CoxUSA

The Edward Cox Family in New Harmony

By Evelyn Leinbach and Dale A. Cox

In the beginning….

by Evelyn Leinbach

. . .there was The Cox Family in America by the Reverend Henry Miller Cox. A more descriptive title would be Genealogies for Several Families With The Surname of Cox. This 1912 book contains the research of Reverend Cox, which are uncited contributions from people interested in their Cox ancestors. I finally obtained a copy of this book on CD in 2005. For as long as I have been doing Cox research (which is not that long), I have been working from a copy of the descendency chart given in the chapter of the ship’s carpenter Cox of Baltimore. His first name wasn’t even known. This man is my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather and Dale’s great-great-great-great-grandfather, whom we now know as Edward. (More on how we found that out in a later posting.)

I was disappointed to learn that Reverend Cox’s book contained no citations, but the family descendency chart was a starting place. This was an opportunity to either confirm or discount the information given on Edward, his wife Elizabeth, their children, and their grandchildren.

It occurs to me that I should scan this descendency chart and upload. For some people, there is information that isn’t so much wrong but inaccurate in being a generation or two off. For others, the information is just plain wrong. It would be interesting to have been privy to Reverend Cox’s notes. It appears that his source for our Coxes was Edward Travers Cox, who died five years before the book was published. This suggests that E.T.’s information was wrong, his memory was failing, he didn’t express himself well, or Reverend Cox got things wrong. We’ll never know.

The Fredericksburg Connection

by Evelyn Leinbach

The hunt for more information on my forebears began in early 2002 for me. One of the research paths I decided to take was to learn more about my Cox ancestors. I was to find out that a distant cousin had been trying to identify my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Cox. By identify, I mean that this man’s first name was not known.

This Cox was not a completely unknown quantity. A genealogical work published by the Reverend Henry Miller Cox in 1912 called The Cox Family in America recorded this man as a ship’s carpenter in Baltimore who owned a shipyard in the city during the 1780s. The Cox Family in America might be more accurately titled Various American Families with the Cox Surname. In this book, my Cox line is accorded a chapter. I was able to examine a copy of this book on CD, and my worst fear was realized in that it contains no citations. Quite honestly, I was in no worse a position since I had been working from a 30-year-old typewritten document with information gleaned from the Reverend Miller’s book, but, all the same, this information had to be viewed with skepticism.

Until the spring of 2003, we knew that this unknown Cox had two sons, Edward and William. I am descended from Edward. My distant cousin mentioned above, Dale, is descended from William. Thanks to the miracle of the internet, I found Dale in April, 2002. Dale and I are fifth cousins once removed. He had been trying to find more on his Cox lineage and by default had also been on the trail of our common ancestor, the unknown Cox of Baltimore. We joined forces at that point figuring that if we could find more on our Edward and William, we might find more about their father.

We had scant knowledge of the lives of Edward and William Cox until the brothers moved to New Harmony, Indiana, in 1826, except that they had moved there from Virginia. Edward’s wife, the former Martha Oglesby, was a resident of Albemarle County. The birth places for Edward Cox’s seven children were given variously as Winchester, Orange County, and Culpeper County, Virginia. It was probably safe to assume that Edward had been in Virginia since at least 1813, the year of his marriage to Martha. Edward and William gave Maryland as their place of nativity on the 1850 census. We had the question of what brought “the boys” from Maryland to Virginia after their father’s death. The unknown Cox was thought to have died around 1800. Did their mother, Elizabeth, have family in Virginia?

More blips on the radar came in the form of two Virginia Herald items that Dale had found previous to our joining forces. In April of 2002, very early in our correspondence, he gave me information that showed an Edward Cox and a William Cox as members of the Fredericksburg “patroles.”The date of the patrol listings was August 19, 1806. The other item was an announcement concerning Edward Cox and William Cox and the change in a business partnership from William Cox and Morgan Sweeny to a new partnership of Edward and William Cox in Orange County dated September 5, 1818.

Then while searching on-line, Dale came upon the September/October, 2000, issue of the Rappahannock Gazette, the newsletter of the Rappahannock Colonial Heritage Society. Its main article discussed the devastating fire that Fredericksburg suffered on October 19, 1807. The third-to-the-last paragraph read: “One person stood out and was awarded a medal for his extraordinary exertions. He was Edward Cox. Nothing more is known of him.” This seemed to corroborate some information in The Cox Family in America. Assuming that this was our Edward, we could place him again in Fredericksburg on this date. This begged the larger question: What was Edward doing in Fredericksburg on August 19, 1806, and October 19, 1807? Had he lived there for a while? We assumed that his membership in a patrol indicated as such. Fredericksburg appeared to be taking on significance for our Cox ancestors.

