Mays Family Tree - Person Sheet
Birth Date12 Nov 17974663
Birth PlaceChester County, PA, USA
Death Date15 Apr 1876 Age: 78
Death PlaceChester County, PA, USA
Burial PlaceLongwood Cemetery, Kennett Square, Chester Co., PA, USA
ReligionSociety Of Friends (Quaker) But Lost Her Membership In 18294664
FatherJacob PEIRCE (1761-1801)
MotherHannah BUFFINGTON (1761-1843)
Misc. Notes
Quaker and Abolistionist
Newspaper article:
OP
Apr. 9, 1876
COX - In Kennett township, on the 15th inst. Hannah Cox, wife of John Cox, in the 79th year of her age.
____________
Hannah Pierce was born November 12, 1797 in Longwood, the home that had been completed earlier that year by her father Jacob Pierce. As a young woman, she had been married to a Mr. Pennell, was widowed, and then remarried to John Cox on September 11th 1823 at Longwood.4665
Spouses
Misc. Notes
Misc. Notes
Quakers and Abolistionists
John and Hannah donated the land where the Longwood Meetinghouse now stands.4662
____________
Jacob Pierce [Hannah (Peirce) Cox’ father] was the brother of Samuel and Joshua Pierce who planted the original grove of trees which was known as Pierces’ Park and is currently [2004] part of Longwood Gardens…. After the death of Jacob Pierce, in 1815 [?], the property [a stop along the Underground Railroad] was transferred to his two sons Caleb and Jonathan. It is unclear whether the two sons lived in the house during this period, however the estate file states that their mother [Hannah (Buffington) Peirce] was to be granted “the use of the two rooms on the first story and the three rooms on the second story....in the west end thereof, and...the privilege of the kitchen pump and oven...also apples of the orchard in the summer season….” In 1829 the property was transferred to John Cox and Hannah Pierce Cox…. In 1881, a year after the death of John Cox, the property was transferred to his son Jacob. It remained in the Cox family until 1898 when it was sold to George E. Thatcher.4668
____________
Chester County, during the 19th Century, was home to a group of Quaker abolitionists known as the Longwood Progressive Friends. These Quakers involved themselves in social issues, such as the women’s rights and abolitionist movements, and associated themselves with non-Quakers. Their stance on these issues followed a nationwide trend among Friends that resulted in the division of Quaker Meetings and the formation of Progressive Friends. Some of the Progressive Friends went as far as to actively participate in the Underground Railroad.
The Underground Railroad was a national secret effort to transport fugitive slaves from the oppression of southern states to the free states of the north. This network consisted of whites, free persons of color, and free slaves, all working together in confidentiality to provide a chance of freedom to those who were trying to flee the bonds of slavery. A few brave individuals, such as Harriet Tubman, acted as “conductors” on this “railroad”, guiding fugitives from one stop to the next. These stops were the homes or farms of sympathetic abolitionists, who, by assisting in this effort, were in violation of the fugitive slave act. Despite the government’s attempts to subdue the Underground Railroad, thousands of runaway slaves made their way to freedom.
The Coxes were founding members of the Progressive Friends and known sympathizers of the abolitionist movement. Documentary evidence suggests that their house was a place of refuge for fugitives and runaway slaves. Located within East Marlborough Township, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, just twenty miles north of the Mason-Dixon Line, the house may have been one of the many stops along the Underground Railroad network in Southeastern Pennsylvania.…
John Cox and Hannah resided in East Goshen for the first six years of their marriage and during this tenure had a daughter Lydia and a son Jacob. In 1829 they moved into Longwood, the house that would become their home for the next fifty years, and it was here that they had two more children, Anna and John William.
John and Hannah Cox came to realize early in their lives that involvement in the affairs of non–Quakers and discussion of social issues within the Quaker society was an essential part of practicing their Christian faith. “John Cox was President of the Kennett Anti-Slavery Society, and both he and his wife were frequently sent as delegates to anti-slavery state and national conventions.” The Coxes had been members of the Kennett Monthly Meeting, but over the next few decades John, Hannah and Lydia, were let go for neglecting “attendance of...meetings, and attended the meetings of those (crossed out: who have separated from us) of other denominations.” They were founding members of the Longwood Progressive Meeting of Friends and were activists against social injustices. Although Hannah Cox did not make “speeches in anti-slavery meetings, (nor) wrote articles for anti-slavery journals...(her) influence was powerful.
