Ross-Adams County OhArchives Obituaries.....Cox, Mary Elizabeth (Wisecup) (Cokonougher) April 27, 1934 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ohfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Ralph Cokonougher rcokon@hotmail.com April 30, 2007, 2:01 pm From page 8 of the Thursday, 3 May 1934, Vol. 72, No. 41, THE GREENFIELD REPUBLICAN of Greenfield, Ohio. "MRS. EDWARD COX DIED FRIDAY NIGHT. FUNERAL SERVICES HELD MONDAY P.M. FROM METHODIST CHURCH. South Salem - This community lost one of its oldest and most respected citizens on Friday night, April 27, when Mrs. Edward Cox, after a three days’s illness, passed to the Great Beyond. Mary Elizabeth Wisecup, daughter of Joseph and Phoebe Wisecup, was born and reared and lived most of her life in this community, being seventy- eight years of age at the time of her death. She was married in early youth to Zaachariah Cokonougher. To this marriage were born six sons and two daughters: William, Joseph, John, and Harvey Cokonougher, and Mrs. Myrtle Storts and Mrs. John Schmidt. Her husband died about thirty years ago and two sons, Charles and Adtson also preceded her in death. In 1912, she was married to Edward Cox, who survives her, and to whom together with the children the sympathy of the community is extended. Funeral services were conducted Monday afternoon at 2 o’clock from the M.E. Church with Rev. L.O. Lineberger officiating. Interment in South Salem Cemetery." Additional Comments: The spelling, punctuation, and composition in the above obituary are as they actually appeared. Mary was actually born 14 Feb. 1856 in Adams County, not South Salem as the obituary claims. She was also married to her second husband, George Edward Cox, on 16 Dec. 1907, not 1912, as the obituary claims. Her siblings were (1. Margaret Wisecup Smalley, wife of Willis Smalley; (2. Twins Providence and Sydilla Wisecup, who died in childhood; (3. Half-brother Steven D. Wisecup; (4. Joseph E. Wisecup Jr., who Wisecup Hill Rd. in Buckskin Twp. of Ross County, Ohio was named for; and, (5. Half- sister Sarah "Salley" I. Wisecup McMullen, wife of Charles McMullen. Mary's mother, Phoeba Frost, was the daughter of Jacob and Proba Frost. The Frost farm was located on the site of part of the present day town of Peebles, Ohio. Mary was a woman who was not afraid to go against convention and live her own life, but, still, she was not an outright rebel. Her second husband, George Ed Cox, was 27 years younger than her, and she married him in a time when women just didn't marry men a whole lot younger than them. In addition, she and Ed had lived together in an unmarried relationship in a day and age when such behavior was absolutely outright scandalous, starting out with him renting room and board in her house, and then progressing from there. When one of my other ancestors asked Mary why she had married Ed Cox when she already had him in the house and didn't have any real pressing need to do so, Mary replied that she and Ed were getting a little tired of all the gossip, and hurtful comments behind their backs, and they had figured that it was just easier to get married than to put up with the attitude of the community. The two newlyweds stayed married for more than 26 years, and from what I've been told, they had a happy and fulfilling marriage the whole time. Mary and her siblings had a rough childhood. According to the following story that Mary told to her children and grandchildren, and which was transferred to me by my father, Bill Cokonougher, Isabel Skidmore, Mary's stepmother, was one of the meanest women who ever lived. She did not care for her stepchildren and treated them poorly. Whenever Joseph had to leave the home on business, Isabel would refuse to allow Margaret and Mary to eat, and consequently, they were forced to go hungry for long periods of time. When Proba Frost, the children's grandmother, learned of their plight, she arranged to feed the children without Isabel's knowledge. Each day, Proba put food into a pail and hid it near the far off spring where Isabel sent Mary and Margaret each day to fetch a pail of water, one getting a bucket-full in the morning, and the other getting a bucket-full in the evening. Twice a day the children's grandmother put food into a pail and hid it in the bushes near the spring. As the girls came along to do their chore, they would go to the pail and eat the contents, and, in that way, get at least one badly needed meal a day. Joseph had to leave on business quite often. One time when he had to leave, Isabel strongly protested his leaving, and they got into an argument. Joseph told his daughter Margaret to go to the barn and saddle his horse. Isabel ordered her not do. Once again, Joseph told the girl to saddle his horse, and she did as she was told. Joseph then left and went about his business. As soon as he was gone, Isabel cut a switch from a yellow rose bush in the yard and whipped Margaret with it. The switch still had the thorns on it, so the girl bled profusely. By the time Joseph returned, the blood had dried so hard and so thick that Joseph had to soak Margaret in a tub of water to separate the dress from her lacerated body. It was plain to see that the two girls could no longer live with their stepmother. Joseph took both of them to their grandmother, and asked Proba to care for them. They both lived with her until Joseph's wife Isabel died. Margaret continued to live with her grandmother, even after that, until she was fully grown. When Proba Frost died, Margaret and Mary Wisecup each inherited 20 acres of land from her estate. Both sold the land. When Mary's obituary appeared in the newspaper, the following article also appeared on page 4 in the same issue: "COURT NEWS. PARTITION ORDERED. Partiton of 190 acres in Buckskin Township, involved in the case of Harvey J. Cokonougher against Mary Cox and others, was ordered in Common Pleas Court this morning and E. H. Martindill, Charles Slagle and Charles Parrett were named commissioners to make the partition. Cecil Blair is attorney for the plaintiff and Willard C. Walter and James Blain represented some of the defendants." 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