Written by Steve Cox, 2018
Go to Jacob’s early life and marriages
Go to Jacob’s known children
Go to Jacob’s migration from New Jersey to Tennessee
The Search for Jacob Cox
For many years, there has been a strong paper trail that has tied together the descendants of Samuel Cox and Catherine Bruce. Samuel was born in 1770, in Halifax County, Virginia, based on records kept by his son, Coleman Cox, and passed down to current generations. However, determining the ancestry of Samuel has been more difficult. Since at least the 1960’s, there has been widespread information suggesting that Samuel was the son of John Cox and Mary Ferguson, who were married in Halifax County, Virginia, in 1766. While that would be a convenient answer, and there are additional circumstances that give credence to the theory, it has now been proven to be false. The proof comes in the form of Y-DNA evidence that is coupled with genealogical evidence. The most conclusive comes from Y-DNA. Y-DNA measures markers along the Y-Chromosome of the male members of the family. A father passes down the markers in his Y-Chromosome to his sons so that in most cases their markers will look exactly like their father’s. Occasionally, however, one of the markers will “mutate” in one son with the rest remaining the same. From that time forward, the sons of the one who had the mutation will carry that same result. Children of all the other sons will not. Since this does not happen to every son, and since it does not happen in every generation, it is very simple to review the markers to determine a relationship. Cousins who share a common ancestor as many as 8 or 10 generations earlier will still have results that look much the same. To determine if two men are cousins, 111 markers can be tested. If they have shared a common ancestor in the last 300 years, for example, they will probably match on more than 100 markers of the 111. The fewer the differences, the more convincing it is that they are closely related. Armed with this new process, a small group of men who found that they were all tracing ancestors back to the 1760’s in Halifax County, Virginia, decided to take Y-DNA tests. Since early 2015, the results of 19 testers have been placed into a common group. The process and detailed results are described in a separate article. However, a brief summary is in order. The results clearly indicated that Samuel Cox was a biological descendant of a man named Phillip Cox. Samuel, in all likelihood was Phillip’s great-grandson. Phillip was born in about 1677, and married Dorcas Hull in 1702. They lived in Somerset County, New Jersey. The Y-DNA also connects Samuel to a Jacob Cox who was also the father of men named Thomas and William Cox, while other forms of DNA (autosomal) have connected Jacob as the father of Dorcas Cox, wife of Richard Condra, and another Phillip Cox. We also know from Y-DNA that Jacob had a brother living near him while in southern Virginia who was probably named Samuel. This brother had children named Fulker, Phineas, and John, all of whom eventually migrated to Warren County, Kentucky, and beyond. Jacob and his brother would have been grandchildren of Phillip Cox and Dorcas Hull. While DNA has not proven the relationship to their father, we know that Phillip’s son, John, had sons named Jacob and Samuel who apparently disappeared from New Jersey. There are, or course, others who are testing Y-DNA who do not match with this group. One such group traces to a Cox family that was in Orange County, Virginia, before some migrated to Halifax County, Virginia. Based on genealogical information, it appears that the John Cox who married Mary Ferguson was from this family line. If the genealogical information is accurate, then John Cox and Mary Ferguson do not represent the biological ancestry for Samuel Cox, b. 1770. Rather, it is clear that Samuel’s father was Jacob Cox, grandson of Phillip Cox and Dorcas Hull, and son, in all likelihood, of John Cox and Mary/Mercy Taylor. So, who was Jacob Cox? We have a clear picture of his DNA, but what is his genealogical story? Let’s turn to that now.
Jacob’s Early Life and Marriages
We are exploring the story of a man who we believe to have been born in Somerset County, New Jersey, then migrated to southern Virginia and northern North Carolina, and finally settled in eastern Tennessee. We have information about him in each location, but we have no guarantee that we are always following the same person. Neither do we have clear records of his birth or death. For that reason, we begin with the confession that it is strong, but circumstantial evidence that connects the story across time and settings. This is the best information we have at the moment, but future genealogists should continue to be open to conflicting information, and make adjustments as needed.