A few months later, Dale unearthed additional references to an Edward Cox and a William Cox in the Virginia Herald. An October 1, 1825, item announced that these two men were among the defendants in a lawsuit brought by the Mutual Assurance Society. They were on the losing side. A June 17, 1826, item was an announcement of the failure of the Coxes to answer a complaint filed by William Hansbrough. The facts of the litigation could not be discerned, so I volunteered to find out more. Since I was still so new to such research, I posted a query on the City of Fredericksburg message board on Ancestry.com asking for advice on researching very old court cases. No one replied, but I soon figured out that I needed to contact the Fredericksburg Circuit Court. The necessary communication commenced, and I had photocopies of the papers associated with the lawsuit within a month.

The Mutual Assurance Society was attempting to collect quotas from the owners of record of the Raccoon Ford merchant mill for the years 1818 through 1822. This mill property was about 30 miles west northwest of Fredericksburg. It spanned the Rapidan River in both Orange and Culpeper counties, but the actual buildings were on the Orange County side. Edward and William Cox were part owners and then sole owners from June 17, 1821, until November 1, 1824, and they were liable for their share of the quotas for 1821 and 1822. The 1826 complaint indicated that Edward and William still had not paid, and this omission exposed the property to the possibility of being sold at public auction, even though the mill was under new ownership. As it turned out, one of the current owners paid the outstanding debt at the last minute.

From these court records and Orange County Personal Property Tax Lists, we determined that Edward and William Cox lived for some years in Orange County. An Edward Cox is shown as the head of a household enumerated there in the 1820 census. The other persons in the household jibe reasonably according to gender and age ranges with people who should have been in the family at the time: William Cox, Martha Oglesby Cox, Edward and William’s mother, and Edward’s three sons and one daughter. We also deduced that Edward and William got themselves into financial trouble as a result of their merchant mill ownership. However, there remained that slightly nagging question of Edward and William’s connection with Fredericksburg.

About eight months later in March of 2003, someone replied to the query I posted on the City of Fredericksburg message board. In the reply, a very nice lady brought to my attention the Historic Court Records website maintained and contributed to by various organizations and volunteers dedicated to preserving old Fredericksburg court records. Any proceedings overseen by the various courts in Fredericksburg and other public records are abstracted and entered into a searchable on-line data base. The replier had been able to find an abstract concerning the specific court case I had been interested in the year before.

I started rummaging around on the Historic Court Records web site. I was curious as to if there were any other information involving the Raccoon Ford merchant mill. If there were anything interesting in the history of the mill property or about other owners, I wanted to add that information to the write-up I was working on for Edward and William Cox. The site’s specific section on court records seemed to be where I should start. Search words like “racoon”, “raccoon” or “rackoon” yielded a few items, but nothing new or of importance. Searching on “cox” produced several pages of records with mentions of Coxes. A narrower search using “cox, edward” showed not quite a page of records. a much more manageable bunch of data to look through.

Some records I clicked on did not seem to fit anything within the context of what I then knew about Edward Cox. The settings were in Henrico or Richmond or Chesterfield or Cumberland or Mecklenburg or Pittsylvania counties. Of course, I was trying to keep an open mind, but these locations and other details just did not make sense to me and could not have concerned my Edward Cox. However, two abstracts cited locations of Baltimore, Fredericksburg, and Orange County. The nature of these two legal proceedings had to do with the “Separation of Elizabeth Almond from her husband David Almond, having left him in 1818 due to abuse.” One mentioned an occupation of ship’s carpenter. It also contained surnames of affiants which were known to be significant: Sweeny and Waddle.

While reading and digesting the abstracts of these two cases, I realized that I had to tell myself to exhale. I was holding my breath. Then I had to remind myself to inhale. The abstracts told me that I had found Edward and William Cox’s father, Edward Cox, the ship’s carpenter of Baltimore. But what was he doing being mentioned in a Fredericksburg court case? Almond? Elizabeth? Elizabeth was the name of Edward and William’s widowed mother. But wouldn’t she have been known as Elizabeth Cox? I had to reread this line in the abstract: “David Almond -mr- Elizabeth Cox, widow of Edward Cox, c1794.”  Elizabeth Cox, the widow of Edward Cox, had married David Almond around 1794.

