Prepared by Steve Cox
June 12, 2016
manager@embersoftheflame.com
The Last Years
Burial Location
Stories Told but Facts Unknown
A good bit has been written about Phillip Cox, much of it wrong or misleading. As we tell his story here, we will start with what we know, then expand to what may or may not be true about him. There is likely more information to be found, so we can expect our story to grow, as well as become more accurate over time.
Early Adult Years
The first record for Phillip is after he has become an adult. On August 1, 1701, Phillip Coxe acts as a witness for a land transaction in Piscataway, New Jersey. It is actually one of the more important records we have found because of the people for whom he acts as witness. The record, taken from East Jersey Records, 1702-1717 is as follows:
Pg. 433 14 Aug. 1701. John Royse, of Piscataway, Middlesex Co. East N, Gent, and Mary, his wife, sell to Derick Volkartser, of Norman’s Hill(?), Kings CO. Nassau Island, NY, yeoman, for 100 pounds, for a tr. of land in Somerset Co. on the Milstone River and beg. at said River at the trees of Ananias Allen, then as his line runs to Royse Brook and then down same as it runs to the sd. Millstone and then up same to the Beg, and the sd. Derrick Volkersee to allow for a road only out of the land on that side of sd. Allen’s down to the River, 100 feet. Wits: Mary Crawley, Jen. Voetman(?), Philip Coxe. Signed John Royce, Mary Royse. Adkn: Piscataway – 13 Apr 1705, John Royse and his wife Mary apprd before John Harrison, Middlesex Co. Justice.
Derick Volkartser, as you might expect, has his name spelled in a variety of ways over the years. The surname eventually becomes Fulkerson. Based on information from a well-researched Fulkerson family website (http://www.fulkerson.org/ ), Derick becomes the father of Volkart (Fulker Fulkerson), and Volkart is the father of Frederick and Fulker Fulkerson. Nearly 60 years later, the younger Fulker purchases land on the South Mayo River in Halifax County, Virginia. On the same day, and on adjoining land, Jacob Cox, grandson of Phillip, also buys land. The Fulkerson and Cox families will continue to have interactions in southern Virginia for several years. A person named Fulker Cox shows up in Warren County, Kentucky, as an adult in 1798, along with other members of this Cox family. He is likely carrying the name from the Fulkerson family.
This transaction also tells us that the Cox land is undoubtedly near the Millstone River in the area of Piscataway, at Royce Brook. The Millstone River and Royce Brook converge about one mile south of where the Millstone flows into the Raritan River. It is a community now named Manville, New Jersey. The deed was not recorded until 1705.
Also in 1701, we find Benjamin Hull mentioned as having land adjoining a transaction that occurs at Bound Brook and Ambrose Brook. This location is about 4 miles from the location at Millstone and Royce Brook, providing the opportunity, at least, for Phillip Cox and Dorcas Hull, his future wife, to become acquainted with each other.
In January, 1702/1703, Philip Cox is a witness to the Will of John Dennis, Jr. Also acting as witness was Nicholas Moonday. Nathaniel FitzRandolph is listed as a loving brother, and Rachel is Dennis’ wife.
Pg. 136 10 Jan 1702-03. Will of John Dennis. John Dennis, of Woodbridge, Middlesex Co. East NJ, carpenter, made his will. I give to my wife, Rachel, my house and land where I now live to her and her heirs and it is my will and desire that the house, land and contents and good liking of my overseers hereafter named shall be sold and after my debts are paid the reminder to be used for the better support of my poor wife and children. I give unto my wife all my goods and chattels with the consent of my overseers for her and the children. I appoint my wife Rachel my sole Executrix and do humbly entrust my honored uncle, Samuel Dennis, and my loving brother(?), Nathaniel FitzRandolph to be my overseers to counsel my poor wife about making her affairs according to this my last will. Signed. John Dennis. Wits: Edward Slater Philip Cox, Nicholas Moonday, made his mark. Proved Perth Amboy- 27 Mar 1703, Philip Cox and Nicholas Munday, Junr. And Samuel Dennis apprd. Bef. Benjamin Griffith.
