In 1809 Thomas Isaac Cox moved his family to Ross County, Ohio to rejoin other members of his family who had moved there. His parents also arrived there about 1813. Jehu Cox wrote in his journal that he lived with his grandfather Solomon Cox three years when he was eleven years old.
In 1815 Thomas Isaac Cox moved again to Bloomington, Indiana where they remained for five years. In 1820 they relocated at Salt Creek, Indiana, a community 12 miles east of Bloomington in Monroe County. They were in residence there for seven years, according to "Our Pioneer Ancestors" by Wayne D. Stout.
David Anthony Richardson, Salt Lake City, a descendant of Jehu Cox, has preserved the "Journal of Jehu Cox" which was written about 1877 when he was 74 years old. The journal read:
"Jehu Cox, history of my forefathers to the best of my memory. My great grandfather, his name was Solomon Cox, he lived in the state of Pennsylvania when my grandfather was born. My grandfather was the youngest of 15 children, and his name was Solomon after his father. My grandfather married Amy Hussey and lived in Virginia, and raised a family of 10 children and the last died with her tenth child [?]; her name was Mary, she married a man whose name was Thomas Mahan. My grandfather's family was 5 sons and 5 daughters. My uncles' names were Solomon and Absolom and Christopher and Thomas, who is my father, and Steven. My aunts' names were Martha and Amy and Mary and Ruthy; the other [Ann] I have forgot.
Jehu Cox, the son of Thomas Cox, was born in the state of Kentucky, Knox County, September the 5th, 1803. When I was three weeks old my father moved to Green River in the state of Kentucky, and when I was 9 months old my right hand was burnt, and when I was 6 years old in the year 1809, my father moved to the state of Ohio, to Salt Creek which runs into the Scioto, then called Ross County, 24 miles east of Chillicothe. When I was 11 years old I lived with my grandfather Solomon Cox 3 years and when I was 15 years old in 1818 my father moved to the state of Indiana, Monroe County, Bloomington the county seat. In 1820 father moved 12 miles east of Bloomington on Salt Creek, the waters of [Wabash] river, and there I got acquainted with Sarah Pyle, and we was married January 13, 1824.
Here I made a farm and we lived 4 years, and we had 3 children--Rosanah, Edward and Thomas. Edward and Thomas died, and we were sick every year, and we thought that we would move, so in December 1827 we moved to Wabash, Warren County, Indiana where Henderson Cox was born November the 6th, 1829, and in 1830 [we] moved with my father-in-law to Vermillion River, Vermillion County, state of Illinois where we were all sick. Here we made a farm and raised a crop. Here was the milk sickness, and I lost while at this place 5 head of horses and a good many cattle. And in 1831 [we] moved to Indiana, Putnam County, Greencastle the county seat, and bought 80 acres of land and opened a farm in the heaviest of timber and lived here four years where I had my health, but my wife was sick most of the time. Here Sarah Cox was born February 28, 1832, and Mary Jane Cox was born September 19, 1833, and Elias Cox was born January 15, 1835.
I told my wife that we would move until we could find a healthy place, so we started in 1835 and went to the state of Missouri on the Ozark Mountain in Crawford County where [we made] a farm, and we all had good health, and here Rachel Cox was born March 17, 1836, and Jehu Cox was born June 15, 1837, and here Isiah Cox was born May 18, 1939.
We embraced Mormonism. I was baptized on January 12, 1838 by Benjamin Clapp and your mother was baptized in February 1838 by Isaac Allread, and I was ordained elder under the hands of Benjamin Clapp and Isaac Allread, and in November 1839 we moved to Adams County, Illinois, below Quincy, where I raised two crops, and here Lucretia Cox was born in Adams County December 21, 1842 and was blest by Joseph Fielding, and when we were coming up Platte River to the [Valley] she was run over with a wagon and died June 15, 1848.
Then I moved to Hancock County, Illinois, within three miles of Nauvoo, where Emmy Cox was born June 16, 1844, and here Nephi Cox was born in Hancock, Illinois March 20, 1846 and was blest by Joseph Fielding, and died April 29, 1846.
And here we lived 4 years, and May the 20th, 1846, we left Nauvoo and came to Pisgah and planted some corn, and then word came for all that wanted to come to the bluffs on the Missouri River and the Mormon Battalion was made up and Henderson Cox went in the Mormon Battalion and in July 22, 1846 we stayed at what was called the Point on the east of the Missouri River until the spring of 1847, and then moved to the west of the river 7 miles above winter quarters and made a crop on Br. Campbell's farm and here Joshua Cox was born in the Omaha country 7 miles above winter quarters, July 14, 1847, and died the same day.
In the spring of 1848 we started for the mountains, we left the farm the 28th of April and went to winter quarters, and stayed there until the 18th of May and then went to the Horn River and stopped there until the 7th of June and then started up [the Platte River?] and about the 10th was appointed Captain of 10 in Br. Harriman's Company by Br. Heber, and we landed where Salt Lake City now stands September 24, 1848.
My ordinations: I was ordained elder by Benjamin Clapp and Isaac Allread February 1838, and was ordained [a saint] by Benjamin Clapp and Daniel D. Hunt January 18, 1851, and I was ordained a high priest and counselor to Silas Richards by Edward Hunter and Willard Snow and Daniel Spencer, and since I have lived [in San Pete County] at Fairview, I have been counselor to three bishops: James Jones and Andrew Peterson and Amasa Fulker, and am president of the high priest forum in Fairview, and am vice president of the United order in Fairview.