Not only had we made a wrong assumption about William and Edward’s mother–who should have been, in our minds, the widow Elizabeth Cox–but we didn’t even realize we had made an assumption. Elizabeth had remarried after husband Edward’s death. Their sons Edward and William Cox were obscure in the shadow of David Almond, their step-father. This remarriage explained our difficulty in tracing Edward and William’s movements before coming to Indiana, yet there was so much more to be learned.

Still at a brick wall, but the view gets interesting

by Evelyn Leinbach

The elder Edward Cox remains a mystery as of this writing. We have not been able to determine when, where, and why he died, but he was a resident of Baltimore County at the time of his death. He was indeed a ship’s carpenter. The administration bond for his estate was posted on September 24, 1790. His assets in both Baltimore County and Kent County were inventoried and appraised, and the estate was settled on March 8, 1791. In addition to the two sons we know of, Edward and Elizabeth had two daughters, one of whom was named Sarah.

A marriage license for Elizabeth and David “Allmon” dated July 3, 1790, was applied for in Baltimore, so we assume that their marriage took place there not long after that date. David Allmon was a bondsman in the guardianship for Edward and William recorded on June 10, 1795, in Baltimore. A David Allmon, a cooper, was listed in The Baltimore Town and Fell’s Point Directory for 1796. It’s not yet known when and why the family moved to Fredericksburg, but David Almond appeared consistently in Fredericksburg from 1801 through 1824 on tax lists, federal census schedules, and other public documents. Edward and William must have arrived in Fredericksburg as teenagers. When I reexamined the names on the Fredericksburg patrols, I found that David was also a member and was in the same group as William Cox. He first rented and then owned lots 67 and 68, which were on the Rappahannock side of Sophia Street between Fauquier and Hawke Streets.

The property contained a house, kitchen, meat house, and cooper’s shop. There were mentions in the Virginia Herald showing that David Almond was elected to the common council in Fredericksburg each year from 1807 to 1810. So David Almond owned a sizable property which accommodated his cooper’s business and contained a stable, a “meet house” and a dwelling “with seven good rooms.” A February 15, 1804, advertisement in the Virginia Herald showed that he had “fifh-barrels” and “half-bushel measures”  for sale “at his Cooperage in Fredericksburg where he carries on his business in its various branches.”  Payment could be in “cash or produce.” He was a bondsman on the 1806 marriage bond of his step-daughter, Sarah Waddle, to Morgan Sweeny, who was a local shop owner. He was a member of the patrols. He was elected to the common council four years in a row. In the 1810 census, four slaves were enumerated in his household. David taught his two step-sons his trade so that they would be able to support themselves. By just these facts, one might assume that David and Elizabeth”s life in Fredericksburg was good, perhaps even idyllic. Old records of the Fredericksburg Chancery Court indicate otherwise, however.

Years of living Dangerously

by Evelyn Leinbach Two lengthy lawsuits, each entitled Almond vs. Almond, show that Elizabeth and David’s marriage was rife with alcoholism and physical violence. Elizabeth was the plaintiff and David the defendant in both matters. In the one filed December 8, 1818, Elizabeth sued David for separate maintenance. In the other filed June 12, 1819, she wanted an injunction preventing David from taking possession of a slave woman, Nell, whom she said was a gift to her from her brother, Matthias Travers.

Elizabeth feared for her life. According to most of the depositions taken in the course of the lawsuits, she had reason to. In one of her complaints, she asserted that David was “addicted to habits of intoxication.” Affiant James Waddle, whom I believe was Elizabeth’s grandson, said that he had seen Elizabeth with bruises on her face. Another affiant, Pamela Sweeny (the former Pamela Phillips), had lived in the Almond household years before. She gave an account that on various occasions she saw David strike Elizabeth several times, choke her, or attempt to beat her with a “cow hide whip.”  She also recalled that there were times when Elizabeth climbed into Pamela”s bed to try to find some peace in the middle of the night. Elizabeth herself declared that she felt the need to flee the home one particular night and took refuge in the neighboring household of Doc Carter. Affiant Morgan Sweeny, husband of Pamela and Elizabeth”s former son-in-law, had seen Elizabeth with a black eye, and he himself had been assaulted by David.

Almond vs. Almond

by Evelyn Leinbach

This is a rough outline of events which were recorded in various papers associated with Elizabeth’s litigation against her estranged husband, David. I don’t pretend to understand the ins and outs of the rulings or if I really have comprehended what’s contained in these papers.

