USA > Maine > Genealogical and family history of the state of Maine, Volume II > Part 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106
713
STATE OF MAINE.
He married, September 20, 1855, Christina, daughter of Samuel N. Wilson, of Harring- ton, Maine; children: I. Charles Augustus, born July 13, 1856, married (first) Anna Edith Nash; one child, who died in infancy ; married (second) Ethel M. Green; no chil- dren. 2. Edwin Voranus, December 5, 1867, graduated from the University of Maine in 1887, and was a civil engineer ; married (first) Frances Ricker Rumball, who died May 24, 1904; children: Edwina, born May 18, 1892; Frances Rumball, January 12, 1894; Voranus Lothrop, December 30, 1897; married ( sec- ond) Maude, daughter of Gilman G. Smith, of Bangor, Maine; no children. 3. John Al- phonso, June 12, 1869, graduated at the Uni- versity of Maine in 1889 and became a me- chanical engineer ; he died unmarried in 1903.
THOMPSON From New Brunswick the states have drawn freely for additions to their citi- zenship, and in those who have crossed the border the commonwealths have secured some of their best manhood and womanhood. From New Brunswick came the Thompson family whose lineal descendants it is now our pleasure to follow.
(I) Andrew Thompson was born in Fred- erickton, New Brunswick, came to Maine, and died in Bangor. He served in the war of 1812, and was captured at Castine. He had a son William.
(II) William, son of Andrew Thompson, was born in Frederickton, New Brunswick, in 1832, and came to Maine as a boy, receiving his learning in the poor boys' university, the district school. Mr. Thompson worked in saw- mills his whole life, and was superintendent of Walker's plant at Basin's Mills, Maine. He was of Catholic religion and voted with the rock-ribbed democracy. He married, in 1862, Maria Dempsey, born in Galway, Ire- land, in 1840. Children: 1. Maria J., born in 1865, married William H. Coffy, of South Brewer, Maine. 2. Frances A., 1867, married Frank J. Lovely, of Roxbury, Massachusetts. 3. William, married Lizzie A. Mitchell, of Old Town, Maine; children: Raymond, Francis A., George E., Harry and Howard. 4. George Edward, see forward.
(III) George Edward, youngest son of William and Maria (Dempsey) Thompson, was born in Orono, Maine, August 9, 1871. He was taught the fundamentals in the dis- trict schools of his native town, followed by four years in the University of Maine, gradi1- ating in 1891, after which he took a law course
in Boston University, graduating from this institution in 1899. He was admitted to the Cumberland county bar in the same year, and began the practice of his profession in Orono, continuing to the present time (1908). He is a Democrat and his party has recognized his fitness for positions of responsibility and his unimpeachable integrity, and have accordingly elected him tax collector from 1898 up to the present time, town treasurer for two years, representative to legislature from 1903-05 to 1907, and in 1908 was elected county attorney for Penobscot county. He is considered a safe counselor for those who have recourse to the courts to redress their wrongs, and is held in high esteem by his associates of the Penob- scot bar. He is a member of B. P. O. E., of Bangor. He married, in 1900, Belle A., daughter of Joseph and Lenore (Bradbury) Pretto, of Orono. Children: Esther Louise, born July 18, 1904, and Ruth Maria, July 29, 1906.
Early writers mention various Eng- COX lish settlers named Cox, Cock or Coxe, as the name is indifferently spelled in New England between 1639, the date at which Moses Cox is found at Hamp- ton, and the end of that century. Some of the lines of descent are easily and clearly traced, while others, on account of defective records, cannot be traced with certainty to an ancestor known to be an immigrant. Whether Elisha Cox of this article was an immigrant or a native of parentage not now discoverable can- not now be known.
(I) Elisha Cox was of Weston, Massachu- setts, and as the record states, "under 21 years of age" and "servant of Ebenezer Hobbs of Weston," in April, 1741. The fact that he was married in 1741, taken with the other facts, indicates that he attained his majority about that time ; hence was born about 1721. An Elisha Cox, born in Dorchester, enlisted in 1760, and was at that time thirty-eight years of age, therefore, he was born in 1722. Elisha Cox was an ensign in Colonel Gardi- ner's regiment, the Thirty-seventh, in Novem- ber, 1776. He died, probably of smallpox, June 25, 1776, at Isle au Noix, on the expe- dition against Canada. Colonel William Bond, commander of the Twenty-fifth regiment, wrote, under date Crown Point, July 11, 1776, "Ensign Cox, a good officer, died June 25." Elisha Cox, of Weston, married, about 1741, Anna, daughter of Jonathan and Sarah War- ren. Elisha Cox and Anna owned the cove- nant January 31, 1742. They probably had
714
STATE OF MAINE.
six children, named as follows : Anna, Esther, Sybil, Elisha. Artemas and Eli.
