Person:John Cox (121)

Hopkins County, 1885:^[2]

John Winstead Cox was born in Mecklenburgh [sic] County, Va., July 31, 1827, and is a son of Eli and Jane (Winstead) Cox; the former a native of the "Old Dominion," and the latter of North Carolina, of Irish and English descent respectively. Eli Cox was educated in his native State. He went to North Carolina, where he married, but soon returned to Virginia, where in early life he engaged in merchandising and trading, and afterwards in farming, which he continued until his death in 1846, in his fifty-second year. He was a veteran in the war of 1812. In 1848 the family moved to Hopkins County, Ky. John W. received but very little schooling in his youth, but acquired a good, practical business education by his own exertions. In 1852 he went to California to seek his fortune, and was not entirely unsuccessful. He was engaged in mining there three years, after which he returned to Kentucky, and bought 330 acres of wild land near Nebo. He has since improved the farm upon which he now resides, and to which he has added from time to time, now owning well-improved farms amounting to some 1,500 acres. He is one of the most extensive and successful farmers and stock raisers in the county. For the past twelve years he has been extensively engaged in the tobacco trade, owning two large stemmeries in Nebo. He was married in 1856 to Miss Sarah A Ramsey, a native of Hopkins County, Ky. Six children -- two sons and four daughters -- have blessed their union. Mr. Cox is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in politics a Democrat.

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Hopkins County, Kentucky, 1860 census:^[3]

Cox, John W. 34 yrs Farmer (real estate = $2,500; personal estate = $1,500) b. Virginia

      Sarah 25 yrs b. Kentucky

      Jas. L. 2 yrs b. Kentucky

Hopkins County, Kentucky, 1880 census:^[4]

Cox, Jno. W. 52 yrs Farmer & Tobacconist b. Virginia (parents, b. Virginia/North Carolina)

      Sarah 45 yrs Wife Keeps House b. Kentucky (parents, b. Virginia/Kentucky)

      J. H. 22 yrs Son "Clerk in Tob. Fac." b. Kentucky (parents, b. Virginia/Kentucky)

      Cora 18 yrs Dau "None" b. Kentucky (parents, b. Virginia/Kentucky)

      Ida L. 15 yrs Dau In School b. Kentucky (parents, b. Virginia/Kentucky)

      G. C. 10 yrs Son In School b. Kentucky (parents, b. Virginia/Kentucky)

      Claudie 10 yrs Dau In School b. Kentucky (parents, b. Virginia/Kentucky)

      Virgie 4 yrs Dau b. Kentucky (parents, b. Virginia/Kentucky)

Ramsey, F. D. [m] 27 yrs Brother/law Tobacconist & Farmer b. Kentucky (parents, b. Virginia/Kentucky)

Smith, Charley [BLACK] 14 yrs Servant Waiting boy b. Kentucky (parents, b. Kentucky)

1. ↑ ^1.0 1.1 Hopkins, Kentucky, United States. 1850 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   p. 172A.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Perrin, William Henry; J. H. Battle; and G. C. Kniffin. Kentucky: a History of the State: Embracing a concise account of the origin and development of the Virginia colony : its expansion westward, and the settlement of the frontier beyond the Alleghanies; the erection of Kentucky as an independent state and its subsequent development. (Louisville: F. A. Battey, 1887).

   Went to the Gold Rush for three years, 1852-55, at which he was "not unsuccessful," then returned to Hopkins County and bought farmland. In 1874, he entered the tobacco business, cultivating 1,500 acres and building two large stemmeries.

3. ↑ ^3.0 3.1 Hopkins, Kentucky, United States. 1860 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   p. 658, dwelling/family ---/---.
4. ↑ ^4.0 4.1 Hopkins, Kentucky, United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   ED 194, p. 345B, dwelling/family 44/44.