#8
Cinderella Cox
1875-1967
Cinderella Cox,
born September 2, 1875, was the fifth daughter of James William and Mary
Elizabeth (Mitchell) Cox. At age
twenty-one she married Hannibal Thomas Crowder, age twenty-five, on Christmas
Day, December 25, 1896. He was the son
of Marion Francis Crowder and Amelia Hobdy.
She was called “Aunt C” or “Aunt Cindy” by all her nieces and
nephews.
Cinderella died
at age ninety-two, three days after Christmas, on December 28, 1967, and was
buried beside her husband, December 31, in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery , Ohio
They had two
sons and one daughter.
1)
Wavy, born and died December 19, 1897
2)
Orville, born November 5, 1898; died September
26, 1901
3)
Loretta, born February 18, 1901 at Baizetown, a
few miles from Select. She married
Alfred Royal Westerfield at Cromwell on February 16, 1921. Loretta died on New Year’s Day, January 1,
1985, at the Professional Care Nursing Home in Ohio County
In April 1910
when the census was taken that spring, Cinderella and Tom were living at Ohio County ,
and living with them was one of Cinderella’s younger brothers, Ira Clinton, age
28, who had just returned home from the Army in 1909, after an absence serving
in Cuba
~.~
H. T. Crowder, 84
Dies at Rosine
“Hannibal Thomas Crowder, 84, died at 3:30
a.m.
Sunday, June 5, at his
home in Rosine, following an
illness of two years.
He was born February
24, 1871 at Baizetown, the
son of Marion Frances
and Amelia Hobdy Crowder.
He was a member of the
Renfrow Church
the Rosine Masonic
Lodge and Eastern Star.
Survivors include his
wife, Mrs. Cinderella Cox
Crowder, of Rosine; a
daughter, Mrs. Loretta Westerfield,
also of Rosine; three
grandsons and five great-grand
daughters.
The funeral was held
at 2 p.m., Tuesday, June 7, at
Rosine Baptist church,
with Lloyd B. Spivey, Church of
Christ minister, of
Beaver Dam, officiating. Burial was
in Mt. Pleasant
Cemetery.
Burial arrangements
were in charge of the Casebier
Funeral Home in Beaver
Dam.”
~.~
Cinderella (Cox) Crowder
12-28-1967 newspaper
“Mrs. Cinderella Cox
Crowder, 92, Rosine’s oldest
Citizen, died at 5:40
p.m. Thursday in the Ohio
County
Hospital.
She was born at
Select, Kentucky
one of 14
children. She was a lifetime resident of
Ohio
County and a member of
the Renfrow Church
Mrs. Crowder was a
50-year member and first Worthy
Matron of Rosine
Chapter 542, Order of Eastern Star.
In early years, she
taught school at various places in the
County, retiring from
this profession in 1906. She and her
husband, Tom, who
preceded her in death in 1955, operated
a boarding house in
Rosine for some time.
Surviving are a
daughter, Mrs. Loretta Westerfield; three
grandsons; six
great-grandchildren; five great-great grand-
children; a brother,
J. N. Cox of Troup , Texas
Services were held at
1 p.m. Saturday in the William L.
Danks Funeral Home
with burial in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
The William L. Danks
Funeral home in Beaver Dam was
in charge of
arrangements.”
~.~
Another clipping
read:
“Rosine citizens sympathize with the family of Mrs. Cinderella
Crowder. Mrs. Crowder, “Aunt Cindrella”
as she was known to all her many friends and neighbors here, was Rosine’s
oldest citizen, being past her 92nd birthday. She was a member of the Order of the Eastern
Star and was the first matron of this society when it was first chartered. Aunt Cindy will be missed by many, many who still
remain here behind.”
~.~
Loretta and I corresponded for
many years and my parents, husband, and little daughter Amy visited with her
and her son Dwight in 1975. She had
prepared a huge meal, topped off with fresh apple pie, and brought out many
scrapbooks and photo albums for us to see.
We were so happy to at last meet one another. Dwight and I corresponded occasionally by
email and once I talked to him by phone. (I
was shocked today on September 21, 2008 to learn from Jim Cox in Louisville
Their old home had burned that
year (1975), but with help from the neighbors, they were able to save almost
everything. Loretta and Dwight built a
new and modern, smaller brick home at Rosine on the site of their former
home. Sometime later their barn burned
down. (At one time, when the post office was established in January 1872, the
little community was known as “Pigeon’s Roost,” but in June 1873, the name was
changed to Rosine.)
