Since the spring of 1991, when we ran an article about the forgotten Cox family cemetery near Mountain Blvd. Extension and Washington Valley Road, much additional information has come to light about the Coxes. It is now clear that Phillip Cox (c.1680-1736) was one of Warren's earliest settlers. Cox's tombstone and that of his son, Philip (1705-1785), were visible as late as 30 years ago but have now disappeared. Phillip Cox was born in London about 1677-80, said to be a son of Isaac Cox, a merchant tailor. The earliest mention of Phillip Cox discovered so far is in 1702, when he witnessed, along with Edward Slater and Nicholas Munday, Jr., the signing of John Dennes' will. Dennes was a carpenter in Woodbridge. On March 27, 1703 Munday and Cox appeared at Perth Amboy for the probate. On Aug. 5-6, 1709, Phillip Cox purchased items at the estate sale of John Royse, Gent., of Piscataway, Middlesex County. Cox spent two pounds, seven shillings for "a feather bed," one shilling, 10 pence for "2 forks & skelitt," one pound, seven shillings for "Blew curtains," and six shillings for "a Old spade." Family historian John Clay Cox, in his unpublished manuscript (1907), dates Phillip Cox's removal to "the Blue Hills" between 1710-15, but this seems to be a decade or so too early. On May 18, 1727 Phillip purchased 200 acres from Daniel Hollingshead. The deed describes this land as "Betwixt the first and second mountain called the Blue Hills" (now Washington Valley). The deed also states that Philip was "now in the occupation [and] possession" of the land. This farm became the "Homeste[a]d Plantation"of the Cox family for over 70 years (1727-1796). The tract is shown on Benjamin Morgan's map (1766), but still in Hollingshead's name, probably explained by the fact that the Coxes kept this deed (and others) in their possession until 1794-97, when they were put on record. Phillip Cox (c. 1680-1736) married first Hannah Trembly, and had Sarah, who married Peter Trembly, Jr.; Annah, b. 1701, who married Jacob Cossart (Cosad); and Mary, b.1702, who married John Sutton. By a second wife, Dorcas Graves, Phillip had John, b. Oct. 20, 1703, who married Mary; Philip, b. June 13, 1705, who married Johanna Trembly; Phineas (Fines), b. April 30, 1709; Jacob, b. Jan. 27, 1711; Elizabeth, b. Feb. 12, 1716, who married David Riggs, Sr.; and Mary, b. Sept. 17, 1719. The record of his children by his second marriage appears in the family Bible, printed in London, 1589. Phillip Cox was a farmer, carpenter, tailor and mill-wright. His will, dated Sept. 27, 1728, is interesting enough to be quoted at some length: "I Phillip Cox of the Blue hills in Sumersett County being internally in bodily helth and good and perfect memory thanks be to Almity God and Calling to Rembrance the uncertinty of my transitory Life do ... constitute ordain and Declare this my last will and Testament in maner and Form following revoking annulling by these Presents All and every testament and testamony wills and wills heretofore by me made and declared either by word or writing and This is to be takin only to be my Last will and testament and none other. And first being penitent and sory from the botom of my Hart for my sins... I give and Comitt my Sole unto Allmity God my Saviorand Redemer. In him and by the merits of Jesus Crist I trust and beleve (Lord help my unbelief) assurdedly to be saved and to have full remission and forgiveness of all my Sins and that my Sole with my Body at the given day of resurrection Shall rise Again with Joy and through the meritt of Crist death and passion possess and inherit the kingdome of heaven prepared for his ellect and chosen And my body to be buried In such place whear it shall please my executors hereafter named to appoint. And now for the setling my temporal estate and such goods Chattels and Debts as it hath pleased God (far above my Diserts) to bestow upon me ..." Cox then gives "unto my well beloved wife the house and Land wheare I now live so Long As she Remains A widow ..." Afterhis wife's