I have two great uncles by the names of Christopher Hussey and Stephen Hussey. If you should hear the name Hussey you can inquire. They lived in Virginia. Keep inquiring for all of our relations for they will come on after while and will want to find their friends. Here are some of my cousins, I want work done for them: James Johnson, Alfred Johnson, Sadie Johnson [her work is done] Carnils Cox [Cornelius Cox] and Katy Jackson [Cathrine Jackson Cox, William Cox and his wife Lottie Jackson, John King and Delila Cox his wife. These were all born in the United States, some older than I am and some 4 years younger. The youngest is 84 now. George Foldwell and Amy Cox his wife and John Gorton baptized . . ."
In his journal Jehu Cox listed as cousins: "Alice [Aled, Olive?] Cox and Thomas Allison, Muhal [Michel] Cox and William Wilkerson and Rebecca Cox and Isaac Dickenson [Dixon]."
Jehu Cox identified Joseph Cox as his third cousin. In the category of fourth cousins he listed Abraham Cox, Thomas Cox, Jehu and Jacob Cox, Joseph Cox and Polly Rains Cox, Gideon Cox, John Cox, Solomon Cox and John Cox with no additional identification [Perhaps children of Nicholas Cox and Rebecca Cox.]
In January 1878 he recorded: "Sealing: Elias Swift and Jane Hase, January 11; Great Grandfather Solomon Cox wife; Christopher Hussey and wife, Steven Hussey and wife, January 16; Thomas Mahan Amy Cox, Joseph Johnson and Ruth Cox, Stephen Cox & Mrs. Stephen Cox, Absolom Cox & Mrs. Absolom Cox, January 25; Benjamin Carr & Mrs. Benjamin Carr, January 31."
On February 1, 1878 he attended to the sealing of "Thomas Carr & Mrs. Thomas Carr, his wife; Thomas Carr, Junior & Mrs. Thomas Carr, his wife; and on February 8, Solomon Cox & Mrs. Solomon Cox, great grandfather." On February 14 he was baptized for "Joseph Cox & Miss Joseph Cox, his wife; Thomas Cox & Miss Thomas Cox, his wife; Jacob Cox & Miss Jacob Cox, his wife." On February 22 he recorded, "Joseph Cox, Jr. & Polly Rains, his wife; Gidon [Gideon] Cox & Miss Gidon Cox, his wife; John Cox & Miss John Cox, his wife."
On March 1 he recorded, "William Jackson & his wife, Elisebeth; Jousha [Joshua] Jackson & Miss Jousha Jackson, his wife; John Jackson & Letcia [Letitia] Jackson, his wife; William Jackson & his wife Brity [Bridey] Jackson."
On March 8 he recorded the names of "Mozes [Moses] Carr & Ann Carr, his first wife and Elizabeth Pyle, his second wife; Benjamin Ridle [Riddle] & Lidly [Lydia] Harden; John Ridle & Ura Harden."
On April 4 he recorded, "John Cox and his wife; John Swift and his wife, Thomas Hancock and his wife, Benjamin Carr and his wife." He also mentioned that he was baptized for "William Vanvical [Van Winkle?].
On April 11 he recorded, "Solomon Cox & Marian Carr; Ezekial Carr & his wife; John Henderson & his wife; Joseph Johnson & his wife; and Richard Johnson & his wife."
On April 19 he recorded, "James Wood & Polly Jackson; James Jackson & his wife; James Bogard & his wife; Abraham Cox and his wife; and Bomar Brummit & his wife."
On April 26 he recorded, "John Smart & his wife; George Walls & his wife and David Johnson & his wife."
On May 9 he recorded, "Daniel Johnson & his wife; James Johnson & his wife; James Brummit & his wife; and James Brummit, Jr. & his wife."
David Anthony Richardson wrote, "These were most probably all dead before 1892 or Jehu would not have done proxy ordinances for them in the Temple. Shortly before he died he wrote, 'when you think she is dead then you can do her work.'
Appended to the journal were notations of sealings performed by Jehu Cox for various members of his family. Some of the records appeared in his handwriting, and some were recorded by another writer, name unknown:
"Jehu Cox attended to the sealing for my grandfather and grandmother Solomon Cox and Amy Hussey Cox and my father and mother Thomas Cox and Rachel Carr Cox, and my uncle Samuel Cox and Martha Cox; and have been baptized for my brother Solomon Cox and my uncle Solomon Cox and uncle Absolom Cox and uncle Christopher Cox and uncle Stephen Cox and my grandfather Thomas Carr and uncle Benjamin Carr and uncle Thomas Carr."
"I, Jehu Cox, left Fairview, November 8, 1877, and came to St. George November 17 and had 11 of my children baptized to me on the 21st. November 27th, I was baptized for all my cousins: Stephen Cox, Thomas Elison, Isaac Dixon and William Wilkson [William Wilkinson]. December 4, 1878, I was baptized for 8: 3 uncles--Steven Cox, Thomas Mohan, and Joseph Johnston; 5 brothers-in-law . . . January 8th, I was baptized for 10: Steven Hussey and Christopher Hussey, Martha MacMahon, Hellen MacMahon, William MacMahon, James Redd, Samuel Davis, John Wesley . . . [remainder illegible]
[Endowed] Joseph Cox Thomas Carr
Thomas Elison Benjamin Carr
Isaac Dixon Thomas Carr
Wm. Wilkson Stephen Hussey
Stephen Cox Christopher Hussey
Thomas Mahon Martha Mackman
Joseph Johnston John MacMohanan
Moses Carr Wm. MacMahone
Wm. Whiteman James Riddle
Thomas Pyle Samuel Davis
Edward Pyle
Wm. Vanicar
Elias Swift
Absolom Cox
Sealings, January 14, 1878
Joseph Cox & Amy Baker Cox
Thomas Elison & Aled Cox Elison
Wm. Wilshan & Micheal Cox"
Wayne D. Stout, a descendant of Jehu Cox, supplied additional information about his early life in "Our Pioneer Ancestors." He was married January 13, 1824 to Sarah Pyle, the oldest of the 12 children of Edward Gant Pyle and Rosannah Mary McMahon Pyle. She was born July 22, 1808 in Bracken County, Kentucky.
