[From Judy Simpson: 2simpsons@earthlink.net
Richard Mount Cox was born in Upper Freehold, Monmouth County, NJ, about 1794. He was one of eight children. His parents were William and Margaret Cox, but I'm still trying to prove that his mother was Margaret Mount Cox, daughter of Richard Mount and Lydia Dey, and that his father was William Cox, buried at The Old Yellow Meeting House Cemetery in Cream Ridge, NJ.
The story that I've been able to piece together, so far, is that Richard's father, William Cox, died in 1809 in New Jersey. After William's estate was settled, the family home burned down, and Margaret and the eight children moved to Deerfield township, Warren County, Ohio, in 1810.
The information I've received linking William Cox and Margaret Mount gives two different people as references, and they list sources showing that that this William Cox is the one buried at The Old Yellow Meeting House cemetery in Cream Ridge, NJ, born Oct. 16, 1763 and died April 25, 1809, and Margaret (Mount) Cox is buried near Mason, Ohio. I don't know how old these references are, as I haven't been able to get a reply.
Regina Barry's web site shows that this William Cox married someone named Mary, and I think the source information for his marriage comes from either the Stillwell books or The Cox Family in America, but it isn't clear to me. Under notes, it says: "MARRIAGE: Tombstone, Old Yellow Meeting House, Cream Ridge, NJ. 'Mary, wife of William Cox.'"
I have had someone who lives near the cemetery go there and take pictures for me. There is no mention of a wife named Mary on, or near, William's tombstone. The tombstone that says, "Mary, wife of William Cox," is in a separate enclosure, surrounded by an iron fence, and I believe she was the second wife of William Cox (son of John Cox) and not the wife of the William Cox mentioned above.
I also have a deed showing that Margaret Cox (widow of William Cox) sold some property in New Jersey to Ralph Phillips in 1814, and it was signed before a judge in Ohio.
History of the Old Tennet Church shows the family of Richard Mount and Lydia Dey and it says that "Peggy md. _____ Cox, went west." (Peggy is a nickname for Margaret.)
[From the book AROUND MASON, OHIO: A STORY, by Rose Marie Springman, copyright 1982, under the chapter heading for the year 1847, page 30]
"Elizabeth Tetrick, the wife of Joseph, died on March 5 at the age of 29 and she was buried at the Symes Township cemetery. Margaret Mount Cox died around the same time at age 77. She had brought her eight children to Deerfield Township from New Jersey in 1810 after her husband had died and the family home had burned down. Three times after 1810 she made the trip back to New Jersey from Deerfield Township by horseback to visit. The family name was to stay in the area for many generations."
In The History of Warren County, Ohio, the biography of Joshua Cox (the brother of Richard Mount Cox) mentions that his mother died in 1847 at age 77.
Richard Mount Cox died in Warren County, Ohio, in June of 1860, upwards of 66 years. His brother, Thomas Cox, who lived in the same area, had a son named Richard Mount Cox. And that Richard had a son named Richard Mount Cox, Jr.! So, obviously, this family was very proud of the name Richard Mount...which was the name of Margaret Mount's father!
All of this circumstantial evidence points to the fact that our Margaret was Margaret Mount Cox, but now how do we prove that she was married to the William Cox buried at The Old Yellow Meeting House? If anyone can help with this puzzle, please write.
Dorothy Widergren supplied a picture of Richard Mount Cox:
"JOSHUA COX, retired farmer, Mason (brother of Richard Mount Cox mentioned above). This gentleman whose name heads this sketch is one of the old, well-known citizens of Warren County. He was born in New Jersey in the year 1800, and is a son of William and Margaret Cox who were born in New Jersey, where he died [meaning William]. Mrs. Cox, with her family of eight children, romoved to Ohio and settled in Deerfield Township in the year 1810; the settlement was made in the woods and her elder sons and hired men carried on the work of improvement. She lived to the ripe old age of 77 [she died in 1847], when she was called to her last resting place; to her were born eight children, of whom two are living, viz., William and Joshua."