It is unclear when the Coxes began involvement in the Underground Railroad, but is likely that their home was an important stop along its route (figure 4). The house is situated less than twenty miles from the Mason-Dixon Line, along what was once known as Nottingham Road; a major route from points south and west. Research performed by the Chester County Historical Society has established how this network of fugitives may have operated. The Coxes were among a few Kennett Square residents, including Moses and Mary Pennock and Dr. Bartholomew Fussell, who offered their homes and assisted in transporting fugitives from one location to the next.
Little physical evidence exists to support the claim that the Coxes did in fact harbor runaway slaves; however, there is extensive written testimony as to their involvement. John and Hannah became close friends with William Lloyd Garrison, the well known abolitionist and editor of the anti-slavery newspaper the Liberator. In a letter to John and Hannah Cox, on the occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary, in 1873, Garrison wrote:
The esteem I cherish for you and your good and faithful husband, is more than words can express. You have been greatly blessed in your married lives, but how many blessings you have bestowed upon others, even a host! What a refuge your sweet quiet home has been to the poor hunted fugitives from southern cruelty and oppression! What perils (you) cheerfully encountered in their behalf! How broad and liberal has been your charity to the weary and foot-sore traveler, to the poor and needy, to the wretched and suffering, of every degree! How many have hospitably fed at your tables, and kindly accommodated “to help the cause along”- the cause of mercy and freedom, of progress and reform! Perhaps in some instances you may have “entertained angels unawares”; but, if not, one thing is certain – they to whom you have given friendly shelter have received angelic treatment.
Other such references to the Cox’s involvement with the Underground Railroad come from well know sources such as the poems written for them on the same occasion. The Quaker poet and abolitionist, John Greenleaf Whittier, wrote:
And thank you....For your works of love and duty that knew no selfish ends, For your hearts and doors set open for the bondman and his friends;
For your steady faith and courage in that dark and evil time When the Golden Rule was treason, and to feed the hungry, crime;
For the poor slave’s house of refuge, when the hounds were on his track, And Saint and Sinner, Church and State, joined hands to send him back;
Blessings upon you! What you did, for that suffering one, Homeless and faint and naked, unto our lord was done;
Bayard Taylor, writer, poet, and world traveler, grew up near the Longwood home and was a close friend of the Cox family. Unable to attend their Golden Wedding anniversary, Taylor sent John and Hannah a poem, from Germany, which reads:
There as a boy, my heart and mind Oft fed on gentler manna, For John was ever firm and kind, And motherly was Hannah:
And when with hopes of higher law The air of home grew warmer, How many a preacher there I saw! How may a famed reformer!
Nor these alone, through all the land Gives praise where it upbraided; There was a sad and silent band Your Christian courage aided:
They came in fear, and straightway found Food, rest, emancipation: Their “Cox’s House” was underground- A blessed railway station!
Mary Grew, in response to receiving the invitation to the anniversary celebration, wrote:
It will give me much pleasure to be with you all on such the occasion of the Golden Wedding anniversary of my old time friends, tried and true, my honored fellow workers through the long Anti-Slavery struggle, John and Hannah Cox. Those names will long be remembered by Pennsylvania abolitionists and by many a rescued slave….
A more local account of this effort was published by Dr. R.C. Smedley in 1883. His book, entitled The Underground Railroad in Chester and the Neighboring Counties, is a collection of stories associated with this unique community. He “endeavored to glean only well-authenticated facts, unadorned by the glowing colors of fancy” and includes three separate occasions, between, 1830 and 1857, in which the Coxes assisted fugitives by taking them into their home, providing them with food and clothing, and transporting them to points further north. The Coxes and their home played a very important role in this network and it is their home that continued to be recognized as a symbol of their efforts even after their passing. In 1876, Oliver Johnson of the Orange Journal, after the death of Hannah Cox, remarked:
That home, near Kennett Square, is one of the moral and social landmarks of Chester Co., Pa. Hundreds if not thousands of people yet live who have shared its generous hospitality, and the quaint old walls are hallowed by memories of many stirring scenes.