They moved frequently after marriage, and Wayne D. Stout traced their movements after they joined up with the main body of the Mormons which had grown to more than 15,000 converts.
Wayne D. Stout writes:
"In the spring of 1842 Jehu moved north into Hancock County within three miles of Nauvoo, Illinois. He rented a farm where he worked for four sessions. On this farm, 11 days before the martyrdom of the prophet Joseph Smith at Carthage, his daughter Emma, was born. She was the twelfth child.
The Cox family was the very last of the first groups to leave Nauvoo. They traversed the Mississippi River May 20, 1846. Jehu took his family directly to Mt. Pisgah County, Iowa. Here, under the direction of Parley P. Pratt, a settlement had been made. Jehu remained here long enough to plant a field of corn and then moved on to Council Bluffs. On arrival there he found the Mormon Battalion in process of organization. His son, Henderson Cox, a healthy youth of 17 years, joined Company A and marched off with the Battalion, never to be seen alive by his parents again.
Jehu and family, assigned to travel in Heber C. Kimball's company, left Council Bluffs May 18, 1848. Ten days out, President Kimball appointed Jehu as captain of one of the units. Shortly afterwards his six-year-old daughter was killed, crushed under the wheels of a loaded wagon. After a short funeral the journey was continued westward without incident, the company arriving in Salt Lake Valley September 24, 1848.
September was a critical time to arrive in the new country. Their food supply was running low. Winter was coming on without even a home to live in. Nine small poorly clothed children were entirely dependent upon these sturdy parents for their existence. The pioneers who had preceded them to the valley had suffered severe losses due to the grasshoppers so the food supply looked none too bright for the advancing winter. In spite of these adverse conditions Jehu and family managed to live through that first winter.
In the spring of 1849 Jehu moved away from Salt Lake City and settled on the south bank of Little Cottonwood Creek on the present site of Union, Utah. He built a home and resumed farming. Shortly other settlers joined him, and a branch was organized with Silas Richards as presiding elder. On January 18, 1851 Jehu was ordained a Seventy under the hands of Daniel D. Hunt and Benjamin L. Clapp who baptized him in 1838. On July 13, 1851 a ward was organized in Union with Silas Richards as bishop, and Jehu was named his first counselor. At the same time he was ordained a high priest under the hands of Edward Hunter, Willard Snow and Daniel Spencer.
In 1854 the Indians became very hostile. Jehu contributed ten acres to the town as a site for a fort. Around this site the pioneers built a wall 12 feet high. The entire community moved into this enclosure where they remained until the troubles with Indians were over. In 1855 Jehu and his two married sons and their families moved to North Bend, [later named Fairview] Utah.
Jehu believed in polygamy. On October 5, 1857 while living in Union he was married to Ann Catherine Cofert. Nothing more is known about Ann.
In the spring of 1860 this site was organized as a branch with James A. Jones as presiding elder and Jehu Cox as a counselor. Indian troubles resumed in 1864 with depredations against the settlers in San Pete County. Jehu's boys were one day herding sheep when they were attacked by a party of Indians. The boys, thoroughly frightened, ran home for help. Meantime the Indians made off with the sheep. Jehu and son Elias, well armed, dashed after their sheep. When the Indians saw them coming, they fled. This incident was the beginning of the Blackhawk War. The war was soon on in all its fury. Jehu and his sons saw plenty of action in this struggle. By April 1866 the situation had become so serious that the men of Fairview moved their families to Mt. Pleasant, while they built a high fort wall around Fairview. In August they returned their families to houses they had built within the enclosure where they all lived until the war was over.
In May 1874 a branch was organized at Fairview, and Jehu Cox was named second vice president and president of the high priests quorum. In the fall of 1877 Jehu went to St. George to spend the winter with his son Isaiah and do temple work for the hosts of dead ancestors who were crying for his help. He was then 73 years old. He did the endowments and sealings for his known ancestors and returned to Fairview in 1878."
Sarah Pyle Cox died August 25, 1891 in Fairview, and Jehu Cox died there December 26, 1893.
Wayne D. Stout in 1940 estimated that over 1,000 descendants of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox lived in Utah at that time. No children were born to Jehu Cox and Ann Catherine Cofert Cox. Children born to Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox include:
Rosanah Cox born January 23, 1825
Edward Cox born November 22, 1826
Thomas Cox born April 30, 1827
Henderson Cox born November 6, 1829
Sarah Cox born February 28, 1832
Mary Jane Cox born September 19, 1833
Elias Cox born January 15, 1835
Rachel Cox born March 17, 1836
Jehu Cox born June 15, 1837
Isaiah Cox born May 18, 1839
Lucretia Cox born December 29, 1841
Emma Cox born June 13, 1844
Nephi Cox born March 20, 1846
Joshua Cox born in 1847
Martha Cox born August 2, 1849
[child] born July 5, 1851
Rosanah Cox, daughter of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born in Monroe County, Indiana January 23, 1825. Of this individual nothing more is known.
Edward Cox, son of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born in Monroe County November 22, 1826 and died in infancy.
Thomas Cox, son of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born in Monroe County April 30, 1827.
