Tag Archives: Ohio

Using GEDMiner for Genealogy Errors

21 Sunday Jun 2026

Posted by in CORRECTIONS, Genealogy, UPDATES

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Follow-up on Pierre Vachet marriage record

Indiana Deaths and Burials, 1750-1993, Parish Registers, J-Z, Film # 004013147, image 512, FamilySearch.

The St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church (Old Cathedral) register clearly lists two men with the name Pierre Vachet with the identities of their parents. The marriage to Felicite Lacoste is attached to that of the younger Pierre. Issue resolved. Also of note, is two Felicite Lacoste dit Languedoc born in the same year to different parents. The Old Cathedral records will be instrumental when it comes time to research my early Knox County ancestors on my mother’s side.

Indiana Deaths and Burials, 1750-1993, Parish Registers, J-Z, Film # 004013147, image 57, FamilySearch.

Continuing Research on Benjamin Cox descendants from Montgomery County, Ohio

I am continuing my research on William Taylor’s descendants. As I finish this week’s research, I finally wrap up Amanda’s children and can move on to another family next week. William and Mary’s son Owen died as a small child so I will continue with their daughter Millie Taylor.

  • Jesse Cox + Mary Waugh > John Cox + Mary Parks > Louisa Cox + David Taylor > William F Taylor + Mary Lucy Pearson
    • Taylor
    • Babb
      • Kentucky: Madison, Estill
    • Brunner
      • Ohio: Butler, Preble
    • Woosley
      • Kentucky: Estill, Clark
    • Madden
      • Kentucky: Madison

Error Resolution

A hot topic right now is the tool GEDMiner.com. I tried this out this week and it is massive and it is FREE. I dropped my GEDCOM file in and it quickly analyzed my 28,000 people. A rather lengthy but useful video presentation by GeneaVlogger giving an overview of how to use it can be found on YouTube: GEDMiner tutorial.

The last available update via Ancestry ProTools: I have 5047 errors in the tree–527 possible duplicates, 4069 with no documents, 451 other errors.

According to GEDMiner, I have 45 possible duplicates. That’s quite a difference from Ancestry’s count. Some of them were legitimate duplicates. A lot of them could be attributed to how I enter women when I don’t know their maiden names. Many of them are mothers-in-law of distant cousins. I have been making a point of pruning them from the tree. I’m going to focus on “duplicates” this week. Next week I’ll start on unlinked individuals. That list is a bit longer.

My Ancestry error resolutions this week included:

  • a husband of a distant cousin needing a source record. A marriage record was available to fill this void.
  • a 5th great grandfather needing a source record. Unfortunately, I will not be able to fulfill this request since German records are restricted in the Ancestry. I will add a German tag to his record for future reference.
  • a distant cousin needing a source record. Luckily she was born pre-1950 and I was able to add that as a reference.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 28,003 people
End of Week: 27,534 people
Change = -469 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 William Taylor’s Descendants

14 Sunday Jun 2026

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I was able to add a couple DNA matches to the tree this week. I already had a parent of the match in my tree and merely updated that generation and added the most current. One was for my McCullough line which I hope to start delving into late next year. The other was a cousin on my mother’s side of the family.

I am continuing my research on William Taylor’s descendants. His daughter Amanda had quite a few children so this could take some time to complete.

  • Jesse Cox + Mary Waugh > John Cox + Mary Parks > Louisa Cox + David Taylor > William F Taylor + Mary Lucy Pearson
    • Taylor
    • Babb
      • Kentucky: Estill, Madison
      • Ohio: Butler
    • Lee
      • Ohio: Butler
    • Kirby
      • Kentucky: Estill
    • Farthing
      • Kentucky: Estill, Clark
    • Benton
      • Kentucky: Estill
    • Richardson
      • Kentucky: Estill, Madison
    • Brunner
      • Ohio: Butler

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 5052 errors in the tree–527 possible duplicates, 4074 with no documents, 451 other errors.

  • .The wife of a distant cousin from the 19th century on my mother’s side needed a source. A marriage record was available. NOTE: I thought that would resolve the error. WRONG! It would seem that I now have a duplicate issue to work through. The distant cousin was Pierre Vachet. I have two men with that name in my tree. One is a nephew of the other. The hint in Ancestry was from an index and did not include information on the groom’s parents. A marriage index on FamilySearch does include the parents’ names. These records were compiled from records kept by St Francis Xavier Catholic Church. An image of the actual record may be available, however, I am not currently at an Affiliate Library. I’ll look for it when I am there next week. The correct Pierre Vachet is the nephew born in 1815. I can remove the duplicate record from the uncle.
  • A mother-in-law of a distant cousin needed a source. She will be pruned from the tree along with her husband.
  • The wife of a distant cousin from the 20th century needs a maiden name and a source. I found a source for her birth date which will have to do.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,919 people
End of Week: 28,003 people
Change = + 84 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

Ancestry Research: Tracing Benjamin Cox’s Lineage

07 Sunday Jun 2026

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No significant or interesting DNA matches cropped up this week. I had a few which identified a common ancestor, but nothing that I am working on currently.

