Cox Family Album
(Section 1: Pages 1-9)
Assembled electronically as 4 sections by Tom McFarland in 1999
Rebuilt as a menu with separate picture files in 2001
For best viewing, set your monitor size to 600x800
This album was given to Tom L. McFarland about 1980 upon the death of Adele Mary Landis, who
had kept it for many years before that. Tom McFarland did very little with this album until
2000, since most pictures were unlabeled. However, in 2000, the album became a "puzzle" to be
solved, and most pictures are now identified. In June 2001, Tom L. McFarland recovered a
similar album initialed "HPL" from the home of his mother, Dorathy Adele (Landis) McFarland.
The two albums share several identical pictures, but most pictures are different; the
JPL album appears more recently created. As of July 2001, little work has been done
on the HPL album, but photos will be added here as sections numbered 5 and up.
I will propose that this album was assembled prior to 1900 by Emeline E. Cox and husband
A.M. Cox, who were then in their 70's, living in Sandwich (DeKalb County) west
of Chicago. The album was intended as a gift to their 3rd daughter Alice. It
contains 48 photos dating from about 1850 to 1904, mostly unannotated, of which 40 are
reproduced here. About 35 photos have been identified with names. The photos are housed here
in 4 separate sections to speed up data transfer from a website. Some photos are tin types, which
were available from 1852 and common through 1890. Many are "cabinet cards", a style which became
available in 1866. The original order of the photos is indicated by page number just above each
photo: pairs of adjacent photos suggest husband and wife. Many of the prints in this album seem to have been made at approximately the same
time (1880's), as Emeline was assembling this gift for Alice.
According to Jeanne (Landis) Illian (one of Alice's granddaughters), Alice's children
once owned a house in Delevan, Wisconsin, which was unused except for a hired housekeeper.
When the house was about to be sold, the housekeeper left, taking nearly all its furnishings
except for a cedar trunk containing this album. One of Jeanne's daughters
(Sally Bailey of Springfield, Illinois) had acquired a few similar photos,
1 or 2 possibly extracted from this album; William Walter Landis had
handwritten personal information on Sally's pictures in 1951, which has helped
identify other photos in this album. In February 2000, Jeanne came with
all three of her daughters to Tom McFarland in Madison, to compare
notes. Sally's photo's and Jeanne's comments are included as a separate
photo section called Sally's old album. Carroll (Illian)
Flood owns a very old scrap book maintained by the Landis families
between 1880 and 1925, containing useful marriage and death notices; also, an album
similar to this Cox album (and in better condition) was found in the home of Doarathy (Landis)
McFarland in June 2001, and will eventually be available here.
Knowledge of the Cox family structure, through obituaries found by
Sandwich historians Ken Bastian and Barbara Hoffman, have been very helpful in attaching names to
these pictures. Emeline Cox and Albert M. Cox
had three daughters (Marie, Ella, and
Alice), and one son Henry A. Cox; two additional children,
including Allonzo, died in infancy. Copies of this album may have been given to these other
siblings. The 1860 Illinois census (DeKalb County Pg 245) shows family names and ages, but
apparently one son (Henry A. Cox) had yet to be born in 1860. Marriage records are now also
available on-line though the Illinois marriage records.
I also consulted Leslie Bellais of the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison,
who offerred her opinion of clothing styles in most pictures. Miss Bellais feels
that most clothing dates the images in the interval 1878-1890, but there are some
exceptions.
Alice had married John Wm. Landis in 1877, had two children born 1884
(Louise) and 1887 (William), but apparently was divorced about 1895. Alice raised Louise, and her
husband placed William at Racine College, a boarding school.
Sometime between 1904 and her death, Alice adopted the name "Alice L. Adams"; her sister
Marie (Mary) married the "boy next door" (Walter G. Adams) in
1869, having 3 children (Lydia, Vinnie, and
Albert). The obituary of
Walter G. Adams does not mention Alice, and Alice appears to have
borne children by only John W. Landis. It may be useful to note that one of
Marie's children (Vinnie) lived in Racine.
|
Assuming that this album was intended as a gift for Alice from
her parents, and given that this is the first photo in the Cox
album, I propose that this is Alice Louise Cox at about age 22 in 1879.
