Elzy was married to Rachel and was alive and well in 1880. In fact, he died in 1888 in Brooke County, WV. So who was Elzy Cox who died in 1875? In his will, he left everything to his stepson James Fouts and three nephews who were the sons of his brother Israel. It took me a minute, but then I realized Elzy was the brother to Israel Jr and son to Israel Sr! Hints started pouring in for Elzy. I was able to identify his wife and his daughter who both predeceased him. I also found what I believe to be Israel Sr in the 1830 census residing with Elzy in Morgan County. I have not yet found a will for either Israel.

In my search for information about the older Elzy Cox in Morgan County, I came across a couple of Ancestry Trees that tied him to potential sisters–Mary and Sarah. Unfortunately the trees these women were found in did not have any direct evidence that they were indeed daughters of Israel Cox and Elizabeth Newkirk. In fact, the various trees did not agree on who their parents were.

Sarah was married to Josiah Dunlap. Josiah and Sarah could be found in Muskingum County, Ohio by 1820. Josiah claimed 160+ acres of land in Muskingum County nearly adjacent to the parcel patented to Israel Cox in 1831. Sarah and Josiah had several children, one of which was Israel Dunlap. In Israel Dunlap’s will written in 1885 and proven in 18901, he mentions the Cox farm which corresponds to the patent obtained by Israel Cox in 1831. He purchased this tract of land from Ruth Richardson Cox and her children in the 1850s. While this does not prove that Sarah’s parents were Israel Cox and Elizabeth Newkirk, it is an indication that the two families were likely familiar with each other.

It would seem that Israel Dunlap was put out with his family and cut them from his will, according to The Zanesville Signal, July 25, 1890, page 3. The statement in the paper wasn’t 100% true, however. It would seem that some of his nieces and nephews benefitted from his estate. Nothing further was found in the newspaper regarding the contesting of the will. However, a Full Text Search for Israel Dunlap returned over 500 documents, a good number of them regarding a set of parcels that was not included in Israel’s will.

It’s so easy to fall down rabbit holes like that of Israel Dunlap. Building out that descendant branch a bit might prove to be useful at some point in the future, especially if I get a rare DNA match from that line. Now it is time to return my focus to the children of Gabriel Cox and his wife Eleanor for the time being.

The husbands of Margaret and Mary Ann were not named in Gabriel’s will which was written June 6, 1778. Yohogania County Court Minutes on August 24, 1778, granted administration of the estate of John McCoy to his widow Margaret McCoy. Is this Gabriel’s daughter?

In the Court Orders book for Ohio County, Virginia, there is reference to a William and Mary Ann Spencer regarding a land deed in 1783.2 Could this be Gabriel’s daughter Mary Ann?

A deed recorded in Ohio County, Virginia in 1790 bears the name of Peter Cox and his wife Hannah.3 Is this possibly when Peter moved to Ohio?

No additional details could be found for David as well.

I seriously doubt that I will find the answers to these questions online at this time. Adams’ article on the Coxes mentions that all of Gabriel’s children moved to Ohio and everyone except Israel were killed by Indians. Exactly where and when was not discussed since the focus of the article was not on Gabriel’s line. These questions will definitely be among the focus of my next trip to Salt Lake City.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 5029 errors in the tree–512 possible duplicates, 4069 with no documents, 448 other errors.

  • Husband of a stepdaughter of a cousin. He is fairly extended so I’ll remove him.
  • A father in law of a distant cousin. Again, he’s not part of the family line, so I’ll remove him as well.
  • A distant cousin who needs a source.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,215 people
End of Week: 27,236 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. Ohio, US, Wills and Probate Records, 1786-1998, Muskingum County, Will Records, volume 7 1888-1890, page 461, Ancestry. ↩︎
  2. Ohio, VA, Court Orders, 1773-1786, IGN 7616779, image 75. ↩︎
  3. Survey Land Records, 1777-1801, Ohio and Brooke County, Virginia, IGN 7901647, image 84. ↩︎

Researching Israel Cox: Land Records & Family History

15 Sunday Mar 2026

Posted by in Genealogy

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , ,

Working on Israel Cox (1750-c1830) this week. I’m fairly confident that the Israel Cox who provided the deposition in November 1830 in Morgan County, OH was originally from Ohio/Brooke County, VA. I also believe the land entry records for Muskingum County, OH belong to this Israel. Muskingum County borders Morgan County. I’d like to find the actual deed transaction record to try and determine where exactly in Muskingum County these parcels are.

A Full Text Search on FamilySearch returned the following documents from the 1820s in Ohio:

  • An Israel Cox held the position of Township Treasurer in Wells Township, Jefferson County in 1834, 1835, 1845-1853. Not likely the Israel Cox I’m looking for.
  • An Israel Cox purchased land in Jefferson County from Cornelious Sammons in 1823.
  • An Israel Cox was the defendant against the State of Ohio in Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas in 1820. Found guilty of burglary and sentenced three years.
  • An Israel Cox was named as an ineligible voter in a voter fraud complaint in Morgan County in 1825. The complaint stated he was not a resident of Morgan County.
  • An Israel Cox married Margaret Fellows in Jefferson County in 1825.
  • An Israel Cox purchased earthenware from an estate sale in 1822 in Columbiana County.
  • An Israel Cox Jr was the defendant for a breach of marriage contract in Jefferson County in 1821.