Everyone in the family always said
that Cinderella and Tom’s home was the meeting place for the entire family when
the ones gone from Kentucky
Loretta and I first began our
letter-writing in 1972 and continued it for almost ten years, until her eyes
grew dim. It was Loretta who helped me
collect a great deal of the individual family history information on current
Cox descendants – the fourteen children of James and Mary E. (Mitchell) Cox
that has gone into the family chapters here.
Letters are becoming a lost art,
but I have saved family letters for many years, and have two very large
notebooks filled with family letters, mostly from my children and parents, in
date order, that are now chronicles or diaries of their lives. They are messages filled with their thoughts,
actions, decisions, dreams, announcements - the list is endless - about what
was going on in their lives. Someday, I
will give each of them a notebook filled with our letters, because I also kept
copies of my letters to them. Family
letters are among my most treasured collections.
Below is either the first or
second letter I ever received from Loretta, and it began a very pleasurable
letter-writing campaign back and forth between us for the next ten years or so.
For ease in re-reading and study, I once retyped all of Loretta’s letters to
me, and kept many copies of the letters I wrote her in return. One day, I will
give her notebook of letters to one of her granddaughters.
Her letters that traveled from Kentucky to Texas
November 6, 1972
Dear Janice:
Really don’t know how to apologize for my
delay in answering your good letter.
Alfred, my husband, isn’t able to do anything and I have to do
everything that is done. Therefore, I
never get all done. Always behind with
my work.
Sure did enjoy your letter, read it over
many times. We were all amazed at the
records, you must have spent many hours in compiling them. I read them over most every day. Many names I never heard before. At the same time, we find many names handed
down through the generations, so interesting.
I hope to add our generation to it in time. Our family is so scattered, it may not be
easy.
Our family is so scattered, I do believe Roy
It doesn’t seem possible that Aunt Eva is
83. So glad she and Uncle Newton are
enjoying their latter days. Hope they
will live past 95 and enjoy their senior years.
It was sweet of you to send Leonard a
copy. He would like to come back here to
retire but his wife prefers the golden west.
Leonard’s family here have all passed on except one brother, Gordon, and
possibly a half-sister.
The cousin I mentioned in Bowling Green
No, I don’t know of any one doing
research. I am personally acquainted
with our County Librarian
(Mrs. Riley); the first time I am in Hartford
Do hope you get to Kentucky Shaker Town ”
near Lexington
Not the least of all for me is my own
family I would like for you to
meet. Tell Uncle Newton his “fishing
pal” is now wearing 17 shirt and 44 waist pants. It actually frightens me. Not what he eats, but an inactive thyroid, I
fear.
If I find any thing new on our family tree,
will send it on to you. We all enjoyed your letter so much. I know well how sweet little Amy is. My last son arrived when I was 44. He has been and is so much pleasure to
us. Not married, comes home often.
Love
you. Loretta
Sure do Thank you sincerely for the facts
and data you sent me on our family.
~.~
Loretta often wrote little
tid-bits of history in her letters to me, along with the family history, and in
one letter written March 18, 1975, she said:
“Must
tell you now I enjoyed the package and history of our Cox family. It was really interesting. McLean
County now is very small and adjoins
our own Ohio County McLean County Kentucky Kentucky
“Grandpa
Cox belonged to the Christian Church, but many of the children, girls
especially, went to Baptist after marriage.”
A few weeks later, on May 30, 1975,
Loretta provided me with some more interesting family information:
“Finally found the
word Pincheco , Ohio
just
a wide place in road between Cromwell and Beaver Dam. Do believe Gilbert was born there.
It seems they had a post office there and believe Grandpa Cox was post master. You ask Aunt Eva, I believe she will
remember. Grandpa lived there when Aunt
Bertha died. Also, Aunt Mae first met
Uncle Clayton Hocker there. Prosha’s
parents. Now, there isn’t anything left
to remind us of Pincheco, am not sure this spelling is correct; regardless of
the spelling, the pronunciation is (Pinch’-eko), a building they used for both
church and school was nearby. The school
was called Cooper, the church I believe was Baptist; not sure of it, it could
have been Methodist. If you find that I
have used Pincheco, probably misspelled it, it will be one and the same. Have never heard of one anywhere else.