(II) Eli Cox, says the Cox genealogy by John H. Cox, is shown by the family records to be the son of Elisha Cox and brother of Artemas, and they came from Connecticut. Their residence there, however, may have been temporary. Tradition varies as to the date and place of his birth, from "Springfield, about 1740," to some place in "Connecticut, Aug. 15, 175." He married (first) Almira Deman- ford, of Connecticut, by whom he had two children, Elisha and Rowena. These children, after the death of their mother, are said to have "returned with the Demanfords to Con- necticut." Eli Cox married ( second) Me- hitable Flagg, in Weston, February 23, 1785. She was born July 31, 1752, died October 25, 1825. He moved from Weston to Middle Bay, near Brunswick, Maine, about 1786. "He was a potter by trade, and lived in Tops- ham Village in 1802, and probably died there February 4, 1818. On March 31, 1789, Eli Cox and Mehitable Cox, his wife, Artemas Cox and Sally Cox, his wife, and two others, all of Harpswell county of Cumberland, Mas- sachusetts, 'yeomen,' sell to Nathaniel Bemis a tract of land in Weston, May 10, 1787. Eli Cox and Artemas Cox and their wives sell land in Weston, being an 'undivided part of the estate of David Flagg,' of which estate the said Mehitable Cox and Sarah Cox are heirs." The children of Eli Cox were: Elisha, Rowe- na, Lydia, Marcia, Isaac and James Warren.
(III) James Warren, youngest child of Eli and Mehitable (Flagg) Cox, was born Feb- ruary 2, 1793, in Topsham, died May 12, 1859. He was a farmer by occupation, and officially for years a justice of the peace. Like his brother Isaac, says the family genealogist, "He magnified his office to extend the Cox line. The two families consisted of twenty- seven persons." He married, February 3, 18II, Mary Estes. of Brunswick, by whom he had eleven children : Almira, Demanford, Elisha Tuttle, Lydia Estes, Harriet Abington, Sarah Jane, Augustus Franklin, Mary Ann, Caroline Day, James Henry, Ellen Maria and Frances Maria.
(IV) Augustus Franklin, sixth child and second son of James W. and Mary ( Estes) Cox, was born in Brunswick, Maine, January 8, 1824, died at Portland, Maine, April 10, 1891. In 1842, at the age of eighteen, he com- menced to manufacture shoes in Brunswick. Maine, and carried on a business there until 1867, when he moved to Portland, Maine, and purchased the interest of Mr. Lamb in the
firm of Tyler, Lamb & Company, and subse- quently the firm name was changed to Tyler & Cox. In 1876 Henry P. Cox, second son of Augustus F. Cox, was admitted an equal partner with his father, and the firm name was changed to A. F. Cox & Son, and under that name it was incorporated. This relation- ship continued up to the death of Augustus F. Cox. During the fifteen years that father and son were associated in business, their trade increased in volume and importance year by year, and finally became recognized as one of the leading industries of that thriving city. Augustus F. Cox was a self-made man in the truest sense of the word. He began his busi- ness career at the early age of eighteen, with- out capital or influential friends, and with only a common school education, but by perse- verance, diligence and painstaking effort laid the foundation of an extensive and lucrative business. He was a man of keen foresight, thoughtful and methodical, his word being considered as good as his bond, and having the courage of his convictions, and these charac- teristics were prominent factors in the success he achieved. Augustus F. Cox married (first ), May 12, 1846, Tryphena, daughter of James and Hannah (Sampson) Jones, of China. She was born December 4, 1819, died August 16, 1867. He married (second), September 21, 1868, Jane S. Goddard. The children of first marriage were: Charles Henry, Henry Pack- ard, Rosella Hinkley, Emma Frances, Albert Carroll, Frank Willis, James William and Ed- ward Weston.