Several of the names in this Will are important to us. Dorcas Hull’s uncle, Hopewell Hull had a son named Benjamin who married Rachel York. Their daughter, Rachel married John Dennis, Jr., in 1694. Benjamin and Rachel had another daughter named Grace, who married Nathaniel FitzRandolph. Nicholas Munday (Moonday) married Hepsibah Hull, who is listed by some as another daughter of Hopewell Hull, but might be the daughter of Samuel Hull. Whichever, she is part of Dorcas’ extended family. This suggests that Philip and Dorcas are probably married by this time. We have not found the formal family connection with Edward Slater, but he frequently shows up in transactions with the Hulls, FitzRandolphs, Drakes, Pyeatts and other families associated or intermarrying with the Hulls.
On October 20, 1703, Phillip and Dorcas had their first child, John. According to the family Bible, passed along from Jerusha Hitchcock Hull (mother of Dorcas), John was born at noon. Nearly two years later, their son, Phillip was born at nine O’clock at night, June 13, 1705. Fines came along on April 30, 1709, 4:00 am. Jacob was born on January 27, 1711, noon. Then it was Elizabeth on the 12th or 17th day of February (September was crossed out), 1716, and Mary was last on September 17, 1719. It is not clear who recorded the information, but it does appear that the first four children were recorded at one time, and the last two at a later time. Jacob and Mary were not listed in Phillip’s Will, written in 1728.
On December 18, 1713 , Benjamin and Sarah Corle (Carle) sold land to Captain John Langstaff. Philip and Darkes Cox were witnesses. It is land that Benjamin had purchased from Samuel Dobie (Doty?) in 1698. In 1698 the land was said to adjoin land owned by Hopewell Hull, and was along a small creek near the Raritan River.
Pg 98, 18 Dec 1713. Benjamin Corle, of Piscataway, Middlesex Co. East NJ, yeoman, and Sarah, his wife, sell to Capt. John Langstaff, of the afsd place, for a competent sum of money, for the two house lot with an addition (being the same pieces of property described in the absd. Deed—page 96). Wits.: Phillip Cox, Darkes Cox, made her mark, Sarah Fitch Randall [probably FitzRandolph?] made her mark. Signed: Benjmin Coril, Sarah Corll. Ackn: Thomas Gordon, Secy, and Reg. —-Page 96 recorded: 3 Jan 1698. Samuel Dobie, of Piscataway, Middlesex Co., East JN, yeoman and Jane his wife, sell to Benjamin Corle, of the afsd place for 40 pounds, for the sd. Tr. And meadows hereafter mentioned –Two house lot with an addition, being 24 a. beg. At the e. corner of a half lot from. of Edward Jones, then several courses to the rear of Thomas Higgins and then to a corner of the afsd. Half lot and then to the beg.; bnded. e. by land unsurveyed, s. and w. by highways and n. by Thomas Higgins. Also, 5 a. of meadows, being e. and w. 10 chains and n. and s. 5 chains; bnd. N. by Hopewell Hull, e. cy a small crk. S. and w. by the Raritan River. Also 10 a. of land gthat was form. Michael Lynman’s house lot, being e. and w. 21 chains, and n. and s. 5 chains bnd ne. and w. by highways, and s. by George Jewel. Also 16 a. of upland beg. At a tree and then running several courses to the beg.; bnd. N. by a small brook. S. by George Jewel’s First Division, and e. and w. by highways. Wits: Edward Slater, Benjamin Clark, Benjamin Hill [Hull?] Signed: Samuel Dobie, Jane Dobie made her mark. Ackn.: 3 Jan 1698/9. Samuel Dobie and Jane, his wife, apprd. Before John Royse.
Hopewell was married to Mary Martin, apparently the sister of Martha Martin, who was married to Captain John Langstaff. Benjamin Corle married Sarah Hull, daughter of Benjamin Hull and Sarah York. Samuel Doty and Sarah Jane Harmon were the parents of Samuel Doty who married Elizabeth Hull, daughter of Samuel Hull and Mary Manning. Samuel was the brother of Phineas, Benjamin, and Hopewell Hull.
Benjamin Hull, uncle of Dorcas, died in 1713.