death, "then the house and Land to be evenly divided betwin my other two sons, that is to say, Philip and Phinas ..." Also, "the movable to be evenly divided betwin the fouor Children that is John Philip Phinas Elizabeth." An inventory of Cox's estate, made by Daniel Blackford, Ephraim Dunham and Derkes Cox, administrators, and filed Jan. 7, 1737, reveals a great deal about life in Warren a generation before the Revolution. His movable estate totalled 355 pounds, 16 shillings, and 3 pence, perhaps $3000 in today's prices. The most valuable item on the list, at 45 pounds and 15 shillings, is illegible, but the second most valuable, at 45 pounds, is a "neger man," that is, a slave. Three "bads and bading" at 31 pounds begins a long list of items: Carptners and Giners tuls [carpenters and joiners tools]; 3 bras kittles outher bras ware [brass kettles and other brassware]; puter and tin [pewter and tin ware]; Iron war; lume and taklen [loom and tackling for the loom]; Chist of droars [chest of drawers]; 5 tronks and Chest [tunks and chest]; earthen and wooden war; 3 Lukinglases and glas war [looking glasses and glassware]; table and cloth and napkins and 10 chars; 1 bible; sundry books; 5 wosted capes [worsted capes]; a pace of satten [a piece of satin]; a pace of chench [chintz]; dubbel folds; wooll folds; linen and wooling yearn [linen and wool yarn]; arthers [feathers]; pare of wosted coms [pair of worsted combs]; 1 cart yok and chanz [cart yoke and chains]; 3 spinnen weels; 45 sheep; 6 gads [goats?]; 2 youk of oxen and other cattel; 3 plows and a harra and taklen [plows, harrow and tackling]; crop of weet and barly [and] ry and otes and flax [valued at 70 pounds]. Phillip Cox was also the owner of 100 acres of land he purchased in Dec. 1728 from John Budd near a place called "Mine Mountain" on the south side of the main branch of the Passaic River. Phillip's will directed his executors to sell this land, probably located in what is now Bernards Township near Chambers Brook. Phillip Cox died on July 12, 1736. His will was probated on August 18, 1736, and he was buried in the Cox Cemetery on his farm. In 1947 Charles C. Gardner, a genealogist, recorded this information about his tombstone: "On farm of Mr. Thomas at Springdale, on N. side of road from Warrenville to Martinsville in use as part of a walk by kitchen door: philup cox July ye 12 1736." In 1950 Grace Hendrickson Riddle, a great-great-great-great-greatgranddaughter of Phillip Cox, discovered his marker in the sidewalk at the Fred Dilzell house, 155 Washington Valley Road. After chalking the inscription, she took the picture shown here (the only one known to exist). It clearly shows the name was "phillip," but it is easy to see how the "ll" could be mistaken for "u". Mrs. William Dilzell, now of Wooster, OH, who lived in the addition built onto the old house from 1959-1968, described the marker as the second stone from a concrete slab behind the house. In 1989 the stone was not found, although it may have then deteriorated beyond recognition John Cox (1703-1767), Phillip's son, married Mary and they had 10 children: Jacob, Samuel, Mary, Dorcas, Phineas, Elizabeth, John, Marcy, Benjamin and William. John Cox was an early settler in Sussex County, where he made his will on June 24, 1767. An inventory of his estate was made on February 1, 1768, by Nathaniel Ayers and Thomas Terrill, both residents of what is now Warren Township. Sometime after their father's death in 1736, Philip (1705-1785) and Phineas (1709-?) divided the 200 acre homestead. Phineas received the western half, Philip the eastern. In 1741 Philip Cox purchased 53 acres on the north side of First Mountain from Ebenezer Tingley. In 1744 Philip acquired 13 acres on the north side of First Mountain from Benjamin Gross. The Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery lists Philip Cox as the owner of 12.4 acres (Lot 141) on the north side of First Mountain, and surveyed March 27, 1744. At the August term 1744 of the N. J. Supreme Court (Somerset Sessions), Francis