Elias Cox by James Albert Jones

Elias Cox

from: "Some Early Pioneers of Huntington Utah and Surrounding Area"

by James Albert Jones

Elias Cox, 7th child of Jehu and Sarah Riddle Pyle Cox, was born 15 Jan 1835, Greencastle, Putnam County, Indiana, about 35 miles west of Indianapolis. Rosannah, the oldest child in his father's family, was a strong and healthy child, but their next two children were boys who died shortly after birth. The next oldest brother was named Henderson, the next child was a girl named Sarah, and after her Mary Jane.


Their mother was in poor health, so the family moved about in search of a climate where her health would improve. Elias was 1 year old when his father moved the family to Crawford County, Missouri, in the heart of the Ozark Mountains. The climate was much better and the entire family began to enjoy better health. Their mother improved and soon became strong again.


They made their home among the hillbillies who lived in this area. They cleared some land and put in a small crop in the spring of 1837. The land produced good crops; they had enough to eat and some grain to sell, with money left over for things they were badly in need of.

NOTE: Jehu's story tells of the visit of the Mormon missionar¬ies, their stay in Nauvoo, Winter Quarters and their trek a¬cross the plains, to Utah. He didn't tell of Elias's baptism in Nauvoo, 7 Oct 1844.

One day, en route to Utah, the company stopped for their noon meal and to rest and feed their weary animals. Elias, with a group of boys, was watching the cows a short distance from the camp. They began playing and forgot the cows for a short time; when they finally thought about them, they were nowhere to be seen. All the other boys ran back to the wagons and told the men the Indians had driven them off. But Elias went looking for them and found the cows quietly feeding in a bunch of willows.

When the other boys were making their report, the men said, "Where is the black eyed Cox boy?" They said he was lost too. But the men were not so easily fooled; they said "We'll wait for him to come in." A little later he came, driving the herd ahead of him.

During a violent storm near Independence Rock, while Elias was herding the cows, the clothes he was wearing consisted of only one flax shirt and a pair of jeans. His older sister crept from the wagon and placed her cape around his shoulders to protect him from the storm.

Elias proved his skill as a teamster when they started down the west slopes of the mountains. He showed great courage and a strong hand in getting the oxen down without mishap.

Jehu tells of their arrival in Salt Lake City and the move to Union, where Elias grew up.

Bishop Silas Richards had a daughter named Martha; she and Elias became friends and later they began courting. His sister Rachel was being courted as well and they decided to have a double wedding. So Rachel Cox and Warren Paddix Brady, along with her brother Elias and Martha, were married 6 May 1855. They made their home in Union for the time being.

Martha, being a rather delicate girl, wanted to stay near her parents, who could help her with her housework etc. So Elias farmed along with his father.

When Johnson's Army was on its way to the Salt Lake Valley, Elias and his younger brothers volunteered to go with the men in holding the army back from entering the valley as long as possible. (Johnson's Army was finally allowed to pass through to Camp Floyd, without incident.)

Martha gave birth to a baby boy 19 Dec 1856; they named him Elias Henderson. Martha was never well and on the 6th of May 1861, she became so ill Elias hitched the team to the buggy, helped her in and started for the doctors in Salt Lake City, 16 miles away. They hadn't gone far when Martha slumped over and passed away. Elias took her home. Her parents were called and she was laid out in preparation for her funeral and burial. This was a very sad time for Elias and his 5 year old son.

Elias left his son with the boy's grandparents (the Richards family) for awhile. In the spring of 1862, Silas Richards was called by the chu¬rch to go to St. George in Southern Utah to help settle the area and build a temple. He hired Elias to go with him to build a house for his family. Elias then took his son to his parent's new home in North Bend, where he left him in their care. He was present when John F. Wakefield got his eye put out.

Then he joined his father-in-law and they set out for St. George. When they arrived, Silas gave him $130.00 to finance the building of a house for the Richards family. Silas then returned to Union to get his family, leaving Elias to build the house. When Silas returned to St. George, Elias had finished the house and gone to Kanab, where his brother Isaiah had moved his family the year before. Elias visited with him for some time before returning to North Bend.

The Cox family had sold their farms in Union, so Elias stayed with his parents, helping them operate their farm in North Bend and assisting his brother-in-law Warren Brady with his sheep.

In the summer of 1863, the people of North Bend petitioned for a post office. The postal authorities weren't pleased with the name North Bend, so one of the early settlers observed that North Bend gave a fair view of the valley to the south, so they called the town "Fairview". It still goes by that name.