August, 1815

Elizabeth Almond had moved out of David Almond’s Fredericksburg house and was living with her son, William, in Orange County. One afternoon, Almond arrived at William’s house in a carriage to take possession of three negro boys, the sons of the slave Nell. Nell had been given to Elizabeth by her brother, according to affidavits and complaints. William warned his step-father away from the house. Almond could ignore William because he had two pistols on him, one of which was cocked and in his hand. William picked up a spade, but there was nothing he could do. Almond entered the house, brought out the boys, put them in his carriage, and left. In parting, Almond stated that Nell could stay with Elizabeth. This encounter was witnessed by Madison County residents Claiborne Eddins and Willis Bush who had stopped by William’s house on their way home.

On his way back to Fredericksburg after this incident, Almond stopped at Tandy Collins’ tavern “calling for a glass of toddy.”  He stated that he had been on some “very disagreeable business.” Almond said in front of Collins and Henry Clark that he had taken three negro boys, who were in his carriage, and left their mother with his wife. The men were led to understand that Elizabeth was given “free liberty to dispose of the said woman in any manner she thought proper.”

October, 1816

Thomas Anslow recounted in a September 23, 1819, affidavit that he was talking with Elizabeth and another young woman one evening at the Almond home, which was apparently the night before Elizabeth left the household. David came in, put on his boots and a coat, and announced that he would not be home that night. Elizabeth asked him something about apples, and David apparently had some on his person which he threw into her cap. He then left the house.

October 29, 1818

David Almond won a $200 judgment against Elizabeth in the Superior Court of Spotsylvania. This was the value of the slave Nell.

November 10, 1818

This was the day Elizabeth left David Almond’s house in Fredericksburg for the second time for good.

November 11, 1818

Henry Clarke in a September 23, 1819, affidavit recounted accompanying David Almond to the home of Edward and William Cox in Orange County. Almond’s intent was to take possession of Nell and her child (probably her daughter Mary). “When Almond demanded of Edward Cox his negro woman Nelly and child, Edward Cox refused to give them up. Upon which Almond went to the kitchen to take them. The woman went into the house [keep in mind that a kitchen was usually a separate structure from the dwelling] and Edward Cox commanded the doors to be shut, which was done, that Edward and William Cox immediately appeared with muskets and threatened to take the life of Almond if he attempted to take the negroes, and thereby prevented Almond from taking them.”

December 8, 1818

Elizabeth Almond and William Cox, “her next friend,” appeared before a judge and filed a bill of complaint against David Almond for “separate maintenance.”  The complaint portrays David Almond as being “addicted to habits of intoxication” whose drinking problem and poor treatment of Elizabeth increased over time. She also asked for an injunction against Almond taking possession of the slave, Nell. Edward Cox is named as an additional defendant.

January 18, 1819

An appeals court judge granted an injunction to Elizabeth in the October 29, 1818, judgment of the Spotsylvania Superior Court against Elizabeth in the matter of the slave, Nell.

May 21, 1819

A summons was issued ordering David Almond and Edward Cox to appear at the Fredericksburg Superior Court of Chancery on the first Monday in September, 1819, to answer a bill of complaint from Elizabeth Almond and William Cox, her next friend.

June 12, 1819

Elizabeth made a bill of complaint in the Fredericksburg Chancery Court outlining David Almond’s squandering the slaves and household furniture she had brought to the marriage, his escalating alcoholism and mistreatment of her, and her need to leave her husband’s household and go live “under the protection of her sons with whom she now resides.” It was mentioned that Nell had died by this time. She reiterated that Nell was a gift from her brother and that Almond had attempted to take Nell from her possession. He had attempted to get Nell and her baby daughter, Mary, via a judgment given by the Superior Court for Spotsylvania, against which she won an injunction. This suit names both Almond and William Cox as defendants. (I think William is named because he has physical custody of Nell’s daughter, Mary, and Elizabeth wants to prevent “the other defendant from parting with the said slave till the farther order of the Court.” With an asset like Mary being sold, Elizabeth would have no chance of separate maintenance.)

June 21, 1819

The injunction that Elizabeth sought to ensure that Almond and William will not do anything with Nell’s baby, Mary, was awarded under the condition that Elizabeth post a $200 security bond.