Although Johnson may have exaggerated a bit, he makes it clear that the involvement of the Coxes in the fight against social injustices is very much intertwined with their place of residence. This site is a physical link to this stirring time and these extraordinary people. It is an extremely important component of the Underground Railroad story in Chester County and the nationwide movement to abolish slavery.4669
____________
The Cox’s received “relinquishment of membership” from the Kennett Monthly Meeting for association with “another professedly religious society.” Hannah Cox was released in 1829 and John Cox in 1835. They had been associating with other Quakers with similar liberal views and were therefore seen as participants of another organized meeting.4664
____________
Newspaper Article:
AR
Sep. 30, 1873
Golden Wedding - a few days ago, John and Hannah Cox, of East Marlborough township, celebrated their golden wedding. There were about seventy guests present, among whom were Mrs. Francis D. Gage, Lucretia Mott, Mary Grew, and Hon. Wm. D. Kelley. Letters were received and read from Bayard Taylor, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, oliver Johnson and others. A number of elegant and valuable presents were made to the happy couple.4662
John and Hannah donated the land where the Longwood Meetinghouse now stands.4662
____________
Jacob Pierce [Hannah (Peirce) Cox’ father] was the brother of Samuel and Joshua Pierce who planted the original grove of trees which was known as Pierces’ Park and is currently [2004] part of Longwood Gardens…. After the death of Jacob Pierce, in 1815 [?], the property [a stop along the Underground Railroad] was transferred to his two sons Caleb and Jonathan. It is unclear whether the two sons lived in the house during this period, however the estate file states that their mother [Hannah (Buffington) Peirce] was to be granted “the use of the two rooms on the first story and the three rooms on the second story....in the west end thereof, and...the privilege of the kitchen pump and oven...also apples of the orchard in the summer season….” In 1829 the property was transferred to John Cox and Hannah Pierce Cox…. In 1881, a year after the death of John Cox, the property was transferred to his son Jacob. It remained in the Cox family until 1898 when it was sold to George E. Thatcher.4668
____________
Chester County, during the 19th Century, was home to a group of Quaker abolitionists known as the Longwood Progressive Friends. These Quakers involved themselves in social issues, such as the women’s rights and abolitionist movements, and associated themselves with non-Quakers. Their stance on these issues followed a nationwide trend among Friends that resulted in the division of Quaker Meetings and the formation of Progressive Friends. Some of the Progressive Friends went as far as to actively participate in the Underground Railroad.
The Underground Railroad was a national secret effort to transport fugitive slaves from the oppression of southern states to the free states of the north. This network consisted of whites, free persons of color, and free slaves, all working together in confidentiality to provide a chance of freedom to those who were trying to flee the bonds of slavery. A few brave individuals, such as Harriet Tubman, acted as “conductors” on this “railroad”, guiding fugitives from one stop to the next. These stops were the homes or farms of sympathetic abolitionists, who, by assisting in this effort, were in violation of the fugitive slave act. Despite the government’s attempts to subdue the Underground Railroad, thousands of runaway slaves made their way to freedom.
The Coxes were founding members of the Progressive Friends and known sympathizers of the abolitionist movement. Documentary evidence suggests that their house was a place of refuge for fugitives and runaway slaves. Located within East Marlborough Township, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, just twenty miles north of the Mason-Dixon Line, the house may have been one of the many stops along the Underground Railroad network in Southeastern Pennsylvania.…
John Cox and Hannah resided in East Goshen for the first six years of their marriage and during this tenure had a daughter Lydia and a son Jacob. In 1829 they moved into Longwood, the house that would become their home for the next fifty years, and it was here that they had two more children, Anna and John William.
John and Hannah Cox came to realize early in their lives that involvement in the affairs of non–Quakers and discussion of social issues within the Quaker society was an essential part of practicing their Christian faith. “John Cox was President of the Kennett Anti-Slavery Society, and both he and his wife were frequently sent as delegates to anti-slavery state and national conventions.” The Coxes had been members of the Kennett Monthly Meeting, but over the next few decades John, Hannah and Lydia, were let go for neglecting “attendance of...meetings, and attended the meetings of those (crossed out: who have separated from us) of other denominations.” They were founding members of the Longwood Progressive Meeting of Friends and were activists against social injustices. Although Hannah Cox did not make “speeches in anti-slavery meetings, (nor) wrote articles for anti-slavery journals...(her) influence was powerful.
It is unclear when the Coxes began involvement in the Underground Railroad, but is likely that their home was an important stop along its route (figure 4). The house is situated less than twenty miles from the Mason-Dixon Line, along what was once known as Nottingham Road; a major route from points south and west. Research performed by the Chester County Historical Society has established how this network of fugitives may have operated. The Coxes were among a few Kennett Square residents, including Moses and Mary Pennock and Dr. Bartholomew Fussell, who offered their homes and assisted in transporting fugitives from one location to the next.