Henderson Cox, son of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born in Warren County, Indiana. He was brought by his parents to Council Bluffs, Iowa where the Mormon Battalion was being formed in 1846. Five companies, a little over 500 men, were organized. He joined Company A at the age of 17 and marched off with the Battalion July 21, 1846, and his parents never saw him again. The Mormon authorities collected their clothing allowance of $21,000 from the army, but sent the troops off in civilian clothes, planning to put the funds to "better use."
The incredible thread of circumstances that united the Mormons with their hated enemies, "the pukes," in the incredible war against Mexico was . . . incredible. The federal government needed the volunteers; the destitute Mormans needed the money, and thus, economics dictated the joint venture.
The background of the situation would normally have made the Mormons emigrants to and allies of Mexico. Normally they would have fled and joined the Mexicans in repelling the ill-equipped invaders.
In 1838 Gov. Willburn W. Boggs had loosed 6,000 Missouri militia on the Mormons which helped them to make up their minds to take the Utah trek. That year, when violence began to flare, particularly in Carroll and Davies County, between the Mormons and the gentiles, Boggs directed the general of his militia, "The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary for the public peace--their outrages are beyond description!"
One of the Missouri militia commanders in 1838 was Alexander W. Doniphan. He was a famous jury lawyer, probably the best in all Missouri, and in accordance with the mentality of the times it followed that he commanded six militia regiments. He was a mighty man and a righteous one. So when Gen. Lucas captured Joseph Smith and other leaders of the church and, in obedience to Boggs' extermination order, tried them by court martial and ordered them to be shot for treason in the public square at Far West, Missouri, Doniphan took a stand.
Called upon to execute the condemned, he refused. "It is cold blooded murder," he wrote his general. "I will not obey your order. My brigade shall march for Liberty tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock, and if you execute these men I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God." His troops marched; the order was not executed and the chastened general, after holding the condemned prisoners over the winter, finally arranged for them to escape.
The Mexican war strategy dispensed from Washington visualized twin attacks. Gen. John Ellis Wool was to attack Chihuahua from San Antonio, and Col. Stephen Watts Kearney was to attack Santa Fe from Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas.
Wool, an excellent officer and a martinet, rushed to his assignment, but it proved impossible. After great expense, waste of materiel, transport and supplies, after a dangerous waste of time and dispersion of force and after much hardship unnecessarily inflicted on green troops, the expedition failed.
The Santa Fe expedition, although a Keystone cop organization, had better success. On May 13, 1846, when President Polk signed the war proclamation, the governor of Missouri was called upon to supply 1,000 mounted volunteers. The governor, being ambitious, anticipated the call and already had the mechanics of the plan in motion.
Col. Kearney, commanding the First Dragoons at Ft. Leavenworth, had the only real capability of mounting a successful attack against Mexico the U.S. Army possessed. The First Dragoons were the crack regiment of the army and had been habituated to frontier service. Kearney was the most skilled and dependable officer the army could produce. In the background of egotism, vanity, treachery, incompetence, rhetoric, stupidity and electioneering which the general officers displayed during the Mexican War, Kearney stood out. He was a gentleman, a soldier, a commander, a diplomat, and a challenger to the statesmanship of Gen. Winfield Scott.
When he received orders to move Kearney began to work on supply and transport, arranging to send them ahead of his expedition. A frontiersman, he knew what lay ahead, having already traversed the 800-mile route to Santa Fe. Even with all his attention to logistics he could not organize the service fast enough. When he got his expedition moving his troops were ahead of their rations most of the time.
To complicate matters volunteers were pouring in on Kearney at Ft. Leavenworth. The regular officers were frantically trying to do what why could without arms or equipment and without discipline. Kearney worked them hard and moved them fast, dispensing with the ritual of close order drill and tent-peg tautness.
Captain Phillip St. George Cooke was another reason why the First Dragoons was the best regiment in the army. He fathered a Confederate general, John R. Cooke, and his daughter married Gen. Jeb Stuart, the southern cavalry genius, but Cooke himself was destined to stay with the Union when the Civil War came. Cooke whipped the First Missouri Mounted Volunteer Regiment into shape, and in the custom of the times the Regiment elected its own commander, a private in Company C by the name of Alexander W. Doniphan.
Cooke sprinkled in a few officers from the First Dragoons. Lt. Charles F. Ruff who had served as a lieutenant in the dragoons for five years was "elected" lieutenant colonel. William Gilpin, a most capable West Point man, was named as major in the First Missouri. Gilpin, a lawyer, was educated in England and at the University of Pennsylvania in addition to his military training. He practiced law at Independence, Missouri, predicted and chartered the future of Kansas City, had been on the second Freemont expedition, wrote two books on the potentials of the Missouri Valley, a tireless supporter of the Pacific railway, became the first governor of Colorado Territory and organized a regiment for the Union which saved Colorado from going into the Confederacy.
Kearney finally got the "Army of the West" going June 16, 1846, convoying 100 wagons and 800 cattle toward Bent's Fort. The First Dragoons and the First Missouri moved out. Captain James Allen of the First Dragoons stayed behind to serve as a "Lt. Colonel" in the Second Missouri Mounted Volunteers which included the Mormon Brigade.
The Brigade had arrived at Ft. Leavenworth and was sworn in and outfitted for the march to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Recruits, training and equipment were quickly brought together, and the result was a nightmare. Lt. Richard Smith Elliott recorded, "This is the damnedest army." It could do nothing well except march and fight, and it would not do those by the numbers.
