The Family of James William COX and Elizabeth Cordelia VINCENT, Texas

James William COX was born January 4, 1854 in Grapevine, Tarrant County, Texas, the son of Israel COX and Elizabeth HUDGINS. His granddaughter, Virginia Allen Scott, remembered J. W. (as he was known) reminiscing about "sitting on a log" in his third grade classroom. J. W.'s formal education was, like that of many of his peers, fairly brief, but he was an ambitious and hardworking man who eventually taught himself the law and passed the Texas State Bar Exam. But he didn't limit his work to the law: he was also a cattleman, served on the Rains County Commission for Precinct One, and was a member of the Board of Directors of a local Emory bank, among other activities.

J. W. had a brief early marriage that ended tragically: he married a very young woman who was killed when their runaway wagon ran over her. My Aunt Virginia told me that J. W. never quite got over this horrible accident, always remembering vividly how his young bride had seizure after seizure in his arms under the prairie night sky before she died. I can recall my father, too telling me how troubled J. W. had been by this experience for the rest of his life.

The name of this first wife is uncertain, but another of J. W.'s grandchildren reports that her name may have been Ellen GLAZIER. I am unable to locate any records on this early marriage, and I'm not sure when or where it might have occurred. Ellen and J. W. had no children.

Later, J. W. COX would marry Elizabeth Cordelia VINCENT of Emory, Texas (June 30, 1881). Another family story is that he courted her for some time before she agreed to marry her; how long this might be by today's standards, I don't know! Apparently, he had to ask her more than once. His grandchildren remembered his insistence that he wanted to marry her because she was "a good woman."

(More to come)