Isom B. Cox
& Gilley Cheek

Isom B. Cox, son of John R. COX & Mary ANDREWS, was born Feb. 27, 1855 (gravestone) or Feb. 4, 1855 (death cert.) in Ashe Co., NC, and died Dec. 4, 1932, in Alleghany Co., NC. He married Gilley Cheek, daughter of Chesley CHEEK & Phebe WOODRUFF, Nov. 28, 1880, in Alleghany Co., NC. She was born 1843 in Ashe Co., NC, and died Dec. 28, 1912, in Alleghany Co., NC. Isom and Gilley Cox are buried in the Isom B. Cox Cemetery, located off Road 1412 in Alleghany Co., NC.

No children.

Notes

som B. Cox was the oldest son of John R. Cox & Mary "Polly" Andrews.  They lived on Moccasin Creek in the Vox community of northern Alleghany County, NC.  The Coxes were close neighbors and relatives of the Chesley Cheek family.  Mary Andrews' father (Isom B. Cox's grandfather), James Carr Andrews, was Chesley Cheek's first cousin on the Andrews side.  This means that Isom B. Cox and his wife Gilley Cheek (Chesley Cheek's daughter) were second cousins once removed.

Gilley Cheek and Isom B. Cox were married on Nov. 28, 1880, when she was 37 and he was 25.  Gilley's sister Lucinda also married later in life, and to a younger man: Lucinda was 38 when she married her husband Thomas Andrews, who was 22.  It's likely that the Civil War, which killed so many young men their age, dimmed the Cheek girls' marriage prospects for several years after the war.

Records

Nov. 21, 1866, Gilley purchased 3 tracts of land containing a total of 120 acres from her mother, brothers and sisters, located on the Little River adjoining her sister Elizabeth Cheek.  (Alleghany Co., NC, DB A-1, pp.231-232.)  This was one of several transactions which Chesley Cheek's children conducted between themselves in order to divide up their father's land.

1870 Census, Alleghany Co., NC, Glade Creek Twp., p.273 (HH#28)
GILLY CHEEK, 25, keeping house, $700, $270, NC:

-- Sinda, 28, at home, NC

-- Elizabeth, 30, at home, NC

1880 Census, Alleghany Co., NC, Glade Creek Twp., p.242 (HH#31):
GILLY CHEEK, 35, keeping house, NC NC NC

Nov. 28, 1880. Isom B. COX, age 26, son of John R. COX & Mary (Polly) ANDREWS, m. Gilley CHEEK, age 32, daughter of Chesley & Phebe CHEEK. (G.H. Latham, Alleghany County Marriages (Heritage Books, 1996).)

Apr. 18, 1888. Isom COX & wife Gilly to Ira JARVIS, 13 ½ acres on Little River beg. on east bank of Little River, adj. SHAW(?) and JARVIS, for $94. Signed: Isom COX, Gilly COX. [No wits.] Proved Apr. 18, 1888 (ack'd). Reg. Nov. 14, 1893. (Alleghany DB 9:351.)

Note: the following deed involves the heirs of John R. COX who died in 1898:

Jan. 18, 1896. J.T. COX, Isom COX & wife Gilley, C.J. TOLIVER & wife Alice, G.R. COX & wife Leona, Caroline COX, Ennice COX, Marnisha COX, & D.W. COX of Alleghany Co., NC, & Preston R. COX & wife Susa, L. COX & wife Pearl, & Randolph COX of Nebraska, to John CHOATE of Grayson Co., VA, 67 acres on the Little River adj. Crockett CHEEK, for $500. Signed by the grantors. Proved July 31, 1897, in Alleghany Co., NC, by D.W. COX; Feb. 22, 1897, in Butler Co., NE, by Preston R. COX; Feb. 14, 1896, in Cass Co., NE, by Pearl COX wife of L. COX and Randolph COX (unmarried); Feb. 1, 1896, in Alleghany Co., NC, by the remaining grantors. Reg. Nov. 5, 1897. (Alleghany DB 11:399.)

1900 Census, Alleghany Co., NC, Glade Creek Twp. (HH#87):
ISOM B. COX, Feb. 1855, age 45, m. 20 years, NC NC NC

-- Gilley, Jan. 1849, age 51, m. 20 yrs, no children, NC NC NC

1910 Census, Alleghany Co., NC, Glade Creek Twp., p.3 (HH#42):
I.B. COX, 54, m. 30 yrs, NC NC NC, farmer - general farm

-- Gillie, wife, 64, m. 30 yrs, 2 children/0 living, NC NC NC

1920 Census, Alleghany Co., NC, Glade Creek Twp., p.12 (HH#227):
ISOM B. COX, 64, wd, NC NC NC, farmer - general farm

1930 Census, Alleghany Co., NC, Glade Creek Twp., p.1 (HH#13):
ISOM B. COX, 74, wd, NC NC NC, farmer - general farm

Nishia HUDSON, sister, 53, wd, " " "
Kyle COX, nephew, 14, " " "

Death Certificate: ISOM B. COX, age 77, b. 4 Feb 1855, Alleghany Co., NC; d. 4 Dec. 1932, Glade Creek Twp., Alleghany Co., NC; spouse: Gillie CHEEK; father: John B. COX; mother: Polly ANDREWS; burial: family cemetery. (Ancestry.com)