Lafayette Cox and family

Lafayette Cox ⁵ (Not a Stafford Descendant) - Although this man is not a direct descendant of the Staffords family that I am researching, I have prepared this page for him since he is a step-brother to Daniel Stafford, who is a direct line descendant of William Stafford and a direct line ancestor of Clayton Stafford.  Lafayette Cox' mother, Mary Stafford - Cox nee Lang, was the mother of Daniel Stafford.  After Andrew Stafford's death, she married William Cox.  See Andrew Stafford page for details about Mary and her Stafford children.  Lafayette's granddaughter, Mrs. Betty Turner, provided some extremely helpful information about the Staffords; therefore, since the families were closely linked I have chosen to include Lafayette Cox' as part of this website.  Lafayette and Daniel Stafford both went to western Kansas to homestead.  Evidence of this is presented below and on Daniel Stafford's page.

Lafayette Cox,² (William Cox¹) b. October 1859 in Johnson County, Indiana;¹ d. 11 September 1915.²

He was the son of William Cox and Mary Stafford - Cox nee Lang, who married on 12 September 1857.³  

Sometime between 1860¹ and 1870,⁴ William and Mary Cox divorced.⁵  Although they did not stay together, William Cox, left evidence that he was an honorable man and provided for his youngest son.  His last will and testament⁵ [page 1 / page 2 / page 3 / page 4] shows that he claimed Lafayette as his child. Apparently, Lafayette lived with his mother and after his parents separated they lived in Morgan County.  The census records listed below document Lafayette Cox' place of residence at certain time points.  

• 1860 - Johnson County, Indiana in William Cox household¹

• 1870 - Morgan County, Indiana in Mary Cox household⁴

• 1880 - Harrison County, Missouri in his own household; mother, Mary Stafford-Cox nee Lang lived in his household⁶

• 1900 - Republic County, Kansas⁷

• 1910 - Washington County, Kansas⁸

The exact time that Lafayette Cox left Indiana and arrived in Missouri is not known.  His mother bought land in Harrison County, Missouri in 1872,⁹  but Lafayette Cox married a Morgan County, Indiana girl named, Jennie Lamb, on 29 September 1879 in Morgan County.¹⁰  Lafayette and Jennie Cox did not settle in Indiana, but went to Harrison County, Missouri as is documented in the 1880 Harrison County census record showing them there.⁶ They were the parents of four children. Their eldest was Thomas Elmer Cox, who was born in September 1881 in Missouri.¹¹   

As a reminder --- Mary's children with Andrew Stafford were half siblings to Lafayette Cox.  All but John, who apparently died in Indiana are documented in the area where Lafayette lived. For more information see the web pages for their families:  Rebecca J. Stafford married William Reeves and lived in Harrison County, Missouri in 1880 and later they lived in Red Willow County, Nebraska.  Rose Ann Stafford, who married James Adams also lived in Harrison County in 1880 and by the mid 1880s had gone to Red Willow County, Nebraska.  Elizabeth Ellen Stafford, who apparently did not marry legally lived in Lafayette's household with her mother and daughters in 1880 and later went to Decatur County, Kansas where she eventually died.  The fact that Lafayette Cox lived near his half siblings for most of his life makes his life important to Stafford research.  

In 1886 / 1887 both Lafayette Cox¹² and Daniel Stafford¹³ acquired land in Decatur County, Kansas through the government homestead program.  Neither family stayed there permanently as is documented in the deeds for the sale of their farms to Van B. Wiggins.^14,15 Although the reason that Lafayette and Jennie did not stay in western Kansas many years it is quite possible that they did not like the harsh living conditions.  Whatever the reason, they sold their land to Van B. Wiggins,¹⁴ who would also buy Daniel Stafford's farm a few years later.¹⁵  

Lafayette and Jennie went a few miles north to Red Willow County, Nebraska.  They were listed on the school census as living in Section 15 of Township 1, Range 27 in Red Willow County, Nebraska.¹¹  The amount of time they spent there is not known, but the 1900 census documents that they moved east about 150 miles to Republic County, Kansas.⁵  The deed records for Daniel Stafford show that he too sold his land in Decatur County, Kansas to Van B. Wiggins on the 29 June 1894.¹²  