A David Cox was born in 1716. He would later marry Elizabeth Tingley, niece of Ebenezer Tingley, neighbor of Phillip and Dorcas, who sold land to their son, Phillip in 1741, and 1st cousin of Samuel Tingley, who would later act as a witness for the Will of Phillip Cox’s son, Phillip, in 1785. Some have reported that this David Cox was the son of Jonathan Cox and Jane Baker, who were married in Boston in 1711. David and Elizabeth would even later have a granddaughter named Dorcas. However, there is no further evidence found to-date linking David with Phillip Cox’s family. It is also true that Ebenezer Tingley had a daughter named Dorcas. It is possible that the grandchild was named after her, and just as likely that Ebenezer Tingley had named his daughter after Dorcas Cox, the neighbor. Is David Cox a coincidence, or an extended part of the family? We don’t know.
A land record in 1722/23 may shed additional light on the relationship between Phillip’s son, John, and the Fulkerson family mentioned above.
Pg. 39—Page 470. 22 mar 1722/23. Samuel Royce, of Piscataqua, Middlesex Co. NJ, Gent sells to John Vanhorne, of NY City, NY, merchant, for 25, for two tr of land in Somerset Co. ONE, adjoining th rear of land of William Post on the w side of Millstone River, beg at the S.w. corner of land form. Of Cataline Brockaw on sd. River and then along the line and along the rear line of land form. John Cobus, and then to beg. Being 708 a. ALSO, a tr of land in Somerset Co adjoining the e. side of Royce Brook beg at the s.w. corner of Dirick Folker’s land on sd. Millstone and along the line of John Spreed, and then to sd. Brook and down same to corner of sd. Folker’s land and then to the beg., being 8.5 a.; bnd n.w. by Clement Elsworth, e. part by sd. Folker and part by Speed’s land, s. by John Speed’s land. Wits.: John Harrison, Alexander Macdowall. Signed: Samuel Royce. Ackn: 22 Mar 1722/23. Samuel Royce apprd. Bef. William Eier, Exqr. Judge, Middlesex Co.
This record shows Samuel Royce selling land near the land sold by John Royce to Direk Volkartsee, and witnessed by Philip Coxe in 1701. This transaction is adjoining the land of Dirick Folker. Notice that John Cobus has been transcribed as having adjoining land. It seems more likely that this is John Cox, son of Phillip. John would have to have been given or purchased the land from his father at an early age—he was 19 in 1722, but his father promised him only money in writing his will in 1728, while giving the house and land to the two other brothers. We have found no records for a person named John Cobus in the area at that time, though we have found the first name Cobus a little later. This could turn out to be an abbreviation for Jacobus (John Jacobus), so this record is speculative as to whether it belongs to John Cox.
The Last Years
About the time he created his Will, Phillip purchased 100 acres of land from John Budd near a place called Mine Mountain on the south side of the Passaic River. It is referenced at the end of his Will.
In 1728, Phillip wrote his Will, though it would not be proven until 1736. We will also see a record in which Phillip gave his power of attorney to his wife and son in 1731, when they traveled to Maine. All of this suggests the possibility that Phillip was not in good health for the last few years of his life.
Will of Philip Cox-1728-Proven 1736 (Spelling preserved as much as possible, though some parts are difficult to read)
In the Name of God Amen. The twenty Seven Day of September One Thousand Eight (7) hundred and Twenty Eight. I Phillip Cox of the Blue Hills in Sumorset County being [infornally] in bodily health and good and perfect memory thenks be to Almity God and Calling to Remembrance the [uncertinty] of my transitory life do more constitute ordain and declare this my last Will and Testament in manor and forme folloing revoking annulling by those present all and every Testament and Testaments Wills and Wills heretofore by me made and declared whether by word or writing and this is to be takin only for my last Will and Testament and none other. And first being [Contout] and sorry from the botom of my heart for my Sines past most humbly desiring forgivnoss for the Sines I give and committ my sole unto Almity God my Savour and Redemor in honor and by merits of Jesus Christ I trust and do love, Lord help my unbelief, as surely to be saved and to have full remission and forgivnoss of all my Sins and that my Sole with my Body at the general Day of Resurrection shall rise again in the joy and through the merit of Christs death and Baptism {???] and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven prepared for his Elect and chosen and my Body to be Buryed in such place where it shall please my executors hereafter named to appoint. And now for the Settling my Temporal Estate and such goods Chattels and Debts as it hath pleased God(fair above my [efforts?] to bestow upon me I do order give and dispose the same in manner and forme following that is to say: First I will that all those debts and dutis that I owe in rite or [Conscience?] to any manner of person or persons whatsoever shall be well and truly paid or ordained to be paid within Covenant time after my death by my Executors hereafter named. Then I give my well beloved wife the house and land where I now live as long as she remains a widow and then to my fowor children as foloweth that is to say to my [Eldest?] son John twenty pound to be paid within Covenant time after his mothers death and then the house and land to be equily divided betwin my other tow sons, that is to say Philip and Phinas paying unto there sister Elizabath twenty pound within Covenant time after there mothers death and then the movabls to be divided equly betwin the fowor children that is John Philip Phinas Elizabath. Now if it shall please God any of those children should die before the time that the equol part shall be divided to the survivers, to which end and purpose I first herto make and ordain my dealy beloved wife with John Kinsey Junior executers. In witness woarof I set to my hand the day and year above written. Before signing and sealing this my last will and testament I do further give and [???] to my said Executors or the Survivor of them full power to sell and dispose of [in fee simple?] to any person who shall purchase the same one hundred acres of land by me purchased of John Budd and lying in Somorset County and out of the moneys arising by the said sale to pay the debts which are or may be due at the time of my [????] to any person or persons whatsoever. Signed Phillip Cox, Seal
Witnesses of this Will and that the same was published and declared to be the last Will of the said Philip Cox were John Kinsey, Wm. Thomson, Joanna Kinsey.
John Hamilton, Esq.[Provost?} of his Majestys council and Commander in Chief of the Province of New Jersey to all to whom those [presents?] shall [come?] or may concern: Greeting Know ye that at Perth Amboy on the Day of the date of those present before me the last Will and Testament of Philip Cox late of the Blue Hills in Somorset County was proved and approved in allowed of by me. Having while he [lived?] at the time of his death Goods rights and credits in divers places within this Province by means whereof his full disposition of all singular the goods rights and credits of the said deed and the granting administration of them as also the having of account [calculations or Recording?]and the final discharge and [dismission?] from the same unto [?????] unto any other inferior judge [????] known to belong. And his administration of all and singular the gods Rights and credits of the said declarant?]and his las will and testament in any manner of ways [concerning?] was granted unto Dorcas Cox Relict of ?????? the Executrix in the said last will named. Chiefly of well and truly administering the same and making a true and perfect inventory of all and singular the goods Rights and Credits of the said deceased and Executing the same unto the Registry of the [????] Court in the Secretarys office at Perth Amboy on or before the eighteenth Day of November [?????] ensuring and of Recording a just and true account [Calculations or Recordings?] whom those unto required in Testimony whereof I have [???] the [Prerogative?] Seal of the said province of New Jersey to be herunto affixed this eighteenth Day of August in the year of our Lord One Thousand Seven hundred and Thirty Six.
The Will clearly states that Phillip has four children: John, Philip, Phinas, and Elizabeth. Jacob and Mary are not mentioned in any way, and about the only way to make sense of that is to assume they have died prior to 1728. Dorcas is not named in the Will, but is listed as Relict of Phillip, and as executrix of the Will when it is proven. Since John is born in October of 1703, and is listed as a child of Dorcas, we can be confident that they were married from January of 1703 until Phillip’s death in 1736. This does not preclude an earlier marriage with children, as has been suggested; however, Phillip does not recognize them as his children in 1728. John Kinsey, Jr. would seem to be the son of John Kinsey, Sr., who married Grace Hull FitzRandolph after she was widowed from Nathaniel FitzRandolph.
