As I first began getting acquainted with Idris Cox, I wondered to myself how he could speak with such authority about our ancestor, Coleman Cox. There didn’t seem to be any information on the internet; yet, he knew details no one should be able to know.
Then, he told me about the treasure chest. It turns out the chest was relatively small, just 8 inches tall and 10 inches by 14 inches in width and length. Clearly handmade, it had a cowhide cover and had been around for a long time.
However, along with it came a large amount of handwritten notes. Those notes, preserved across the years, were in some cases Coleman’s own handwriting. Put them together, and they tell the story of a common man figuring out how to live in a time when folks were trying to nurture a young country to life while also arguing over slavery and who got to tell who how to live. The notes, kept by Coleman, had been passed to his son, Caswell, then passed by Caswell to his son, Samuel, and then Samuel to his son, Idris. Idris remains the keeper of the papers, but he has shared copies of them through pdf files that are now on this website. Use the link on our homepage to go the Coleman Cox papers. Spend some time shuffling around in this treasure of information that reminds us of life early in the 19th Century. It is an amazing primary source that is available to us today!