The photograph at right is of my great-grandfather, William Henry Cox. He came to the Two Egg area with his father, Joseph Cox, before the Civil War and settled a few miles east of the crossroads near today's Parramore community.
In 1864, as a student at the Academy in Greenwood, he joined Captain Henry Robinson's Greenwood Club Cavalry. The unit was made up of boys who attended school at the academy under the supervision of Robinson, their teacher. They participated in military training daily. On September 27, 1864, William Cox fought at the Battle of Marianna as a member of the Greenwood Company. He was among the men who avoided capture during the battle by pulling up the flooring of the bridge over the Chipola River and holding back a Union attempt to capture the crossing. His father also fought in the Battle of Marianna as a member of Captain W.W. Poe's Company C, 1st Florida Infantry Reserves.
After the war, he married Elizabeth Owens and they went on to raise ten children. Family legend holds that William (best known locally as "Bill"), who worked as a well-digger, often would become so frustrated with all the noise of the children that he would climb down into the family well to get some peace and quiet.
He also was known to take long evening walks and another family tradition tells of how, for years after his death, the squeaky front gate would still open and close at the times he used to leave for his walks.
No comments:
Post a Comment