Jacob was born in Somerset County, New Jersey, probably in the 1720’s. There are family trees online that place his birth in 1727, but we have found nothing to corroborate that date. It does, however, seem appropriate for events later in his life.
Jacob’s paternal grandparents were Phillip Cox, 1678-1736 and Dorcas Hull, abt 1680-1738. They eventually settled in Somerset County, New Jersey. Additional details about them are included in a separate article. Briefly, there is little known for certain about Phillip’s ancestry. Dorcas was the daughter of Phineas Hull and Jerusha Hitchcock, both of whom died in New England before Dorcas was a teenager. Dorcas may have then chosen to live with an uncle. Two uncles, Benjamin and Hopewell Hull had migrated to East New Jersey as some of its earliest settlers. The names of Phineas and Dorcas are used repeatedly in ensuing generations in this family.
Jacob’s parents were John Cox and Mary/Mercy Taylor (last name is unproven). Jacob is named in John’s Will, written June 24, 1767, in Sussex County, New Jersey. He and his siblings are listed in the following order: Jacob, Samuel, Mary, Dorcas, Phinis, Elizabeth, John, Marcey, Benjamin, and William. Interestingly, the executors of the Will are to be Mary, John’s (the writer of the will) wife, and Moses Ayers, husband of Dorcas. An inventory of the estate is made by Nathaniel Ayers and Thomas Terrill. Witnesses include Ephraim Drake, Benonia Ayston, and Philip Hoffman. None of the sons are witnesses, executors, or are involved with the inventory. That suggests that the sons are not local, or are for some reason unable to fulfill the responsibility. The hints we have found from other names include: 1) Philip Hoffman in an online family tree who was said to be married to a Marcy with no surname given. Perhaps he is married to Marcy Cox They had children named Dorcas and Mary/Marcy. Philip was said to be of German descent, and born in Pennsylvania; 2) Ephraim Drake is connected to a Drake family closely associated with the Cox and Hull families. The Drakes and Hulls are in transactions together in the 1670’s. As it turns out Ephraim is from the same extended family of a James Drake who purchased items at the estate sale of Samuel Cox (b. 1770) in eastern Tennessee in 1808. An older cousin of Ephraim named Samuel Drake married Elizabeth Hull, a cousin of Dorcas Hull. There is another Samuel Drake, who is also a cousin, b. 1719, who marries a Mary Cox, and they have a daughter named Elizabeth. Though others have said Mary is from Henrico County, Virginia, it seems more likely that she is part of this family. There is some speculative evidence that Benoni Austin married a Mercy Thompson, who may be part of the William Thomson family. William Thomson witnessed Phillip Cox’s will in 1728.
A recent autosomal DNA study has led to the conclusion that Jacob married Anna Coleman, and perhaps her sister, Mary. This has been suspected by some for a while because of the various interactions between the Cox and Coleman families. Now, DNA points to the same conclusion. Four descendants of Jacob Cox share a significant segment of overlapping DNA on Chromosome 4, along with a descendant of Phillip Cox, son of Jacob. That led to deeper research into other people who shared the same overlapping DNA with this group. Three more people were found who did not appear to have a connection to the Cox family. However, they all matched each other through common ancestry through the descendants of Thomas Coleman, b. abt. 1654, and Rebecca Claiborne. Two of the three descended from their granddaughter Mary Covington, by way of their daughter Ann. The third traced to Mary, the daughter of Thomas and Rebecca. As it turns out, Thomas and Rebecca also had a son named Thomas. He married Elizabeth Brown. Two of their daughters were named Anna and Mary, and little has been known about either of them, aside from the fact that they were next to each other in age, with Anna slightly older than Mary. Some believe Anna was a twin sister of Sarah; other say she was born two years after Sarah, and a year before Mary. Sarah is important in helping confirm the connection because she married a man named Josiah Ryland, giving her the name Sarah Ryland. Years later, Samuel Cox, son of Jacob, named his first daughter, Sarah Ryland Cox. There are other examples of the children of Thomas and Rebecca interacting with Jacob’s family, but this demonstrates the significance of the relationship.
