Person Record
Metadata
Name |
Cox, Lucy Ann [Mrs. James A.] |
Born |
ca. 1825-30 |
Birthplace |
Fredericksburg, VA |
Father |
Jesse White |
Mother |
Lucinda Snellings White |
Notes |
Lucy Ann White Cox was probably born in the 1820s, although various official records that collected ages and vital statistics provide birth years ranging from as early as 1826 to as late as 1840. Her father, publisher of the Fredericksburg Weekly Advertiser, employed James A. Cox, a young man about ten years her junior, in his printing business. After the Civil War began, Cox enlisted on April 22, 1861, in Company A of the 30th Virginia Infantry Regiment. According to some later accounts, Lucy White accompanied Cox to the front at the beginning of the war and was present at the First Battle of Manassas in July 1861, but she probably did not permanently join his regiment in the field as a vivandière, or daughter of the regiment, until after they married in Fredericksburg on January 9, 1862, not long before the regiment left for North Carolina.Because Lucy Cox was not officially detailed to the regiment, it is difficult to determine the exact nature or length of her service, but she seems to have acted as a cook, laundress, nurse, and general helpmate for the men in Company A. She was widely known by the nom de guerre Pawnee. James Cox was hospitalized on several occasions, once in 1864 to have his right thumb amputated after sustaining wounds at Cold Harbor. He deserted briefly late in October 1863 and permanently in February 1865. Lucy Cox likely left the regiment to tend to her husband during his illnesses and accompanied him home in February 1865. |
Occupation |
After the war, the Coxes returned to her parents' home in Fredericksburg, where James Cox resumed the printing trade with Jesse White. Very little is known about Lucy Cox's postwar life. The Maury Camp of Confederate Veterans in Fredericksburg unanimously elected her an honorary member, and she and her husband both attended reunions of the 30th Virginia held in the 1880s, at which she was honored for her devotion to the Confederacy. She died after a lingering illness, perhaps dropsy. Although Lucy Cox had been buried in the Fredericksburg Confederate Cemetery, her husband was interred in the neighboring City Cemetery. |
Spouse |
James A. Cox |
Children |
None known |