Equipment was incomplete. The new boots didn't fit. The unfamiliar cavalry sabres banged against their legs, and they threw them away. They didn't like the officers, the food, the sand, the flies, the marching, the climate, the trail, the future. They straggled. Battalions were strung out for five miles. Small bands drifted off to the side to shoot antelope. Much of the time the whole regiment joined the scouting guard, just to see what the country was like.
Lt. Colonel Allen, the Battalion commander, took sick and died on the trail, and the command devolved upon Captain Jefferson Hunt of Company A. He was incapable in the eyes of Gen. Sterling Price, and Lt. Andrew J. Smith of the First Dragoons was "temporarily" commissioned a Lt. Colonel to lead the Battalion to Santa Fe.
The van of the expedition arrived in Santa Fe August 18, and the Mexican Governor Armijo surrendered without a struggle. The Second Missouri straggled in October 9. When they entered the town they fired an artillery salute that broke nearly every window in Santa Fe.
The Mormon authorities sent John D. Lee to intercept them there to "accept their pay," bringing the take to $50,000. At Santa Fe, Philip St. George Cooke was placed in command of the Battalion which was then down to 486 men. On November 23 they reached the Rio Grande River and boldly turned southward. Brigham Young had prophesied that the Battalion would never shed blood, giving the men inordinate confidence.
The army moved southward to capture El Paso del Norte and into Chihuahua where a comic opera battle was fought. The Missourians had filled their canteens with aguardiente and tequila and defeated the Mexicans handily. Their victory was ascribed part to their bravery and part to their drunken commanders' failing to give orders to retreat after their position became hopeless.
The Battalion reached Tucson, Arizona December 16 and on January 29 marched into San Diego, California.
Wayne D. Stout relates the circumstances of the tragic death of Henderson Cox:
"Henderson made the long historical march across the Southwest, up the coast of California and was discharged from the service along with the rest of his companions. Henderson was near Captain Sutter's mill at the time of the gold discovery January 24, 1848 and participated in the rush that followed. Henderson had obtained a sizable bag of gold dust at the time his company left for Utah.
Late in June 1848 these sturdy fighters were near the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Capt. Browett took Daniel Allen and Henderson in advance of the main body to explore a suitable route over the top. The third night out some friendly-acting Indians came into their camp and asked to be permitted to remain for the night. Unaware of treachery the white men retired to their beds in confidence that their visitors meant no harm. After they had fallen asleep, the Indians suddenly attacked, killing them and stripping them of all their clothes, possessions and gold dust.
Their companions found their bodies in shallow graves 20 days later. The site was named Tragedy Springs and the name persists to this day. His parents, then in their 49th day with the wagontrain and at the halfway point of their trek, did not learn of their son's tragic death until they arrived in Salt Lake City.
Sarah Cox, daughter of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born February 28, 1832 in Greencastle in Putnam County, Indiana. Of this individual nothing more is known.
Mary Jane Cox, daughter of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born September 19, 1833 in Greencastle. Of this individual nothing more is known.
Elias Cox, son of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born in Greencastle January 15, 1835. He accompanied his parents in their move to Utah. He was married in 1855 in Union, Utah to Martha Richards, daughter of Bishop Silas Richards. He accompanied his father and brother and their families in a move to Fairview, Utah. In 1878 Elias Cox and Martha Richards Cox moved to Emery County, Utah where he was appointed the first bishop of Huntington Ward October 7, 1879.
Rachel Cox, daughter of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born March 17, 1836 in Crawford County, Missouri. Of this individual nothing more is known.
Jehu Cox, son of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born June 15, 1837 in Crawford County. Of this individual nothing more is known.
Isaiah Cox, son of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born May 18, 1839 in Crawford County. His family brought him to Indiana and Illinois and later to Iowa in the Mormon movements. On his eighth birthday his family moved out with the wagontrain and spent 129 days on the trail to Salt Lake City. At the age of 12 he was appointed a Mormon deacon, and at 16 he was ordained a teacher.
He was married January 1, 1856 to Henrietta Janes, daughter of a widow, Asenath Slafter Janes.
The Mormons, so far removed from the seat of federal government, began to appear as a government unto themselves and secessionists to the authorities in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Army dispatched troops to Utah to make certain that the Mormons remained loyal citizens, and thus began the War of Echo Canyon. Isaiah Cox enlisted in Lot Smith's company and did his part in harassing the U.S. troops attempting to reach Salt Lake Valley. He was one of 43 rough-riders who left camp October 3, 1857 without provisions and under instructions to "board at Uncle Sam's expense," according to Wayne D. Stout, a descendant.
"The rough riders swooped down on two suspecting government wagon trains camped near Little Sandy and set fire to all 52 wagons filled with army supplies. Later the company took to cattle rustling on a large scale. When it appeared that the army would be allowed to move into the valley as a peace settlement Brigham Young alerted the Mormons for a proposed move to Sonora, Mexico. After hostilities ended Isaiah Cox moved to Utah County, Utah."
In 1858 Isaiah Cox joined his father and his brother Elias Cox and their families in a move to Fairview, Utah. In 1861 Elias Cox was ordered by Brigham Young to move to St. George, Utah. His family was part of 300 Mormons dispatched to southern Utah to try an experiment in growing cotton in the state. Thus this part of Utah was labeled "Dixie."
Isaiah Cox, a carpenter and builder, helped to build a Mormon tabernacle in St. George. He assembled the first grain reaper that was brought into southern Utah. He brought the first horse-powered threshing machine into Washington County, Utah and operated it for many years.
On October 28, 1865 Isaiah Cox took a second wife, Elizabeth Ann Stout, "with the full consent of Henrietta," according to Wayne D. Stout. She was a daughter of Hosea Stout.
