Most of the information on the early generations of the Coleman family is drawn from others who have researched the Coleman family. We are indebted to them for their work and trust that their conclusions are more trustworthy than what what we would accomplish on our own.
Our conclusion that Ann and Mary Coleman were wives of Jacob Cox must at this time still be considered conjecture. While there is DNA evidence that points to that reality, it requires a sticky DNA that lasts for at least 9 generations. Evidence from land records and the use of names across families adds reassurance, but not proof. Those who come after us will need to continue to search for ways to verify or deny our theory.
Coleman family researchers (see Coleman Family of Mobjack Bay, Virginia), suggest that four brothers (Robert, Richard, John and Edward Coleman)arrived in Virginia in about 1638. Robert is the direct ancestor of the family line we follow. Direct ancestors are in bold.
Generation 1
Robert Coleman married Elizabeth Grizzell, and they settled in Abingdon Parish of Gloucester County, Virginia. Their known children were as follows:
Thomas Coleman, born before 1654, married Rebecca Claiborne
Robert, b. 1656, married Ann Spilsbie
Joseph, married Agnes Adelston
Grizzell, married Benjamin Clements
Daniel, married Miss Darby
John, married twice, Margaret and Ann
Generation 2
Thomas Coleman and Rebecca Claiborne had the following children:
Ann Coleman, baptized July 3, 1680
Grizzell Coleman, bap. April 30, 1682
Rebecca Coleman, bap. January 20, 1684/85
Thomas Coleman, b. February 7, 1688, died August 1781, married Elizabeth (Brown?)
Mary Coleman, bap. October 10, 1689
John Coleman, bap. March 3, 1699/1700
Robert Coleman, bap. Feb 20, 1701
Generation 3
Thomas Coleman and Elizabeth (Brown?) had the following children:
Robert Coleman, bap. Dec 6, 1713, married Elizabeth ?
Joseph Coleman, b. Feb 16, 1715/16; bap.March 3, 1715/16, married Grace Cluverious
Rebecca Coleman, bap March 5, 1718/19; married John Hall, Aug 3, 1745
Elizabeth Coleman, b April 3, 1721, bap. April 20, 1721, married William Robbins
Thomas Coleman, b. Jul 5, 1722; bap. Jul 20, 1722
Sarah Coleman, b. Feb 2, 1726; bap. Feb 19, 1726; married Josiah Ryland; perhaps the namesake of Sarah Ryland Cox, daughter of Samuel Cox
Ann Coleman, b. Feb 2, 1728; thought to be the first wife of Jacob Cox
Mary Coleman, b. August 5, 1729; bap. August 31, 1729; thought to be the second wife of Jacob Cox
Rachel Coleman, b. May 24, 1731; died March 21, 1780, Halifax County, VA; married William Thompson, June 12, 1749; parents of William Thompson, Jr,.who married Lucy Herbert Claiborne. Lucy previously was married to John Cocke and they were the parents of John R. Cocke, Nathaniel Cocke, and Herbert C. Cocke, on whose estate Coleman Cox worked in 1818.
Dianna Coleman, b. Feb 5, 1733/34; bap. February 18, 1733/34; married John Williams
Susannah Coleman, b. January 16 1735/36; bap. February 22, 1735/36; married Armistead Watlington
John Coleman, b. October 15, 1738; bap. October 29, 1738; died February 4, 1797; married Mary Embry; Owned land on Difficult Creek in Halifax County, Virginia that was very near land purchased by Coleman Cox in 1821.
