COX, Thomas Henry

Notes:

In the 1921-1922 New Haven Directory, Thomas H. Cox and James E. Connor are listed as the Law Firm of Cox & Connor, 865 Chapel Street.

Thomas Henry Cox, my grandfather and better known as Charlie Pop, was born in Scotland on January 31, 1876. He came to America with his mother and his sister, Anna, on the "State of Alabama" on March 2, 1880. His father had come earlier, but his exact arrival date is not known. They initially went to Philadelphia and lived briefly with his father's sister, Ellen Thompson. It is interesting to note that I always thought Charlie Pop was very frugal and a true Scot but I recently learned that his grandparents came from Ireland.
The family settled in New Haven, Connecticut, where James Cox worked as a Bicycle Maker. Young Tom must have had a lot of experience riding because as a teenager he began racing. At age 18, he won the "Veru Handicap Race". The newspaper article indicated it was a 10 mile race but that many of the 'crack' riders were not present as they had to ride Bennett and Co. wheels and some got an unfair handicap advantage. "Cox, the winner of the race, was given a start of 80 (30 secs - hard to read) seconds, when according to his time and reputation he could have been placed on scratch." My grandfather entered quite a few races in the 1890's, perhaps the most well-known being the Derby to New Haven race for which he won a silver loving cup which is in the possession of his grandson, H. Austin Spang. It should be noted that the bicycles at that time had the very large front wheel (60" diameter) and a small rear one, and were called "High Wheelers"

In 1896, Mr. Cox received his Bachelors of Law degree from Yale University which thus began his lengthy legal career. The New Haven (CT) Register; December 1, 1897 : "Appointed Asst. Town Clerk. The selectmen last night appointed Thomas H. Cox, Yale Law School, '96, Assistant Town Clerk. Mr. Cox has been acting in that capacity since the death of Michael T Snigg in March, last."

At about the same time, he began building houses with John Daly, his sister's husband. A number of these houses can be seen yet today on Sherman Av., Norton St. and 2 on Edgewood St. in New Haven. They also built a summer home in Woodmont, Ct. He would live in a house for a time, then sell it for a profit and move to another. This was the source of much of his wealth.

He enlisted in the Spanish American War and there is a picture of him in his uniform but the war was short-lived (3mos and 2 wks.) so he never saw action.

Somehow he managed to begin courting the love of his life, Adelaide Agnes Quin, from Bridgeport, and they were married in 1899. My sister, Nancy Spang Becque, indicated that he rode his bicycle to Bridgeport to court her and would read Shakespeare to her. He even took her a bust of Shakespeare on his bicycle. He would dote on her for the next 50 years, treating her like a precious and fragile porcelain doll. They had one child, a daughter, Mildred Virginia Cox, on April 23, 1900. He was well enough known in New Haven to rate this filler in the New Haven Register - "Cox Wears a Smile; Deputy Town Clerk, Thomas H. Cox, is receiving congratulations as Mrs. Cox presented him with a fine baby girl last night."

They lived on Sherman Avenue and appear there in the 1900 and 1910 censuses. Strangely, the 1920 census lists him as single, living with his parents on Clinton Av. in New Haven. This is probably an error and refers to his brother, Peter. Further research shows that his daughter's yearbook from Vassar lists her as living on Sherman Avenue in 1919, the year she graduated. I wonder if she and her mother traveled to Europe as a graduation gift so missed the 1920 census.

After leaving the position of Town Clerk, Mr. Cox became a very successful Real Estate Lawyer, first sharing an office with Mr. Connor; and later moved his office, by himself, to 177 Church Street, overlooking the green. (As a side note, I have one strong memory of that office which was a series of rooms strung together in single file. While some of the family were visiting with Charlie Pop, I wandered down to the last office and found a very large, heavy dictionary. Being about 6 and curious, I noticed a scale so managed to get the dictionary onto the scale. I was embarrassed to discover that it was a postage scale which promptly broke. I recall my mother scolding me but my grandfather being very gentle and forgiving.)

The Coxes would travel to Europe during the 20's on a number of occasions, returning with very beautiful glassware and knickknacks. Sometime during that period they purchased a home on McKinley Avenue in Westville where they would remain until 1948 when Adelaide passed away.

I think it would be fair to say that Tom was a little lost without Adelaide. Almost immediately, he moved to the Taft Hotel in New Haven and would spend the weekends with his daughter and 4 grandchildren, first in Middletown, Ct. and later in Longmeadow, Mass.

Charlie Pop always bought black Packards. It was my assignment to wash them and it was very important that I did not miss a spot as he would inspect my work and have me redo it if necessary. Black shows spots very easily so it was not uncommon for me to have to rewash and wipe a section of the car. By this time, he was a very wealthy man but being Scotch was very conservative. And yet, for High School Graduation, my sister received a two-tone green Pontiac, my twin brothers would receive a blue Ford sedan and I would receive a black Ford convertible!

Nana and Charlie Pop would always visit for Christmas and other times of the year. In the beginning, they must have gotten up very early because they would drive from Westville to Hamden, CT and be there early enough to announce that Santa Claus had been here for 4 eager grandchildren. His original nickname was Sugar Pop because he brought sugar cubes each time he visited. This tradition continued until sugar was rationed in World War II so his name got changed to Charlie Pop. He was so well known as Charlie Pop that strangers thought his first name was Charles.

David B. Spang

Thomas married QUIN, Adelaide Agnus 1899. Adelaide (daughter of QUINN, Patrick W. and BARR, Margaret Jane) was born 27 Mar 1876; died 08 Aug 1948, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; was buried 11 Aug 1948, St. Lawrence Cemetery, New Haven, Connecticut.. [Group Sheet]

1. COX, Mildred Virginia was born 23 Apr 1900, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; died 23 Jun 1981, Orange, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; was buried 26 Jun 1981, St. Lawrence Cemetery, New Haven, Connecticut..

Notes:

Irish1921 originally shared this
?20 Aug 2012 ?Document / Certificate
Written by Gertrude Hile (at age 84), granddaughter of Elizabeth Kelly and James F Cox.

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Transcription of text in document

Abridged text is: Elizabeth Kelly and James Cox went from Scotland to England with James' sister Ellen (corrected) Cox Thompson and her husband Tom. James and Tom went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and later James moved to Connecticut. James initially sold insurance, but later opened a store-- first on State St/Elm then State St/Olive, both in New Haven, CT. Elizabeth Kelly had a sister Julia (Heron?) who had two daughters-- Lizzie Cooks and Marie Van Orden. Marie had a daughter Evelyn Walsted of New Jersey.

James married KELLY, Elizabeth 19 Apr 1875, St. Andrew's RC Church, Dundee, Scotland. Elizabeth (daughter of KELLY, Peter and NOLAN, Mary) was born Dec 1850; died 1934; was buried St. Lawrence Cemetery, New Haven, Connecticut.. [Group Sheet]

Terrence married MCGACHAN, Ann 19 Jul 1845, Dundee, Angus, Scotland. Ann was born 1815, Caven, Ireland. [Group Sheet]

Peter — NOLAN, Mary. [Group Sheet]

John — CASSIDY, Helen. Helen was born 1766, Fermanagh, Northern Ireland; died 05 Mar 1850, Lillybank, Dundee, Scotland. [Group Sheet]