On December 6, 1869 Isaiah Cox took a third wife, Martha Cragun, daughter of James Cragun and Eleanor Lane Cragun.
In 1884 Isaiah Cox was called on a mission to establish a Mormon ward in Clark County, Nevada. Taking one of his wives he moved to Overton, Nevada where he bought land and built a home. In December 29 of that year he was appointed bishop at Overton. When his tenure was completed he returned home to St. George.
In 1887 the Edmunds-Tucker act banning polygamy in the United States by passed by Congress, and the Mormon settlements were thrown into turmoil. Henrietta Janes Cox left their home to live with a daughter Henrietta Cox Stout. Martha Cragun Cox went to teach in a small mining town in Nevada, and Elizabeth Ann Stout Cox "disappeared into nowhere," according to Wayne D. Stout.
Isaiah Cox married a fourth wife, Mary Jane Millet, in St. George September 22, 1888. Isaiah Cox took a fifth wife, Sophie Ann Morris two months later on November 29, 1888. She was born April 27, 1869 in Grafton, Utah. The fifth marriage was a failure, and Sophie Ann Morris Cox left.
To escape the authorities he took his young fourth wife to Colonia, Juarez, Mexico where they remained until 1892. Upon return to St. George he received an annulment of his marriage to Sophie Ann Morris Cox January 10, 1892. Children born to Mary Jane Millet Cox are unknown.
He died April 11, 1896, having sired 29 children. Twenty-two of them survived him, grew to adulthood and had families.
Children born to Isaiah Cox and Henrietta Janes Cox include:
Henrietta Cox born November 25, 1856
Isaiah Cox, Jr. born June 5, 1859
Julia Cox born June 30, 1861
Mary Cox born about 1862
Sarah Cox born about 1863
David Jehu Cox born June 18, 1864
Henrietta Cox, daughter of Isaiah Cox and Henrietta Janes Cox, was born November 25, 1856 at Union, Utah. She was married May 17, 1875 at Logan, Utah to David Fisk Stout, son of Allen Joseph Stout and Amanda Melvina Fisk Stout who was born February 3, 1855. Henrietta Janes Cox came to live with them after the passage of the anti-polygamy legislation.
Children born to them include:
Daisie Stout born August 23, 1884
Daisie Stout, daughter of David Fisk Stout and Henrietta Cox Stout, was born August 23, 1884 in Rockville, Utah. She was married March 12, 1904 at Manti, Utah to Charles Edmund Richardson, son of Edmund Richardson and Mary Darrow Richardson, who was born October 13, 1858. He died August 7, 1925 in Thatcher, Arizona.
On August 18, 1949 Daisie Stout Richardson had the following statement notarized in Logan, Utah:
"Because my son, David Anderson Richardson, has requested it I hereby write the following:
I was born August 23, 1884 in Rockville, Washington County, Utah. My father was David Fisk Stout, son of Allen Joseph Stout and Amanda Melvina Fisk Stout. My mother was Henrietta Cox Stout, daughter of Isaiah Cox and Henrietta Janes Cox, all of whom I remember.
In 1901 I moved to old Mexico with my parents where I met and later married Charles Edmund Richardson. However, prior to our marriage, he knowing that my mother was a Cox and wishing to avoid intermarriage with a relative, informed me that his real blood lineal father was Frederick Walter Cox of Manti, Vermont. We proceeded to trace our Cox ancestries back to determine relationship, if any, but found none. His grandfather Cox was Jonathan Upham Cox, son of Walter Cox, son of Matthew Cox, son of Robert Cox of Massachusetts. My line was Isaiah Cox, son of Jehu Cox, son of Thomas Cox, son of Solomon Cox, son of Solomon Cox [?] of North Carolina.
My husband, Charles Edmund Richardson told me, as he told his children, that his mother, Mary Darrow Richardson, bore two children by her first husband, Edmund Richardson. Immediately thereafter the latter was sterilized for religious reasons. [Some stupid church taught that a deacon or church officer should not father children at all--more than they already had, so he was castrated.--DAR.]
Later on, Edmund and wife, Mary Darrow Richardson 'stumbled' into Salt Lake City and soon joined the Mormons.
Large families being the order of the day, she told her plight to Brigham Young who arranged a divorce from Edmund and a marriage to Frederick Walter Cox. She bore him two children, one of whom became my husband, but the children used the surname Richardson for her first husband was still alive. Due to persecution the Cox fatherhood of my husband and his brother was kept from everyone except my husband's own immediate family. Many of his children know it from him, but so my posterity may know from me the truth of their ancestry, I shall sign before a notary public.
Daisie Stout Richardson"
Children born to Charles Edmund Richardson and Daisie Stout Richardson include:
David A. Richardson born September 21, 1906
David Anthony Richardson, son of Charles Edmund Richardson and Daisie Stout Richardson, was born September 21, 1906. He was married March 3, 1932 to Elaine Earl. Eleven children were born to them.
David Anthony Richardson, an accomplished genealogist, made a thorough research of his ancestry, identifying in 1960 254 of a possible 256 ancestors on his eight-generation chart. He made a detailed study of the Jehu Cox journal and assisted Stanley Medford Cox in developing family lines in "Joseph Cox, Ancestors and Descendants."
Isaiah Cox, Jr., son of Isaiah Cox and Henrietta Janes Cox, was born June 5, 1859 in Mt. Pleasant, Utah. He was married November 15, 1882 to Abigail McMullen in St. George, Utah. Abigail McMullen Cox died there March 28, 1904. He was remarried February 8, 1912 to Ann Elizabeth Middleton who was born January 21, 1869 in Cedar City, Utah.