Alice married John W. Landis in 1877.
Clothing style is consistent with this date. Two similar pictures of
Alice are part of Sally Bailey's album,
in this case with dedications by her son William in 1951. |
|
Photo #1 (Alice Louise Cox) |
|
|
|
|
On the back of the left photo is written "Mr. A.M.Cox, 5632".
Nothing is written on the right photo, but they are
on opposite pages (#2, #3), suggesting husband/wife. Both photos produced in Chicago.
Tom McFarland interviewed Adele Landis in 1964, taking written notes, and at
that time, Adele thought that the wife of A.M.Cox came from the
Davids family. Also, the 1860 Illinois census lists
A.M. Cox (age 35) as residing as hotel manager with Emeline E. Cox (age 36) and
4 Cox children: see Genealogy. Thus, the woman at the
right is likely Emeline E. (Davids) Cox. I have recently talked with a historian, Barbara
Hoffman, in Sandwich, who has copied obituaries of both
these people assembled by Kenny Bastian, and has much other information which will
eventually appear here. Briefly, "A.M. Cox" is "Albert Montfort Cox", who (near his
death) lived at "Sandwich House" on Center Street. A picture of the hotel is available.
Emeline is buried in Oakridge Cemetery in Sandwich. The clothing of Emeline dates from
1885-1889. See later photos of this couple, or see
this album for earlier photo. |
|
Photo #2 (Albert Montfort Cox) |
|
Photo #3 (Emeline E. Davids Cox) |
|
|
|
|
|
Nothing is written on this photo. The clothing was dated
1883-89. The early position of this photo in the album
(immediately after the parents) suggests that she is Alice's
oldest sibling, Marie (later "Mary", born 1850), but
Ella (born 1855), is
not ruled out. However, this woman is not Alice.
If this is Marie, she married the boy next door,
Walter G. Adams, and lived happily ever after,
raising 3 successful children while living at
206 Elmwood Place, a Sandwich house which still stands in 2000. |
|
Photo #5 (Marie E. Cox ?) |
|
|
|
Nothing is written on the back of either photo. Both photos produced in Chicago.
I will suggest that these are marriage photos for Henry A. Cox and "Lon".
Both pictures have been electronically cropped, but the backdrops are
identical, so the photos were taken at the same time and place. Clothing of the
man became fashionable about 1880 and was common until 1890 but was considered
dated by 1895. If we date this photo at 1885, then these people must have been born 1860-65.
Henry and Lon are known to have had a daughter, Martha, shown below. |
|
Photo #6 (Henry A. Cox ?) |
|
Photo #7 (Lon Cox ?) |
|
|
|
|
|
Both photos were loose in the album, probably placed there after
Emeline had died. Clothing style is consistent with about 1905. However, the
right photo dates from about 1910, shows a similar woman,
and is dedicated "Merry Christmas to Cousin Will from
Martha". Emeline Cox's obtuary was
obtained in March 2000 from the Sandwich historian Barbara Hoffman,
and this obituary appears to identify Martha as the
daughter of Henry A. Cox (above?),
Emeline's last child and only surviving son. "Will" is likely "William Walter Landis",
son of Alice Louise Cox, Emeline's 3rd daughter: see genealogy.
We can infer that Martha is likely Henry's only child, since in 1904,
his father's obtuary counts 7
grandchildren; these are, three by Marie, two by Alice,
and one each by Ella and Henry who would have been 40 by then.
These photos are likely of the same person. |
|
Martha Cox ? |
|
Martha Cox ? |
|
|
|
|
|
Again assuming the theme that this is a Cox family album,
the early position of this photo in the album suggests
that this person is close to Alice. It does not have an
opposing photo, which could either be missing, or the space
could be reserved for the future (or divorced) bride of a currently
unmarried male. The ear lobe is quite unlike that of A.M. Cox,
so this photo is probably not Henry A. Cox. I will
propose that this is John W. Landis, Alice's first husband (of two),
and source of many of our family lines.
At the risk of seeming weird by dwelling on "ear lobe shape",
compare with Edmund M. Landis,
who is father to John W. Landis. Clothing style is dated 1880. |
|
Photo #8 (John W. Landis ?) |
|
|
|