Knowing that all those with this overlapping DNA share a common ancestor, and knowing that these two families neighbored in the mid 1700’s, as well as having deeper relationships between each other, and knowing that Jacob’s son, Samuel, in addition to naming a child Sarah Ryland Cox, also named his first son, Coleman Cox, it seems highly likely that the common ancestry comes through this Coleman family. As will be reported elsewhere in this article, Jacob had land transactions in which his wife, Anna, relinquished her right to dower. Additional transactions that are believed to belong to our Jacob, indicate that he had a wife named Mary. If so, Anna died after June 16, 1763, and before 1769. Since the overlapping DNA includes a descendant of one of the early children, as well as descendants of the later children, then the two women have to be sisters in order for the DNA to match all the recipients.
There are several known children, but we don’t know that we have an exhaustive listing. Those known or believed to be children of Jacob include, Dorcas, Rebecca, Phillip, Thomas, Jacob, Jr., Samuel, Nancy, and William. Interestingly, these names follow a pattern of being taken from Jacob’s grandmother (Dorcas), Anna’s grandmother (Rebecca), Jacob’s grandfather (Phillip), Anna’s grandfather and father (Thomas), Jacob (Jacob, Jr.), Jacob’s brother (Samuel), Anna (Nancy was replacing the use of the name Ann), and Jacob’s brother (William). Missing from the list is John, Mary, and Elizabeth (names of the parents of Jacob and Anna/Mary; however, there is one record of a person named John living in Jacob’s household in 1779 as an adult, suggesting a birthdate soon after Phillip. Unfortunately, there is no other record confirming his existence. There may still be other children.
Jacob’s Known Children
Dorcas has not traditionally been attached to this family by others. She married Richard Condra, and has been assigned birthdates from 1738 to the 1750’s. We feel comfortable in claiming her now because of an increasing level of DNA evidence. A number of known descendants of Jacob Cox share DNA with descendants of Richard and Dorcas. We also know that the families lived near each other in northeastern Tennessee, and that Richard was in a land transaction involving Jacob Cox, Jr. Several Condras attended the estate sale for Samuel Cox, son of Jacob. Sarah Condra married Matthias Tally, an executor of Samuel’s estate, and the step-son of Rebecca Cox Tally, Jacob’s daughter (See next paragraph). The mounting DNA evidence makes a convincing case for Dorcas to be a child of Jacob. In addition, she carried the same name as Jacob’s grandmother. Based on Richard’s age, and the timing of her parents meeting each other, it seems likely that Dorcas was born in the early 1750’s.
Rebecca married John Tally in about 1784. She was his second wife, and was born around 1755. A child from John’s first marriage named Matthias (Matthew), though raised by Rebecca, was an executor of the estate for Samuel Cox, son of Jacob. Matthew married Sarah Condry as is mentioned above. Rebecca died in 1818 while living in Franklin County, Tennessee. Her husband, John Tally, witnessed the land transaction between Jacob, Sr., and son, Samuel, in 1788. That transaction included the plantation on which Jacob was living, so John appears to be the family representative recognizing that Samuel is getting this property which might otherwise have gone to all of Jacob’s children at his death.
There is also some DNA evidence that ties descendants of Rebecca to the Cox family. It is not as strong as that which matches Dorcas, and probably won’t be provable until ancestry.com users are able to match DNA through a chromosome browser.
Phillip fought in the Revolutionary War and made a pension application several years later, leaving us with information about him. He testifies as to having been born in 1755 or 1757, depending on which part of the information is read. He was born on the Mayo River (an area where we find Jacob), and settled in Pickens (Pendleton) District of South Carolina. He married Jemima Taylor, whose family had been in North Carolina. His children included one named Jacob Ralston Cox and another named Dorcas. We have found two or three descendants of his who match autosomal DNA with Cox descendants of Jacob. We have not confirmed a Y-DNA match at this time, but we have a Y-DNA match with a man who descends from Phillip Cox, b. 1819, and who lived in Georgia, but relatively near to where Phillip. b. 1755, lived in South Carolina. Some circumstantial evidence points to him being the grandson of Phillip, but there is also a chance he could be the son/grandson of Thomas, who lived in the same area.