On December 6, 1731, Philip Cox and Dorcas Cox sold land in York County, Maine, to Pendleton Fletcher. The 60 acres had first been granted to Phineas Hull on December 3, 1681, and it was assigned to Dorcas Cox and Philip Cox on November 5, 1731. In this record, it is Dorcas who is listed first, and they state their residence as East Jersey in the county of Somerset. Earlier in these records, Philip Cox gives his son, Philip Cox, power of attorney to act on his behalf, on August 20, 1731. He says this is in regard to any land for “me or Dorcas my wife late (Dorcas Hull)…”
Burial Location
Researcher Philip Crane wrote an article for Warren Township History in 1991 that described the old Cox Cemetery where Phillip was buried. Unfortunately, the cemetery appears to be under the Mountain Boulevard Extension near an area called Warrenville. This is about 8 miles by road northeast of the property transaction that Phillip witnessed in 1701, at Millstone River and Royce Brook, and it is about 3-4 miles northeast of where the Hull family was located at that time. According to Crane, there were tombstone inscriptions made by Charles Gardner in 1947. One read, “Philup Cox, July, ye 12, 1736.” The second one read, “In memory of Philip Cox who died Sept 19, 1785, aged 80 years.” Two witnesses remembered seeing the stones, Mrs Hazel Mundy and Donald Freiday. Mrs. Munday believed the stones were originally back to back, and that the cemetery was probably on the north bank of the Mountain Boulevard Extension at the intersection with 155 Washington Valley Road. The tombstones have disappeared, and Crane discovered that local people believe the cemetery is buried underneath Mountain Boulevard Extension. This would be the most likely place to find the property where Phillip was living at his death.
This location is about 12 miles from Perth Amboy at the coast, 20 miles from Elizabeth(town) New Jersey, where some say Phillip first arrived in this country, also about 20 miles to Staten Island, and 30 miles from Manhatten, New York.
Stories Told but Facts Unknown
Now we can expand our story to what has been said, but appears to be unproven about Phillip. Phillip has been given a birthdate of January 16, 1677. Henry Miller Cox, in “The Cox Family of America” offered this date without documentation. He also reported that Phillip was born in England, and arrived in Elizabethtown, New Jersey (now Elizabeth), around 1690. Henry Cox also reported that Phillip’s father was Isaac Cox, and his mother was Sarah Sutton Trembly, widow of George Trembly, a Hugenot Nobleman, and the daughter of Sir Henry Sutton and wife, Elizabeth, who was the daughter of Lord Berkley. Isaac and Sarah were married in 1676, according to Henry Cox, and it was the first of three marriages for Isaac. He said Isaac was a merchant who arrived in Elizabethtown in about 1690. No documentation was provided for any of these assertions.
How much of this is true? It is hard to say. There was an Isaac Cocks who was part of a large party of merchants purchasing land in New Jersey from some of the New Jersey proprietors, including Daniel Coxe. This Isaac arrived in 1691, and he settled in Elizabethtown. His purchase of 30 acres was not the smallest purchase, but among the smaller purchases of those in the group. It is probably from this record that Henry Cox developed his story. We have not had access to records in England to know whether Isaac’s marriage, or the birth of Phillip is recorded there. Isaac came from London, so it is, perhaps, possible. However, this story appears more about trying to tie the Cox family to other better-known families than it is about reporting the facts. It should also be noted that Henry Cox thought that Phillip named a son Isaac, which may have caused him to make the connection. However, it was Phillip’s son, not Phillip, who named a child Isaac. We have to leave the birthdate and parents as possible, but unproven.
This is not the only possibility for a father of Phillip that exists. We reported earlier the presence of a David Cox, who married into a neighbor family of Phillip and Dorcas. Some believe David to be the son of Jonathan Cox and Jane Baker, who were married in Boston in 1711. We have also found a few people named Philip Cox that were in the New England area during this time period. There were brothers named William and John Cox who lived in the area close to the Hull family. They were from Phippsburg, Maine, named after William Phipps, who had a number of interactions with Richard Hitchcock and Edward Rishworth, both of whom were fathers of the two women that Phineas Hull married. Jerusha Hitchcock was Dorcas Hull’s mother, and Mary Rishworth, her step-mother. We don’t know when Dorcas moved to New Jersey; we only know that her father was killed in 1691. Dorcas’ grandfather, Rev. Joseph Hull, came from Crewkerne, England, and is reported to have gotten in trouble in Crewkerne in 1629 for preaching without a license. Rev. John Warham and Rev. John Cox are said to have done the preaching with him. Some online information suggests there was a William Cox family in Crewkerne at the same time as the Hulls. They did not migrate to America on the same ship as Joseph Hull, but they may have come on a different ship. It is quite possible, then, that Phillip Cox and Dorcas Hull knew each other in New England, were from families that had known each other for a long time, married there, and then came to New Jersey.
