Cox Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. This is the story of Cox Cemetery, out in Comanche County. William Driscol Cox was born in 1839, and by 1872 he had packed up his family, his wife Amanda, born a Shugart, and made the long move from Tennessee to Texas.

He didn't sit still once he got here. He taught school over in Robertson County first, then in 1876 he bought a three-hundred-acre ranch right at this very site and moved the family out to it. He went on to teach the first school in Sidney, and the community trusted him enough that he served as Sheriff of Comanche County from 1882 to 1884.

A man of some standing, clearly. But before any of that public life took shape, this ground received its first burial. Little Mary Jane Cox, the sixth child of William and Amanda, was born in 1875 and died in 1876, an infant.

That death opened this cemetery. Then in 1882, Amanda Cox herself, Mrs. W.

D. Cox, was laid to rest here beside her child. Cox kept on.

In 1886 he donated the one-acre family burial ground to the Methodist Mission in nearby Bibb, opening it as a public cemetery. And in 1895 he sold most of his land to a nephew, James Sampson Cox, born in 1866. James Sampson Cox would go on to become one of the area's largest landowners.

The Bibb Mission closed in 1908, but this cemetery, it kept right on serving the public. Then in 1934, J. S.

Cox came back to the ground and bought an additional three-fourths of an acre, expanding what his uncle had once donated. The story doesn't stop there. Under the leadership of O.

S. Cox, born in 1895, a grand-nephew of W. D.

Cox, the fence and the arched gate were installed in 1959. Families connected by marriage to the Coxes, the Hurt family and the Steele family, have helped keep the place up across the years. And in 1968, the Cox Cemetery Association was formally organized, with L.

D. Cox, grandson of J. S.

Cox, stepping in as its first president. One family, one acre of donated ground, and generation after generation making sure it endures. That's the kind of story this old Texas soil tends to hold.

What the marker says

William Driscol Cox (1839-97) and his wife Amanda (Shugart) moved with their family from Tennessee to Texas in 1872. Cox taught in Robertson County, then (1876) bought and moved to a 300-acre ranch at this site. He taught the first school in Sidney and served 1882-84 as Sheriff of Comanche County. This cemetery was opened at the death of infant Mary Jane Cox (1875-76), sixth child of the family. Amanda (Mrs. W. D.) Cox was buried here in 1882. In 1886, Cox donated the 1-acre family burial ground to the Methodist Mission in nearby Bibb, as a public cemetery. In 1895 he sold most of his land to a nephew, James Sampson Cox (1866-1941), who later was one of the area's largest landowners. Although Bibb Mission closed in 1908, this facility continued in public use. In 1934, J. S. Cox bought and added three-fourths of an acre to the original ground. Under leadership of O. S. Cox (1895-1966), a grand-nephew of W. D. Cox, the fence and arched gate were installed in 1959. Reunion associations of the Hurt and Steele Families, connected by marriages to the Coxes, have helped maintain the cemetery. The Cox Cemetery Association was organized in 1968 with L. D. Cox, grandson of J. S. Cox, as the first president. (1977)