And thus begins my sojourn on the world wide web. And, since I never start small, this site began life as about 2,500 pages. Granted most were automatically created byGedPage, (which I still need to register), the program I chose because it gave the most elegant output to my eye.
I hope that the info I publish will be of use to someone else out there.
June 12, 1998
The following is the forward to the Family History Book I published (in very limited editions…like about 5 a year – for our annual Boyd – Cox reunion). I decided it might be something relevant for these pages…
TEXAS…
There is a mystique about this land that has endured for the two centuries settlers have been packing their belongings to leave family and acquaintances behind to start a new life in this land of promise. What was the attraction that caused our forebears to pack all their worldly possessions and leave the settled (relatively) and familiar setting of their homes to travel to the wilds of frontier Texas? Yes, when our ancestors arrived in this land we have grown to think of as our own, it was frontier. Limestone and Lampasas Counties in the 1850’s and 1860’s was still prone to wandering bands of Indians. The entire western edge of civilized Texas was a very rough place to be living during the Civil War. This was due partially to the withdrawal of the troops from the Forts along the frontier.
So, the question remains what were the attractions that brought our ancestors to this land? Most of what I have learned about our folks places them in the same class of people as Daniel Boone, always moving along just at the edge of civilization, looking for a better life, better land, better living conditions. I suppose it says something about Texas since once they arrived they stayed.
When I think about the travel conditions these people had to deal with, I am amazed that they managed to settle anywhere. The distance from Northeast Texas where most of our folks entered Texas to the area they settled is now a matter of at most a days drive, but, in their day the trip by oxen and wagon would have taken months. If they were lucky, some relative or neighbor had already made the trip and sent back a description and directions.
At this date, the earliest ancestor of ours that I have found who was born in Texas was Benjamin Franklin Cox (Benoni Cox). The 1850 Census for the County of Limestone has him listed as being 1 year old with his place of birth listed as Texas. This same source tells us his father was Phillip Caleb Cox born in Missouri about 1824, his mother was Elizabeth Jane Pearson born in Ohio about 1826. From this source we also can make the assumption that Caleb and Elizabeth were living in or passing through Arkansas in 1844 because they state that their daughter Sarah A. Cox was born there.
As we celebrate this anniversary with our 40th Annual Boyd / Cox Family Reunion, I hope that some of the facts and stories that follow will allow some others the chance to build upon the legacy our forebears left for us.
I know that in my search for information, I have had the opportunity to spend time out making the acquaintance of both the land on which our folks lived, and, the land on which they were laid to rest. I think I shall never forget the day this past March when on a visit to the Capitol in Austin I came across the record of the death certificate of Wilson Edward Boyd and read where he was buried in the Driftwood Cemetery.I went from Austin to San Marcos, where I had a copy of the certificate made, to Driftwood. Once at the Cemetery it was a short search to discover Great-Grandpa’s grave beside his oldest daughter Viola’s. As I sat there on that rainy and cold March afternoon, I contemplated what he must have seen in his lifetime and how nice and peaceful his resting place was. I have now found out that it is highly likely that our Grandpa James Pleas probably spent a part of his time growing up within ‘hollarin’ distance of that very hillside. It gives you a since of belonging, even to a place you have never been.
I do want to promise that I will continue to enlarge upon the data and the stories that the data contain. I know I will never have the full stories of these lives, but, I have discovered that most of the real joy of this type of learning is in the search and the unintended stories you learn as you hunt.