Daniel Coxe IV
Daniel Coxe IV | |
---|---|
Member of the Robert Hunter | |
Preceded by | John Kay |
Succeeded by | John Kinsey |
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the Gloucester County district | |
In office 1716 โ 1717 (Expelled) | |
Personal details | |
Born | 1673 |
Died | 1739 |
Spouse | Sarah Eckley |
Children | Daniel, William, Rebecca, John |
Colonel Daniel Coxe IV[1] (1673โ1739), son of Dr. Daniel Coxe, went to his father's North American lands. He lived in the American colonies from 1702 to 1716 and from 1725 until his death in 1739.[citation needed] After returning to England in 1716, he published an account in 1722 of his travels and a description of the area encompassed by his father's claim, entitled A Description of the English Province of Carolana, by the Spaniards called Florida, And by the French La Louisiane.
Daniel Coxe IV was appointed a member of the
He was appointed by the
In 1731, he claimed that he possessed superior title to that of the West Jersey Society, via a superseding deed that his father had recorded years earlier; the courts upheld Coxe's claim. Hundreds of families were forced to repurchase their own property from Col. Coxe or be forcibly evicted. The ensuing scandal was one of many injustices that inflamed American anger against the British during the years leading up the Revolutionary War. There were lawsuits and riots; Col. Coxe was burned in effigy; but to no avail. As a result, many Hopewell residents left New Jersey, either unable to pay Col. Coxe or disgusted with the colony's rampant political corruption. One group of Hopewell expatriates settled on the Yadkin River in what was then Rowan County, North Carolina. This community, the Jersey Settlement, continued to attract new settlers from the Hopewell area for several decades.
References
- ^ Neufeld, Rob (July 5, 2021). "Visiting Our Past: Coxes were WNC empire builders since the 1600s". Asheville Citizen-Times.
- ^ Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, date: various (pre 1950)
External links
- The Weld Coxe Collection, including correspondence, pamphlets, maps and other materials documenting the Coxe family in America, is available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.