Elias served in the Black Hawk War and after peace was de¬clared, he settled in Thistle Valley, where he took up a small farm. In the 1870's, Elias went to Salt Lake City, taking his young son with him. There he was employed by the railroad being con¬structed between Salt Lake City and Ogden. Here Elias and his son gained a meager knowledge of surveying.

When the railroad was finished, they came back to Thistle Valley to make their home, but not for long. In the spring of 1877, Elias was called by the church authorities to go on an exploring trip east of the Wasatch Mountains. His brother Jehu Jr., Elam Cheney and Jefferson Tidwell, were called to go with him. In June 1877, the men set out on their journey.

Each had a good saddle horse and a pack animal to carry their camp equi¬pment and food. They left Fairview on a bright sunny day and rode to the forks of the canyons of Indian Creek and Soldier Fork, which was the main Spanish Fork Canyon. Here a battalion of soldiers had came from the East to assist in the Black Hawk War and made a road from near Denver, Colorado, to Spanish Fork, sufficient to get over. Elias and his party turn¬ed up the canyon going east, following the soldiers road over what is now known as Soldier Summit, then through a large moun¬tain top valley, which had been named Soldier Park by the sol¬diers, then on down a canyon running to the south, which they had named Soldier Canyon. Here they emerged into a broad barren valley, known as Castle Valley, so named because of the many buttes end rock formations rising above it on the east. However, the Indians called it "Blow Valley."

They followed the soldier's road down to the White River and across 20 miles of desert, to the Green River. They established a base camp while exploring the surrounding country.

After a few days they decided there was no feasible place to make a settlement except along the Green River. They packed up and moved farther down the banks of the Green River, making camp at intervals while they scouted the country. They went as far south as the Henry Mountains before retracing their route to the mouth of the San Rafael River, where it joined the Green. The San Rafael River had already been named by the Spanish tra¬ders who had explored this country many years before.

As their primary call was to explore the headwaters of the San Rafael River they headed upriver, always looking for a place or places to start a settlement. They eventually reached the mouth of (What later became known as) "Buckhorn Draw" where a small stream of water was found. Early next morning, they started up the draw and found the small stream came from a spring just a short distance up the draw. They finally reached the upper mouth of the draw, which brought them out onto a big flat that looked very promising for farming. But on scouting the area, they discovered there was no water available to irrigate with.

Soon after emerging from the draw they found the "Old Spanish Trail," and they followed it until they came to the Huntington River, where they made camp. Being short of water during the long, hot day, they were very thirsty. Elam Cheney and Jefferson Tidwell couldn't stop drinking the good water they'd found here. They drank so much it made them sick.

The next morning, they followed the trail down to the junct¬ion of the Huntington and Cottonwood Creeks. A little farther down was another creek which seems to have been unnamed at the time, but later became known as the Ferron River.

They explored all three creeks, arriving at the McHadden and Lemmon Ranch near the mouth of Huntington Canyon. James McHad¬den and Leander Lemmon, along with seven other men, had establi¬shed this ranch in 1875, coming in on horseback through Hunting¬ton Canyon. This group of men were all bachelors, and had also established a ranch on Cedar Creek, north of the Huntington River, where they built some dugouts in the banks of the Cedar Creek wash.

These men had very fine looking crops growing, so it didn't take long for the 3 explorers to decide, this was the best pla¬ce they had found to settle in. After a short stay, they set out across the flats to the north, looking for the best route to follow when they would return with their families to set¬tle on the Huntington River.

After reaching the mouth of Soldier Canyon, having satisfied themselves as to the best route to follow on their return with their teams and wagons (and other people), they decided to go back through White River Canyon to see if' it was possible to get through it with wagons. They found this canyon very narrow and filled with large boulders along the river bed, making it impossible to bring wagons through.

When they arrived at the west end of Soldier Park, they dec¬ided to do some further exploring, so they followed the left fork of the White River (now the Price River) to see where it came from and if it could be made passable. They soon found them¬selves in another mountain top valley, which later became known as Pleasant Valley. (The Scofield Reservoir now covers this valley.) From here, they followed the main stream, which came through a canyon on the west end of this valley and again found another mountain top valley, which was already known to them as "Gooseberry Basin." It had a road leading into it through Fairview Canyon (Cottonwood) and from Fairview a road had been con¬structed to take the sawmills to the mountains and to haul the lumber back down which was produced by the sawmills.