Before I get too far down the rabbit hole that is Benjamin Cox, I should define the question and the research approach that I am taking.

THE QUESTION:

Is Benjamin Cox (1746-1841), who was a Revolutionary War veteran residing in Montgomery County, Ohio at the time of his death, the son of Friend Cox and Nancy Schurck?

DOCUMENTED INFORMATION:

Friend Cox did have a son named Benjamin who was listed in his probate records along with three other sons–John, Joseph, and Jonathan. The probate records and associated land records did not provide any additional information identifying Benjamin such as where he was residing when the documents were drawn up.

I have a DNA match (CB) who is a documented descendant of Friend Cox through his son John.

Benjamin Cox from Montgomery County had a large family and a large number of descendants who potentially could share DNA with both myself and CB.

APPROACH:

Attempt to find a shared DNA match between myself and CB that can be documented to Benjamin Cox from Montgomery County. Build out the descendant tree of Benjamin, taking note of surnames and locations of those descendants. Because the common ancestor is beyond the limitations of Ancestry’s ThruLines, the search for common individuals in the shared matches must be performed manually. I am starting with the descendants of Benjamin’s son Jesse because there is a Kentucky death record that connects the two men as father and son and Jesse’s descendant pool is extensive.

LIMITATIONS:

Not everyone connects a tree to their DNA file. About half of our shared matches do not have associated trees.

I started William Taylor last week, but did not get too far. Next up is William Taylor.

  • Jesse Cox + Mary Waugh > John Cox + Mary Parks > Louisa Cox + David Taylor > William F Taylor + Mary Lucy Pearson
    • Taylor
    • Babb
      • Kentucky: Estill
      • Ohio: Butler
      • Illinois: DuPage

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 5040 errors in the tree–527 possible duplicates, 4062 with no documents, 451 other errors.

  • A 5th cousin with no records. Found a marriage record for him.
  • A husband of a distant cousin with no records. I don’t have a first name for him either. Found the missing information in the cousin’s obituary. I need to remember that children, especially daughters, listed in their mother’s obituary aren’t necessarily the children of the named husband.
  • A distant cousin without records. A marriage record was found and her husband’s first name was completed as well.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,866 people
End of Week: 27,919 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

Honoring Legacy: Memorial Day and Family History

24 Sunday May 2026

Posted by in Civil War, DNA Matches, Genealogy

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It’s Memorial Day Weekend. Memorial Day began after the Civil War and was originally called Decoration Day as tradition in the spring to decorate the graves of the fallen with flowers, flags and wreaths. The holiday today honors all American military personnel who died while serving in the armed forces. That said, I wish to remember my 3rd great grandfather John S. Cox. John was a member of the Indiana 80th Infantry, Company C. He mustered in at the rank of Private on September 3, 1862 with his friends and neighbors from the Edwardsport, Indiana area. He died of influenza of the lungs on January 14, 1863 at the Regimental Hospital in New Haven, Kentucky. He left a widow and four children.

One new DNA match that I was able to incorporate into my tree this week. It was for a 2nd cousin 1x removed on my mom’s side. His parents were already in my tree; I just needed to update them a bit and add the DNA match.

Continuing on with the descendants of Jesse Cox and Mary Wagle. I am picking up where I left off with descendants of Zachariah Cox and Nancy Wright. I finished Homer’s descendants and have moved on to Zachariah’s daughter Nettie (fourth of five children) who had ten children. I’m about half way through them. So far they have been straight-forward to navigate.

  • Louisa Cox + David Taylor > Zachariah Taylor + Nancy Catherine Wright
    • Taylor
    • Plavsic
      • Ohio: Clermont, Hamilton
    • Brown/Broun
      • Ohio: Hamilton
    • Haile
      • Ohio: Hamilton
    • Wilson
      • Kentucky: Madison, Fayette, Estill
    • Dozier
      • Kentucky: Estill, Fayette
      • California: Los Angeles
    • Hardy
      • Indiana: Fayette
      • Kentucky: Fayette
      • Virginia: Henrico

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 5023 errors in the tree–529 possible duplicates, 4043 with no documents, 451 other errors.

  • A wife of a distant cousin with no references and no maiden name. After piecing together several documents, I was able to determine her last name and fulfill the need for a reference.
  • A husband of a distant cousin needs a reference. The daughter’s marriage certificate held his middle name which led to several hints.
  • A husband of a distant cousin has no first name or references. The marriage record supplied both. It would seem he lied on his marriage record about his age, because all subsequent records list him four years younger.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,707 people
End of Week: 27,802 people
Change = + 95 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

Unraveling John D Taylor’s Family Mysteries

17 Sunday May 2026

Posted by in DNA Matches, Genealogy

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Ancestry has a “Recommended” list of individuals on my landing page. My 3rd great grandfather Jean Michel Kaiser is listed with a flag for records from a new collection in France. Unfortunately this is a collection only available to World Explorer subscribers. I’ll have to revisit this record once I upgrade for international research.