Thomas was born 1762 in Halifax County. He also fought in the Revolutionary War and left us with a pension application from which to learn. Thomas reported living in Lincoln County, North Carolina for a brief time, as well as living in the western country (we believe that was near the Jacob Cox family in what is now northeastern Tennessee), before settling in Franklin County, Georgia. There he married Martha Smith, though he had been previously married to an unknown person. Y-DNA has now proven that he had at least one child by his first wife, and named that child Jacob. This Jacob was born in 1788, married Sarah Wilkins, and lived in nearby Elbert County, where her family had settled. Their son, Clement W. Cox became the 3rd great-grandfather of one of the Y-DNA testers. Later in life, Thomas moved to Gwinnett County, Georgia. Phillip and Thomas were living in different states, but their homes were actually within 20 miles or so of each other. In the mid-1800’s, they had children living next door to each other in northwestern Georgia, and among some other Coxes who have not been proven to be part of the family, but seem likely to be related.
Jacob Cox, Jr. was born in 1768, leaving 6 years between known children. This could be a clue about the death of Jacob’s first wife, or it could be that there are children we have not discovered. Jacob, Jr. was young enough to move with his father from Virginia to what is now Tennessee, probably around 1780. He married Mary Widener, and they settled in Hawkins County, Tennessee, a little to the north of the rest of the family. We don’t know why, but Jacob wrote a will in 1808 and died in 1809, not long after his younger brother. Since he was in his early 40’s, we can assume he was sick, but we don’t have a record of what caused his death.
Samuel Cox was born in 1770 in Halifax County, and moved with the family to Tennessee. In 1788, he bought the family farm from his father on Horse Creek and Lick Creek, which can be found near Fall Branch along Interstate 81, just southeast of Bristol, Tennessee. His son, Coleman, is said to have been born near Jonesboro, Tennessee, and this location is about 15-20 miles from Jonesboro, so it is likely he was living here when his first child was born. Samuel went back to Virginia to find his wife. He married Catherine Bruce, who was born the same year that he was born. Even though they married in Halifax County, Virginia, there is no evidence that they ever lived there. Catherine died in 1806 while still young. Samuel then married Margaret Crippen, but within a short time got into a fight with her brother, and was injured so severely that he died a few months later. This left the children with a stepmother whose brother had “killed” their father. Needless to say, they were shipped out to guardians in the area. Margaret was pregnant at the time of the fight, and Samuel had a son that he never knew. He had time to write a will, naming Jacob Cox, Sr., Matthew Tally, and Presley Buckner as executors. Jacob, Sr., appears never to have participated in carrying out the logistics of that work, leading to the theory that he was also infirm, or perhaps died in the same time period. We also have a record of Samuel’s estate sale, with a list of names of those who made purchases. It provides insight into family and neighbors in the area.
Nancy Cox was born in 1772. She married Presley Buckner, a grandson of Thomas Mustain, who had neighbored with Jacob back in Halifax County, Virginia. Presley and Nancy eventually moved to Indiana, but appear to have been is some sort of dispute with one of Samuel’s youngest children during the 1820’s. The reason for the dispute is not clear, but it seems to be related to who had rights to inherit property.
William is a child that presents as many questions as answers. His descendants have Y-DNA that makes a strong case for him to be a child of Jacob. He was said to be born in 1773, but his descendants have claimed that he was born in Pickens/Pendleton, South Carolina, where Phillip was later located. He married a Phoebe (perhaps Barton) when he was nearly 35, so he may have also had a previous marriage. It appears he died prior to 1830, when Phoebe is found in Hall County, Georgia, as a head of household. The family soon thereafter moved to western Tennessee, living in Paris, Tennessee. He could have been a child of Phillip except for the fact that Phillip named another child William a few years later. William was born about a year after Phillip and Jemima were married. It is possible that Jacob’s wife died in childbirth with William, and so Phillip and Jemima chose to take William on and raise him since Jacob had several other young children to raise. It could also be that William moved to Tennessee with the family, but chose to head to South Carolina as a young adult and live near his oldest brother, one who might have had a heavy influence on him in the first few years of his life. The truth is that we only know that the Y-DNA connects William to our family, and he is first known to be living near Phillip as an adult.
