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Subject: [INDIANA] Cox, Piggott, Rhoads, Morrison, Pickett, Gray
Date: Sun, 4 Mar 2001 21:57:39 EST

Jericho Friends Meeting Page 9
And Its Community
1864


Surnames in this one are: Cox, Piggott, Rhoads, Morrison, Pickett, Gray

Jeremiah Cox

        
           Jeremiah Cox was a man of intelligence and standing in the
Community—
a man
of comparative distinction. He was so regarded by his contemporaries in both
Wayne
County (where he lived from 1805 or 06 till 1826) and in Randolph where he
resided
from 1826 till the time of his death about 1830.


           Jeremiah Cox had three wives:Margery Piggott (daughter of Benjamin
andMary
Piggott) ;the mother of his first eight children: Jemima Rhoads, mother of
his
son Elijah,
and perhaps Enoch and Catherine Morrison (daughter of Robert and Hannah
Morrison)
who was the mother of his last seven children. These last seven children, as
shown in
TableII, and Elijah were the ones whom he brought to the Jericho
neighborhood.
Jeremiah Cox was among the first five men to settle in Wayne County, where he
arrived
either in 1805 or 1806. He took land on the White Water near Elkhorn Creek.
His
land
embraced much of the land now occupied by the city of Richmond. He was a
member
of
the Convention, which formed the first constitution for the State of Indiana
in
the year
1816.

           The town of Richmond was laid out in 1816 and incorporated in
1818.
He was not
insympathy with the project, particularly with regard to establishments for
the
sale of
intoxicating liquors. He is quoted as saying in effect: I had rather watch
the
flag of a
white-tailed deer than signs advertising the sale of liquor. Accordingly, in
1818, he
purchased considerable land in Randolph County, partly as shown on Fig. I and
some
other. He was a miller both in North Carolina, in Wayne County and later in
Randolph.
Accordingly,his land was located astride the streams, where waterpower sites
were
available.


           The exact time of his removal to Randolph is not surely known. The
date of
transfer of his membership, from the White Water MM. of Friends to the White
River
MM, was October 18, 1826. However, he built his mill (History Randolph
County.
Tucker p. 98), as well as his residence at Jericho, in 1825. This mill was
famous in         
its day and ran till the five dry years 1864-69, after which it was torn
down.
His house
was said to be the first frame house in Randolph County, though there is some
doubt of
this. It is not known whether the transfer of his membership in the Meeting
lagged behind        
the beginning of his residence. It is certain, however, that because of his
interes there, he
spent considerable time in the neighborhood previous to the removal of his
family. His
son, Elijah, lived here from the very beginning, probably to look after his
father's
interests.

         Jeremiah Cox was related to many of the first settlers in the
Jericho
and White
River communities. He was a brother to John Cox of White River; an uncle to
William
Pickett who helped as a young man the construction of his mill: a father to
Elijah Cox,
and uncle to William Cox, both of whom were charter members of the first
Jericho
Meeting:and more distantly related to Joshua Cox, Amy Cox, Solomon Cox,
Samuel
Cox; and to Absalom Gray through Absalom's first wife.  In addition, he was a
close
friend to Abram Peacock and his following.  The association of his name with
that of the
Meeting and the community has already been described. He was a man of great
respect         
and influence in the early community, having been a member of the First
Constitutional
Convention for Indiana. However, by late 1829 or early 183) he was dead and
buried in
the little first cemetery. Today's association with the first Meeting has
been
largely
forgotten.
        

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