At the same time that Lafayette is shown to be living in Rose Creek Township in Republic County, Kansas, Daniel's son, Clayton Stafford, is found just across the Nebraska - Kansas state line in the adjacent Hubbell Precinct in Thayer County, Nebraska.  In 1900, both Lafayette Cox⁵ and Clayton Stafford,¹³ his half-nephew lived in the same area.  It is possible that Clayton made visits or even lived with Lafayette and that is how he met Grace Everts.   This clue along with information about other members of Lafayette's extended family start to paint a picture of Lafayette as well accepted by his Stafford, Reeves and Adams relation.  He is found living in close proximity to them at all the time points when the census was enumerated.  

Lafayette's wife, Jennie, died sometime before 13 April 1890, when he married Mrs. Lucretia Black nee Gillespie.¹⁸  They were married at Mound City, Holt County, Missouri.¹⁸

Mattie Scott, daughter of Lafayette Cox has in her possession transcribed pages from Thomas Elmer Cox' family Bible.  Although, not as strong of evidence as actual pages with records written at the time of the event, this transcription does provide some evidence to document important dates and links for the Stafford and Cox families.  The Bible records (part 1 / part 2) listed Andrew and Mary Stafford and their children.¹⁸  It also listed their birthdates.  

Lafayette had 4 or 5 children with Jennie and 6 or 7 children with Lucretia.  Most of the children were born in Nebraska.  See information about his children below.  In 1910, Lafayette had gone to Washington County, Kansas where he farmed land that he rented.⁶  The census information agrees with other records found for this family.  It indicates this marriage was his second and that Lucretia was the mother of 9 children by 1910 and that one had died.  This was the last federal census to list Lafayette Cox.  "After a lingering illness of several months duration, Lafayette Cox passed away at the home of his son, Thomas Cox, in Missouri Ridge precinct northwest of Lebanon, Saturday, 11 September 1915."¹⁰ 

Lucretia Cox lived with several of her children after Lafayette's death and eventually died in Nampa, Canyon County, Idaho on 19 September 1943.¹⁹

Suggestions for additional research:

• Research should be conducted in Red Willow County, Nebraska and Republic County, Kansas for Lafayette and his children.

• Follow each of Lafayette's children forward.

• Obtain death record for Lucretia Cox.

• Obtain burial information and possibly pictures of the cemetery markers for Lucretia and Lafayette Cox.

• Research Jennie Lamb's family.  It is possible that Daniel Stafford settled near them.

i.

Thomas Elmer Cox

b. 14 September 1881 at Cainsville, Harrison County, Missouri; d. 1945 at Lebanon, Red Willow County, Nebraska; married Harriet "Nettie" Fisher on 13 September 1912 in McCook, Red Willow County, Nebraska.

ii.

John William Cox

b. 16 February 1884, place of birth not documented; d. 10 November 1895 in Red Willow County, Nebraska;

iii.

Perry Cox

b. 08 May 1886, place of birth not documented; d. 26 January 1887 in Red Willow County, Nebraska;

iv.

Rose Anna Cox

b. 04 December 1887, place of birth not documented; d. 07 May 1987 in Oklahoma.

v. 

Infant

i.

Jennie Florence Cox

b. 31 March 1891 in Nebraska; d. 22 December 1967 in Nampa, Canyon County, Idaho; married Earl Lytle

ii.

Mattie Mae Cox

b. July 1892 in Nebraska; d. 13 May 1981 in Houston, Texas; married Alfred Arnold Scott

iii.

Eva Rebecca Cox

b. 26 December 1893 in Nebraska; d. 

iv.

Hazel Irene Cox

b. 22 September 1895 in Nebraska; d. 11 December 1986 in Belleville, Republic County, Kansas; married Harry Clay Lincoln Peake

v. 

Alva W. "Alvie" Cox

b. 08 July 1900 in Nebraska; d. 06 December 1918 in Danbury, Red Willow County, Nebraska; 

vi.

Alta Leota Cox

b. 03 July 1904 in Danbury, Red Willow County, Nebraska; d.  in St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri; married Joseph Huffman

vii.

Infant Cox

b. [?]; d. [?]