August 5, 1819

David Almond was notified that on August 21, 1819, at Tandy Collins’ tavern in Orange county, affidavits will be taken from “sundry persons to be read as evidence on the hearing of two injunctions depending on the Superior Court of Chancery for the District of Fredericksburg, in one of which I by Edward Cox my next friend is plaintiff and you and William Cox defendants and in the other, I by William Cox my next friend is plaintiff and you and Edward Cox defendants.” These “sundry persons” would have been Tandy Collins and Henry Clark.

August 12, 1819

Affiants Claybourne Eddins and Willis Bush of Madison County recounted their witnessing the August, 1815, confrontation between David Almond and William Cox and Almond taking Nell”s three sons from William”s house in Orange County. This affidavit was taken in Madison County.

August 21, 1819

Affiants Tandy Collins and Henry Clark of Orange County recounted their August, 1815, encounter with David Almond shortly after Almond took Nell”s three sons from William Cox”s house. This affidavit was taken at Tandy Collins’ house.

September 18, 1819

Elizabeth Almond and William Cox were notified by David Almond that on September 23, 1819, affidavits will be taken at the tavern of John Sheppard “of sundry persons to be read in evidence in a suit now pending in the superior Court of Chancery for the Fredericksburg District in which Elizabeth Almond by William Cox her next friend is complainant and David Almond and Edward Cox are defendants.”  The notice was signed by David Almond on September 14.

Also, Elizabeth Almond and Edward Cox were notified by David Almond that on September 23, 1819, affidavits will be taken at the tavern of John Sheppard “of sundry persons to be read in evidence in a suit now pending in the superior Court of Chancery for the Fredericksburg District in which Elizabeth Almond by Edward Cox her next friend is complainant and David Almond and William Cox are defendants.”  The notice was signed by David Almond on September 14.

September 23, 1819

In an affidavit, Noble Thompson recounted that he had lived in the Almond household at the time that Elizabeth left in November, 1818, and never saw David Almond mistreating Elizabeth. Whatever he had heard about the abuse was from her. Also, Elizabeth “conducted the affairs of the house as she pleased.” After Elizabeth left, Noble was told by Almond to “let Mrs. Almond take what she wanted. That she did come and took away several things, and that a negro boy took away a brass skillet.”

In an affidavit, Thomas Henry recounted that he had lived in the Almond household as a partner in a weaving business with Elizabeth, “the profits of which the said David Almond never interfered with. . . .”  Henry was asked by the plaintiff, Did you ever stay from the home and on returning in the morning not find Mrs. Allmond at home  Henry answered that when he returned to the Almond house one morning after having stayed out all night, he saw Elizabeth at Doctor Carter;s but whether she stayed there all night he did not know. This may have been one incident when Elizabeth fled the house and took refuge with one of the neighbors.

Thomas Anslow provided an affidavit recounting the evening before Elizabeth left the household in October, 1816.

Benjamin Clarke provided an affidavit recounting the November 11, 1818, confrontation between Edward and William Cox and David Almond when Almond attempted to take possession of Nell and her baby, Mary.

September 28, 1819

David Almond was served notice by Elizabeth Almond “that on the 5^th day of October next at James Young’s Tavern in the Town of Fredericksburg, I shall take the affidavits of sundry persons to be read as evidence on the hearing of two injunctions depending in the Superior Court of Chancery for the district of Fredericksburg in one of which I by Edward Cox my next friend is plaintiff and you and William Cox defendants and in the other I by William Cox my next friend is plaintiff and you and Edward Cox defendants.”

October 5, 1819

Affidavits were taken from James Waddle, Pamela Sweeny, Francis Wiatt, Morgan Sweeny, and Henry T. Phillips in Fredericksburg to be read as evidence in Elizabeth’s two lawsuits. The affiants attest to Almond’s abusive treatment of Elizabeth, or seeing bruises on Elizabeth, or Elizabeth’s brother Matthias having given Nell to Elizabeth. Nell had died by this date.

October 6, 1819

The Superior Court of Chancery in Fredericksburg ruled that Elizabeth owed $200, “the value of the negro,” to David Almond and William Cox.

October 12, 1819

A summons was issued to David Almond by the Fredericksburg Chancery Court ordering him to appear at the clerk’s office on the first Monday of January, 1820, to answer a bill exhibited against him and Edward Cox by Elizabeth Almond and William Cox, her next friend, to enjoin Almond from proceeding on the judgment awarded him on October 29, 1818. The summons was executed on November 24, 1819.

November 13, 1819

The Registrar of Wills in Baltimore County made a copy of Edward Cox’s inventory of “goods and chattels” made in both Baltimore County and Kent County after Cox’s death. This copy was evidence in Elizabeth’s lawsuit against Almond for separate maintenance.

March 22, 1820

David Almond entered an answer to the bill of complaint from Elizabeth. He claimed that Nell was not a gift to Elizabeth from her brother but was part of the surplus estate of her father which was due her. He asked that the injunction be lifted (presumably so he could take possession of Nell’s daughter, Mary) and offered to take Elizabeth back into his house.

January 30, 1823

The Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled on Elizabeth and Edward’s appeal of the October 6, 1819, judgment by the Superior Court of Chancery in Fredericksburg of $200 to be paid to David Almond and William Cox. It ruled that the Chancery Court erred in dissolving an injunction preventing Almond from collecting the money before Elizabeth’s suit for alimony was heard. The court ordered that Elizabeth and Edward be reimbursed for the cost of pursuing the appeal, $31.07, and the matter be remanded to the Fredericksburg court.

May 22, 1823

A summons ordering William Cox to appear at the court clerk’s office of the Fredericksburg Court of Chancery on the first Monday of July was issued. This was in connection with the lawsuit by Elizabeth Almond and Edward Cox, her next friend, against David Almond and William Cox.

Albemarle County
by Evelyn Leinbach

After Fredericksburg, the next area where Edward and William can be placed is in Albemarle County in 1809, 1810, 1811, and 1813 when they appeared on the personal property tax lists. Edward is shown on the 1814 and 1815 tax lists, and he would have been serving as an officer in the War of 1812 for part of those years. For each entry for either Edward or William on the tax lists, there is a notation after their names of either “Shadwell” or “Jefferson Mill.”

According to Jefferson’s Memorandum Books, there are no recorded transactions of any nature between Thomas Jefferson and Edward and William Cox. The theory is that Edward and William were employed as coopers by Jonathan Shoemaker, the lessee of Thomas Jefferson’s Shadwell merchant mill from 1807 to 1811. According to the Albemarle County personal property tax lists, Edward was still associated with Shadwell in 1813, 1814, and 1815 and may have then been employed by Jefferson’s son-in-law, Thomas Randolph. The Randolph family papers may shed light on this some day. William was living in Orange County by 1815.

On January 27, 1813, Edward married Martha Oglesby, daughter of Jacob Oglesby and the former Mildred Martin. We have accounts that the first two (and probably three) of Edward and Martha’s seven children were born in Winchester, but Edward cannot be found on any Winchester tax list or as a grantee or grantor of any Winchester property transactions during the time he should have been there. Since Edward was on the 1814 and 1815 Albemarle County personal property tax lists, their first children should have been born there.

It is our understanding that Edward was an officer in the War of 1812. When we compare the signatures found in a Lieutenant Edward Cox’s military records (Captain John Field’s Company of Light Infantry, 8 Regiment Virginia Militia) to a known sample of Edward’s signature, we’re very confident of a match. Edward enlisted as a second lieutenant on August 31, 1814, and mustered out as a first lieutenant on February 8, 1815. He was based at Camp Carter near Richmond. It is unknown if William did service during the war.

Edward and William’s sister, Sarah, died about the middle of May of 1817. There is a tiny mention in the Virginia Herald on May 17, 1817, of Sarah Sweeney’s death in Orange County the previous week. Sometime between her 1795 Baltimore marriage to William Waddle and 1806, Sarah must have been widowed. (Records of the First Presbyterian Church of Baltimore show baptisms for three sons of William and Sarah: James, David, and William. I suspect they had a fourth son, John, but that still needs to be researched.) On January 28, 1806, David Almond signed a marriage bond (along with Morgan Sweeney) in Fredericksburg so his “daughter-in-law” Sarah Waddle could marry Morgan.

Edward can be placed in Orange County on June 10, 1818, when Wm. Cox & Co. became Edward & Wm. Cox. Their property was a tract of land called Bratoft, and a September 5th announcement in the Virginia Herald directed all interested persons to inquire there. It appears that William was established in Orange County at least since 1815. The announcement seems to indicate that William and his brother-in-law, Morgan Sweeney, had been partners in Wm. Cox & Co. The dissolution of William and Morgan’s business partnership happened about three weeks before Morgan’s marriage to Pamela Phillips.