They followed this road to Fairview and home. After Elias gave his report to the church authorities, he was called to lead a party of settlers to the Huntington River in Castle Valley. The following men and their families were called to go with him: his brother Jehu Cox Jr. and his second wife Edith and their 7 children, his nephews Heber Kimball Jones and Ben¬jamin Jones and their wives and families, his sister and brother-¬in-law Frederick Fenn and their 4 children, Elam Cheney (he was married, but didn't take his wife at this time), Elias' son Elias H., and Henderson, Jehu Jr.'s son by his other wife. Jefferson Tidwell was also called, but declined to go at this time.

After the wild hay was put up and the grain harvested, these people began making preparations for their move to the Huntington River. They loaded their wagons with food, seeds, camping equipment and their crude farming tools. The wagons had canvas covers to protect them from the weather. Elias, his son Elias Jr., and Elam Cheney each had an ox team, while Jehu Jr., Benjamin, Heber and Frederick Fenn had teams of horses, making 7 teams and wagons in the company. Henderson Cox was the herd boy, go¬ing along to drive the cows and other livestock.

Around the end of September 1877, they were ready to go. The first day they went to Elias's farm in Thistle Valley, camping there that night. The next day they traveled down Indian Creek to Spanish Fork Canyon and turned up Soldier Fork. They follow¬ed Soldier's road, but it was difficult to travel because the soldiers had only made the road good enough for them to get over. They camped a short distance above Thistle Junction the second night. Then they trudged up the canyon for about 10 miles and camped again the 3rd night.

Five days out of Fairview they reached Soldier Summit and in 10 days reached the head of Soldier Canyon.

The next day, as they were going down Soldier Canyon, there was nearly a catastrophe. Heber Jones was walking beside his wagon, driving his team, while his wife Rosannah and the child¬ren were in the wagon. Their daughter Emily was standing in the front end of the wagon box and Rosannah was sitting near her on the seat. When they came to a steep downhill dugway, Heber set the brake, but it evidently came loose and let the wagon rush against the horses. The sudden forward push caused Emily to lose her balance; she fell out the front of the wagon onto the dou¬bletrees, but Rosannah was quick to reach out and grab her by her long braid of hair and pull her back to safety. Meanwhile, Heber was doing the best he could to control the horses and wagon, but the left front wheel hit a rock and threw the wagon and horses off the road. They headed straight down the hill to the bottom of the canyon and landed in the creek without over¬turning. Heber's skill as a teamster saved the day for them. It was quite a job getting their wagon back up on the road. They camped at the lower mouth of Soldier Canyon that night.

From here on they had to make their own road as they went, filling in little washes and sloping the banks of others so they could cross without getting stuck. They meandered their way across the barren flats until they arrived at the White (Price) River, where they camped that night. At all the camp¬sites, they found grass for the animals. They had to do some road work to make a crossing over the White River. This took one day to complete and get the wagons across. The next day, they traveled up the gentle slope southwest of the river crossing until they were over the ridge and in sight of Miller Creek. They kept to the north of Miller Creek as they traveled west in order to avoid the washes, which got larger as they got nearer to the creek. The dirt was loose and dusty and it was very hard work for the teams to pull the wagons through it. They reached a place about a mile west of the present highway, where they camped that night. They held counsel and decided their best chance of getting across the remaining desert was to lighten their loads. So they unloaded half of their belongings, conceal¬ing them as best they could to keep them from being stolen by wandering Indians or renegade white men known to be in the val¬ley.

They rested their cattle here for one day while their goods was being unloaded. Bright and early the next morning, they set out across the barren flats to the south. They rounded the west point of a big hill, then took a southeasterly direction, cross¬ing another flat which had many small washes resembling a was¬hboard, so they named this "Washboard Flat." (It still goes by that name.) After traveling 3 or 4 miles in this direction, they rounded the east point of another string of hills, then travel¬ed in a southwesterly direction across another flat until they came to the base of a large bench, which had a hogback running north from the top sloping down into the bottom of the flat. By following this hogback, doubling up their teams, and pulling one wagon at a time, they made it to the top of the level bench. They discovered some springs in the bottom of a big hollow near where they came on top of the bench. However the water was very alkali and un¬fit for human or animal use. So they named this "Poison Spring Bench." (It is also known to this day by that name.)