(V) Henry Packard, second son and child of Augustus F. and Tryphena Jones Cox, was born in Brunswick, October 5, 1849. Though he received a common school and academic education, he had no idle moments. He was taught all the farm knowledge that his father could impart, and at the same time the shoe- factory had a fascination for him, and he was there at every available opportunity. In 1867, when he was eighteen years old, the factory was removed to Portland, where the whole- sale store was added. His business training was in the store. Here he began at the bot- tom, and his close application to business gave him a thorough knowledge of it. He was ad- mitted an equal partner with his father on his twenty-sixth birthday, in 1875, and continued in that relation up to the death of A. F. Cox in 1891. He then succeeded to the manage- ment of the business with his brothers. Ed- ward W. and Frank W. Cox. A short time later the concern was incorporated, and H. P. Cox became president and E. W. Cox treas-
Augustus Flox
715
STATE OF MAINE.
urer. Frank W. Cox took charge of the fac- tory. When Henry P. Cox became his father's partner he also took the management of the business, and the firm took the name of A. F. Cox & Son, and under this name it was in- corporated. From 1868 to 1893, a period of twenty-five years, Mr. Cox gave the business his constant and undivided attention, without a vacation or idleness of a single week. Such devotion to business left no time for other duties. In later years, however, he gave con- siderable time to other matters, leaving his brothers to manage the shoe business.
He gradually became interested in many other business enterprises, and was added to the boards of directors of many of them. He was never a dummy director in any of the companies with which he was connected. He was one of the men who insisted upon taking a part in the business, and to being fully in- formed as to all of its details. It was this gradual assumption of the cares of so many institutions that gradually broke the strong man down and made him an early victim to his devotion to duty. Mr. Cox was instrumental in organizing the Mercantile Trust Company, one of the strong financial institutions of the city, and was its president. He was presi- dent of the Oxford Paper Company, whose giant mills are one of the business features of Rumford Falls. He was president of the Casco Loan and Building Association, director of the Portland National Bank from its in- corporation until his death; a director in the Union Safe Deposit Company, a director in the Casco Bay Steamboat Company, a director and owner in the National Bank at Rumford Falls, financially interested in many of the enterprises at Rumford Falls and in many Portland corporations. He was prominent in the movement to build the Jefferson Theater. Acting with his customary zeal, the money was raised to build this theater without the necessity of borrowing. Without compensa- tion he collected the money and paid each contractor. He was at one time heavily in- terested in the Joliet Electric railroad in Illi- nois, and in a large rubber business in Phila- delphia, which was subsequently taken to Port- land. His last extensive business undertaking, which was in itself almost enough work for one man, was his appointment as special ad- ministrator of the celebrated Chandler estate, which he was handling at the time of his death in so efficient a manner that it was generally believed that the estate would show a hand- some increase when the time for final settle- ment should come. He was a member of the
board of trustees of the Maine State School for the Deaf and Dumb, from the time it be- came a state institution ; was a member of the advisory board of the Mary Brown Home, and of the Friendless Boys Home. He was a mem- ber of the Cumberland and Portland clubs, of Bramhall League, also member of Home Mar- ket Club, of Boston, Massachusetts.
His interest in fraternal organizations was as true and enduring as it was in financial matters. He was a member of Pine Tree Lodge, No. 11, Knights of Pythias, and filled many offices in the Pythias Order, chief of which was that of grand vice-chancellor of the Grand Lodge of the state of Maine. In Free Masonry he was also an enthusiastic and de- voted member, and attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish rites. He was a mem- ber of Neguemkeag Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Greenleaf Royal Arch Chapter, Portland Council, Royal and Select Masters, St. Alban Commandery, Knights Templar; and Maine Consistory, Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret. It was in Odd Fellowship, however, that he found his chief pleasure in fraternity and attained highest honors. He became an Odd Fellow April 28, 1871, by initiation into Ligonia Lodge, No. 5, of Portland. He remained in this lodge until 1877, when he withdrew to become a charter member of Unity Lodge, No. 3. For many years he was chairman of the board of trus- tees, looking after the financial interests of the body. This lodge is the second richest lodge in New England, and the large fund acquired by it was due to the judicious investments of the board of trustees. He became a member of the Grand Lodge of Maine, August 12, 1872, and was appointed on the committee of finance. In the grand body he was recognized at once for his sterling business qualifications. In 1875 he was nominated for grand warden, but cleclined the honor. At the session held in 1877 he was appointed grand conductor. A man of Mr. Cox's character could not long remain unrecognized in a body like the Grand Lodge of Maine. At the session held August 13, 1878, he was elected grand warden, and was advanced through the different grades until August 10, ISSo, when he was elected grand master. At that time he was less than thirty-one years of age, but was regarded by the brotherhood as remarkably well equipped for the responsible position. He had made the order a study, was well versed in its jurispru- dence and ritual, a sensible speaker, and all felt that the interests of the order were in capable hands. His administration was emi-
716
STATE OF MAINE.
