Solomon Cox Sr.

  General Notes:

Solomon Cox was born about 1745 in Warrington, York County, Pennsylvania.Warrington - a live Quaker community - was the home of the Cox, Hussey, and Garretson families. These clans had stuck togerther for generations. Many inter-marriages had cemented the tribe into a solid unit. When Solomon was a lad of ten his father John joined the Hussey and Garretsons for a long move to Cane Creek, Orange County, North Carolina, a distance of 300 miles. Cane Creek was a real Mecca for the Society of Friends. These Quakers hoped to establish a new Zion amongst the slave holders of the South. A Quaker Meething was organized and a progressive community sprang into existence.
Like the Mormons in Jackson County, the Quakers soon found themselves surrounded by intolerant neighbors. The slaveholders looked with suspicion on these strange people whose religion opposed slavery. Suspicion led to antagonism and conflicts. Finally, persecution became so violent the Quakers abandoned Cane Creek and settled in eastern Tennessee, Kentucky, and western Virginia.
Meanwhile, as indicated above, John Cox with three children arrived in Cane Creek April 19, 1755. We first hear of Solomon, the youngest of the three, in 1766 when he married Naomi Hussey. This pair obeyed the first commandment fully for within 15 years ten children came to bless their home. A tradition in the family says that Solomon was excommunicated by his Quaker Friends. He was found guilty of militant activity with the Regulators who opposed British taxes. Since the Quakers opposed war their action against Solomon is understandable. But we in our day are proud to learn that Solomon made a contribution in the cause of freedom.
Military activity was only a sideline for Solomon. He had ten children to support. Ruth the youngest, was born in 1780 or 1781. This was about the time that pressure from the slave holders became so great the family decided to move away. County records give us some idea where they went. From the tax lists of Montgomery County, Virginia in 1782 we find that Solomon and Naomi were among 14 Cox families in that county. Later, in 1785 we find that Solomon Cox received a land grant from the State of Virginia for 330 acres on Fox Creek in the same county. About 1789 Montgomery County was divided. The area around Fox Creek became a part of Wythe County. Solomon remained on the Fox Creek property for seven years. May 1, 1792 he sold the farm to David Pugh (Deed Book 1, page 103). After the sale was completed he seems to have moved south into Grayson County.
We find the family in Grayson County in 1795 for Solomon Cox is on the Personal Property Tax list for that year. This is the year that son Thomas married Rachel Carr. Solomon does not appear on the Poll Tax lists after that date. This may or may not mean he moved elsewhere. The law exempted persons over 50 years from paying the tax. Since Solomon was 50 in 1795 he may have remained longer. It is also reasonable to believe that he followed his son Thomas into Tennessee the next year (1796) for that's where Thomas' first child was born. Henceforth, it seems Solomon followed Thomas whenever he went. Jehu writes that he was alive in 1818 when Jehu was 15 years old. Thomas Cox was living in Monroe County, Indiana in 1818. Jehu implies that his grand father lived near the home.
We might safely conclude then that Solomon Cox lived to be at least 73 years old and that be died after 1818 somewhere in Ohio or Indiana.
Jehu writes that Solomon was the fifteenth child of Solomon Senior. His Journal was written in 1877 when Jehu was 74 years old. The items recorded were based entirely on what his memory could produce. Experience teaches us that accuracy in genealogy cannot depend wholly on memory. Research, has convinced us that his memory was faulty. A careful study of Quaker records force us to conclude that Solomon Cox was the son of John--not Solomon Senior. The latter did not exist. The proof for this conclusion is found in the fact that Martha Cox, the daughter of Solomon, was excommunicated (disowned) by the Quakers for marrying her first cousin Samuel Cox (Hinshaw, Vol. 1, p. 381). This Samuel Cox was the son of Samuel Cox, Sr. --brother of our Solomon Cox. This Senior Samuel was the son of John and Mary Cox. Now, if this Senior Samuel was the son of John and Mary Cox, why couldn't Samuel's brother (our Solomon) be a son of John too? We shall rest our case here and rush on to other problems.
John Cox came to America with his parents in 1708. We do not know where they lived in England -- probably from some Quaker community. John was born about 1685 which means he was about 22 on arrival. It is believed the group landed at Newcastle, Delaware where they lived for a season. Later the family moved to Kennett, Chaster County, Pennsylvania, a Quaker center. This was their residence for about ten years. During that period John Cox Senior died, 1711. We have no idea when his wife Rachel passed away.
It is the writer's opinion that John Junior married soon after his arrival in America probably about the year 1709. His wife's name could be Hannah Jenkins with whom he had about ten children. After her death he married a lady whose first name was Mary, maiden name unknown. With her he had several children, the last one was (our) Solomon. Who was that Mary? She may have been a Garretson, a Hussey, or even a Wierman. If Mary was the mother of five children then Jehu was right -- Solomon war indeed the youngest of 15 children. If the reader disagrees with this conclusion then let him come up with a more logical one. Meanwhile, after the first marriage, John Jr. moved to Warrington, York County, Pennsylvania, this is where most of the children were born. Warrington was another live Quaker community.
As indicated above, John was the son of John and Rachel Cox Senior.
Nothing is known of Rachel's ancestry. John and Rachel were about 20 years of age when John Jr. joined the family. This means the parents were born about the year 1665. A tradition in the family says they were invited to Pennsylvania by William Penn. They should have known George Fox personally for the founder of the Society of Friends lived till 1691.
The Cox family may have taken part in the first Quaker Meeting in 1761.
This is the end of the Cox line. We shall now return to Solomon Cox and his marriage to Naomi Hussey at Cane Creek in 1766. Naomi Hussey was born February 29, 1742 at Warrington, York County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Christopher and Ann Garretson Hussey. Christopher was a staunch Quaker, who in 1748, had served as a minister at Warrington. He was born in 1718 at Newcastle, Delaware, married September 5, 1736 in Kennett, Chester County to Ann Garretson. In April 1738 Christopher and Ann moved to Warrington where all their 5 children were born. After 1744 the family moved to Guilford County, North Carolina where Christopher died about 1773. Later his wife Ann moved to Cane Creek where she succumbed in 1801.

Solomon married Naomi Hussey, daughter of Christopher Hussey and Anne Garretson, in Jun 1765 in Cane Creek MM, Orange, North Carolina, USA. (Naomi Hussey was born on 28 Feb 1742 in Warrington MM, York, Pennsylvania and died on 30 Jun 1781 in Hocking, Fairfield, Ohio.)