Joseph H. Cox was a corporal of Company F, 127th Illinois Infantry. Enlisting in August 1862, he served in the 15th Corps under Gen. William Sherman before being wounded and taken to the notorious Andersonville Prison in Georgia, the first of several prisoner-of-war camps in which he was held. He escaped in December 1864 while being moved to Jacksonville prison and reached the Union lines in February. J.H. Cox wrote his remembrances of the war on stationery dated July 10, 1875. His family has the original copies and other documents detailing his colorful life.
J.H. fathered 12 children, including eight from his last wife, Emma Thurston, whom he married in 1889. When he made the first of two land runs in Indian Territory in 1889, he wrote to his wife in a letter dated April 19, noting the difficulty of crossing the Salt Fork River.
"Now came the critical part of our journey," he wrote. "Two men and one team had already drowned, and the ferry men were all drunk but I decided to risk it. I put harness and everything in the buggy, laid my overcoat off, and got Henry Gazway to go with me and lead the grey mare. I took poor Rompy who could barely breathe with distemper.
"The men behind whipped their horses in, and we hung to their halters. They had to swim almost from the bank. They grey mare swam like a duck but Rompy struggled for about 5 rods (came near pulling me in) and turned over on his side and gave up. Men from the shore yelled, ‘Let him go, he will drown.' Those on the boat said, "Give him some more rope or he will drown.'"
In an April 22, 1889, letter to his wife, he complained about food. "I don't think I shall stay as long as I intended, as I have had a falling out at my boarding house with the cook," he wrote. "The pancakes don't come up to standard.. Please tell me what to do. My stove is a daisy, but I am sadly in need of a cook."
J.H. fathered 12 children, including eight from his last wife, Emma Thurston, whom he married in 1889. When he made the first of two land runs in Indian Territory in 1889, he wrote to his wife in a letter dated April 19, noting the difficulty of crossing the Salt Fork River.
"Now came the critical part of our journey," he wrote. "Two men and one team had already drowned, and the ferry men were all drunk but I decided to risk it. I put harness and everything in the buggy, laid my overcoat off, and got Henry Gazway to go with me and lead the grey mare. I took poor Rompy who could barely breathe with distemper.
"The men behind whipped their horses in, and we hung to their halters. They had to swim almost from the bank. They grey mare swam like a duck but Rompy struggled for about 5 rods (came near pulling me in) and turned over on his side and gave up. Men from the shore yelled, ‘Let him go, he will drown.' Those on the boat said, "Give him some more rope or he will drown.'"
In an April 22, 1889, letter to his wife, he complained about food. "I don't think I shall stay as long as I intended, as I have had a falling out at my boarding house with the cook," he wrote. "The pancakes don't come up to standard.. Please tell me what to do. My stove is a daisy, but I am sadly in need of a cook."
Joseph H. Cox was a corporal of Company F, 127th Illinois Infantry. Enlisting in August 1862, he served in the 15th Corps under Gen. William Sherman before being wounded and taken to the notorious Andersonville Prison in Georgia, the first of several prisoner-of-war camps in which he was held. He escaped in December 1864 while being moved to Jacksonville prison and reached the Union lines in February. J.H. Cox wrote his remembrances of the war on stationery dated July 10, 1875. His family has the original copies and other documents detailing his colorful life.
J.H. fathered 12 children, including eight from his last wife, Emma Thurston, whom he married in 1889. When he made the first of two land runs in Indian Territory in 1889, he wrote to his wife in a letter dated April 19, noting the difficulty of crossing the Salt Fork River.
"Now came the critical part of our journey," he wrote. "Two men and one team had already drowned, and the ferry men were all drunk but I decided to risk it. I put harness and everything in the buggy, laid my overcoat off, and got Henry Gazway to go with me and lead the grey mare. I took poor Rompy who could barely breathe with distemper.
"The men behind whipped their horses in, and we hung to their halters. They had to swim almost from the bank. They grey mare swam like a duck but Rompy struggled for about 5 rods (came near pulling me in) and turned over on his side and gave up. Men from the shore yelled, ‘Let him go, he will drown.' Those on the boat said, "Give him some more rope or he will drown.'"
In an April 22, 1889, letter to his wife, he complained about food. "I don't think I shall stay as long as I intended, as I have had a falling out at my boarding house with the cook," he wrote. "The pancakes don't come up to standard.. Please tell me what to do. My stove is a daisy, but I am sadly in need of a cook."
J.H. fathered 12 children, including eight from his last wife, Emma Thurston, whom he married in 1889. When he made the first of two land runs in Indian Territory in 1889, he wrote to his wife in a letter dated April 19, noting the difficulty of crossing the Salt Fork River.
"Now came the critical part of our journey," he wrote. "Two men and one team had already drowned, and the ferry men were all drunk but I decided to risk it. I put harness and everything in the buggy, laid my overcoat off, and got Henry Gazway to go with me and lead the grey mare. I took poor Rompy who could barely breathe with distemper.
"The men behind whipped their horses in, and we hung to their halters. They had to swim almost from the bank. They grey mare swam like a duck but Rompy struggled for about 5 rods (came near pulling me in) and turned over on his side and gave up. Men from the shore yelled, ‘Let him go, he will drown.' Those on the boat said, "Give him some more rope or he will drown.'"
In an April 22, 1889, letter to his wife, he complained about food. "I don't think I shall stay as long as I intended, as I have had a falling out at my boarding house with the cook," he wrote. "The pancakes don't come up to standard.. Please tell me what to do. My stove is a daisy, but I am sadly in need of a cook."
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