Did Edward’s move to Orange County in 1818 come about because Morgan wanted to divest himself of a partnership with William before his remarriage and William needed a partner? Edward and Martha were there in March of that year when Martha delivered their fourth baby. It seems that Morgan was some sort of a merchant and may have preferred to spend his time in Fredericksburg and not have to be worried about a financial interest in an Orange County business. Morgan’s next wife, Pamela, was the daughter of Fredericksburg resident Henry T. Phillips. Also, this was the year that things really flared up again between Edward and William’s mother and step-father. Edward’s move to Orange County may have been the catalyst for Elizabeth’s second and final move out of David’s house in November.

The most significant land purchase Edward and William made was the merchant mill at Raccoon Ford, within 35 miles of Fredericksburg. This property spanned the Rapidan River into both Orange and Culpeper counties, but the mill structures insured by the Mutual Assurance Society were on the Orange County side. The brothers had to have acquired their taste for merchant mill ownership during their time at the Shadwell mill in Albemarle County. They were part owners with Alexander Musgrove at first (deed dated June 17, 1821), but Edward and William bought out Alexander and Fanny Musgrove on April 26, 1822. It appears that Edward and William defaulted on the loans made to them to finance their purchase because they conveyed the property to Jackson and Jeremiah Morton in 1824.

Edward’s wife, Martha, is said to have died in 1824 at Raccoon Ford. Some people who have posted Oglesby family trees on the web put her year of death as 1826. Her name appears as a grantor (along with Edward and William) on an Orange County deed conveyance dated November 1, 1824.

I don’t know how the idea came about, but Edward and William decided to move the family from Orange County. The old thinking was that it was their intent to travel to New Harmony, Indiana, to join the Owenite community so that Edward’s six surviving children could be educated. The Owenite community was an experiment in socialism based on Robert Owen’s philosophy on education and his wanting to create a “New Moral World,” and the promise of superior public education for children was indeed a draw for some families who came to New Harmony at that time.

The Boys
by Dale Alan Cox

Even for brothers, Edward and William Cox, were very close throughout their lives. As Evelyn detailed previously, the Boys moved from Baltimore following the death of their father, Edward, to Fredericksburg, upon the remarriage of their mother, Elizabeth Traver Cox, to David Almond. In Fredericksburg The Boys took part in “Patroles” together and both apparently learned the cooperage trade from Almond.

Edward and William both worked in Jefferson’s mills at Shadwell in Albemarle County, VA, where, according to John Nowland’s sketch of, E. T. Cox, Edward was an “entrusted” agent of Thomas Jefferson managing “important business.” Edward was also according to Nowland, a lieutenant in the War of 1812.

In 1818, William dissolved his partnership with his brother-in-law, Morgan Sweeney, and in turn entered the milling business with his brother Edward at Bratoft in Orange County, Virginia.  At Raccoon Ford, Edward and William  protected their mother from Almond’s frequent alcoholic rage. Following the Panic of 1819, in debt together, with creditors hounding them, Edward’s wife, Martha Oglesby Cox, mother of Edward’s eight children, died at Raccoon Ford in 1824.

In the fall of 1824, according to Nowland, Edward and William Cox escaped the sadness of Martha’s death and the burden of their failing mill on the Rapidan River in Raccoon Ford, Virginia to follow Robert Owen and William Maclure to the “New Moral World” of New Harmony, Indiana.

Nowland writes of Edward’s decision to join Owen and Maclure.

“Finding himself left with a large family of small children which it was necessary to educate, he was struck with the many advantages Robert Owen presented to the members of his community for education, since it was to form its keystone; the mottoes on his banner were: “Ignorance is the fruitful cause of human misery,” “If we can not reconcile all opinions, let us endeavor to unite all hearts.”  He also attended one of Mr. Owen’s lectures at Richmond, and soon after resolved upon moving to New Harmony.”

Nowland states futher that the Coxes came to New Harmony with other families. In the Workingmen’s Institute, a file cards  the Cox family came to New Harmony in 1826 with the Fauntleroy family, also from Virginia, however, other than the this mentioned, we find no documentation of this fact.

Oliver Evans, Jr., son of the great milling machine inventor, lived in New Harmony for several years.   Edward and William would have likely had some contact with Evans, as neighbors, former mill owners, and as coopers.  One could speculate that Edward and William may have had some business dealing with Maclure, who had business in Richmond.  Perhaps they had contact with Robert Owen through their business dealings with Thomas Jefferson, whom Owen visited.

