San
Joaquin County
Biographies
HENRY MURLIN COX
Forty-nine busy years have passed
since Henry Murlin Cox came to San Joaquin County,
and during those years he has been a witness of and an active participant in
the progress and development of the Linden section of the county. Mr. Cox is the youngest of the four Cox
brothers who conduct extensive grain farms near Farmington, Peters, Bellota and
Linden. He was born at Chatham Hill,
Smyth County, Virginia, July 15, 1849, a son of Andrew H. and Mary (Umbarger) Cox, natives of Smyth County, Virginia, the
former of an old southern family of Scotch and French descent, and the latter
of German descent. Andrew H. Cox was
born in 1797 and received a fine education in his native state where he became
in time one of three senior judges of Smyth County. He was a miller by trade and owned and
operated a large mill at Chatham Hill.
He passed away in 1872, aged seventy-five. In November, 1874, the mother and children
came west to California, arriving in Stockton the same year, which was then a
small town. In 1875 Mrs. Cox purchased
ten acres of land near Linden for the home place, where they began to farm and
within four years added to it until in 1878 they owned 160 acres of choice
land. The year 1878 was saddened by the
death of the beloved mother, but she had lived long enough to see her family
well along the road to prosperity. She
left seven children to mourn her loss:
Phillip Dodridge served in the Confederate
Army, was wounded and also taken prisoner; he died at Linden in 1917; Wyrinda Smyth died in January, 1917; William M., who served
as captain in the Confederate Army, died at Linden in 1895; he left a widow,
Mrs. Bertha Cox, and four children:
William H., Henry F., Mrs. Lillie Welch, and Mrs. Mary Archibald; James
B. resides at Linden; John Bell served in the Confederate Army and was wounded
and captured; he died February 25, 1923; Andrew Hamilton married Sarah E. Brazelton and resides in Pacific Grove; he has a son, Perry
Hamilton; Henry Murlin is the subject of this
sketch. The Cox ranches have been
conducted by the four brothers working in harmony and they have become
independent and wealthy and now own over 1,000 acres of land. During the ‘80s they raised and supplied the
Government with many fine mules and in 1886 sold Borax Smith three eight-mule
teams. For the last few years the Cox
brothers have leased a great part of their ranch holdings and are enjoying the
fruits of long years of agricultural activity.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
1456. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases