A Brief Story
of
James William Cox of Ohio County , Kentucky
Father of Jasper Newton
Grandfather of Gilbert Owen
Cox
Pupils received much more attention from the teacher than is
given today, even with all the modern methods and equipment.
Although times were hard, there was a closeness, as a rule,
between teacher and pupils that we do not have today. They felt like a family and they learned to
work together and they helped each other learn. Sometimes parents sent under age children to
school with older brothers and sisters because they had to work in the field
that day. Otherwise, the older children
would have had to stay home to take care of the little ones. The older kids helped teach the younger kids
if they needed help when the teacher was busy on the other side of the
room. In this day and time, all of the
teaching is left to the teacher. Not to
be forgotten is the fact that some of the scholars might often be older and
larger than the teacher in charge.
When James William Cox taught school they had a tradition at
the end of school whereby the teacher took all the boys to the Green River not far from Cromwell to swim in a favorite
swimming hole and have a picnic. The
area had a high bank overlooking the river and a few of the older kids who were
brave enough enjoyed jumping or diving off the high embankment into the
water.
One summer when school had ended James Cox took a group of
his boy students, who ranged in age from eight to fourteen or so, to the river
near Cromwell. The boys had made it up
in advance to gang up and throw or push their teacher in the river. So when they got near enough, they all
crowded around him and began pushing him closer toward the edge of the
bank. Realizing they would be strong
enough to push him over - just as they got to the brink’s edge - he spread his
arms wide and hugged them all close into him.
When he went over the bank into the water, he took all the boys with
him. The news spread far and wide
because these boys told this story for years, even to their grandchildren. They considered it a big joke because their
teacher turned the tables on them and they all got wet together. For a number of years afterwards, this became
a “teacher/student” tradition of the school every year when school was out.
One of the duties and responsibilities for Jim Cox was to
fill out the absentee report and make out academic reports on each student for
the school trustees to go over. Teachers
were the key to the success of the schools.
Dec. 2, 2002 ~~
by Janice Cox Brown,
Oldest Great-Granddaughter
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