Ephraim COX

  General Notes:

Without a positive Y-DNA match, there was only a tantalizing, but tenuous, circumstantial case for Ephraim Cox of Rowan County, North Carolina, being the Ephraim Cox who was the son of Gabriel and Maria Cox. All that existed in the way of a paper trail were the following facts: (1) the last known record for Ephraim, son of Gabriel and Maria, was in 1749 in New Jersey; (2) he was not in the church census of 1753, indicating he had left the area; (3) the earliest known record for Ephraim of Rowan County was in 1753; (4) Ephraim of Rowan County lived in an area known as the Jersey Settlement on the Yadkin River; (5) other known descendants of New Sweden families lived there as well; and (6) he named a son, Moses Cox, which was a common name among descendants of Peter Larsson Cock (Cox), since his wife's father was Måns Svensson Lom and Moses was the Swedish equivalent of Måns. While it was comforting that this circumstantial case had been blessed by Dr. Peter S. Craig, the historian of the Swedish Colonial Society, it was a Y-DNA match with a proven descendant of Peter Larsson Cock (Cox) that confirmed this lineage.

Several descendants of Peter (all by way of son Gabriel as of 2006) have participated in the Cox DNA Study, the website for which is http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Cox%20DNA%20Study/, where they appear in Group 7. Some of the participants are proven descendants, while others rely on circumstantial evidence to some degree or the other. Regardless of the quality of the paper trail in individual cases, Y-DNA testing shows they all shared a common ancestor and that Peter Larsson Cock was almost certainly the shared immigrant ancestor. (The presentation of results at the above-referenced website makes comparisons somewhat difficult. I maintain an Excel spreadsheet that shows all the participants and their results, with the differences highlighted. I have also written a memorandum analyzing the results. Unfortunately, my genealogy program cannot handle the format of these files, so I cannot include them here. I will be happy to e-mail copies to anyone who is interested in further detail.)

Those knowledgeable about the use of Y-DNA testing for genealogy purposes know that one of the more vexing problems is that even though participants match, it is difficult, without a paper trail, to determine whether a particular person is a common ancestor or whether the common ancestor was much further back in time. That problem is for all practical purposes mooted in the case of Peter Larsson Cock, because Cock/Cox was his adopted surname. Thus, in terms of the surname Cock/Cox, Peter is the "Adam" of his line, which means those Coxes who share his Y-DNA share him as the immigrant ancestor. There simply were no Cocks/Coxes before him with his Y-DNA. (I choose to ignore, because it seems so remote, the theoretical possibility that descendants of a more distant ancestor independently adopted the Cock/Cox surname. Also, while there were other Cock/Cox families in New Sweden, namely Otto Ernest Cock, believed to be German, and John Anderson Cock, son of Anders Anderson the Finn, who inexplicably started using the Cock surname later in life, they were not related to Peter Larsson Cock. Also, it can be inferred from Lars Cock's 1693 letter to his uncle in Sweden -- see the General Note for Peter Larsson Cock -- that no one from Peter's immediate family followed him to America.)

  Research Notes:

I did not personally research the records of Rowan County, North Carolina, because this had already been done by two accomplished researchers, namely Nancy Kiser and Doris Scrivner Collier, both of whom generously shared their findings and copies of documents with me. Both are descended from Ephraim Cox through his son, Moses, as am I. Doris and I continue to share the same lineage through Moses' daughter, Mary, who married Benjamin Scrivner. Important information was also provided by Dr. Peter S. Craig, historian of the Swedish Colonial Society. Set forth below is a summary of the known references to Ephraim Cox in the records, including some notable omissions, accompanied by what source information I have.

1. Ephraim Cock, son of Gabriel Cock, was baptized 20 Jun 1705 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chester, (now located in Delaware County), Pennsylvania. (Dr. Craig, as per his book, The 1693 Census of the Swedes on the Delaware)

2. Ephraim and Maria Cox's daughter, Maria, was born 29 Jan 1728 and baptized 11 Feb 1728 at Swede's Church at Raccoon Creek (Swedesboro, Gloucester County, New Jersey). (Dr. Craig, based on church records compiled and published by Dr. Amandus Johnson in 1938)

3. Ephraim Coxe participated in taking an inventory of the Estate of Mary Bray, Dec'd, of Chester, Burlington County, New Jersey, on 6 Oct 1743. The Administrator of her estate was Jonathan Thomas of Gloucester County. (Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Volume II, 1730-1750, page 58)

4. "Epharim" Cox received a payment from the Estate of John Eaton, Dec'd, of Salem County, New Jersey, per a 9 Jun 1749 inventory of the estate. (Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Volume II, 1730-1750, page 159; confirmed by Dr. Craig, citing an abstract in the New Jersey Archives, 30:58, and also apparently the original in the New Jersey Archives, 39:159-160)

5. Ephraim Cox was not listed in the church census of 1753. (Dr. Craig)

6. In 1753, Ephraim Cox recorded his mark in newly formed Rowan County, North Carolina (query whether previous records might exist in parent Anson County), which was a sallow fork in the nose, and brand "E.C." (Doris, who viewed the original handwritten record on film. Per Doris, an abstract of this record adds, perhaps significantly, the name "Mary" after Ephraim's name (see Abstracts of the Minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions, Rowan County, North Carolina 1753-1762))

7. In 1757, Ebenezer Fairchild, a Baptist preacher, visited Ephraim Coxe in the Jersey Settlement on the Yadkin River and in his journal recorded that a woman there told him she had lived there for six years. That would indicate Ephraim may have arrived in North Carolina as early as 1751. (Doris, citing A History of Watauga County) (Doris has also examined the records of the Jersey Baptist Church for later years and found that Sarah Todd, widow of Moses Cox who married Thomas Todd, was a member of that church.)

8. Ephraim Cocks appears on the 1759 tax list for Rowan County, North Carolina. On the same tax list appears Zachariah Cocks, son of Otto Ernest Cock of the New Sweden Colony. (Nancy, citing Jo White Linn, Rowan County, North Carolina Tax Lists, 1757-1800; Dr. Craig, as to the identity of Zachariah)

9. In 1771, Ephraim Cox signed separate petitions addressed to Josiah Martin, Esq., Governor of the province of North Carolina, and to the House of Burgessess, requesting that a new county be formed from Rowan County. (Nancy, citing 1771 Petitions of the Inhabitants of the Upper Settlement of the Catawba River, Yatkin River and Three Cricks)

10. Per the David Cox Family Bible, Ephraim Cox, Sr., died 3 Jun 1771. David was the son of Israel Cox, who in turn was a son of Ephraim. (Nancy)

11. Ephraim Cox was not listed in the 1772 tax list for Rowan County, which confirms his date of death.

Nancy believes Ephraim had at least five children: Mary, Isaac, Israel, Moses, and Ephraim. However, based on the records I've seen to date, I am not comfortable including Isaac, even though he appears in the early records of Rowan County. ^{4 5}

  Death Notes:

The David Cox family bible has the following entry: "Ephraim Cox, Sen. departed this life the 3^rd of June 1771." He may have been identifed as Sr. either because of Ephraim's putative son, Ephraim Jr., or because David had a son named Ephraim.

Ephraim married Maria before 1728.⁶