Bertha Mae Cox

John Cox, Sr. was born 1-14-1758 in Halifax County, Virginia.

On 8-30-1777, he signed the oath of allegiance pledging

loyalty to the United States of America. This makes all of his

descendants eligible to become members of the Daughters of the

Revolution-Dar-A Patriotic Organization. John married SarahSally

Nunnelley 12-26-1777 and they moved to Warren County,

Kentucky. They had 12 children; Coleman, Sarah-Sally, Phineas,

Nancy, Jane, Elizabeth, Winnifred, Jackson C., John, Burwell,

Phillip, and Sinai. John, Sr. died 6-30-1832 and Sarah died in

1846. They were buried in Warren County, Kentucky.

Coleman, John's oldest son, was born in Virginia 1779. He

married Martha (Patsy) Buchanan 5-10-1808 in Logan County,

Kentucky. They moved to Crawford County, Arkansas in 1820.

They had seven children; Edmiston, Lavina, Samuel, Mariah,

Burrell, Anderson, and John. Martha died in 1824 in Crawford

County. Coleman then married Mary Ellen (Bird) Youngbird in

1827 and moved to Washington County in 1828. They settled on

Fly Creek, which is south of Cane Hill, where he owned most of

the land from above the Fly Creek School to Clyde. He and

Ellen had two children; Andrew Youngblood and Sarah.

Coleman built a log cabin on the hill adjacent to the land that he

donated for the Cox Cemetery. Ellen died in 1830. Coleman

married --COulter in 1836. No record of children has been located.

Samuel, third child of Coleman, was born 3-28-1812 near

Bowling Green, Kentucky. His first wife, Mary Sexton, was born

about 1812. They were married in 1834. Mary was the daughter

of Jacob Sexton, a Methodist preacher. The Sextons were a

prominent family in the Cane Hill area. Mary and Samuel had

six children; Milton Henry, Martha Ann, Robert Jackson, Miriah

Elizabeth, Eliza Jane, and Mary Frances. After Mary's death,

Samuel married Martha Crozier Carmack (a widow with two

sons) on 9-18-1856. They had two children; Samuel Anderson

and Hester C. Cox ( Aunt Hess). Prior to being ordained as a

Presbyterian minister in 1868, Samuel was a Methodist preacher

for 24 years. After Martha's death, Samuel married Margaret

Simms. Samuel died 7-16-1899 and was buried in the Cox

Cemetery next to his first wife.

Milton Henry, first son of Samuel, was born 1-24-1836 on Fly

Creek. He married Sara Joan Stout 1-19-1859. The marriage was

performed by his grandfather, Rev. Jacob Sexton. Milton and

Sara had seven children; Wm. Sam Bill, Robert Cole, George

Henry, Alvin F., Charles A., John Burrell, and Tom. Milton was

best known by his nickname, Paddy. He was a prosperous farmer

and owned a lot of land in the Fly Creek area. He wrote the

original deed for the land owned by A. E. and Bertha Mae Cox

Green up until their deaths. Milton died in 1896 and Sara died

8-6-1902. Both are buried in the Cox Cemetery.

George Henry, third son of Milton, was born 12-11-1868 near

Cane Hill. Frances Lucille Pennell, born 4-17-1870, married

George Henry Cox 1-31-1892. They had four children; Bertha

Mae, Raymond Henry, Nathan Anderson, and William Herman.

Frances died 10-5-1904 and was buried in the Cox Cemetery. Her

infant son, Willliam Herman, died 11-1904. Bertha Mae, the

oldest child, helped her father raise her two younger brothers.

George Henry had a peach orchard and an apple drier which

supported his young children after their mother's death. George

never remarried. He died 6-14-1948 and was buried next to his

wife, Fannie. George and his father, Milton, built the original

two rooms of the house where George's children were born and

raised. The doors were hand hewn from logs cut from the farm.

To this date, the inside doors and latches are part of the house

that stands on the property sold by the A. E. Green family.

Bertha Mae was born 1-10-1894 on Fly Creek. She married

Algie Elgin Green, from the Blackburn Community, 1-3-1920.

The ceremony was performed by Wm. Erskin Cox. A. E. Green

had one child, Zelma Lillian, by his first wife, Sally Jane Latta.

Bertha and A. E. had six children; Cyrus Harding, Mary Frances

(Brock), Willard Henry, Wilma Agnes (Myers), Myrtle Louise

(Ray), and Zetta Mae (Harrison). A. E. and Bertha were farmers.

As the children were growing up, they tell of one year that they

had a bumper cotton crop and were able to buy a Model T and

enjoyed the best Christmas ever. A. E. went to wheat harvest in

Kansas every year to help support the family. In the fall, they

peddled apples and vegetables. The commerce area at that time

was Van Buren, which was two day's journey from Fly Creek.

As we grandchildren visited the farm, some of our favorite

memories were searching for arrowheads on the hills. The Indians

left behind many artifacts including stones for grinding

their corn and carved steps winding up the hillsides. A. E. Green

died 5-27-1981. Bertha died 9-27-1983 and was buried next to

him in the Cox Cemetery.

Many descendants still reside in the Washington County area

and a complete genealogy is available. This history was compiled

by Sheron (Brock) Carter, a granddaughter of A. E. and Bertha

Mae (Cox) Green, going back to the sixth grandparents. The

above can not begin to summarize all of the told hardships and

good times of the years past. The Cox-Green story is too lengthy

to go into great detail, as there are too many Cox-Green relatives

and too many stories.

I, Robert Leonard Ray, a son-in-law of A. E. and Bertha

provided most of the information for preparation of the CoxGreen

story. My grandmother, Sarah, (Sally) was the daughter of

Andrew Youngblood Cox. She told many stories of the

hardships of the Civil War. My grandmother was born 3-20-1858,

near Evansville, The Lord's Vineyard. In 1875, she married

Thomas J. Dunagan and they lived their entire lives on a farm

adjacent to the A. Y. Cox original homestead located between

Evansville and Cane Hill.

By: Robert L. Ray