Patrick County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Biographies.....Cox, Daniel March 26, 1866 - February 24, 1929
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ron Martin cindyandron@bellsouth.net September 3, 2023, 1:59 pm

Author: Ron Martin

  Daniel Louis Cox, Sr. was born on March 26, 1866 in the Goblintown community 
of Patrick County, the first child of Daniel Ross Cox and Cynthia Thenia Hall 
Cox. 

  As life was in Patrick County at the time, he worked on the family farm until 
such time as he married.  Just before his twentieth birthday, he married Mary 
Frances Bryant, the daughter of John “Jack” Bryant, Jr. and Lucinda Susannah 
Stone Bryant of Dodson.  The marriage took place on March 7, 1886.

  The Cox family proceeded to produce thirteen kids who were raised up in a 
hollow off what is now called Union Bridge Road near the intersection of 
Heidelbach School Road in a very remote area of Patrick County, Virginia.

  This area was very poor as there was not any work that did not require a 
lengthy drive or a change of residence.   The roads were very bad and almost 
impassable after any weather event hence many people farmed their land which was 
very hard work and there was little pay.   Based on that, many young people in 
that area turned to the manufacturing of illegal whiskey to produce income for 
their families as it was a very lucrative business with much risk.

  The Cox family was no different but unfortunately it had tragic consequences 
as this family went through immeasurable loss in the seven years preceding 
Daniel’s death.   Their first son Euel Cox was born on January 11, 1887.  He 
married Mae Etta Turner, the daughter of John Jefferson Turner and Ruth Rebecca 
Robertson Turner of Dodson.

  Cox and his wife became quite successful as she ran the nearby store that was 
across the road from their beautiful home in Dodson and on the hill just above 
his father Daniel’s home.   He manufactured and delivered illegal whiskey 
throughout the adjoining counties and into North Carolina.    They became quite 
wealthy as they owned two stores, another home near the Patrick-Henry County 
line as well as other properties.   It was rumored they had $75,000 in the bank 
as well as owning eight vehicles.  
 
  Unfortunately, a feud between Cox and three other individuals resulted in his 
death on September 6, 1922.  Euel literally walked into an ambush and was shot 
several times but not before he killed the driver of the vehicle.   He was 
rushed to Lucy Lester Hospital but ultimately succumbed to his injuries.  He is 
buried in the Jeff Turner Cemetery which is about three miles from the 
homeplace.

  Daniel and his wife also had a baby that passed away the same day It was born 
in 1893.

  The couple welcomed David “Davie” Cox into the world on August 17, 1904 and 
then another son Maynard was born on March 29, 1908.  

  The events that took place on February 6, 1927 changed the Cox family forever 
and shocked the entire area.   During the winter of 1926/1927, a series of 
events began to play out as suspicions arose in the community regarding the 
reporting of the location of stills.  The remarkable thing is the suspicion and 
subsequent bad blood took place between the Cox, Hall, and Shelton families who 
were all good friends and were all related to each other by blood or marriage.   
An ambush of Bunyan Nichols who was mistaken for Turner Clayton “Jack” Hall 
escalated things further.

  On Sunday February 6, David “Davie” Cox was at the home of John Chaney which 
was located near the location of the present day Fayerdale Convention Center.   
Turner Clayton “Jack” Hall arrived at the home to arrest Cox as he had secured a 
warrant in Stuart the previous day.  He was supposed to have given the warrant 
to a Patrick County deputy sheriff to serve but that never happened which 
resulted in tragic consequences for all families involved.  Hall was accompanied 
by Ernest Shelton, Ora Turner, and Frank Chaney.  They arrived and Shelton 
disarmed Cox as well as securing him.   His brother Maynard Cox as well as his 
sisters ran into the house.  When Maynard entered, Hall shot Dave Cox twice and 
then Maynard killed Hall.  Shelton killed Maynard.  When the smoke had cleared, 
Turner Hall, Maynard Cox, and Dave Cox were deceased. 
 
  Later that night, the Cox brothers’ father Daniel went to the Chaney house.   
He secured a chair and sat between his sons the entire night until Sheriff Frank 
Mays and his deputies as well as Patrick County Commonwealth’s attorney Frank P. 
Burton arrived the following morning to begin the inquest.

  In a county in which justice was swift and trials were held quickly, this 
trial was not held until over a year later, which was very uncommon.   Many 
rumors and speculation circulated throughout the region as to why the wheels of 
justice were so slow as the waiting took its toll on everyone involved.  The 
trial finally got underway in March 1928 but after deliberating only for an 
hour, a verdict of not guilty was returned.

  In fact, this was such a sensational story that in 1983, a book was written by 
Elmer Haynes and later by Ora Pilson Hylton.

   Less than a year after the trial at the age of 64, Cox passed away at his 
home in Dodson.  Although he was a strong man, the events of the past seven 
years had taken its toll on Cox and his entire family.

(The information contained in this biography came from newspaper accounts and 
the aforementioned book as the author had not been born at this time)


Additional Comments:
The photo was obtained from Ancestry and I do not know the origins of the 
photograph.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/patrick/bios/cox27nbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/vafiles/

File size: 6.0 Kb