James Henry (Garner) Cox married  Harriet Ann Rule¹ (probably  in 1855). Their first child, Cynthia², was born April 25, 1856. Over the next  twenty-five years, the couple had eleven more children, all born at Ball Camp, Tennessee. James was a Baptist circuit rider and ministered to many congregations, including Ball Camp, Beaver Ridge, Lovell, Grigsby's Chapel, Chandler View, and  Fairview. During the Civil War, James fought with the Union, although his half-brother Samuel Fleming fought for the South. Politically, James was a Republican and his wife, Harriet, was a Democrat. She was also a Methodist while he was a Baptist. Of their twelve children, the fourth (John) died in the same year he was born; another (Oscar, a twin) died  at  the age of two; and daughter Amanda died  at  twenty-three. Hugh lived to be 63; George, 75; Arthur, 78;  Bertha, 79; Cynthia and Martha, 80; Joseph, 84; and James Rule (pictured below, right), 97. The seventh child, William (pictured below, left), was killed in Oklahoma at the age of 55. (See story below.)

¹ Great-grandparents of Fred Estes Seiber
² Grandmother of Fred Estes Seiber
 

The Cox Brothers Migrate to Texas and Oklahoma
    At some point  in time (probably in the early 1880's), James and Harriet's eldest son George migrated to Concho County, Texas, where he met and married Ellen Kimbrough and established himself as a sheep herder. In the mid-to-late 1880s, George's brother, James Rule Cox (pictured right), moved to Texas to work for him, and by 1890, another brother, William Matthew Dixon Cox (pictured left), also left Concord and joined James in Texas to work for George. James Rule and William Matthew later hired out to Ellen's father, R. H. Kimbrough, and worked for him for a year. During that time (on January 15, 1891), James Rule Cox married  Ellen's sister, Birdie Kimbrough (pictured below right).   Soon afterwards, the brothers outfitted two wagons and teams and moved to Pickens County, Indian Territory (later to become Oklahoma). There, they first settled at the foothills of the Yellow Hills (Durwood) just seven miles east of Ardmore, Indian Territory. The would-be settlers dug a well, built a  barn, started on a house house, and took a contract to haul corn to market in the fall; but they soon decided that this was not the place for them. Birdie's sister Fannie, who obviously  had come with  them from Texas, had married a man named Paschall Wall and lived nearby. They, too, decided to look for another place. Fannie and Pas went north while the others moved south (a mile south of Hoxbar--now Carter County, OK). There, the two brothers worked for a landowner, W. E. Landrum, and they farmed for themselves land which they rented from him.
   Later, James moved his family into the community of Hoxbar to have his children near the school. He bought a store there, and was appointed  postmaster of Pickens County, Indian Territory.  Bill, following brother into Hoxbar, worked in the store and lived with James and his family. In addition to operating the store, the brothers also farmed and raised cattle on rented or leased Indian  lands. At some point, their brothers Hugh, Arthur, and Joseph and their families all joined James and Bill in Hoxbar. Bill remained a bachelor and eventually moved into a room attached to the west side of his brother's store building. It was there, in  the store at Hoxbar, Indian Territory, that  William Matthew Dixon Cox was killed.
  It was shortly after dusk on May 25, 1924. Bill had finished his supper and was sitting just inside the door, writing a letter to his mother. Suddenly, two boys wearing black stockings over their faces appeared at the open door and demanded the store's money. Instead  of yielding to their demand, Bill kicked the door shut. One of the boys then fired a shotgun blast through the closed door and hit Bill in the chest, mortally wounding him. The two boys fled the scene without the money.
   Ernest (Buster) Cox, son of Hugh, lived a few yards away with his wife Molene and their family. Molene's sister and family (the Bennings) had been visiting and were preparing to leave when the shot was fired. Thinking they had heard someone rabbit hunting or a car backfiring, they ignored the blast. Buster and Molene routinely accompanied the Bennings to their car, and as they were walking back toward their house, they heard Bill calling out for Buster. When they approached  the wounded Bill, he mistakenly told them that he had  been shot by a Negro (because of the black stockings and the near darkness). Buster quickly called for James and Hugh, and the three men hurried off for the hospital at Ardmore with the  mortally wounded Bill  in the back seat of the car. Their efforts were futile, however, for Bill had died by the time they reached  the hospital.
    Exactly one week from the day of the shooting, Sheriff Buck Garrett had two suspects in custody. The men were tried in Judge Freeman's court, found guilty, and sentenced to death. Both James and Hugh intervened, however, and asked that the sentence be changed to life imprisonment. The judge agreed, and the men served many years in prison. One was later killed while attempting to escape (as a trusty), and the other was finally paroled.

Pictured Above Left: William Matthew Dixon Cox  (granduncle of Fred Estes Seiber)
Pictured Above Right: James Rule Cox (granduncle of Fred Estes Seiber) and wife Birdie Belle Kimbrough Cox  - probably c.a. 1935  
James Rule Cox and Birdie Belle had eight children. The eldest, Molly Ann, compiled the Cox Family Record in 1974 in honor of her dad.