After they were on top of the bench, they proceeded south¬west across the bench and came to a big hollow, in the bottom of which was a large wash with a very sandy bottom. They had to shovel a roadway into the bottom and another to get out on the southwest side. This took quite awhile. The road came out near the west end of another string of hills. After rounding the point of these hills, they continued southwest across another gravelly flat until they reached Cedar Creek, which had good water flowing down its channel. Here, they watered their animals and refreshed themselves before crossing the stream. After crossing the creek, they continued southwest un¬til they rounded the west point of another string of hills, turning south to the Huntington River about a half mile away.

When they reached the Huntington River, there were some high cutbanks, caused by the river many years ago. The river had changed its course and the old river bottom was a luscious grass covered meadow. They camped for the night and next morning they held counsel and decided this was the best place for them to spend the winter. They each found a spot where they could dig a dugout in the cutbank for temporary shelter. They unloaded the wagons and next morning they started back to pick up the goods they'd left near Miller Creek.

Being empty, the wagons made good time going back. They got there in the early afternoon, ate dinner, loaded their belongings into the wagons, ate supper, camped for the night and retraced their route to the Huntington River, arriving the next day. On the next day, they began to dig their dugouts. It was now October 15, 1877.

When the dugouts were completed, Elias and the others, who had been with him on the exploring trip, began checking into the possibilities of establishing farms along the river. So he led them upriver to a place where it made a big bend to the south and west and swinging slightly back to the north. It was a large area which could be leveled easily and made ready for planting. The men drew straws to see which piece of land each should claim. Heber Jones drew the land nearest the McHadden property and Benjamin Jones drew the land adjoining it on the east. Jehu Cox drew the land adjoining Benjamin on the east where the river bottom was narrower. Henderson Cox was next and Elam Cheney the next. Elias and his brother-in-law Frederick Fenn took up land near the dugouts.

Under the leadership of Elias, they began digging a ditch to bring water from the river to irrigate the land. Here the sur¬veying experience gained while he and his son were working on the railroad came in handy, for they were able to use the sur¬veying instrument they had brought along with them to survey the ditch route.

They had just started to dig the ditch when another comp¬any of settlers under the leadership of William H. Avery arrived and began to dig their dugouts along side of theirs.

Those arriving were: William H. Avery and his wife Eliza, Elam McBride, his wife Rilda and their young daughter (just a child), Anthony Humble and his wife Olive, Charles Hollingshead (a married man, but without his wife and family), and David and Thomas Cheney (bachelors).

After their camp was established, they looked around for farm land. They went across the river to the south and found a big flat covered with prickly pear. They decided to make their farms on the east end of this flat. There was a low place in the hill next to the river, so they decided to dig a ditch which would water the land they had chosen. They hired Elias Cox to survey the ditch for them and started at once to dig it. It became ¬known as the Avery Ditch. It was completed in time to irrigate the land the following spring, 1878.

Elias and his company. worked all winter on their ditch, which they called the North Ditch. They made a cut about 20 feet deep and one quarter of a mile long, through a small hill, in order to get the water through. This was no small task, considering their crude ditch digging equipment. By early spring the water was flowing through it to their lands. The land had to be clear¬ed of brush and trees and then plowed and leveled so it could be planted.

Elias and his brother-in-law Frederick Fenn had taken up land around the dugout community and the ditch had to be dug about two and one half miles more to bring water to them, but it was accomplished by spring in time to water their crops.

Elias saw the need for lumber to build houses and corrals for the settlers, so he and Charles S. Hollingshead decided to purchase a sawmill and set it up in the canyon to fill this need.

As Mr. Hollingshead hadn't brought his wife and family with him, he was anxious to go get them. So after the crops were in, Elias and Charles and two of the other men took their wagons to Salt Lake City, where Elias reported the condition of the set¬tlers to the church and through them, located a sawmill which was run by water power. It was the old up and down type which had been used in Hill Creek Canyon for several years until a newer sawmill had been brought in.

Charles Hollingshead picked up his wife and family and brou¬ght them to the valley, while Elias and the others dismantled the old sawmill and loaded it on the wagons and made their way home with it. They arrived on the Huntington River sometime in July 1878.

As the crops were almost a failure at the Avery Ditch, these settlers decided to go with Elias and help him set up the saw¬mill to earn some lumber to start building their houses.

The sawmill was set up in the first canyon on the left, just beyond the red ledges, where it seemed the stream flowing from it would be sufficient to operate the mill's waterwheel.