Nowland states the Coxes departed for New Harmony by flat-boat from Wheeling down the Ohio River. They wintered Cincinnati, where their older brother, Matthew, was living. Their journey mirrored that of the illustrious “Philanthropist,” but a year earlier.   While the note cards in the Workingmen’s Institute state the Coxes arrived in New Harmony in the spring of 1826, Nowland states that the Coxes arrived earlier:

“All arrived safely at Mount Vernon, on the Ohio river, the present seat of Posey, and fifteen miles from New Harmony. From this place the journey was finished in wagons. It was on the 28^th day of May, 1825, that the subject of this sketch [E. T. Cox] first beheld the town of New Harmony, which was to be his future home, and child though he was, the impression which the scene made upon him will never fade from his memory. The orchards were all in bloom and the entire valley which burst upon view of the emigrant, from the top of the hill just before descending to the town, looked like one vast flower garden.”

Edward and William Cox made their living as coopers in New Harmony. There is a receipt in the community account book of William Cox making a butter churn for Charles Lesueur. Mary Lou Fleming, author of an unpublished biography of E. T. Cox, had documentation of them winning awards for their cooperage in the 1840’s at the Posey County Fair. William Cox was the postmaster of New Harmony for many years. Edward’s children were educated in the New Harmony community schools. Edward’s sons played in the New Harmony Orchestra. Edward’s son, Thomas, was said to be a fine Shakespearean actor. Edward Travers Cox, as well noted, became the protege of David Dale Owen and the first Indiana State Geologist.

On March 21, 1830, at age 38, William married Eliza Robb, the 21 year old daughter of John Thomas Robb, an early Indiana pioneer for whom Robb Township in Posey County is named. The marriage officiated by Rev. John Shrader, the Methodist circuit rider, could have been quite large, with Eliza’s mother, Lydia, her many siblings and William’s brother, Edward, perhaps their mother, Elizabeth, and Edward’s
seven children.

In 1836, William Cox purchased from the Owen family, Lot #45, in New Harmony.

Besides their progeny, perhaps Edward’s and William’s most enduring contribution to the New Harmony community was their involvement in the founding and overseeing of the New Harmony Workingmen’s Institute. Edward Cox was the second signer, behind the carpenter John Beal, of the 48 original signers of the “Laws of the Workingmen’s Institute.” William Cox was the eighth signer.  Edward and William were two of the four signers behind John Beal and James Sampson, on the Letter of the Working Men’s Institute to William Maclure on April 23, 1838. Edward Cox one of the five names in the incorporation of the Workingmen’s Institute and was addressed directly by Maclure in his April 15, 1839 letter to the Workingmen’s Institute. William Cox held the office more than any other individual in the history of the WMI.

In 1845, William was elected president of the New Harmony Free Land Association.

Edward, according to Nowland, died in 1850.

Evelyn’s Theory
by Evelyn Leinbach

I have a theory on how The Boys wound up in New Harmony.

After the huge financial reversal Edward and William suffered as a result of their merchant mill ownership, the men may have decided to join their older brother, Matthew, in Cincinnati. They probably could have found work easily as coopers and would have gotten themselves and their mother far away from their step-father. The idea of moving to New Harmony could have taken root while they were in Virginia, but it’s possible that they heard about New Harmony during time they spent in Cincinnati.

My theory, for which it is

by Dale Alan Cox

It seems likely that Edward and William Cox came to New Harmony because they were swept up in the ideals of Owen and Maclure, as were their contemporaries, like Oliver Evans Jr. (whom they might have had a connection through their milling interests). They were Owenites by the happenstance of their financial failures that occurred coincidental to the Owenite movement to New Harmony.

Edward’s and William’s milling business at Raccoon Ford likely failed as a result of the on-going depression compounded by a drought. However, there is evidence that the depression was the result of the moneyed capitalists forcing cheap labor on the market. A contemporary, in time, place, and industry, James Cox of Baltimore, whom they may have been related to, was a original member of the Ancient and Honorable Mechanical Company of Baltimore, an early version of a labor union, which was formed to battle the money men, their sweatshops, and cheap labor. Edward and William, as coopers and skilled workers, might have been sympathetic to those very ideals. Regardless of being related to James (though I suspect James was Edward’s and William’s uncle), they were, like James Cox, tradesmen undergoing the same forces.

It was likely that Edward and William would have had knowledge of Robert Owen and his celebrated deeds at New Lanark. Robert Owen was frequently discussed in pro-labor world. Mills and milling were central to Owen and Edward and William, as was the idea of labor and the working man.

To attest to their affinity toward the working man, Edward and William were original signers of the Working Men’s Institute. William Cox remained active in radical thought long after the collapse of the New Harmony experiment being one of the instigators of the Free Land Association of New Harmony.

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