Jacob’s Migration from New Jersey to Tennessee
It appears that Jacob may have arrived in Halifax County, Virginia by as early as 1755, when he had land surveyed on Horse Pasture Creek. Horse Pasture Creek begins a little northwest of Martinsville, Virginia, and flows south to the North Mayo River, about 2.5 miles north of the Virginia/North Carolina border. It is not clear that Jacob ever purchased or lived on this land, but in 1758 and 1759, Jacob bought two parcels of land from George Walton that were said to be on the north side of the South Mayo River. The transactions were witnessed by George Watkins, Shadrack Tribble, and James Dillard. On August 17, 1758, Jacob purchased 200 acres, and another amount of acres (apparently unreadable on the deed). At the same time, Fulker Fulkerson bought 499.5 acres from the same person, and with the same witnesses. The land belonging to Jacob and Fulker was said to join at one corner.
Fulker, and his father, Frederick, were part of Jacob’s story, as well as Jacob’s brother, Samuel, several times. This is an important connection because Frederick’s father, Volcker (Dirck), had a land transaction witnessed by Philip Cox, father of John Cox, whose Will is listed above. That transaction was in Somerset County, New Jersey, some 40 years earlier. This certainly gives us reason to believe that the Jacob Cox who is the son of John is the same Jacob who buys land on the South Mayo River.
It is at about this time that a Phillip Cox is born in the area. Phillip left a paper trail through his Revolutionary War Pension application. In it, he says he was born in 1755 on the Mayo River in Halifax County, Virginia. He will show up as a tithable in the household of Jacob in Henry County, Virginia, in 1778 and 1779. This creates another connection between Jacob Cox and the Phillip Cox in Somerset County, New Jersey.
In 1758, John P. Cox is born. We do not know his parents for certainty, but the best guess of the moment is that he is a nephew of Jacob. Some also report that Rebecca Cox was born in this year, though we have not seen corroborating evidence. Rebecca was probably a daughter of Jacob since one of her children acted as an executor for the Will of Samuel Cox (b.1770 and Jacob’s son) in 1809. She was the second wife of John Talley/Tally.
In 1762, Jacob expanded his land holdings. He purchased 89 acres from Robert Wooding on both sides of Stinking River at Thomas Faris’ corner and Joseph Mayes line. It appears this was a business transaction for Jacob because he began building a mill on the property. In August of 1762, Jacob was told to procession land with Thomas Mustain, Thomas and Joe Faris, and John Payne. Thomas Mustain eventually became the grandfather of Presley Buckner, who married Nancy Cox (daughter of Jacob Cox). In November, Fulker Fulkerson sold 370 acres of the land he had on the South Mayo River to either his father or brother, Frederick Fulkerson. Thomas Cox is born in 1762, according to his Revolutionary War Pension Application.
Jacob began selling land in 1763, and he had a busy day on June 16. He sold 119 acres to James Roberts on both sides of Green Creek on the Mayo River, 100 acres to Leonard Vandergriff on the north side of the South Mayo River (Both said to be part of an earlier grant to Robert Walton—probably the land Jacob bought from George Walton), and the 89 acres of land he purchased from Robert Wooding in 1762. This land on the Stinking River is a bit different from the others. He bought it for 10 pounds, and sold it for 70 pounds after holding it for less than a year; however, the land has a grist mill that is under construction, and Jacob has to finish it. Jacob sells the land to Fulker Fulkerson, his neighbor on the South Mayo River. This probably does not leave Jacob landless. Since we don’t have the acreage for one of his purchases in 1758, we only know that it was 200 and another purchase. In 1763, he sold a total of 219 acres in the area of the Mayo River. We will also find that Jacob continued to have land close to the Bannister River, though we don’t have a record of the purchase. We also learn from these transactions on June 16, 1763, that Jacob is married to Anna. She relinquishes her right of dower on the land he is selling. It is the only definitive record we have found for a name for his wife.