No children were born to Ann Elizabeth Middleton Cox. Children born to Isaiah Cox, Jr. and Abigail McMullen Cox include:
Walter M. Cox born August 11, 1883
Mary Ann Cox born January 23, 1885
William G. Cox born February 13, 1887
Abbie Cox born June 1, 1888
Wilford F. Cox born August 20, 1890
Lawrence J. Cox born March 4, 1893
Elson Holes Cox born October 15, 1896
Henrietta Cox born April 12, 1900
Walter M. Cox, son of Isaiah Cox, Jr. and Abigail McMullen Cox, was born August 11, 1883 in Leeds, Utah. He was married February 24, 1904 to Little McNeil in St. George. He was later remarried to Mrs. Helen Hasliffe. Children born to Walter M. Cox, Little McNeil Cox and Helen Hasliffe Cox are unknown.
Mary Ann Cox, daughter of Isaiah Cox, Jr. and Abigail McMullen Cox, was born January 23, 1885 in Harrisburg, Utah. She was married to William Worthen November 16, 1904.
William Glover Cox, son of Isaiah Cox, Jr. and Abigail McMullen Cox, was born February 13, 1887. He died August 7, 1887.
Abbie Cox, daughter of Isaiah Cox, Jr. and Abigail McMullen Cox, was born June 1, 1888 in Harrisburg, Utah. She was married about 1909 to Theodore Nebeker. She was remarried about 1919 to C. E. Moore.
Wilford Fenton Cox, son of Isaiah Cox, Jr. and Abigail McMullen Cox, was born August 20, 1890. He did not marry.
Lawrence James Cox, son of Isaiah Cox, Jr. and Abigail McMullen Cox, was born March 4, 1893 in Harrisburg. He was married June 3, 1920 to Frances Huntsman. Children born to Lawrence James Cox and Frances Huntsman Cox are unknown.
Elson Holes Cox, son of Isaiah Cox, Jr. and Abigail McMullen Cox, was born October 15, 1896. He was married October 16, 1916 to Sybil Swapp. Children born to Elson Holes Cox and Sybil Swapp Cox are unknown.
Henrietta Cox, daughter of Isaiah Cox, Jr. and Abigail McMullen Cox, was born April 12, 1900.
Julia Cox, daughter of Isaiah Cox and Henrietta Janes Cox, was born June 30, 1861.
Mary Cox, daughter of Isaiah Cox and Henrietta Janes Cox, was born about 1862.
Sarah Cox, daughter of Isaiah Cox and Henrietta Janes Cox, was born about 1863.
David Jehu Cox, son of Isaiah Cox and Henrietta Janes Cox, was born June 18, 1864 at St. George. He was married there January 1, 1888 to LuEmma Elizabeth Perkins who was born May 2, 1872.
Children born to David Jehu Cox and LuEmma Elizabeth Perkins Cox include:
LuEmma Cox born March 25, 1889
Eunice V. Cox born February 18, 1891
Hazel M. Cox born February 11,
1893
David J. Cox, Jr. born June 27, 1895
Grant Cox born March 27,
1897
LuEmma Cox, daughter of David Jehu Cox and LuEmma Elizabeth Perkins Cox, was born March 25, 1889 in St. George. She was married October 6, 1907 to Hyrum T. Clark.
Eunice Virginia Cox, daughter of David Jehu Cox and LuEmma Elizabeth Perkins Cox, was born February 18, 1891 at Overton, Utah. She was married in 1925 to Charles W. Raymond.
Hazel Martha Cox, daughter of David Jehu Cox and LuEmma Elizabeth Perkins Cox, was born February 11, 1893 in Overton. She died September 4, 1898.
David Jehu Cox, Jr, son of David Jehu Cox and LuEmma Elizabeth Perkins Cox, was born June 27, 1895 in Overton. He was married August 11, 1919 to Leone Calderwood. Children born to David Jehu Cox, Jr. and Leone Calderwood Cox are unknown.
Grant Cox, son of David Jehu Cox and LuEmma Elizabeth Perkins Cox, was born March 27, 1897 in Overton. He was married June 21, 1921 to Florence Barlow. Children born to Grant Cox and Florence Barlow Cox are unknown.
Lucretia Cox, daughter of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born December 29, 1841 in Adams County, Illinois. She was crushed to death under the wheels of a loaded wagon June 15, 1846 on the family's trek to Salt Lake City.
Emma Cox, daughter of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born June 13, 1844 in Hancock County, Illinois while the family was making plans to move to Iowa.
Nephi Cox, son of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born March 20, 1846 in Hancock County, Illinois just as the Mormons were fleeing to Iowa.
The family joined the flight which was caught up in a severe blizzard. The temperature dropped to 20 degrees below zero. At one time the river froze solid, and the Mormons walked across on the ice. The child died of cold and exposure.
Joshua Cox, son of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox, was born in 1847 in Iowa while the family was in the winter quarters of the Mormons. He died the same day.
Martha Cox, daughter of Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox was born August 2, 1849 at Union, Utah. Of this individual nothing more is known.
A child was born July 5, 1851 to Jehu Cox and Sarah Pyle Cox and died the same day.
Absalom Cox, son of Solomon Cox and Naomi "Amy" Hussey Cox, was born in 1777 in Virginia. An Absalom Cox was married October 1, 1798 in Campbell County, Virginia to Judith W. Moore, according to "Some Virginia Marriages."