Bowes, Esq., of Trenton, brought suit against Philip Cox in his capacity as surety on a bond made by Jonas Greenaway. The county sheriff took Philip into custody, but he was admitted to bail on August 28, 1744, with Phineas Cox as surety. The outcome of this case is not known. In 1750 Philip Cox served as Somerset County highway commissioner. In June 1751 the county highway commissioners agreed to a petition by "some of the inhabitants of New Bridgewater to Lay a Road for the Benefit of Mill & Market" to begin "in the Road that Leads from Baskinridge to Coxes Mill in the lower part of John Harris' Land at a WalnutTree," thence across Isaac Poules' land to Joseph Ross' new saw mill on the GreenBrook. According to the 1766 Morgan map, John Harris owned land near Coontown. A record dated December 16, 1761 in the Somerset County Road Book describes another road laid out along the property line of Philip Cox: "Beginning on the Road that comes from Dead River to Tingleys ... till it comes to the Line Between Philip Cox and Joseph Cate[r]lin ...until it comes to the Top of the Mountain till it comes to Veals [Vail's] Path Thence Down the Path till it comes to meet the other Road by Veals Bridge Which Road to be a Three Rod Road." A 1753 list of Somerset County voters shows Philip Cox in Bridgewater Township and Phineas Cox in the North Precinct, later Bernards Township, probably an indication that Philip was in possession of the entire 200 acres. Philip Cox purchased 50 acres from Francis Hollinshead in 1743 by deed not acknowledged until 1753. At the end of this deed appears a notation: "I Philip Cox do sine over this written deed to Darkes Cox for rate resined by me." Apparently Philip wanted his mother to have her own place, since his family now included sons Peter and Isaac, and at least two older sons, probably John and Philip, and daughters Susannah and Hannah. About 1753 tragedy struck the Philip Cox family. A tradition handed down through Isaac's decendants and printed in a history of Ritchie County, WV, states: "His [Isaac's] brothers, having gone some distance from home to make an improvement, in advance of the settlement, and raise a crop, pitched their tent near a fine spring from which they got water for constant use, and in a short time they all sickened and died; and upon investigation, it was found that the water came from a copper-mine, and thus was poisonous. Isaac being but a lad, and drinking here and there where he chanced to be herding the stock, escaped death." Family historians claim that John and Philip died and no doubt were buried in the Cox Cemetery. Somehow Peter escaped. Where this copper mine may have been is open to conjecture, but we do know that Warren was known early on as a potential source of copper and that small mining operations were not uncommon in this area. It may be more than coincidence that in 1756 four shares were sold in the Mine Lot, located "in the Township [of] Bridgewater in the County of Somerset on the Top in part and part on the South side of 1st Mountain." The property was purchased from William Burnett, who retained one share. The other four shares were owned by Daniel Cooper, Sr., and Jr., Philip Cox, and Phineas Cox. In 1790 Isaac Cox (1743-1838) requested a division of this property. The adjoining property owners were Abraham Vail, David Vail, John Vail, John Runyon, Cornelius Cornelison, Isaac Cox, and A. Clark Low. It is interesting that in the division Lot No. 1 began "at the Northern most Corner of the Intire Tract at a heap of stones near a spring of Water..." Lot No. 2 began "at a heap of stones on the Top of the aforesaid mountain ..." Lot No. 4 included land "to a heap of stones at or near the foot of said Mountain ..." By 1765 Phineas Cox had fallen heavily into debt. "Philiph" Cox became "Joyntly bound" on his bonds (amounting to 378 pounds, 12 shillings, 2 pence). By 1768 the amount had increased, "Amounting in the whole Debt Interest & Cost to Near Six Hundred pounds ..." The bonds were payable to Charles