Phineas Cox, probably a nephew of Jacob, was born in 1764.
Jacob Cox is listed as being a neighbor in a land transaction on the Stinking River in 1766. We do not have a record of when he got that land.
In 1767, Jacob’s father, John Cox, wrote his will back in Sussex County, New Jersey. Jacob is listed as a son.
The following year, 1768, Jacob Cox, Jr. is born. Perhaps Jacob was feeling a need for a way to pass his own name along after his father died.
On August 5, 1769, a Jacob Cox sold land to James Gilliam in Cumberland County, Virginia. The deed was recorded on February 26, 1770. At first glance, this seems a bit far away to be our Jacob. However, the transaction is witnessed by Drury Woodson and Samuel Taylor, and it bounds land owned by John Woodson, Henry Dillon, Carter Henry Harrison, and John Carter. Drury Woodson is said to be a brother of Jesse Woodson, and Jesse Woodson is a witness to a land transaction between Jacob Cox and Fulker Fulkerson in Pittsylvania County, in 1770. John may be the father of Jesse Woodson, but that is not proven. John Woodson was married to Elizabeth Hughes.
The names of Carter Henry Harrison and John Carter are an important hint about this land’s location, as well as providing additional information for us. Carter Henry Harrison was the son of Benjamin Harrison (and brother of the Benjamin Harrison who signed the Declaration of Independence. John Carter was the son of Robert Carter and Judith Arimstead, and half-brother of Ann Carter, the wife of Benjamin Harrison. This only becomes important when we find that Ashford Hughes sold 400 acres of land to William Dillon in 1734, and that land was bounded by Benjamin Harrison and John Carter (along with John Bolling). According to the 1769 land transaction, Jacob purchased the land from William Dillon. This is undoubtedly the same land that Ashford Hughes sold to William Dillon in 1734. That land is said to be on the south side of the James River between Muddy Creek and the Willis River. Ashford appears to be the brother of Stephen Hughes, whose daughter, Elizabeth, married John Woodson. Ashford and Stephen are grandchildren of Rice Hughes, who is also the direct ancestor of Archaleus Hughes, who witnessed a land transaction for Jacob Cox on the Mayo River that was bought from George Walton.
Samuel Taylor was the son of Richard Taylor, and was married to Sophia Childress. Their son, Joseph Taylor, married Judith Gilliam, daughter of James Gilliam and Catherine Manning. There was a Manning family in New Jersey that tied into the Hull family, but we have not found whether Catherine is part of that family. Phillip’s (son of Jacob) pension application includes a statement that one of Jemima’s brothers was named Drury Taylor. (Connection to Drury Woodson?) It is also possible that this Samuel Taylor ties in some way back to Jacob’s grandparents on the Taylor side. This Samuel Taylor’s father, Richard Taylor, would be about the same age as Jacob’s mother Mary/Mercy Taylor Cox. We haven’t found a connection between them at this point. The Woodson family is connected to the Walton and Hughes families. Jacob and Fulker both bought land from George Walton, and Arch Hughes is in a couple of transactions with Jacob. All of these families appear to have migrated to southern Virginia.
The complicating factor with this transaction is that Jacob’s wife relinquishes her dower, and her name is Mary rather than Anna. If this is the same Jacob Cox, then Jacob’s first wife, Anna, died between 1763 and 1769. If Phillip and Thomas are part of this household, they have a different mother than Samuel, Nancy, or William. Jacob, Jr. could be the child of either mother. This would also mean that we could look for the family of Mary from the area of Halifax or Cumberland County, Virginia.
On June 26, 1770, John Woodson and John Hughes sell 200 acres of land to Jacob Cox in Cumberland County. The land is bounded by Nicholas Davies, John Alexander, and Benj. Dumas and Co. Jacob is not identified as to where he resides. (The Valentine Papers, Page 1839.)
