The 14 Children of James William Cox and Mary Elizabeth Mitchell - Child 13 & 14

#13

Bertha Belle Cox

1886-1903

      Bertha Belle Cox was born September 13, 1886 at Cromwell.  She died when she was only sixteen of typhoid fever on August 7, 1903, and was buried at East Providence Cemetery beside her grandparents.   Bertha was two years younger than my grandfather, Jasper Newton Cox, and was next to the youngest daughter of James William and Mary Elizabeth (Mitchell) Cox.  She was their thirteenth child. 

      A photo of Bertha Belle, given to me by my aunt Retha Green, shows Bertha to be a very beautiful young lady in a white dress, probably taken when she turned sixteen. Loretta Westerfield gave me a typed copy of a “Resolution” written by her Sunday school committee, signed by S. L. Stevens, Mrs. Carl M. Taylor, and Laura Coleman, which has lovely things to say about her.  Bertha evidently worked diligently in her church.  My grandfather had written on the back of her photograph, “The first one of our family to go.”  I think Bertha must have been a delightful girl, who spent her short life touching everyone’s heart with her sweet and gentle spirit.

“RESOLUTION

                        Whereas, In accord with the Divine Will, one of our Sunday

            School has been called from her labors in our School, and

                        Whereas, a vacant seat is left to remind us that never more

            will we be permitted to enjoy the pleasant greeting, the affable and

            lovable nature of Bertha Cox in our Sunday School, in our Social

            gatherings, and in the home of her family.  Therefore, we offer the

            following resolutions –

                        1^st.  That though we deplore the loss of our departed friend

            and co-worker, whose youthful life was just blooming into womanhood,

            yet we submit, feeling our loss is Heaven’s gain.

                        2^nd.  That we extend to the bereaved family our tenderest

            sympathy in their sad bereavement, and commend them to Him in

            whose hands the destiny of all people and nations hang.

                        3^rd.  That while we will ever cherish the memory of Bertha,

            yet we humbly bow to the will of Him who doeth all things well.

                        4^th.  That these resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the

            Sunday School, and a copy sent to the family of the deceased and

            also copies furnished for publication in the county papers.

            Committee: S. L. Stevens ,  Mrs. Carl M. Taylor,  Laura Coleman”

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 #14

Sarah Mae Cox

1889-1935

      Sarah Mae Cox, the youngest child of James and Mary Elizabeth Cox, was born July 25, 1889, near Rosine in Ohio County.  She married first, George Clayton Hocker, the son of Willie and Minnie Hocker of Cromwell, on November 19, 1906. George died at age twenty-eight, from an accident where he worked at a cement factory.   He was buried at Liberty Cemetery in Ohio County.  They had two children: 

1)      Burnyce Bullard “Tex” Hocker, born in 1907

2)      Prosha Marie Hocker, born in 1910

      In 1910, George and Sarah were at home in Rosine, Ohio County, Kentucky, when the census taker, Henry C. Crowder came by on a spring day, April 21, to ask the questions which had been assigned to him.  George and Sarah are listed with two small children, their son, “Burnes” Hocker, age 3, and their daughter, Prosha M., age 1 year, 3 months.

      Not found in the 1920 Census, Sarah Hocker and her children moved to Kansas at some point in time, and Sarah was found living there in 1930, listed as a “lodger” in the home of James E. and Issalona Woods.

      After her husband’s death, Sarah Mae Hocker married second, Lawrence Stull, but where this event happened has not been discovered in my research.  Sarah Mae died at age forty-five, June 22, 1935 in Hosington, Barton, Kansas, and was buried June 24 in the Liberty Cemetery at Beaver Dam, Ohio County, Kentucky.  (Death certificate lists her as a widow and Mrs. Prosha Krug, her daughter living in Hosington, Kansas, was the informant on the death certificate.  It also gave Sarah’s birthplace as Small House, Ohio County, Kentucky.)

      Prosha married Eddie Krug sometime between the 1930 census and 1935 when her mother died.  Eddie Krug, age 26, was listed as a “roomer” in the home of George and Ida Durand in Hosington, Barton County, in the 1930 census.  Prosha apparently took care of her mother until her death.

     In December 2001, my aunt Eula Mae sent me the address for the widow of Prosha’s brother, Burnyce Hocker, who died a few years ago in 1992.  Her name is Hazel Hocker, 30 Dennis Street, Monte Vista, Colorado 81144, and I called her on February 16, and we talked a long time.  Hazel was eighty-four and had celebrated her 50^th wedding anniversary with Burnyce Hocker before his death in 1992.  We had a long conversation and Hazel will help me with more information on this branch of the family.

      Prosha Marie Hocker was married first to Eddie Krug.  There were no children by this marriage.  She married second Everett Wesley Walker.  Today, February 16, 2002, I talked to Debbie (Walker) Beetler, the daughter of Prosha, who also gave additional information about her own family and that of her parents and grandparents.  Debbie will give more information and fill in the information I lack on my family charts.  I plan to write her a letter soon to send charts for her to fill in.