They removed to join other members of his family in Knox County, Kentucky about 1802 where he appeared as a taxpayer from 1802 to 1806. He was shown owing delinquent taxes there in September 1803 and on November 3, 1807. He was mentioned in the will of his father written in 1819. He appeared as the head of a household in the 1830 census of adjoining Whitley County, recorded as:
"Cox, Absalom white male 60-70
white female 60-70
white male 20-30
white female 20-30
white male 5-10"
Children born to Absalom Cox and Judith W. Moore Cox are believed to include:
Absalom Cox, Jr. born about 1805
Absalom Cox, Jr., believed to be a son of Absalom Cox and Judith W. Moore Cox, was born about 1805 in Knox County. He was married about 1825, wife's name unknown.
He was enumerated as the head of a household in the 1830 census of Whitley County nearby to the household of Absalom Cox. The family was listed as:
"Cox, Absalom, Jr. white male 20-30
white female 20-30
white female 0-5
white female 0-5"
Stephen Cox, twin son of Solomon Cox and Naomi "Amy" Hussey Cox,
was born in 1779 in Virginia. He joined other members of his family
in removing to Knox County, Kentucky about 1802. A Stephen Cox appeared
on the Knox County tax lists from 1802 through 1806. He was mentioned
in the will of his father written in 1819.
He appeared as the head of a household in the 1830 census of Whitley County. The family was listed as:
"Cox, Stephen white male 60-70 [?]
white female 60-70
white female 20-30
white male 15-20
white female 10-15
white male 10-15
white male 5-10"
Naomi "Amy" Cox, twin daughter of Solomon Cox and Naomi "Amy" Hussey Cox, was born in 1779 in Virginia. It is believed that her family removed to Tennessee about 1798 and to Knox County, Kentucky about 1800. She was married there September 8, 1800 to Thomas Mahan, son of Capt. James Mahan, a Revolutionary War soldier, and Nancy [Goodwin?] Mahan, according to Knox County marriage records. Her father-in-law, a justice of the peace, performed the marriage and served as their bondsman. The estate of Capt. James Mahan was probated in Chillicothe township, Livingston County Missouri, according to Olivia Perkins Brisbin, a descendant of Lansing, Michigan.
He gave his property in Knox County to his eleven children October 12, 1819 in a deed of gift, according to Knox County Deed Book 1, page 22, and apparently removed to Missouri where he died December 17, 1839. His estate was appraised there by Levi Cox and Robert McGaugh. Francis Berry, his son-in-law, was his administrator.
Naomi "Amy" Cox Mahan appeared in the records of the Poplar Creek congregation of Cumberland River Baptist Church:
"1st Saturday, December 1805. The church met and after worship, unity appearing among us, we then proceeded to business, first, chose Brother James Brummet deacon and Shadrack Chandler clerk, then a door was opened and received Amy Mahan by experience."
Thomas Mahan died about 1841 leaving an estate in Knox County. Naomi "Amy" Cox Mahan removed to Coosa County, Alabama along with some of her children.
Her children living in Coosa County gave power of attorney to Pleasant W. Mahan in 1842 to sell their interest in the family land in Knox County. The instrument, recorded in Knox County Deed Book E, page 142, read:
"State of Alabama }
County of Coosa }
"Know all men by these presents that we, Alfred C. Mahan, Alexander Black, Charles K. Cotton, James Cardin, John W. Griffin, Charles Williams, Rial H. Watkins and Thomas Peterson, legatees of the estate of Thomas Mahan, late of Knox County and Sate of Kentucky, deceased, We the above named legatees living in Coosa County, Alabama, do hereby make known to all whom it may concern that we nominate and appoint Pleasant W. Mahan, of the State of Kentucky and County of Whitley our lawful agent and attorney in fact, and do hereby authorize him, the said Pleasant W. Mahan, to sell and convey a certain tract or parcel of land containing 143 acres more or less, situate in the County of Knox and State of Kentucky on the waters of Flat Creek, it being a part of the real estate of Thomas Mahan, deceased, and the said Pleasant W. Mahan is hereby authorized to subscribe each of our names to the deed of conveyance to the above described land, and such deed shall be lawful and valid in law in the same manner as if done by us in person.
In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this seventh day of November, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two."
Alfred C. Mahan November 7, 1842
Alexander Black January 21, 1843
C. K. Cotton [X] November 12, 1842
James Cardin November 12, 1842
John W. Griffin November 12, 1842
Charles Williams November 12, 1842
Rial H. Watkins February 18, 1843
T. Peterson November 9, 1842"
In 1843 Naomi "Amy" Cox Mahan gave power of attorney to Pleasant W. Mahan to sell her interest in the Mahan farm in Knox County, according to Knox County Deed Book E, page 143. The document read:
"The State of Alabama }
County of Coosa }
Know all men by these presents that I, Amy Mahan, wife of Thomas Mahan, late of Knox County and State of Kentucky, deceased [I am now living in the State of Alabama and County of Coosa] appointed Pleasant W. Mahan her attorney to subscribe her name to deed 143 acres on Flat creek, Knox County, Kentucky.
Amy Mahan
March 11, 1843
Children born to Thomas Mahan and Naomi "Amy" Cox Mahan, at least a son and seven daughters, include:
Alfred C. Mahan born about 1802
Permelia Mahan born about 1807
Alfred C. Mahan, son of Thomas Mahan and Naomi "Amy" Cox Mahan, was born about 1802 in Knox County. In 1842 he lived in Coosa County, Alabama.
Permelia Mahan, daughter of Thomas Mahan and Naomi "Amy" Cox Mahan,
was born about 1807 in Knox County, Kentucky. She was married there
August 2, 1824 to Alexander Black. Thomas Mahan was her bondsman.
In 1843 they lived in Coosa County.