[p. 470] proprietor of the Chestnut Ridge farm, a tract of 145 acres of very fine land, which is situated in Shenango Township, was born in Pulaski Township, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, January 13, 1861, and is a son of Samuel M. and Sophia (Reynolds) Cox.
William Cox, the grandfather; was the founder of the family in America. He came from Ireland and at an early day settled in Mahoning Township, Lawrence County, where he engaged in farming. He married Esther Sankey and they had a family of sixteen children.
Samuel M. Cox, father of John D. Cox, was born in Mahoning Township, Lawrence County, where he followed in the footsteps of his father, cultivating his land and raising good stock and rearing a family to respected maturity. He was a stanch supporter of the Democratic party and frequently was elected to local offices, serving his township as supervisor and for many years as school director. He married Sophia Reynolds, who was a daughter of Robert Reynolds, of New Castle, and six of their children reached maturity, namely: Mary, who married Henry Cooper, of New Castle; Lewis, who resides in Pulaski Township; William H., who lives at New Castle; John Douglas; Charles, who lives on the old homestead engaged in farming, and Joseph, who is a physician and resides at New Castle. The mother of the above family was a good, earnest Christian woman, a devoted member of the Disciples Church.
John Douglas Cox received a common school education and remained on the home farm until his marriage, when he moved to North Beaver Township, where he remained until the spring of 1902, when he bought his present farm. Mr. Cox has 100 acres under cultivation and grows corn, oats, wheat and hay. He does a large wholesale milk business and keeps fourteen head of cattle.
Mr. Cox married Mary Jennie, who is a daughter of John Le Moyne and Isophene (White) Pyle, the former of whom was born in Perry Township on a farm settled by his great-grandfather. The grandfather of Mrs. Cox was Caleb Pyle, who was born on that farm, of old Quaker stock, and it remains a family possession.
Mr. and Mrs. Cox have had eight children, the survivors being: Joseph L., Vera Belle, Iva May, Helen Esther, Eva Gertrude and Anna Grace. A heavy bereavement came to the family in the death of a son, Samuel Carl, who passed away in June, 1908, aged twenty-three years. Their youngest child, Ruth, died October, 1906, aged nineteen months. Mr. and Mrs. Cox are members of Center United Presbyterian Church. He is not actively interested in politics, but follows his father in voting with the Democratic party. He is one of the township's most reliable and esteemed citizens.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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Updated: 25 Oct 2001