(submitted by; Becky Fox Beckfox@aol.com)

Ashland Daily Independent 
December 3, 1967

Reporter: Helen Price Stacy 

When four brothers marry four sisters the result is a lot of cousins. 
The Horton family and the Cox families were neighbors and good friends i
n Lee County, Virginia, and Travis Horton I, and his wife, Rebecca Lester 
Horton, had four marriageable sons, perfect matches for the four marriageable 
daughters of Henry and Rebecca Flanary Cox. 

After Travis Horton II was born on November 20, 1818 in Russell County, 
Virginia, the Hortons moved to Lee County, then traveled to Kentucky to 
Carter County, now Elliott County. The section they settled near Bruin 
is still known as Horton Flats and some of the descendants remain owners 
of part of the original tract. 

One of the happiest of the four couples was Travis II and Rebecca Cox, 
who married during the Christmas season—December 24, 1841, and moved to 
their farm on Bruin Creek. The work of clearing land and tending crops 
was hard, but the bride’s parents had given the couple slaves as a wedding 
gift and together they did the farm labor and household duties, especially 
later when Rebecca was kept busy caring for her five children. The years 
went by and the threat of war between the states was a near thing. When 
war was finally declared, two sons, Elijah and John, left to serve with 
the Confederates. Elijah was promoted to Second Lieutenant Co. D, 5th 
Regiment, Infantry, Kentucky Volunteers. In an effort to protect their 
slaves, Travis and Rebecca gave them their freedom. 

Elijah was a home boy and after taking part in battles in Virginia, he 
decided he wanted to see his mother, despite the news that an enemy unit 
was stationed on a route he would take. His brother, John, pleaded with 
him not to go, but he was determined, and got within 15 miles of home 
when, near Grayson, he was captured by a Yankee troop. He saw a friend 
and handed him his Bible, asking him to take it to his mother. 

Rebecca Horton lost no time in saddling her horse and riding to Louisa 
to plead for the life of her s on, but in the autumn of 1864, under 
orders of Gen. Stephen G. Burbridge, Union commander in Kentucky, Elijah 
was shot in reprisal for the death of some Yankees. 

That marked the beginning of sorrow for the couple, the years brightened 
only by the marriage of their other children, the arrival of grandchildren, 
and the frequent return of family slaves to visit. 

The Christmas visits of the children and the grandchildren could be compared 
to “sugar making time.” Entering into the fun, the grandparents would start, 
weeks ahead of the time, preparing egg shells in which to mold the maple sugar 
into candy as treats for the children and their young friends from neighboring 
farms. 

As the eggs were used, great care was taken to see that the shells were broken 
near the center so the two sections of shells would be of uniform size. The 
sugar was poured in and when set,the egg shell was peeled away leaving a nicely 
shaped maple sugar candy. 

Travis died at the age of 60 on August 24, 1874; his wife, Rebecca, lived 19 years 
longer. Both were buried on the Elliott County farm where they spent most of their 
married life. 

In 1965 the government bought the Horton farm due to construction of Grayson 
Reservoir and it was necessary to move the graves to new ground, in beautiful 
Elliott County Memory Gardens near Sandy Hook. Before long the waters of a new 
lake will lap near the acres where the Horton grandchildren once helped gather 
sugar maples to make egg shaped candy.