John Cooke Cox (1817 - 1872)

Born 17 Feb 1817 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 30 Mar 1872 at age 55 in Quincy, Adams County, Illinois

Biography

Son of Benjamin Cox and Lydia (Musgrave) Cox

Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he studied law and was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar Association. In 1846 he moved to Quincy, Illinois, and purchased a farm. He became friends there with fellow lawyer and Quincy resident Orville Hicks Browning, who would go on to be a United States Senator and Secretary of the Interior. Browning used his politics connections to advocate for John C. Cox once the Civil War began, and secured for him a commission in August 1861 of Captain of Volunteers and a posting in the Union Army’s Commissary of Subsistence Department. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on January 1, 1863 and eventually was appointed as Chief Commissary of Subsistence for the XVII Army Corps, which was part of the Union’s Army of the Tennessee. He served in that duty in the field until he was honorably mustered out on June 27, 1864.

He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers, for "faithful and meritorious conduct during the war", with the date back-dated to July 4, 1864. After the war he secured a position of clerk to the Interior Secretary when Orville H. Browning was appointed to that office by President Andrew Johnson, serving until Browning left the position. He remained in Washington, DC, working in a law firm established by his sons. He made a return to Quincy, Illinois in March 1872, where he died soon afterwards. His great-grandson, Archibald Cox Jr, served as United States Solicitor General in the administration of President John F. Kennedy, and was the special prosecutor during the 1970s Watergate Scandal.

(From Find-A-Grave)

The Quincy Daily Herald, 3/31/1872, p. 4

Death of Capt. John C. Cox

Our community will receive with deep regret the announcement we are pained to make this morning of the death of Capt. John C. Cox. Deceased arrived from Washington yesterday morning at 9 o’clock accompanied by Mrs. Cox and though in feeble condition from protracted sickness was not considered in imminent danger. He was conveyed to Glen Annie his old home on North Twelfth Street where during the day a change set in and he sank rapidly expiring at 7 o’clock last evening. His wife and one son only, Mr. Harvey Cox , were with him in his last hours, the other members of the family, a son and daughter , being in Washington.

Capt. Cox had long been a resident of Quincy, owned considerable property here and had in years gone by taken an active part in our railroad and other public enterprises. During the war , we believe he held the rank of Captain [Lt. Colonel] and A. Q. M. [Assistant Quartermaster] in the army, and subsequently under Johnson’s administration , became chief clerk of Hon. O. H. Browning, then Secretary of Interior. Upon the retirement of Mr. Browning, deceased did not return to Quincy , but located at the National Capitol where his sons. Capt. Rowland and Harry Cox had established themselves as attorneys. Although claiming this city as his home and retaining his handsome residence place here for his own use and occupation , he has with his family remained at Washington almost continually for many years, and only returned yesterday to breathe his last at the old homestead. Our citizens generally who knew the deceased and esteemed him for his many noble qualities, will deplore his loss and mingle their regrets with those of the relatives and immediate friends, who have in this visitation suffered an irreparable loss.

(From Find-A-Grave)

Sources

"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M85F-L9P : 12 April 2016), Rowland Cox in household of John C Cox, Quincy, south ward, Adams, Illinois, United States; citing family 28, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

"United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXHY-16D : 13 December 2017), John C Cox, 1860.

"United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M64C-DVG : 12 April 2016), John C Cox, Illinois, United States; citing p. 12, family 87, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 545,686.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "International Genealogical Index (IGI)," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:1:MTSB-37Y : accessed 10 April 2018), entry for Rowland Cox, batch 8832305, sheet 64, serial 00338; citing FHL microfilm 1,553,308; submitted by lbcolton728552 [identity withheld for privacy].

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62210930/john-cooke-cox