Cox Genealogy
The Coxes were adept in the building of communities and the roots of early Cox's Station struck deep and held fast far out on the rim of settlement. The place name Cox's Creek appears in 1779 and 1780 in the Certificate Books of the Virginia Land Commission, which refer retroactively to the year of 1776 when Colonel Isaac made his first journey to Kentucky. From 1785, when a church and school had already been built, the Cox's Creek community was destined to survive. Today the government post office called Cox's Creek stands not far from the actual site of the early station. Cox's Creek Baptist Church, with its long history and thriving congregation, is one of the best-known churches in the section. Recently a substantial brick structure was erected a short distance from the post office to house the modern consolidated Cox's Creek school. The vital rural community assures the perpetuation of the Cox name for generations to come. Isaac the immigrant died in 1783, and nine surviving members of his family are named as heirs-at-law in the settlement of his estate in Nelson County in 1800. The violence attending pioneer life had taken its toll. His sons James, Joseph, and Colonel Isaac were slain by Indians, and his son-in-law Major William McMahan was killed in battle in 1794. Little is known of Nancy, the seventh child. She evidently died without issue. Of the nine members of the family surviving, George and Ann lived in West Virginia, and Susannah the widow and John, David, Gabriel, Polly, Jonathan, and Benjamin lived in Kentucky. John lived in Fayette County, David and Gabriel in Nelson County, and the others in Shelby County. The approximate dates which are used in the following genealogy of the twelve children of Isaac Cox the immigrant and Susannah Tomlinson have been correlated with pertinent records.
1. James Cox (1740? - 1760?) is said to have been a large man. Induced perhaps by rewards ranging from fifteen to thirty pounds that were offered by the Virginia Assembly in 1757 for each Indian scalp, he ran away from home at the age of eighteen and became an Indian scalper. When he was about twenty -years old he was slain by mistake one night as he was returning in Indian garb to his own forted home in Hampshire County.
2. John Cox (1742?- ) married first Mary -- in Hampshire County, Virginia, and secondly Martha Rich, in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1791. There was a son Benjamin by the first marriage, and a son John or Jack (1792-1852) by the second marriage. The latter married (a) a Miss Henning, (b) Sarah Bosworth, and (c) Martha Roberts. He and his third wife are buried near Boston, Kentucky. Mrs. Beaven Hamilton (Florence Knight Cox), descendant of Jack Cox and Sarah Bosworth resides at Hodgenville, Kentucky.
3. Isaac Cox (1744? - 1788) married Mary Enoch in Hampshire County, Virginia. There were no children. Isaac was slain by Indians, very likely on March 31, 1788, the day that the Bland Ballard family was attacked. On November 15, 1788, his widow married William May, who was prominent in public affairs and for many years had been a close friend of the family.
4. David Cox (1746?-1820) married first Margaret Bruce in Hampshire County, Virginia, and secondly Susanna Martin, in Bullitt County, Kentucky, July 28, 1808. David died in Nelson County, November 18, 1820. Eleven children by the first marriage were James, who married Mary Cox, Gabriel's daughter, in 1791; Jane, who married Abner Chalfant in 1789 and William McDonald in 1816; Friend, who is mentioned in Colonel Isaac’s will; Mary, who married James Pursell in 1793; David, who married Mehitable Boyd in 1798; Margaret, who married Friend McMahan, Ann's son, in 1798; Susannah, who married James Reed in 1799; Isaac, who married Jane McGee in 1811; Jonathan, who married Mary McGee in 1809; Gabriel, who married Ruthy Swearingen in 1817; and George, who married Ellen Connor in 1821.
5. Gabriel Cox (1747?-1807) married first Sarah Enoch in Hampshire County, Virginia, and secondly Elizabeth Robinson in Nelson County, Kentucky, August 31, 1795. The three children mentioned are Mary, who married James, David's son, in 1791; Nancy, who married Walter Beall in 1794; Susannah, who married Thomas Foster in 1804.