nently businesslike and successful, and new lodges were organized in various parts of the state. Mr. Cox was the first to institute lodges of the order in the large and flourishing county of Aroostook. On this subject he said : "Be- ing very anxious to have a lodge in Aroostook county, I commissioned Grand Conductor Owen W. Bridges to go to Houlton and Fort Fairfield and see what could be done toward starting a lodge in each of those places. Brother Bridges worked hard and succeeded admirably, and I may say it is due mainly to his efforts that the order is established there. The most important event of the year, which entailed upon the grand master much care and additional labor, was the adoption of a revised ritual, the most radical of all the ritualistic revisions since the beginning of the order. The degrees were reduced from five to three, while the business of the lodge which was formerly transacted in the initiatory was changed to the third degree. This change, fol- lowed by the introduction of the dramatic work, was most radical, but has given most universal satisfaction. Grand Master Cox, after the new rituals were issued, thoroughly informed himself in all the charges, becoming proficient in the same. He then decided that the work could be communicated to the several lodges as cheaply and more satisfactorily through special deputies than by calling an extra session of the grand lodge. Conse- quently he appointed eight special deputies, and after thoroughly instructing them in the new work, sent them over the state where lodges existed. Another important piece of legislation enacted in that year was the adop- tion of a penal code for the correct procedure in the trial of penal cases. For many years Mr. Cox had been chairman of the committee of appeals, a position where his knowledge of the jurisprudence of the order and his sense of fair dealing eminently fitted him for the re- sponsible position. In 1881 he was elected grand representative to the sovereign grand lodge for a term of two years, during which he attended the sessions of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Baltimore, Maryland. In 1882 he was a member of the committee of appeals, the most important committee of the grand body. At the session of the Sovereign Grand Lodge held in 1883, he was appointed grand guardian pro tem, the regular official, Joshua Davis, of Portland, being absent. Mr. Cox became in- terested in Patriarchal Odd Fellowship, Feb- ruary 8, 1872, when he joined Eastern Star Encampment, No. 2, of Portland. In 1873 he was elected scribe of the encampment, which
office he held several years. January 1, 1876, he was elected chief patriarch, and was ad- mitted to the grand encampment of Maine, August 9. of the same year. In 1885 he was elected grand representative to the sovereign grand lodge for a term of two years-making four years in the congress of the order-serv- ing at the sessions at Baltimore and Boston. At the 1885 session he was appointed chair- man of the committee on the degree of Re- lekah. The changes suggested in this degree were so many and so varied that Mr. Cox recommended a revision of the Rebekah ritual, and that a committee of three be appointed to report at the next session. The grandsire ap- pointed Mr. Cox chairman of this revising committee, and associated with him Messrs. Porter, of Indiana, and Braley, of Massachu- setts. In 1886 the committee reported a re- vised ritual, which report was adopted. Mr. Cox was also a member of Ivy Rebekah Lodge, No. 5. of Portland. In 1885, when the Patri- arch Militant army was organized, John C. Underwood, afterward grandsire, was made lieutenant-general. He appointed Mr. Cox special aide-de-camp on his staff, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Mr. Cox was an enthusiastic Republican, and though frequently urged to accept nominations for mayor and other high offices, he refused, saying that he preferred to work in the ranks. His only pub- lic office was as member of the common coun- cil. He was a frequent delegate to conven- tions. This he recognized as a duty, and he could always be relied upon to be present on such occasions if his name was placed on the list. He attended State Street Church for the greater part of the time during his residence in Portland, although his carly Quaker training stood by him to the last.
Henry Packard Cox married, at Vassal- boro, December 11, 1872, Almira C. Hussey, of Vassalboro. daughter of James (2) and Re- becca J. (Prescott) Hussey, who survives him. ( See Hussey \'I.) She resides in a beautiful house built by him on the Western Promenade which is one of the sightliest and finest homes to be found in Portland. About two years before his decease Mr. Cox's health began to fail under the incessant strain of cares, and for a time was in very poor condition. From that time he was engaged in business only to the extent of managing his property in a gen- eral way. On November 11, 1906, he fell dead of heart disease, while standing at the telephone and conversing with his brother. Edward W. Cox. Mr. Cox was one of Port- land's foremost business men. He was in-
Odwand Hibol
717
STATE OF MAINE.