Henry Miller Cox also reports that Phillip was married three times, with a caveat, and that he lived to the age of 108. He was mistaken, as has been pointed out by the Will. It is possible that Phillip married prior to marrying Dorcas. Henry Cox says he married Hannah Trembly on September 24, 1698. Hannah was supposedly his step-sister, the daughter of John Trembly and Mary Noe. Mary Noe was supposed to be Isaac Cox’s third wife after being widowed from John Trembly. John Trembly was supposed to be the brother of Phillip’s mother’s first husband, George Trembly. Henry Cox reports that Phillip and Hannah had four children: Philip, Sarah, Annah, and Mary. This is highly unlikely. After being married in September of 1698, their first child would not have arrived until May, 1699, or later. We have already seen that Phillip was married to Dorcas Hull by January of 1703. That would leave only 3 and-a-half years for three more children, the death of a mother, and a new marriage. We also know that Phillip had children named Philip and Mary in his marriage to Dorcas. There are family trees that report Annah Cox as a person who grew to adulthood, got married, and had a family. Those trees, however, report her birth to be 1707, too late to be a child of Phillip and Hannah Trembly.
Were these real children, and was the marriage to Hannah Trembly a fact? We don’t know. It seems more likely that the children are a mixture of real people, and the result of confusion on Henry Cox’s part. There is a chance that some or all of these children did exist as the children of a sibling of Phillip that has not been identified. So, Phillip may have been married twice, or perhaps just once.
Henry Cox reports that he might have married a Dorcas Graves, though he thinks that Dorcas Graves was really the wife of Phillip’s son, Phillip. He is wrong on all counts. Phillip, as has been shown above, was married to Dorcas Hull, and she was the mother of younger Phillip. If Dorcas Graves existed, she did not marry into the Cox family.
Finally, Henry Cox reports that Phillip married a third time to another Hannah Trembly, the daughter of Peter Trembly and Martha Graves. This would make her a half-sister of Dorcas Graves (who Phillip didn’t actually marry), and a niece of Philllip’s first wife, assuming there really was a first wife. We know, of course, that Phillip died while still the husband of Dorcas Hull Cox. Henry Cox lists a group of children for this marriage who turn out to be the children of Phillip’s son, Phillip.
When Henry Cox reported Phillip to have attained the age of 108, he was combining the birthdate he provided with the death date of Phillip’s son, Phillip. There are clear records that Phillip died in 1736, not quite attaining the age of 60, if the birthdate is accurate.
This much attention should probably not be given to Henry Miller Cox, except that his report has been copied over and over again to family trees across the country by people who have not researched the information, simply accepting it as true. It is possible that he was wrong on almost every statement. Certainly, his report should not be retained as true.
We should also mention that Henry Cox provided an ancestry pedigree for Phillip. According to his statement, Phillip was the son of Isaac Cox and Sarah Sutton Trembly. Isaac Cox was the son of Philip Cox, b. 1620, and Anna Irving Moore. This Philip Cox was the son of another Isaac Cox, b. 1590 and Elizabeth Clinton. Henry Cox adds that it has been asserted that this Isaac is identical with Sir Isaac Cox, son of John Cox, grandson of John Cox, and great-grandson of Sir Richard Cox, b. 1499, d. 1581. These lines have been repeated by many, even though he adds that no proof has been found in support of the statement. It is, in other words, a statement intended to allow family genealogists the opportunity to claim fame in their family without anyone being held accountable for the information.
We might expect that if Isaac came from Sir Richard Cox and Sir Isaac Cox that he might have been able to afford more than 30 acres in this new country. Of course, we aren’t even sure that this Isaac is actually the father of Phillip.
It seems just as likely that Phillip Cox was a descendant of the Cox family living in New England, and is in some way related to the John Cox who married Jane Baker in Boston in 1711. That at least gives us a theory as to how David Cox, son of John and Jane, ends up marrying into a neighboring family of Phillip and Dorcas.
It is best for us to stick with what we know, and let the research take us from there.
Dorcas Hull’s Ancestral Family
The author is interested in any additional documented information regarding Phillip and Dorcas Hull Cox. Please contact him at manager@embersoftheflame.com.
Phillip and Dorcas were featured in an article related to the history of Warren Township in Somerset County, New Jersey. Click the link below to read the story.