6. George Cox (1748-1838) married Susannah Decker in Ohio County in February 1775. The Decker Fort stood on Cross Creek in Ohio County a short distance north of Cox's Fort. George is said to have been a large man. He was survived by his wife and the following children, who are named in his will written July 10, 1837. John; Isaac; George; Joseph, who married (a) Elizabeth Buchanan, and (b) Sarah Hedges; Nancy, who married George Aulbin; James; Susannah, who married Matthew Harris; and Friend (1794-1877), who married (a) Eliza Jane Woods, (b) Rebecca Thistle, and (c) Susan Thistle. Friend, Michael, and Margaret, children of a deceased son Jonathan are also named in the will. Mr. J. Frank Cox, 106 Pine Avenue, Wheeling, West Virginia, is a descendant of George's son Friend Cox.
7. Nancv Cox (1750?- ) married Nathan Chalfant. The record is obscure.
8. Ann Cox (1752?- ) married first William McMahan in Hampshire County about 1772, and secondly Ed Worrell in Ohio County about 1798. Eight children named in the settlement of William McMahan's estate in 1800 are Friend, who married Margaret Cox, the daughter of David in Nelson County; Richard; Susannah; James; John; Joseph; Polly, who married Joseph Agnew; and Nancy, who married John Buky, The early McMahan home, a mile east of Wellsburg, is referred to as "a seat of hospitality where army officers and distinguished adventurers from beyond the mountains were liberally entertained. A spacious old two-story house, an early home of one of the McMahans, still stands in Wellsburg, West Virginia.
9. Pollv or Mary Cox (1753?- ) married John Lemen or Lemon. An unauthentic list of their children includes Samuel, William, Gabriel, Robert, David, Friend, and a daughter. Polly and John Lemen moved from Hampshire County to Ohio County in 1776, and to Nelson County in 1787, where they purchased a small tract of land" and inherited several hundred acres from the two Isaac Coxes. In 1808 they were living in Shelby County, near Benjamin and Jonathan Cox and many other Lemen families. In the latter part of 1808 they sold about two thousand dollars worth of land and within a short time moved to Knox County, Indiana, where they were enrolled as charter members of the Maria Creek Baptist Church at the time of its organization in May 1809.
10. Joseph Cox (1755?-1780) was killed by Indians as he was en route to Kentucky.
11. Jonathan Cox (1757?- ) the twin brother of Benjamin, married Isabella Lemen, the daughter of Robert Lemen of Shelby County. Jonathan came to Kentucky in 1785 or 1786, perhaps with Gabriel. He purchased land and also
inherited several hundred acres from the two Isaac Coxes. In 1808 he was living near Benjamin and Polly in Shelby County, where many of his wife's relatives, the Lemens, also lived. In 1808 Isabella inherited land from her father, and from that time until 1815 she and Jonathan sold a number of tracts. It is thought that they joined Polly and John Lemen in Knox County, Indiana.
12. Benjamin Cox (1757?-1829), the twin brother of Jonathan, married Sarah Piety, the daughter of Austin Piety and Sarah Polk. Their eleven children were Elizabeth, who married (a) Joseph Simpson in 1798 and (b) Samuel Miller in 1816; Sarah Piety, who died unmarried in Clay County, Missouri; Susanna, who married James Ballard in 1803; Gabriel S., who married Nancy Gaston in 1816 and had a family of twelve children; Isaac, who died unmarried; Joseph, who died unmarried; Jonathan P., who married Rachel Lemen Tigert in 1817; Austin Piety, who married Rebecca Phillips; John Calhoun, who married Eliza B. Garrett; Benjamin F., who married Elizabeth Shepherd; and Finetta A.,- who married Elbridge Arnold. Benjamin Cox was one of the founders of Cox's Station. Colonel Isaac favored him among his brothers by leaving him and three of his children more than twenty-five hundred acres of land in addition to the thousand acres that were claimed in his name in 1776. Benjamin and Sarah established their permanent home on Bullskin Creek in Shelby County.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kyncgr/cox.htm