The timing of land transactions is also somewhat problematic, not because of the timing as much as because of where Jacob is said to be residing in those transactions. On August 5, 1769, Jacob is said to be of Cumberland County, Virginia. However, on July 28, 1769, Jacob sold land to Henry France. At that time, he was said to be of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. When Jacob buys land from Fulker Fulkerson on January 29, 1770, he is said to be of Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Assuming accuracy in records as to where Jacob was living, he would have moved from Pittsylvania County between July 28 and August 5, 1769, but he was already selling the land to which he had just moved. Obviously, this can’t be correct; yet, the transaction in Pittsylvania County is witnessed by Jesse Woodson and Arch. Hughes, two people with likely ties to Cumberland County. There are so many connections among the people that we tend to believe that it is the same Jacob Cox, and that the listing of residences simply suggests that he owned these lands at the same time. The debate, however, is not fully settled.
Jacob and Mary sell land in Cumberland County to Daniel Johnson in 1772, establishing a mortgage on his behalf, with Mary relinquishing her dower rights. (We have not found access to the full deed, so we do not have an indication of whether Jacob was said to be living in this county or not. It could be land that he had not sold until this time when he moved back to Pittsylvania County.) The name, Daniel Johnson, presents a significant clue. Drury Woodson’s daughter, Judith, married Isaac Johnson, a son of Joseph Johnson. The name of Daniel is frequently used in this family. Isaac’s sister, Elizabeth married Josiah Foster, Sr., and they would become the grandparents of Roxanna Foster, wife of Coleman Cox (b. 1793 and son of Samuel, and grandson of Jacob). Out of the same extended family of Johnsons, a Claiborne Johnson was born around 1756-59. He was nearly the same age as Phillip Cox, son of Jacob, and both migrated to northwest South Carolina. Claiborne Johnson’s descendants match Y-DNA with a descendant of Phillip Cox, and we think it is possible that this came from John Johnson, a family physician living next door to one of Phillip’s grandchildren in about 1870, Gordon County, Georgia. We have not yet proven how John Johnson is related to Claiborne. John was born around 1734 and appears to have been the son of Pleasant Johnson, but Pleasant’s ancestry is not confirmed. At the least, there is a common migration path for these two families. The connection of the Foster family with the Woodson/Johnson families seems to increase the likelihood that the Jacob Cox in Cumberland County is the same Jacob Cox.
On November 7, 1770, Jacob has land surveyed in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. It is 293 acres on the north side of the Mayo River.
At some point early in the year of 1770, Samuel Cox is born. Based on transactions for Jacob in Cumberland County, his mother’s name is Mary. On April 1, 1771, Nancy is born, and another child, William, may have been born in 1772 or 1773.
By 1771, Jacob is on the move again. He is listed in Surry County, North Carolina with one tithable. It is possible that he simply moved across the line from Virginia to North Carolina, or that his property was in both states. He is listed in 1772 with two tithables, which might be explained by Phillip coming of age. Turning 16 in 1772 would give Phillip a birth year of 1756. This, 1772, is also the year that Phillip is said to have married Jemima Taylor. Also listed as tithables in 1772, in Surry County, North Carolina, were a Drury Taylor and a James Taylor. Jemima was said to have a brother named Drury, suggesting that Drury could be her older brother, and James her father, or Drury could be her father.
Again, 1772 is the year that Jacob and Mary Cox sell land to Daniel Johnson back in Cumberland County, Virginia.
In 1773, Jacob sells the land he bought from Fulker Fulkerson in 1770. The deed record says he is of Surry County of the province of North Carolina, and he sells the land to John Sims. Henry France, Arch Hughes, and Frederick Fulkerson are witnesses. The land was sold in March, 1773, and recorded in November of that year.
On December 24, 1773, Jacob Cox buys land back in Pittsylvania County, Virginia from Henry Lansford. He sold 119.5 acres of land to John Sims for 45 pounds of Virginia money, and he purchased 236 acres of land for 27 pounds on both sides of Stewarts Creek of the Ararat River. Jacob is again said to be from the County of Surry, province of North Carolina, and the deed is witnessed by George Brittain and Henry Lansford, Snr.
In 1776, Henry County is formed from Pittsylvania County’s western edge, which includes the land that Jacob purchased in 1773. He has now moved from Pittsylvania County to Henry County without moving.