terested at the time of his death in many of the financial institutions of the city and in the development of Rumford Falls. In the business world of the city and state he ranked as one of the most enterprising, upright and far-seeing financiers. His sudden demise was to a large number the loss of a personal friend, for Mr. Cox forgot none of his friends as he grew prosperous, but was the same to them at all times and all places. For a man of such multitudinous cares and responsibilities he had a wonderful faculty of remembering persons, and rarely confused one man with another. He was a man of whom it can be said that in his death Portland lost one of its very best citizens. He stood four square to all the world, his word was as good as his bond, and that was as good as gold. He was a very charitable man, although few knew it save those through whom the benefactions came. He was a modest, quiet, unassuming man, and his con- stant injunction while aiding some worthy ob- ject was, "Don't let this become generally known." He carried a mass of business de- tails in his mind at all times, yet he was never harassed, never abrupt or out of patience, but met every one in precisely the same way and dealt with all with a consideration that left nothing to be desired.
(V) Frank Willis, fourth son of Augustus Franklin and Tryphena (Jones) Cox, was born in Durham, Maine, December 9, 1858. He married Josephine Parker, daughter of Ar- taxerxes C. and Frances Jane (Stackpole) Hoyt. Artaxerxes C. Hoyt was born in Graf- ton, New Hampshire, in 1819, and died in Gardner, Maine, April 30, 1907. His wife, Frances Jane Stackpole, died in Gardner, Maine, in 1879, leaving three children, born in Gardner, in the order as follows: I. Anna Frances, January 17, 1852, married Martin Horne, and their only child, Estel Frances, born September 6, 1872, married Martin Cusk- ley, December 12, 1905. 2. James Weston, January 7, 1855, married Belle, daughter of James and Martha (Gould) Southard, of Richmond, Maine, and they had no children. 3. Josephine Parker, who married Frank Willis, son of Augustus and Tryphena (Jones) Cox, and they had one child, Neal Willis, born January 19, 1886, graduated at Bowdoin Col- lege, A. B., 1908. Frank Willis Cox was given a good school training in the public school and academy at Brunswick and Port- land; he was brought up on his father's farm, and as he grew older learned the business of manufacturing and selling shoes in his father's boot and shoe manufactory and wholesale store
in Portland, Maine, and on reaching his ma- jority in 1879 he became a partner. In 1891, on the death of his father, the three brothers, Henry Packard, Frank Willis and Edward Weston, succeeded to the management of the business ; the name of the business firm after Henry Packard Cox became a partner in 1875 was A. F. Cox & Son, and this name was not changed when the other two sons were ad- mitted to the firm. Under the corporate name of A. F. Cox & Son, the duties of the three directors and stockholders were in this wise: Henry Packard Cox, president ; Edward Wes- ton Cox, treasurer; and Frank Willis Cox, business manager, having charge of the manu- facturing department. After the death of his brother, Henry Packard, who was stricken with heart disease while standing at the tele- phone in his residence and talking with his brother, Edward Weston, in the business office in Portland, Frank Willis became president. Outside of his business duties he found little time for the directorship of other corporations, and he generally declined all such trusts. So- cially, his home was his club, and aside from membership in the Portland Athletic Club, of which he was a member for the purpose of development of brawn and muscle not to be acquired outside the gymnasium, his only af- filiations were with the Congregational church, of which he is an attendant. He is a member of the Pine Tree Lodge, Knights of Pythias, and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Unity Lodge, No. 3, of Portland, Maine.
(V) Edward Weston, eighth and youngest child of Augustus F. and Tryphena (Jones) Cox, was born in Brunswick, Maine, Septem- ber 6. 1865. He was educated in the public schools of Portland, and at the age of eighteen entered the employ of A. F. Cox & Son to learn the business. After the death of the fa- ther the sons incorporated the business under the same name, A. F. Cox & Son, and Henry P. Cox became president, Edward W. Cox, treasurer, and Frank W. Cox, secretary. Hen- ry P. Cox died in November, 1906, at which time Frank W. Cox was made president, and Edward W. Cox treasurer, clerk and general manager of the wholesale end of the business. The enterprise has been well managed, and the house manufactures large quantities of goods and does an extensive jobbing business. Edward W. Cox is a very active and enter- prising man, and is connected with various institutions as follows: Vice-president and di- rector in the Portland National Bank, and director in the Casco National Bank, Mer- cantile Trust Company, United States Trust
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.