I had one new DNA match with a common ancestor identified. He was through my McCullough line. Hopefully I’ll get to that line in the next year or so.

Continuing on with the descendants of Jesse Cox and Mary Wagle. I am picking up where I left off with Richard’s son Eugene.

  • Louisa Cox + David Taylor > Richard Lewis Taylor + Sarah Emma Isaacs
    • Taylor
      • Texas: Eastland, Gregg, Jackson, San Patricio, Harris, Victoria, Travis
      • New Mexico: Quay
  • Louisa Cox + David Taylor > Zachariah Taylor + Nancy Catherine Wright
    • Taylor
      • Kentucky: Estill, Oldham, Madison
      • Utah: Salt Lake, Utah
      • Ohio: Warren, Hamilton
    • Baker
      • Utah: Salt Lake, Utah
    • Deitrick
      • California
      • Alaska
    • Blythe
      • Ohio: Hamilton
    • Plavsic
      • Ohio: Hamilton

Researching Zachariah’s son John D Taylor and his family was an adventure. From what I can piece together, John was living with his parents in 1900 and he was listed as a widower. There was evidence of a possible marriage in 1894, but I’m not certain if it was this John due to the location. John then married Stella Stratton in 1901. What was confusing is that I found a John D Taylor with a Della, not a Stella, in the census records. Next I received hints for death certificates for two daughters, Imogene and Dixie, who were born in 1902 and 1904, respectively, stating their parents were John and Stella. Hints for Stella show her in Idaho and Utah as early as 1907. Stella remarried in 1907 in Idaho and her daughters are listed with her husband’s last name instead of Taylor. That made it harder to find them. The revolving door of husbands wasn’t very helpful either.

As if those obstacles weren’t enough, John had a son with a widowed woman. This son was given his mother’s late husband’s name. Quite messy to untangle, if nothing else. I believe I am done with John.

Moving on, I am making progress on Zachariah’s son Homer and will continue to do so into next week.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 5020 errors in the tree–525 possible duplicates, 4044 with no documents, 451 other errors.

  • A father in law of a distant cousin. He and his wife were pruned from the tree.
  • A distant cousin who needed a source added. Added sources for most of his family members as well.
  • Another distant cousin who needed a source added.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,622 people
End of Week: 27,707 people
Change = + 85 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 the Ancestors of Jesse Cox and Mary Wagle

26 Sunday Apr 2026

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I’m continuing my research on the family of Jesse Cox and Mary Wagle in Madison County, Kentucky. I researched their eldest son John last week. This week as I begin my work, I am resolving all the hints provided for the descendants of John and his wife Mary Parks. Suffice it to say, this family went forth and multiplied. For later reference when I go back through my DNA shared matches for the Cox line, I am going to list the surnames and locations.

  • Louisa Cox + David Taylor
    • Taylor
      • Kentucky: Madison, Estill, Trimble, Henry Counties
      • New Mexico: Quay County
      • Texas: Eastland, Rusk, Galveston, Pecos County
      • Indiana: Marion County
      • Florida: Duval County
    • Whitlock
      • Indiana: Marion, Tippecanoe Counties
      • Colorado: Arapahoe County
    • Merritt
      • Kentucky: Estill County
    • Northcutt
      • Kentucky: Estill County
      • Ohio: Montgomery County
    • Hood
      • Ohio: Hamilton County
    • Williams
      • Texas: Lubbock County

Richard Taylor, the oldest of David and Louisa’s four children, had a lot of children. I will need to continue this exercise next week. I hope this exercise yields the result I want.

Error resolution. The last available update: I have 5018 errors in the tree–513 possible duplicates, 4058 with no documents, 447 other errors.

  • First up is a father in law of a distant cousin. He and his wife were pruned from the tree.
  • Next, a distant cousin with no references. In researching his sister, I found a family genealogy that listed this cousin.
  • Finally, the husband of a distant cousin whose first name is unknown and he has no references. Neither fact has been cleared.

Goals and progress…
Beginning of Week: 27,403 people
End of Week: 27,519 people
Change = +116 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

Tracing the Ancestry of Benjamin Cox in Montgomery County

12 Sunday Apr 2026

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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
  1. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS4T-69QY?view=fullText&lang=en&groupId= ↩︎
  2. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSTZ-BS6S-L?view=fullText&keywords=Benjamin%20Cox%2CDayton%2Cdied&lang=en&groupId= ↩︎
  3. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9392-F4SV-T8?view=fullText&keywords=Benjamin%20Cox%2CBenjamin%2CCox%2CDayton&lang=en&groupId= ↩︎
  4. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9VT-Q9BT?view=fullText&keywords=Cox%2COhio%20County&lang=en&groupId= ↩︎
  5. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9VT-QSSD?view=fullText&keywords=Cox%2COhio%20County&lang=en&groupId= ↩︎

Unraveling Elzy Cox’s 1875 Death: A Genealogy Mystery

22 Sunday Mar 2026

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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

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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

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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= ↩︎