“Am
sending what I have collected to you.
Will continue as I can. Am sorry
I didn’t get the obituaries copied. My
old typewriter is about as dilapidated as I am, but it has had it; took Dwight
and me both through College, and Melody finished High School with it. With love, Loretta.”
Just like
Loretta, I often spent cold winter days re-reading her letters and analyzing
what she wrote to see if I had overlooked something. Eventually, I typed all of them up, and put
them into a notebook for easy reference.
Loretta wrote very interesting letters and I learned so much from
her. She was a wonderful person. I could identify with her, because I am also
a member of the Order of the Eastern Star at Troup and have been for nearly
twenty-seven years. My grandfather was a
Mason, affiliated with the Masonic lodge at Troup.
Loretta was a
very good-natured person and she had a great, optimistic outlook; she was never
a quitter in trying to collect and compile all the records she could for
me. In another letter she said:
“Don’t
hesitate to ask me over and over for the ones you need. I have always been very active, taught until
I was 70 years old. But was doing fine
until I had to put Alfred in the hospital in June 1974, knowing I would never
be able to bring him home alive; and then the home I had remodeled for our old
age burned in September and he passed away in October. I still managed to control until we moved
back in June. So many things needed to
be done. Got to where I couldn’t drive
my car. Just sold it. My recall is so poor, it is almost
embarrassing. In fact, it is
maddening. Don’t suppose this is any
worse than other old people experience…so I try not to complain.”
In another
letter written August 2, 1975, she mentioned the fact that we were planning to
visit Ohio County
“Dear Jerri:
The aunts are calling to know when you are coming.
Gladly
told them, “It won’t be long now.”
Prosha
was here when I received your letter; we both lamented that
you
couldn’t have met here. Her son, Jim and
wife, Mary, brought
her. Jim was on vacation; they went on to Mammoth
Cave, Opera
Land
and other places not so familiar to me.
Mary kept looking for
a
“Hill-Billy”; gave us all a big bang when everyone she met was a
“Hill-Billy.”
~.~
My dad, Gilbert
Cox, had not been back “home” to Ohio
County
The
following month in September, my dad
came back home, bought a new station wagon and took his mother, Eva Caroline
(Smith) Cox and his three sisters, Eula Mae Smith, Retha Green and Darrell Appl
back for a more extended visit. It made
my grandmother so happy; she said it was the first time she had ever had all of
her children “back home” at the same time.
They talked about this trip for many months.
On October 27, 1975, Loretta wrote
to me about it:
“Sure did enjoy the short visit of Aunt Eva
and children; so nice they
all got to come together. They were only here a few minutes, but we
sure did a good job of visiting that
few minutes. Dwight really liked
talking to Conrad. Speaks of him often. Wished for you Saturday.
My two oldest granddaughters, Ima
and Nina, came with their three
little ones. Amy would have enjoyed playing with
them. They were
in Louisville
Just ran down here to see me in the
p.m. Had been over a year since
they had seen me. Linda, the youngest, was with their
mother.
Catherine, R. C.’s wife, had an
operation about four weeks ago and
it was malignant. That is the cause of the treatments.
Orville Cox from Paragould ,
Ark.
week
ago. His wife was with her Mother in
Beaver Dam. We really
had a good day lining up the
Cox’s. He is Uncle Netter’s youngest
son.
Then, last Saturday a.m., Willie Cox
from Agnos , Arkansas
for a few minutes. His wife was with her sister in
Fordsville. So glad
they both came, so we could keep in
touch. Willie told me I looked
just like my mother; of course, that
pleased me, also reminded me I
had some “big shoes to fill.”
On a cold winter
day, she wrote me on January 20, 1977:
“Dear Jerri:
So cold and “snowy” I can’t get out, so to pass the time away
I have been rereading your former
letters. In one, you ask the name of the
cemetery near Luther Rogers’s
farm. It is “Fairview
Highway 505 connects U. S. Highway U.S.
241, just out of Cromwell. Many of our relatives are buried at Fairview
It is beautiful and well kept. It slopes toward the road 505, with so many
flowers. Due to the slope they show up beautifully.
