Solomon Cox, born December 24, 1795, in Wythe County, Virginia, was the youngest child of James Cox and Elizabeth Robertson, whose first husband was a Mr. Terrill.  From the March 1998 issue of The Kentucky Explorer Magazine, we read that ‘Captain John Cox [father of James Cox and Solomon’s grandfather] was a lifelong Indian fighter, having been captured by them at age 16 and held prisoner for six months, and fought in the Indian wars on the Virginia frontier from 1757-1763.  During the Revolutionary War, Captain John Cox commanded the Montgomery County, Virginia Militia, which fought against the Tories and Indians on the Virginia/North Carolina border and was wounded in the Battle of Whitsell’s Mill.’  After the war he moved his family to Wilkes County, North Carolina, now in Ashe County.  He lived near the mouth of Cranberry Creek where he lived until his death.  His monument reads – Capt. John Cox died December 24, 1818, aged 79 years.  On the other side – Margaret Davis, wife of Capt. John Cox, birth and death unknown. 

James and Elizabeth Cox had at least seven children – John F., 1784-1863, Susannah, 1785-1855, Joshua, born 1787, Mary Elizabeth 1789-1853, Catherine, 1791-1864, Hiram, 1795-1860 and Solomon, 1795-1881.  John F. Cox married Judith Sexton, the daughter of Benjamin and Comfort Sexton.  He and most of his brothers moved to Kentucky and settled in a portion of Montgomery County which later became Bath County. 

In 1812, the youngest brother, Solomon, joined them and married Benjamin and Comfort (Smith) Sexton’s daughter Ann, April 28, 1814, in Bath County.  After Ann’s death in 1821, Solomon married Louisa Trimble, September 11, 1823.

My first objective was to take the earlier census records and divide the children between the two mothers.  Of course, until 1850, only head of household was listed in census records.  In 1820 the Bath County census lists Solomon Cox with three males under ten (William May born 1816, John Thomas born 1818, Joshua born 1819), one male 16-25 (Solomon born 1795), one female under ten (Mary Ann born 1815) and one female 26-44 (Ann born 1793 – which put her over 25). 

In 1830 the family lived in Montgomery County and included three males under five (David, James Robertson and Western W., sons of Louisa), one male five to nine (Joshua), two males ten to fourteen (William and John), one male thirty to thirty-nine (Solomon), one female under five (Emily Jane), one female fifteen to nineteen (Mary Ann, daughter of Ann), one female twenty to twenty-nine (Louisa). 

In 1840 the Cox family lived in Bath County – one male 5-9 (Preston), three males 10-14 (David, James Western), one male 40-49 (Solomon), two females under five (Elizabeth and Lucinda), one female 5-9 (Emily) and one female 30-39 (Louisa).  Mary Ann Cox married James Washington Fox July 2, 1831, in Montgomery County.  Sons William May, John Thomas and Joshua must have married and were listed in the census as head of their households. 

As difficult as the early census are to use, it is possible to make sense of who is listed in the census – if you have a list of children and dates of birth! – but even without names, if a husband had two wives, the dates of marriage and death of first wife will help divide the children.

In 1850 in Morgan County, we have the following family members listed in the census – Solomon, 54; Louisa, 46; James, 23; Preston, 19; Elizabeth, 16; Martha, 12; Lucinda, 8.   Son Western W., 21, lived a few houses away with wife Elizabeth, 19, and daughter Luellen, 3/12.  The youngest son, Henry, 5, is not listed in this census.  Was he away from home on this day? 

Morgan County was home to the family in 1860.  Solomon, 64, Louisa, 56, Lucinda, 19, Louisa, 17 and Henry, 15, must have felt very lonely in such a small household! 

Two years later Henry would volunteer in the 5^th Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Kentucky Troops.  Henry was a member of Capt. Andrew J. May’s company, Kentucky Infantry.  He enlisted October 21, 1861, at Prestonsburg, Kentucky, for a twelve-month period, and was sworn in on that date at West Liberty and was on company muster roll November 23, 1861. 

Henry died January 21, 1862, on Beaver Creek, Kentucky.  As I was unfamiliar with a battle in that area, I found in The Paper Trail of the Civil War in Kentucky 1861-1865 ‘the Battle of Middle Creek (January 10, 1862) when Union Col. James A. Garfield’s troops defeated a Confederate force under the command of Brig. Gen. Humphrey Marshall.  During the Civil War, engineers recognized the signs of immense bituminous coal seams in the area and took the information to northern industrialists.’  Henry Cox was wounded and died eleven days later.

In 1860 a portion of Morgan County was taken to make Wolfe County.  That’s where we find the Cox family in 1870.  Daughter Lucinda Ellen married James T. Pieratt.  They are listed both aged 29, with son Henry, 6, and daughter Frances, 4.  Lucinda’s parents, Solomon, 74, and Louisa, 66, live with the family.

In 1880 Solomon, 85, born in Virginia, and Louisa, 69, born in Kentucky live on their own. 

Solomon lived an additional year, dying July 24, 1881, at the age of 86.

Louisa lived on for another nine years, dying August 17, 1890, at the age of 86.

Henry Cox is buried beside his parents.  He has an ordinary gravestone and a military gravestone.

Louisa Ellen Cox and her husband Allen T. Day are buried close to her father.

Solomon was the father of thirteen children – four by his first wife and nine by the second.

Solomon Cox and Ann Sexton:

1. Mary Ann Cox Fox, 1815-1898, buried Elmwood Cemetery, Mexico, Audrain County, MO
2. William May Cox, 1816-1902, buried in Carter Cemetery, Elk City, Beckham County, OK
3. John Thomas Cox, 1818-1869, buried in Old Pleasant View Cemetery, Pleasant View Township, Cherokee County, KS
4. Joshua Cox, 1826-1887, buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery, Park, Greene County, IN

Solomon Cox and Louisa Trimble:

1. David Cox, 1826-1887, buried Oak Hill Cemetery, Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, IN
2. James Robertson Cox, 1827-1902, buried Carl Junction Cemetery, Carl Junction, Jasper County, MO
3. Preston Cox, 1831-?
4. Western W. Cox, 1828-1892, buried Barber Cemetery West Liberty, Morgan County, KY
5. Emily Jane Cox Powers, 1830-1861, buried Holiby Cemetery, Hazel Green, Wolfe County, KY
6. Elizabeth Nancy Cox Maxey, 1834-1911, buried Maxey-Kash Cemetery, Ezel, Morgan County, KY
7. Lucinda Ellen Cox Pieratt, 1840-1925, buried Hazel Green Cemetery, Hazel Green, Wolfe County, KY
8. Louisa Ellen Cox Day, 1843-1919, buried Hazel Green Cemetery, Hazel Green Wolfe County, KY
9. Henry C. Cox, 1845-1863, buried Hazel Green Cemetery, Hazel Green, Wolfe County, KY

Just like Solomon Cox and his father and grandfather, six his children moved westward, hoping for a new life in distant lands – Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Indiana.