Little physical evidence exists to support the claim that the Coxes did in fact harbor runaway slaves; however, there is extensive written testimony as to their involvement. John and Hannah became close friends with William Lloyd Garrison, the well known abolitionist and editor of the anti-slavery newspaper the Liberator. In a letter to John and Hannah Cox, on the occasion of their fiftieth wedding anniversary, in 1873, Garrison wrote:
The esteem I cherish for you and your good and faithful husband, is more than words can express. You have been greatly blessed in your married lives, but how many blessings you have bestowed upon others, even a host! What a refuge your sweet quiet home has been to the poor hunted fugitives from southern cruelty and oppression! What perils (you) cheerfully encountered in their behalf! How broad and liberal has been your charity to the weary and foot-sore traveler, to the poor and needy, to the wretched and suffering, of every degree! How many have hospitably fed at your tables, and kindly accommodated “to help the cause along”- the cause of mercy and freedom, of progress and reform! Perhaps in some instances you may have “entertained angels unawares”; but, if not, one thing is certain – they to whom you have given friendly shelter have received angelic treatment.
Other such references to the Cox’s involvement with the Underground Railroad come from well know sources such as the poems written for them on the same occasion. The Quaker poet and abolitionist, John Greenleaf Whittier, wrote:
And thank you....For your works of love and duty that knew no selfish ends, For your hearts and doors set open for the bondman and his friends;
For your steady faith and courage in that dark and evil time When the Golden Rule was treason, and to feed the hungry, crime;
For the poor slave’s house of refuge, when the hounds were on his track, And Saint and Sinner, Church and State, joined hands to send him back;
Blessings upon you! What you did, for that suffering one, Homeless and faint and naked, unto our lord was done;
Bayard Taylor, writer, poet, and world traveler, grew up near the Longwood home and was a close friend of the Cox family. Unable to attend their Golden Wedding anniversary, Taylor sent John and Hannah a poem, from Germany, which reads:
There as a boy, my heart and mind Oft fed on gentler manna, For John was ever firm and kind, And motherly was Hannah:
And when with hopes of higher law The air of home grew warmer, How many a preacher there I saw! How may a famed reformer!
Nor these alone, through all the land Gives praise where it upbraided; There was a sad and silent band Your Christian courage aided:
They came in fear, and straightway found Food, rest, emancipation: Their “Cox’s House” was underground- A blessed railway station!
Mary Grew, in response to receiving the invitation to the anniversary celebration, wrote:
It will give me much pleasure to be with you all on such the occasion of the Golden Wedding anniversary of my old time friends, tried and true, my honored fellow workers through the long Anti-Slavery struggle, John and Hannah Cox. Those names will long be remembered by Pennsylvania abolitionists and by many a rescued slave….
A more local account of this effort was published by Dr. R.C. Smedley in 1883. His book, entitled The Underground Railroad in Chester and the Neighboring Counties, is a collection of stories associated with this unique community. He “endeavored to glean only well-authenticated facts, unadorned by the glowing colors of fancy” and includes three separate occasions, between, 1830 and 1857, in which the Coxes assisted fugitives by taking them into their home, providing them with food and clothing, and transporting them to points further north. The Coxes and their home played a very important role in this network and it is their home that continued to be recognized as a symbol of their efforts even after their passing. In 1876, Oliver Johnson of the Orange Journal, after the death of Hannah Cox, remarked:
That home, near Kennett Square, is one of the moral and social landmarks of Chester Co., Pa. Hundreds if not thousands of people yet live who have shared its generous hospitality, and the quaint old walls are hallowed by memories of many stirring scenes.
Although Johnson may have exaggerated a bit, he makes it clear that the involvement of the Coxes in the fight against social injustices is very much intertwined with their place of residence. This site is a physical link to this stirring time and these extraordinary people. It is an extremely important component of the Underground Railroad story in Chester County and the nationwide movement to abolish slavery.4669
____________
The Cox’s received “relinquishment of membership” from the Kennett Monthly Meeting for association with “another professedly religious society.” Hannah Cox was released in 1829 and John Cox in 1835. They had been associating with other Quakers with similar liberal views and were therefore seen as participants of another organized meeting.4664
____________
Newspaper Article:
AR
Sep. 30, 1873
Golden Wedding - a few days ago, John and Hannah Cox, of East Marlborough township, celebrated their golden wedding. There were about seventy guests present, among whom were Mrs. Francis D. Gage, Lucretia Mott, Mary Grew, and Hon. Wm. D. Kelley. Letters were received and read from Bayard Taylor, Wm. Lloyd Garrison, oliver Johnson and others. A number of elegant and valuable presents were made to the happy couple.4662
Death Datebef Sep 18233
Death MemoHannah’s second marriage took place in Sep 1823
Family ID13960