Read, Josiah Appleton, Joseph Read, Noel Forman, John Berrien and John Sayer. Some or all of these bonds must have been assigned to Henry Alward and John Roy as the records show that John Berrien "in Compassion to him ye the sd. Philiph Cox hath Undertook to pay of said action " on condition that Alward and Roy turn all bonds over to him. Alward and Roy agreed to do this only if Philip Cox mortgaged his farm, a mortgage signed on June 18, 1768 and recorded February 10, 1774. Phineas' debt may have been related to speculation in mines, the mill, land, or a combination of these. The Morgan map shows that Phineas Cox owned 707 acres north of Dead River. He also owned other tracts. On November 14, 1772, another road was laid out, this one most likely along much of the route now followed by Washington Valley Road. This road began "at the Road that leads from the Baskinridge Road down the Mountain by Stephen Viele [Vail] at or near the house where Jonathan Grey now lives and thence to run on a Straight line to the front of the House of Philip Cox and thence to the land of Henry Alwood, Esq., & thence... to the lands of Philip Winans ...to the house of William Winans... thence southerly through to the lands of the said William Winans where the old path formerly ran to the lands of John Seburn [Sebring] thence up the path ... to Stephen Viel where the old Road or path formerly went to the Road that leads from Benjamin Coons to Bound Brook." In 1776 Philip bought Phineas' half (100 acres) of the "Homeste[a]d Plantation" for 400 pounds. Both Philip and Phineas were "of Bridgewater Township." Tax ratables for Somerset County in 1779 show "Ph & Is Cox" as owners of 200 acres, 6 horses, 11 cattle, and 6 hogs. Ratables in 1781 list "Phillip Coxe" and "Isaac Coxe" separately, each with 150 acres. "Phillip" had 3 horses and 5 cattle. Philip Cox was a farmer, land owner, millwright, miller, part owner of the "Mine Lot", and surveyor. He supplied "Boards for the Cofin" of John Cox of Sussex County in 1767. Cox's Mill was probably a grist and saw mill. Philip Cox made his will on March 10, 1785, leaving "all my Homeste[a]d Plantation where I now live together with all my out Land and Rights of Land throughout the State of New Jersey to my Son Isaac Cox, his Heirs and Assigns, forever." In exchange, Isaac had to pay his sisters, Hannah Sutton and Susannah Sutton, 100 pounds "proclamation money." Philip left all of his movable estate to his three surviving children, Isaac, Hannah, and Susannah. A granddaughter, Sarah Riggs, was to receive 8 pounds and her son, Peter Riggs, 2 pounds. (Jo)Hannah Cox, Philip's wife, is not mentioned. Isaac Cox and Anthony Cosart were named as executors, Samuel Tingley, Janet Tingley, Rhoday Corton, and Abner Sutton were witnesses. On September 19, 1785, Philip Cox died at age 80 years. An inventory of his estate made on September 24, 1785 by Jonathan Willet and William Winans in the presence of Phineas Cox and Rev. Abner Sutton valued his moveable estate at 396 pounds and 81 shillings. Philip Cox was buried in the Cox Cemetery on his farm. In 1947 Charles C. Gardner described his marker as follows: "Near Springdale, Warren Township, Somerset County, in a green patch in a ploughed field. No other stone in patch. Stone is broken and is scaling off, but pieces still there. The exact wording on this stone, which will soon disappear is: In memory of Mr. Philip Cox who died Sept. 19, 1785 aged 80 years." My research leads me to conclude that Cox's tombstone was on the upper (northwest) side of what became Mountain Blvd. Extension. In 1796 Isaac Cox sold 242 acres (the "Homeste[a]d Plantation" and other tracts) to James Wemyss for 942 pounds 10 shillings. By 1798 Isaac, Sarah, and their five children had settled in Harrison County, (West) Virginia. This article was prepared by Phillip L. Crane, Rte 2, Box 191, Lowell, OH 45744, and edited by A. A. Siegel. Anyone with information on the descendants of Phineas Cox, Peter Cox, Hannah or Susannah Sutton, please contact the author. |