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A Guide to The Cox-McPherson Ledgers and Papers, Accession 38-11, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library
The Cox-McPherson Papers were given to the Library by Mrs. E.H. McPherson of Charlottesville, Virginia , in 1938 .
Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
Leroy Wesley Cox was the son of Dr. William Cox and Mary Elizabeth (Lacy) Cox and had the following brothers and sisters: A.D. Cox , Almira Josephine Cox , Lucian N. Cox , E.M. Cox and Panthea Adelaide Cox . In 1871, Leroy Wesley Cox married Annie Eliza Foster (daughter of Nelson Foster and Annie Eliza Oaks ) and produced the following offspring: Lucian Franklin Cox , Edgar Nelson Cox , Mary Eliza Cox (Mrs. Thomas Brown ), Annie Leroy cox (Mrs. A.P. Dennis ), Leroy Wesley Cox , Amelia Foster Cox (Mrs. J.F. Powell ), and Almira Josephine Cox (Mrs. E.H. McPherson ).
This collection consists of 209 items (2 Hollinger boxes;.5 linear feet), 1758-1949, chiefly papers and bound volumes of the Cox and McPherson families. The papers include: Bible records for the children of John Humber and Elizabeth Humber , the Cox family , and the Lacy family ; a poem, "The Late Fire in Charlottesville, Virginia "; a Knights of Pythias Certificate belonging to Lewis H. Brown ; Precinct Poll books for Charlottesville , and printed material concerning the Women's Christian Temperance Union .
Other items in the papers include: a photograph of Miss Almira Josephine Cox and her four nieces, Amelia Foster Christian Cox , Annie Leroy Cox , Mary Elizabeth Cox and Almira Josephine Cox , who were all children of Leroy Wesley Cox and Ann Eliza Foster Cox ; and a photostat of The Soldiers Almanac.
There are several folders of material pertaining to Leroy Wesley Cox (1845-1938), a carriage and wagon manufacturer of Charlottesville, Virginia , and his involvement in the Republican Party of Charlottesville , 1896-1922. Among these papers are some of the Republican Party Papers, which include material about meetings, certificates for presidents of the Republican Campaign Club , voter registration lists for Charlottesville of white women and men, a list of "colored" members of the McKinley and Hobart Club (1896) and both "colored" and white voters of Charlottesville (1896); political broadsides, including several about voter qualifications and conventions; and newsclippings. The folder of political correspondence was created by Leroy Wesley Cox while serving as a secretary and chairman of the Republican City Committee of Charlottesville for over twenty years, 1901-1922.
The collection also contains several bound volumes including: precinct poll books for Charlottesville (1915); records of ward membership (1896 & n.d.); a general record book for the Republican Party of Albemarle County (1894); an account book for L.W. Cox Carriage Manufacturer (1884); an account book for [the Star Theater ] of Charlottesville, Virginia , for "motion picture shows" (1912-1915); a record of A.D. Cox 's estate (1913-1914); and a journal (1916-1917).
The collection is arranged chronologically with the eight bound volumes filed at the end of the collection.