Benjamin Cox (1780 - 1847)

Born 12 Sep 1780 in Holly Spring MM, Randolph, North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Ann (Rhoads) Cox — married about 1801 in Orange County, North Carolina [uncertain]

Husband of Lydia Ann (Votaw) Cox — married Sep 1843 in White River MM, Randolph, Indiana, United States

Descendants

Died 12 Nov 1847 at age 67 in Randolph, Indiana, United States

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Biography

Benjamin was a Friend (Quaker)

Benjamin Cox was born in 1780.^[1] He was the son of John Cox and Patience Piggott, members of the Holly Spring Quaker Meeting church in North Carolina.

Benjamin Cox was married to Ann Rhoads circa 1800. The Quaker couple held very strong abolitionist feelings. The Cox family wagon-trained west, first to the free state of Ohio and then to Indiana, where they were influential in teaching escaped slaves to read. Randolph County, Indiana was known to have been very active in the Underground Railroad. In fact, there is evidence that Randolph County, Indiana was a destination where education and freedom were offered to runaway slaves from the Carolinas. There were two free black communities in Randolph County (Cabin Creek and Snow Hill) long before the Civil War.^[2] Benjamin Cox has been credited as being instrumental in the founding of this haven in Randolph County.^[3]

Benjamin Cox and Ann Rhoads were the parents of the following known children:^[4]

1. William B Cox
2. John Cox
3. Ruth Cox
4. Ann Cox
5. Patience Cox
6. Lydia Cox
7. Benjamin Cox
8. William Cox
9. Mary Cox

In 1841, Benjamin Cox traveled from Indiana with some other Quaker ministers to the Virginia Yearly Quaker Meeting and the North Carolina Yearly Quaker Meeting.^[5] This was a three month trip. Unfortunately, while Benjamin was away, his wife Ann Rhoads Cox died on December 4th, 1841.

Benjamin Cox Travels to Virginia and North Carolina

Benjamin Cox was remarried in his elder years to a woman named Lydia Votaw Hoops George, who had been widowed twice after marriages to Joseph L Hoops, and Henry George.^[6][7]

Benjamin Cox died in 1847.

Sources

1. ↑ Benson, J Bernard. Some Descendants of John Cox and Patience Piggott in the Old Northwest Territory, page 4.
2. ↑ http://www.ohiorivernationalfreedomcorridor.org/a-free-black-settlement.html
3. ↑ randolphcounty.us/history-randolph-county-indiana
4. ↑ Tucker, Ebenezer. History of Randolph County Indiana, 1882, p 335.
5. ↑ White River Men's Quaker Meeting Minutes, 1841. Family History Library Film Number 008067997, Image 624 of 898.
6. ↑ Heiss, Willard, Randolph County, Indiana, Pioneer Quaker Families, published at Indianapolis in 1958, p 72.
7. ↑ Benson, J Bernard. Some Descendants of John Cox and Patience Piggott in the Old Northwest Territory, page 4.