In 1777 John P. Cox marries Sarah Nunnelly in Henry County, Virginia. We believe John P. is a nephew of Jacob.
In 1778, Jacob is listed as a tithable, along with Phillip, in Henry County, Virginia. In 1779, they are listed again, in reverse order, and John is listed alongside them. We do not know who John is. If he is another son who just turned 16, it is a child we have not discovered anywhere else. It could be John P. Cox who was serving in the war the previous year, but is now home. However, Y-DNA suggests John P. is probably not the son of Jacob.
In 1778, Jacob sells land to Daniel Carlin on the Ararat River. It is the 236 acres on both sides of Stewarts Creek that he purchased in 1773. Jacob sells the land for 90 pounds, turning a nice profit of 63 pounds in a 5-year-period.
By 1780, Jacob disappears from the Tithable list in Henry County, but he receives a land grant of 293 acres on the south side of the South Mayo River, adjoining Walton’s line. This sounds as if it is in the neighborhood of land he had already owned.
Jacob headed west from there, having 59 acres of land surveyed in Washington County, North Carolina (later Tennessee), February 11, 1782, on the north side of the north fork of the Holstein River, listed as Treasury Warrant 10880. It is not clear whether Jacob moved to this land or not. Lewis Whitener had land in the same Treasury Warrant, as did a John Weaver, who is otherwise unknown to us.
In 1784, Jacob received land grant 1306 in Sullivan County, North Carolina, an area that later became northeastern Tennessee. His daughter, Rebecca, married John Tally in the same year. John Tally, Lewis Weidener, and John Miller, all neighbors or with family connections, received land grants along with Jacob that year.
On November 22, 1788, Jacob sold what is likely the land from his grant to Samuel Cox, undoubtedly his son who has just turned 18. Jacob sold 200 acres, including “the plantation on which he now lives” in Sullivan County on the headwaters of Horse Creek and Lick Creek. Isaac White and John Tally, Jacob’s son-in-law, are witnesses. Jacob is listed as Jacob Cox, Sr. Today, it appears that Horse Creek and Lick Creek come together just a mile southwest of Fall Branch, Tennessee, on Interstate 81. Lick Creek is just on the south side of the interstate, and a tributary of Horse Creek is just on the north side.
Jacob’s younger children had reached marrying age. In 1789, Nancy married Presley Buckner in Sullivan County. In 1790, Jacob, Jr. married Mary Widner (Witner, Weidner) in Hawkins County, which had just been formed out of Sullivan County. Samuel also got married in 1790 to Catherine Bruce; however, he traveled back to Halifax County, Virginia, for the marriage.
It seems likely that Jacob moved further south into Grainger/Knox/Union County, Tennessee. In 1803, Jacob Cox sold 200 acres of land in Grainger County to Jacob Sharp. It is not clear whether this is Jacob Cox, Sr. or Jacob Cox, Jr. We have not seen a record of the land being purchased.
In 1806, Catherine Cox, wife of Samuel and daughter-in-law of Jacob, died. Two years later, Samuel got in a fight with the brother of his new wife and was beaten severely. By the summer of 1808, he had written a Will, listing Jacob Cox, Sr. as one of the witnesses. Jacob Cox, Jr. also wrote a Will in 1808. Both of Jacob, Sr.’s, sons died within a short time. It would appear that Jacob, Sr. may have also died in this time period. A Grainger County census and tax list for 1810 lists 200 acres for Jacob Cox heirs, and 15 acres for Samuel Cox heirs. The listing is repeated in 1814 and 1815. While it is not clear whether the listing for Jacob is for father or son, it seems that Jacob, Jr. had maintained his property in Hawkins County rather than Grainger. In addition, Jacob, Sr. would be over the age of 80 by this time. Even though Jacob, Sr., is listed as an executor on Samuel’s Will, along with Presley Buckner and Matthew Tally, he does not participate in the inventory of the property with the other two. This could suggest his own death, or ill health.
It would seem that Jacob Cox died within a timeframe of 1808 and 1810, but no record of his death, a Will, or burial has been found to date.