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      My aunt, Eula Mae (Cox) Smith was about two years younger than her first cousin, Prosha, and the two were close friends. In 1936, the year after the death of her mother, Prosha paid a visit to my grandparents who were living in Kilgore.  At the same time Eula Mae was there visiting her parents.  When it was time for Prosha to go back home, they decided to ride the train to Dallas to attend the 1936 Texas Centennial celebration when Texas was celebrating its 100^th anniversary of independence, and Prosha would go on home from there.  They were about twenty-four and twenty-two at the time and had a great time and had a lot of fun walking around on the fairgrounds gazing at all the various sights, exhibits, and rides at the centennial festivities.  Both had many stories to tell when they returned to their homes.  Eula Mae just laughed and laughed when she was telling me this story. 

      The 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition opened and ran from June 6 through November 29, 1936.   March 2, 1836 commemorated the creation of the Republic of Texas.  On that date, the Texas Declaration of Independence was adopted at Washington-on-the Brazos.  It was reported that like everything else Texas does, the Texas celebration was the biggest and best celebration of a Centennial that the world had ever seen.  The 100^th anniversary and Exposition held in Dallas also involved another exposition in Fort Worth where they constructed the coliseum, complete with rodeos, cowboys and cowgirls.  Darrell told me she got to go to the Centennial, too.  Their neighbors, the Chandlers, who had a little girl about the same age invited Darrell to go with them.  Darrell was about ten years old.

      An obituary from the Hartford Herald at Hartford, Kentucky is given below:

Mr. Clayton Hocker

Mr. Clayton Hocker, son of Mr. William Hocker, who lives near

Cromwell, was killed in Chanute, Kansas last week.  His home was

in that city and he was working in a cement factory.  Some of the 

machinery got out of fix and he undertook to adjust it when an arm

was caught in a belt which jerked his arm off and cut him on the head.

He lived only an hour after the accident.  His remains were brought to

this place Sunday morning for burial at Liberty church, which will take

place Monday morning.  He leaves a wife, and two small children,

who, with a young man of that city, Mr. Baker, accompanied the corpse.  

His wife is a daughter of Mr. James Cox, at Pincheco.

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      An obituary from the Ohio County News at Hartford, in the Friday, June 28, 1935 edition, gives the following information:

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Burial Rites Tuesday

For Mrs. Sarah Hocker

                                    The remains of Mrs. Sarah Mae Cox Hocker, who

                        died June 22 at her home in Hosington, Kansas were conveyed

                        to Beaver Dam and funeral services were conducted at Liberty

                        Church at 3 p.m., Tuesday, by Rev. R. E. Fuqua, of Hartford.

                        Interment was at Liberty Cemetery.

                                    Mrs. Hocker was born near Rosine in this county,

                        July 25, 1889, and was reared in this section.  She professed

                        faith in Christ at an early age and was a member of the Green

                        River Baptist Church.  She was married in young womanhood

                        to Clayton Hocker, also of Ohio County.

                                    Following their marriage they located in Kansas, where

                        He died 21 years ago.  Since the passing of her husband, Mrs.

                        Hocker had resided with her daughter, Mrs. Prosha Krug, of

                        Hosington.  She is also survived by a son, Bernice Hocker, of

                        Topeka, Kansas; three sisters, Mrs. Birch Shields of Beaver Dam,

                        Mrs. Cinderella Crowder, of Rosine; and Mrs. Mary Christian,

                        of Horse Branch; four brothers, Rev. Tom Cox, of McHenry;

                        Ira and Orlando Cox, of Equality, and Newton Cox, of Texas.

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      A second obituary from an unknown newspaper, gives additional information on Cox family members and where they lived:

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Mrs. Mae Hocker

Dies in Kansas

                                    Mrs. Mae Hocker died June 22 at the home of her daughter,

                        Mrs. Prosha Krug of Hosington, Kansas.  Death was due to pelvis

                        cellulites.

                                    Mrs. Hocker was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. J. W.

                        Cox.  She was the wife of the late Clayton Hocker, who preceded

                        her in death by twenty-one years. 

                                    Surviving relatives are two children, Mrs. Prosha Krug,

                        Hosington, Kan.; Mr. Burnyce Hocker, Topeka, Kan.; three sisters,

                        Mrs. Mary Christian, Mrs. Cinderella Crowder, and Mrs. Evelyn

Shields; four brothers, Messrs. Tom, Orlando, Ira and Newton Cox.

                                    Those attending the funeral from a distance were Mr. and

                        Mrs. Eddie Krug, Hosington, Kan., Mr. Burnyce Hocker, Topeka,

                        Kan., Mrs. Ola Allen, Mrs. Leona Liles, and Mrs. R. E. Banham

                        and son of East St. Louis, Ill., Mrs. M. Matthews of Whiting, Ind.,

                        and Mrs. Luther Duvall of Akron, Ohio.

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1-31-2009:  It is my wish to put some of the Cox stories in the hands of second cousins lest I wait too late, since I am not getting any younger at seventy-five.  Several drafts of this story are yet to be made before it is finally completed and I have a lot of work to do yet on this preliminary draft.  It is written as a record for my children and to be shared with other family members who may be interested).  –  

Note: This data was updated in 2015.

Submitted by Janice Cox Brown, Coppell, Texas, currently age 86.