Margaret (Howland) Cox

Descendants

Died 1825 in Waldo, Hancock, Maine, United States [uncertain]

Biography

This profile is part of the Howland Name Study.

Alexander¹ Cox (Ebeneser,² Thomas,³ Thomas,⁴ John,⁵ William⁶), born at Bristol, Maine, in 1776, was a ship carpenter. He married, 1st, September 30, 1802, Ruth Howland, 2nd, Margaret Howland, sister of his first wife, March 16, 1813. He died in the early part of 1825, and his widow died a few months later.

Children by first wife, Ruth, as follows:

1. Thurza Cox, b. 1805. at Bristol; m. Hugh Gordon; d. in Kansas.
2. Alexander Cox, b, 1807, at Bristol; d. at Savannah, Georgia, September 1840.
3. Roxana Cox, b. July 29, 1808, at Bristol; m. Elijah Crocket, of Rockland, Maine; d. at Rockland, July 1, 1872.
4. Adriel Cox, b. July 16, 1810, at Bristol; m. Katherine Ulmer of Rockland; d. March 23, 1889. Adopted by James Fales, and name changed to Fales.
5. George Cox, b. May 13, 1812, at Bristol.

Children by second wife, Margaret, as follows:

1. Elizabeth Cox, b. 1814, at Bristol; m. Samuel Richards of Eden, Maine; d. April 29, 1858.
2. Emily Cox, b. 1816, at Bristol; m. Cephus Crockett.
3. Isaac Cox, b. 1823, at Waldo, Maine; lost overboard from the ship Gerrickin in the Irish Channel.

Note: James Fales, who adopted Adriel Cox, married Sarah Howland, another sister of Margaret and Ruth Howland, on March 12, 1805 in Bristol, Maine.

Research Notes

Parentage

The two possible parentage are, as follows:

Zebulon Howland lived in Bristol, Lincoln County, Maine in 1800 and 1810.

Ten members in his household in 1800, as follows:

• one free white male, age under 10
• two free white males, age 10 thru 15
• two free white males, age 16 thru 25
• one free white male, age 45 and over
• one free white female, age 10 thru 15
• two free white female, age 16 thru 25
• one free white female, age 45 and over

Seven members in his household in 1810, as follows:

• one free white male, age 10 thru 15
• two free white males, age 16 thru 25
• one free white male, age 45 and over
• two free white females, age 16 thru 25
• one Free white female, age 45 and over

Briggs Howland lived in Edgecombe, Lincoln County, Maine on 1800 and 1810.

Five members in his household in 1800, as follows:

• two free white males, age under 10
• one free white male, age 26 thru 44
• one free white female, age under 10
• one free white female, age 26 thru 44

Ten members in his household in 1810, as follows:

• one free white male, age 10 thru 15
• one free white male, age 45 and over
• four free white females, age under 10
• two free white females, age 10 thru 15
• one free white female, age 16 thru 25
• one free white female, age 26 thru 44

Clearly, Briggs Howland had one female age under 10 in 1800 which means she was too young to marry Aexander Cox in 1802, so he was not Ruth Howland's father.

Zebulon Howland must have been the father of Ruth and Margaret Howland because he had one daughter, age under 10 and two daughters, age 16 thru 25 in 1800. It is consistent with marriage records in Lincoln County, Maine, as follows:

• Ruth Howland married Alexander Cox on 30 September 1802.
• Sarah Howland married James Fales on 12 March 1805.
• Margaret Howland married Alexander Cox on 16 March 1813.
• Sarah Howland married Jeremiah Mears on 6 May 1813.

Ruth and Sarah Howland must have been tied to Zebulon Howland's two daughters, ages 16 through 25, in 1800, and Margaret Howland must have been tied to his daughter, age under 10, in 1800.

Ruth and Margaret Howland are definitely the sisters, but Sarah must also have been their sister because Sarah's husband, James Fales, adopted Ruth Cox's son, Adriel Cox, also known as Adriel Fales.

Sources

• Cox, John H. New England Cox Families, a Series of Genealogical Papers. No. 2. N. E. Cox Family Association, 1899, 9.

• Genealogical Advertiser: A Quarterly Magazine of Family History, Vols. 1 and 2 (Cambridge, Mass., 1898, 1899). [1:9] "Bristol Marriages." From the manuscripts of Prof. John Johnston, LL.D., Author of the History of the Towns of Bristol and Bremen in the State of Maine, including the Pemaquid Settlement.