As feed was scarce in the valley, the company decided to take all their milk cows and dry stock along for grazing and to make butter and cheese for the community as well as helping Elias set up the sawmill. The women took care of the cows, herding, milking, making butter and cheese, etc. For her work in this project, the canyon was named for Rilda McBride.

There was only a small amount of lumber sawed that year. Mr. Avery earned enough to roof and floor his log cabin which he had built. Elias got enough to board up a dugout in which to start a store the next spring. Others, likewise, earned enough lumber to start their houses. But the stream in Rilda canyon fell to a point, where there was no longer enough water to run the mill, so Elias and Charles went upriver to the mouth of the next canyon, where there was a big bend in the river and a big flat. Here they found they could divert all the water need¬ed from the river by digging a short ditch to carry the water to the wheel. So they dismantled the mill, moved it to the new location and set it up. This was done in the fall of 1878, and in the spring of 1879, the mill began to operate with plenty of water to drive it.

In the spring of 1879, after the snows had melted, Elias turned the management of the sawmill over to Charles, while he and his son, Elias Jr., went to Salt Lake City to get merchandise to start a small store. They were accompanied by his brother Jehu as far as Thistle. Jehu had became discouraged with the country and was returning to Fairview with his family.

Elias arrived back on the river in June and set up his little store in a dugout near where he lived. He then returned to the canyon to work at the sawmill. He left the store in charge of his sister, Martha Fenn with Elias Jr., helping while he was away.

Back in the early part of 1878, Orange Seeley had been app¬ointed Bishop of all Castle Valley. He came to the dugouts and organized a branch of the church, known as the Huntington Branch of the Sanpete Stake of Zion. Elias was made the Branch Presi¬dent, Anthony Humble 1st Counselor, William Avery 2nd Counselor and Elam McBride branch clerk.

There had been talk of laying out a townsite, so when Elias was in Salt Lake City for merchandise he visited the city hall and obtained a copy of the plat, which was used in laying out Salt Lake City and brought it back with him. He also requested a government surveyor to come to Huntington to search out the section corners and identify them. The area had already been surveyed and corner stones placed, but the markings on them were not understood by the settlers. This request was granted and a deputy surveyor from the A.D.Ferron Survey Camp, which was in the south end of Castle Valley, was sent for this purpose. The surveyor was Henry Fitzhugh.

After he had found and identified the section and quarter section corners and put their location on paper, he went back and joined his surveying party.

Many more settlers came to the Huntington River that summer and fall. By now there were enough people in the area to war¬rant organizing a ward.

On 7 Oct 1879 President Canute Peterson of the Sanpete Stake, along with some other church authorities (including Orange Seeley), came to the Huntington dugout community and organized the branch into a ward, with Elias Cox as Bishop and a newcomer to the area, Hyrum Oscar Crandall 1st Counselor, William H. Av¬ery 2nd Counselor and Elias H. Cox as ward clerk. Elias' nephew Benjamin Jones was selected as the ward chorister.

In the Spring of 1880, Emery County was organized and Elias was elected one of the County Selectmen. Just prior to this, he had been appointed Probate Judge for the valley. It is interest¬ing to read the minutes of those early meetings. They always be¬gin: The meeting came to order with Judge Elias Cox in the chair. The other two county selectmen were Justus Wellington Seeley from Castle Dale and Charles S. Hollingshead from Hunting¬ton. The county clerk's name was Mr. Peterson. Elias served in this capacity for many years.

Under their direction, the townsite was laid out and comple¬ted by December 1880, and drawings were held for the lots. Each man could draw one lot unless he had more than one wife, in which case he could draw a lot for each wife.

Albey Sherman and his family arrived on the river about early spring of 1880, and took up 160 acres of land a short distance from the dugout community, to the north. He built his dugouts in the side of the hill facing south, toward the community. Albey's oldest daughter had married before, but was divorced, so she came with her father's family. She had one child, about old enough to go to school. Elias, being the bishop, met her right away, and being a widower, he fell in love with her and courted her during the summer of 1880. On 6 Nov 1880 he and his bride-to-be, Mary Elvira Sherman Gillespie, set out for Salt Lake City in a light rig pulled by a team a of horses named "Old Boley and Nell." They were married in the old endowment house in Salt Lake City, 10 Nov 1880. They returned to Huntington and lived in his dug¬out until he built a house on his lot on the townsite.

Under his and his counselors direction, the old log meeting house was built on the townsite, on the southeast corner of the block at the corner of Main and Center Streets. The actual over¬seer of the construction of the meeting house, was done by a newcomer named William Howard.