“There are so many Coxes in Ohio County
are all related. One settlement of them near Dundee ;
another settlement
of them below Cool Springs near Green River . Have
never been fortunate
enough to meet one of them. The Cox name is familiar all over Kentucky
In reading the Courier Journal, Louisville
Maybe eventually we will find some
connection.”
Loretta and
Alfred Westerfield had three sons, Rupert Crowder, Orville Alroy, and Dwight
Leahy. A little daughter, Ruth Electa,
died the same day she was born, May 14, 1936.
In the 1930
census, Loretta and Alfred were living in Gary ,
Indiana
In filling out
her own Family Group Chart (along with the many others she compiled for me),
she indicated Alfred had served in the U. S. Navy, World War I. His places of residence during his lifetime
were listed as Fordsville, Hartford , Ohio , Indiana , California and Texas Hartford , Rosine ,
Indiana and Wisconsin
~.~
Obituary for Loretta Westerfield
“Mrs. Loretta Westerfield, 83, of Rosine, died Tuesday,
January 1, 1985 at
Professional Care Home, Hartford
She was born in Ohio County
teacher, and was a
member of the Renfrow
Church
Christ, Rosine Chapter
No. 342, Order of Eastern Star.
Her husband, Albert
Westerfield, died in 1973.
Survivors include three sons, Dwight
Westerfield of
Westerfield of Hazard;
six grandchildren and 12 great
grandchildren.
Services were 1 p.m. Friday at William
L. Danks
Funeral Home, Beaver
Dam. Burial was in Sunnyside
Cemetery, Beaver
Dam. Eastern Star services were
held at 7 p.m. Thursday
at the Funeral Home.”
~.~
Obituary for Dwight Westerfield, son of
Loretta, from the “Owensboro
“ BEAVER DAM – Dwight L.
“Frog” Westerfield, 62, of Beaver Dam passed
away
Friday, Feb. 29, 2008, at Owensboro
May
27, 1945, to the late Alfred R. and Loretta Crowder Westerfield in Rosine.
He was a former Ohio County jailer, member of
Hartford Christian Church, a
member of the Ohio County Chamber of Commerce, a
former member of the
Ohio County Election Board, active in the Republican Party
and past chairman
of the Ohio County Republican Party, a member of “Together We
Care,” an active member of the Beaver Dam Fire Department, Rosine Association
(TRA), served as Beaver Dam city commissioner, taught in the Ohio County School
System, a
Kentucky Colonel, past chairman of Ohio County Jaycees, past
president of
Habitat for Humanity of Ohio County, Secretary of Monroe Foundation, and a
graduate of Horse Branch High School , Kentucky
Wesleyan College and
Leadership of Ohio
County
He was preceded in death by his brother,
R. C. Westerfield.
Survivors include his wife,
Pauline Westerfield of Beaver Dam, two
step-sons, Joey Ritchie and Jimmy Ritchie, both of Hazard; three
step-
grandchildren, Matthew
Ritchie, Wayland Ritchie and Christian
Ritchie, all of Hazard; a brother,
Orville Westerfield of Louisville; and
several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services are at 2
p.m. Sunday at William L. Danks Funeral
Home in Beaver Dam with the Rev. Michael Taylor officiating. Burial
will be in Sunnyside
Cemetery
3
to 8 p.m. today and after 9 a.m. Sunday at the funeral home.”
~.~
Obituary for
Orville is from Louisville
ORVILLE A. WESTERFIELD
Westerfield, Orville A., 83, passed away
Friday at Park Terrace Health Campus.
He was raised in Ohio County , KY
Westerfield. He was a retired foreman for
Corhart Refractories and was a World War
II Navy veteran. He was a Christian by
Faith.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 52 years, Maxine (Ford)
Westerfield; his parents; and two brothers, R.C. and Dwight Westerfield.
Survivors include his children, Patricia R. Hosch (Gordon) and Melody
D. Hammond; grandchildren, Shannon Spivey, Brian Hosch (Angela), Nicole Hirst (Chad
Funeral service will be 1 p.m. Monday at Owen Funeral Home, 5317 Dixie Hwy Beth Haven Cemetery
(obit sent to me by Billy Morris - on August 29,
2009).
Submitted by Janice Cox Brown, Coppell, Texas
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