Crawford County IL Archives Biographies.....Cox, Bryant 1804 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 21, 2007, 12:30 pm

Author: William Henry Perrin (1883)

  BYRANT COX, retired farmer, P. O. Hutsonville, whose portrait appears in this
work, is a son of Thomas and Winney (Harrol) Cox, and was born in Wayne County,
N. C., October 21, 1804. His father, a native of the same State, died in 1809,
and his mother between 1850 and 1860. Byrant was the fourth of a family of seven
children, and his father dying left him a lad of about five years old to be
supported and reared by his widowed mother. His youth was spent upon a farm,
where he early learned to do his part toward the general support of the family.
Education at the schools was impossible under such circumstances, and he was
obliged to be satisfied with seventeen days with the school master. He was not
without other resources, however, and by his quick and intelligent observation,
Mr. Cox gained an education which has served him well in business. After passing
his twentieth birthday some six months, he married and began farming on his own
account, paying out more than half he made for rent. This, with the unprofitable
style of farming prevalent in his native State, determined him to emigrate to
the Northwest, and in 1830 he started for Illinois. On June 1, of this year, he
reached Crawford County, making the whole journey on foot, his wife and children
coming in a cart drawn by two horses, only one of which he could call his own.
Besides this his whole earthly possessions were comprised in $30 cash which he
had in his pocket. He rented land and began farming in Hutsonville Township,
about a quarter of a mile from his present residence. Here the whole family
slept on the floor of their cabin, as their straitened circumstances denied them
even the luxury of a bedstead. The first crop was corn, which proved a success,
and found sale at 8 1/3 cents per bushel. Here Mr. Cox labored three years
before he got money enough to enter land; but in 1833 he secured a pre-emption
for three years, and, though nearly losing the land, finally entered it in June,
1836. From this start of 70 acres, by industry and economy, he added to his
possessions until he owned 611 acres, which he subsequently divided among his
children and retired with his wife to a life of ease. On February 5, 1824, Mr.
Cox married Martha Bradbury, in North Carolina. On February 5, 1842, she died,
leaving five children, the youngest only three months old. Of these children,
only three are now living-Sally, William and Andrew. July 15, 1842, in Crawford
County, he married Candace Harrison, who died March 1, 1879, leaving three
children-Simpson, Angeline and John Thomas. In August 14, 1881, he married Sarah
Miller, a native of Crawford County. Mr. and Mrs. Cox are members of the
Christain [sic] Church.

Additional Comments:
Extracted From:

HISTORY OF CRAWFORD AND CLARK COUNTIES, ILLINOIS.
EDITED BY WILLIAM HENRY PERRIN.

ILLUSTRATED

CHICAGO: O. L. BASKIN & CO., HISTORICAL PUBLISHERS,
LAKESIDE BUILDING.
1883.


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