The meeting house was the first real building of any size ¬built on the townsite. It was finished 30 Dec 1880, and a gala New Years Eve party was held in it on New Years Day, presided over by Bishop Elias Cox.

At the drawing for lots on the townsite, E1ias drew the lot on the southeast corner of 1st North and Main Street. He built a store building on the corner, and a house just north of it, but set back in the lot. When these were completed in 1881, he moved his merchandise into the store building and his wife and child to the home.

Elias was bishop until May 1883. During this time, the 1st Sunday School in the Huntington ward was organized 8 Dec 1881, with Peter Johnson as Superintendent, Ira Whitney 1st Assistant, John F. Wakefield 2nd Assistant and Milas E. Johnson Secretary-¬treasurer.

The first Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association was organized 29 Oct 1882, with Joseph Ellis Johnson Superintendent. The first Relief Society was organized 27 Feb 1883, with Tab¬itha Avery (mother of Wm H Avery) as President, Emma E. Leonard (one of the wives of David H Leonard) 1st Counselor, Eliza Jane Avery (wife of Wm H Avery) 2nd Counselor and Mary Elvira Cox (wife of Bishop Cox) Secretary-treasurer.

The Young Women's Mutual Association was organized 4 March 1883, with Annie Catherine Johnson (Wife of Peter Johnson) Pre¬sident, Hariah Jane Wakefield (wife of Thomas Wakefield) 1st Counselor, Julia Whitney 2nd Counselor and Susan Wakefield Sec¬retary-treasurer.

On the 2nd Sunday in May 1883, Elias was released as bishop of the ward and Charles Pulsipher was sustained in his place, with Peter Johnson and Andrew J. Allen as Counselors. Elias H. Cox was sustained again as ward clerk. _

In 1884 or 1885 "The Huntington Canal Company" was organized and Elias was elected one of the Board of Directors.

In October 1891, the town was incorporated and Elias was one of the town councilmen.

About this time the "Huntington Co-op Merchantile Association," was organized and Elias sold his store to Abe Hammond and Bill Floyd and invested his money in shares in the Co-op.

All this time, Elias operated his sawmill, but in 1884, Bis¬hop Pulsipher bought in with him and they moved the mill farther up the canyon, near the "Forks."

After he sold his store, he moved to his farm adjoining the townsite on the west and built a large sawed log house, in which he lived for the rest of his life. However, he went on operating his sawmill for many years, furnishing lumber for the community and employment for some of its citizens. When the flour mill was being built, he and Bishop Pulsipher moved the mill to town and set it up behind the flour mill. They sawed lumber for it. The logs were hauled to town from the canyon on wagons. In this way Elias and Bishop Pulsipher created employment for the people of the town.

Elias served on the Emery Stake Board of Education for many years.

Elias, now getting old, was obliged to slow down, so he spent the rest of his life working on his farm.

People who knew him said "Elias can say more in six words than most men can say in six hours." They claimed that he used the best judgment of anyone they ever knew. He was a fearless leader and possessed great understanding, using wisdom in the smallest details. He could handle his family affairs, so each one would realize their own faults and compromise without hard feelings.

Elias died 8 May 1917, age 82 years, and was buried in the Hunting¬ton Cemetery.

After his death, his wife Elvira sold the home and farm and bought a new brick home from Monte Mangum, across the street and east of the Public Square. Here she lived the rest of her life. She died 'just two days short of her 82nd birthday, July 4th 1937.

Child of Elias and Martha Richards Cox;
Elias Henderson b. 19 Dec 1856 d. 12 Nov 1912 m. 22 May 1881 Ellen V. Sherman.

Children of Elias and Mary Elvira Sherman Gillespie Cox;
Albey Elias b. 10 Aug 1881 d. 28 Nov ? m. Edith E. Hardee
Jehu b. 9 Feb 1883 d. 9 Aug 1949;
William E. b. 5 Sept 1884 d. 19 June 1969 m. Margaret Black
Marion Royal b. 12 Oct 1886 d. 20 Mar 1962
Sarah E. b 12 Mar 1888 m. Alvin Black
Orlo b. 26 Mar 1890 d. 14 Jan 1919 m. Mary Emily Lemmon
Margaret B. b. 17 Nov 1892 m. Justin Black
George Francis b. 9 Jan 1895 m. Jessie E. Fox
Grace C. b. 25 Aug 1897 m. Peter Christensen
Thomas F. b. 9 June 1900 m. Anna Anderson.