There are more documents for Israel Cox in Ohio, however, they are limited access documents. I will need to return to the library to access them.

In the History of Muskingum County, Ohio by JF Everhart and AA Graham, published in 1882, there are numerous mentions of brothers Horatio, Samuel, and Ezekiel Cox. Were they Israel’s sons? grandsons? No relation? This book can be found on archive.org, Hathitrust and FamilySearch.

In the History of Morgan County, Ohio by Charles Robertson, published in 1886, there is little mention of any Coxes.

In the Muskingum County Land Deed Records, there were a few that caught my eye.

  • Elzy, Jonathan & Friend Cox to Israel Dunlap, 6 Oct 1852. Volume 23, page 15.
  • Ruth Cox to Israel Dunlap, 6 Oct 1852, Volume 23, page 16.
  • Joseph Cox to Israel Dunlap, 14 Nov 1855, Volume 29, page 545.
  • Israel, Sarah & Peter Cox to Israel Dunlap, 24 Apr 1857, Volume 32, page 306.

These transfers represent the land that was purchased in February 1831 on patent #2574. These are the grandchildren of Israel Sr, children of Israel Jr. Was this land that Israel Sr left to his son or did Israel Jr buy this land originally? It would seem from the language in the agreement, that Israel Jr did not reside in Muskingum County. Israel Jr’s will has not yet been located in Brooke County, VA.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 4904 errors in the tree–388 possible duplicates, 4068 with no documents, 448 other errors.

  • My first error to fix was a distant cousin on my mom’s side of the family who needed a source. While I was updating hers, I also updated several of her family members.
  • The second error was also a distant cousin needing a source, however, this one was on my dad’s side. After some investigation, it was determined that he was not a blood relative, but a stepson of a cousin. I have removed him.
  • The last error was another distant cousin. The error finder proposed that she was a duplicate entry, which was not the case. Multiple documents indicated that there were indeed two separate women who were sisters.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,209 people
End of Week: 27,215 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
  • Look for documents in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky

Uncovering the History of Gabriel Cox’s Family

08 Sunday Mar 2026

Posted by in Genealogy, Revolutionary War

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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. ↩︎

May Lennington

18 Monday May 2020

Posted by in Genealogy

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , ,

On May 18, 1863, Thomas S. Lennington and Anna R. Pierson welcomed their only daughter, May,  into this world in Licking County, Ohio.  Thomas supported the family as a farmer and served in the Civil War during 1864.

May married Marvin Custer, a nephew of General George Custer, on August 29, 1881 in Licking County.  They immediately started a family with their son George Armstrong Custer being born in 1882 in Iowa.  The small family returned to Ohio where they added a daughter Marie in 1885.

May’s father passed away in 1888, and her mother moved in with Marvin and May.  Anna resided with them until her death in 1912.  Marvin supported the family as a railroad engineer, having worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad for twenty-seven years at the time of his retirement.  Just shy of his sixtieth birthday, Marvin was suddenly stricken with a heart attack and died at his home on September 8, 1915.

Both of their children, George and Marie, married and had families.  Marie’s life was cut short at the age of thirty-five due to pregnancy complications.  May carried on, eventually living with George and his family.  She died at home on February 11, 1933 at the age of sixty-nine.

 

May Lennington was my 4th cousin, 5x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1930
  • Ohio County Marriages
  • Find a Grave website
  • The Newark (OH) Advocate, Feburary 13, 1933, via Newspapers.com
  • Ohio Deaths
  • Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, September 9, 1915, via Newspapers.com
  • United States Civil War Draft Registration Records

 

William Hutchinson Bailey

30 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by in Genealogy

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

William Hutchinson Bailey

William H. Bailey was the youngest of five children born to Phebe Richardson and Daniel Bailey.  He made his arrival on April 30, 1823 in Hamilton County, Ohio. In September 1824, Daniel passed away.  Phebe remarried in 1825 to the Reverend George Hildreth, a widower himself.  Together, Phebe and George added five children to their blended family.  George was called to the Promised Land in 1839.

In 1844, William married Margaret Wilson and they started their family in the Cincinnati area.  Emma and Friend James Scott were born in Ohio where their father worked as a news carrier. By 1854, William and Margaret moved their family to Randolph County, Indiana where Wilson, Margaret and William A. were born. William supported the family both as a tailor and a farmer.  Too soon, Margaret was taken from the family in 1861.  A widower with small children, William married Malinda Smithson on September 19, 1863 in Randolph County.  The family was expanded to include six more children–Matilda, Phebe, Martha, Ira, Samuel and Daniel.  At the age of 73, William passed away on March 23, 1897 at his residence near Winchester, Indiana.

William H Bailey

William H. Bailey was my 1st cousin 6x removed on my dad’s side.

REFERENCES

  • United States Census, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880
  • Ohio  County Marriage Records
  • Indiana Marriages
  • United States Civil War Draft Registration Records
  • Find A Grave website