Generation 4
Jacob Cox, we believe, was married first to Ann (Anna) Coleman, and second to Mary Coleman. Jacob and Ann were the parents of:
Dorcas Cox, b. around 1754, married Richard Condra
Phillip Cox, b. September 25, 1755 (also reported as 1757); died March 24, 1834; married Jemima Taylor, eventually settling in Pickens District, South Carolina
Rebecca Cox, b. about 1758; died 1818 in Franklin County, Tennessee; second wife of John Tally
Thomas Cox, b. 1762; died October 1, 1853 in Gwinnett County, Georgia; married twice; second wife was Martha Smith and first wife unknown
Jacob Cox and Mary Coleman were the parents of:
Jacob Cox, Jr., b. 1768; died 1809 in Hawkins County, Tennessee; married Mary Widener. It is possible that Jacob, Jr. is a son of Ann instead of Mary. We have chosen Mary because of the break in children from 1762 and 1768, and because Jacob, Jr. moved with his father to Tennessee while older brothers moved to other locations
Samuel Cox, b. 1770; died 1808 in Knox County, Tennessee; married Catherine Bruce who died in 1806; married second, Margaret Crippen
Nancy Cox, b. 1771, died 1836; married Presley Buckner on May 24, 1789; moved to Morgan County, Indiana, near Martinsville in about 1820
William Cox, b. about 1772; died before 1830; married Phoebe (Barton?); family eventually settled in Paris, Tennessee. William is considered to be a child of Jacob through Y-DNA matching. The origin of his stated birthdate is unknown making it possible that he is a grandson of Jacob through Thomas or an unknown son
Additional Information
Land transactions appear to be significant in the connection between the Cox and Coleman families. As early as 1760, John Coleman was a grantee in a deed from William Thompson, his brother-in-law. This was in Halifax County, Virginia, where he later owned a large estate called “Woodlawn.” The estate was near Clover, Virginia, which is near Difficult Creek. In 1784, John Coleman and John Bruce (grandfather of Coleman Cox) witnessed a deed in which Nathaniel Cocke sold land to William Thompson; the two were likely brothers-in-law. In 1821, Coleman Cox purchased land that was bordered by John R. Cocke (son of John Cocke and Lucy Claiborne Thompson Cocke), Lucy Thompson (widow of William Thompson, Jr.) and two other people (Mary Love and Frederick Steagall) on Difficult Creek. Coleman purchased the land from Isham Britton who had bought the land from Nathaniel Cocke.
While we will follow the family of Thomas Coleman and Rebecca Claiborne, we will also call attention to the families of Robert Coleman and Ann Spilsbie and Grizzell Coleman and Benjamin Clement.
Robert Coleman and Ann Spilsbie had children whose descendants are now DNA matches with several people form the Cox line. In addition, they had a granddaughter, Elizabeth, who married Shadrack Tribble. Shadrack was a witness on two land transactions for Jacob Cox in 1758 and 1759. Elizabeth would be a second cousin of Ann and Mary Coleman, the believed wives of Jacob Cox.
Benjamin Clements, husband of Grizzell, has a more distant connection. On the 1759 land transaction of Jacob Cox, George Watkins is a witness along with Shadrack Tribble. In the same year, George Watkins sells Benjamin Lankford land in Halifax County, Virginia. A few years later, Benjamin Lankford sells land to James Clement with Benjamin Clement and Benjamin Clement, Jr. as witnesses. This would be coincidental in itself, but taken in the larger context it suggests some potential connection among these families.
William Thompson, husband of Rachel Coleman, sells land to Joseph Pulliam on both sides of Difficult Creek in 1762. Later, 1801, Thomas Cox, son of Jacob Cox is found living next door to Joseph Pulliam in Franklin County, Georgia. In 1763, George Seamore sells 200 acres on both sides of Difficult Creek to John Coleman. George Searmore is the father of Larkin Seamore, future brother-in-law of Samuel Cox, both marrying daughters of John Bruce.
Of significance in the various transactions is that most are along Difficult Creek where Coleman Cox, son of Samuel Cox and Catherine Bruce, and grandson of Jacob Cox and Mary Coleman, purchased land as an adult. His Cox family had all moved away, and it appears that he settled in the midst of Coleman family descendants, with the Bruce family (his mother’s family) being slightly further away.