MS 147

Joseph Dundas Cox Papers

1878-1962

INTRODUCTION Joseph Dundas Cox (1883-1963), industrialist and civic leader, was a charter member of the High Point Monthly Meeting of Friends, treasurer and trustee of the North Carolina Yearly Meeting, and a trustee of Guilford College from 1922 until his death. The Joseph Dundas Cox Papers include genealogies and histories of the Cox and Dundas families and related families, family correspondence from 1878 concentrated in the period after 1920, correspondence as a trustee of Guilford College from 1937 to 1962, essays and speeches of May Riddick Cox and memorabilia including a scrapbook of clippings about Elizabeth Gray Vining, family photographs, and a bound book of notes on law lectures by R.M. Pearson. The papers were given to the Friends Historical Collection by Joseph J. Cox in March 1976 and are contained in one box occupying 15 ½ inches of shelf space. There are 28 folders and 2 bound volumes.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES Joseph Dundas Cox was born in High Point, North Carolina, on December 29, 1883 and died in High Point on May 3, 1963. He was the son of Dr. Joseph John Cox of Northampton County and Mary Dundas Cox of Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada. After his graduation from the Guilford College in 1904 he returned to High Point to enter the family business and in 1906 he married May Walton Riddick of Hertford, North Carolina, a Guilford College classmate. Joseph Dundas Cox served as Sunday School Superintendent of High Point Monthly Meeting for 30 years as well as in other positions of leadership including elder. Over a period of 40 years he was active in the work of North Carolina Yearly Meeting as treasurer, trustee and member of numerous boards and committees. His service to Guilford College as trustee spanned 41 years; he was chairman of the Teachers and Officers Committee and, at the time of his death, was vice-chairman of the board. Mr. Cox was active in the community affairs in High Point, principally as director of a federally funded low cost housing project, 1940-1963.

SERIES DESCRIPTION I.

Genealogy and Family History

Families included are Coffin, Cox, Dundas, Hare, Nicholson, Riddick, Rogerson, Walton, White and Wilson. Comprised of correspondence, records, notebooks, narratives, clippings and copies of photographs, 1762-1959. 100 items. A. Jonathan Elliott Cox & Elizabeth Hare Cox Includes chart, memorial card, letter and testimony B. Joseph Dundas Cox (see Joseph Dundas Cox Papers) C. Dundas Family 1. Dundas and Sackrider family history including letters of Annie Lyle Davis, Mabel Stover, Sarah Houghtaling, and Nellie, Mary, Wendell, Clara, Jesse, Blanch and F. de Sales Dundas. 1901-1959. 2. Tribute to Nellie Dundas; will of Ella (Nellie) Dundas dated August 27, 1881; 2 Canadian Militia Commissions of John Dundas, ensign-1838, lieutenant-1839; Royal Line of Dundas Family;; Dundas family history (5 p.); records copied from Dundas family Bible; memorial cards; clippings. 3.

63 notebook pages of Dundas and related families genealogy

D. Hare Family Copy of photograph of William Hare; letter from Lucy Hallowell regarding Hare records; genealogy, 2 pp. E. Nicholson Family Copy of 1762 letter of Thomas Nicholson; Testimonies: Thomas Nicholson, Symon’s Creek Monthly Meeting, 1782; Ellen Nicholson, Piney Woods Monthly Meeting, 1873; letter from Anna Nicholson Riddick with family history; family history (also including White family) 9 pp; clipping: death of Mary Webb Nicholson, May 22, 1943. F. Riddick Family “The Name and Family of Riddick”, 9 pp; excerpt from letter of Ethel Parker Morgan re: mention of Riddick family in George Washington’s diary. G. Rogerson Family 19 page compilation of records about Margaret Rogerson and Joseph Cox, their ancestors and descendants to 1928. H. Walton Family Family record; memorial account of life of Isabella K. Hall; 3 letters from Nancy Esther Hineman about Walton genealogy, 1941. I. White/Wilson Families

Letter from Joseph Dundas Cox re: Wilson and Coffin genealogy; remarks made at presentation of fund to University of Pennsylvania in memory of Thomas Raeburn White; copies of photographs. J. Hurricane Hazel, 1954. Includes memorial tribute to J. Elwood Cox II and Louise Lea Cox; clippings. II.

Family Correspondence 1878- (1920-1960) Includes letters from Cox sons at camp and school (1921-1924) and from J. Elwood Cox II (1941-1945). Letters from Jeanette Rankin (1944), Elizabeth Gray Vining (1944, 1955, 1958), Samuel Haworth (1949). Also 9 letters exchanged by Joseph Dundas Cox and an English friend, C.B. Travis, between January, 1939 and April, 1941 in which they shared thoughts and experiences of the onset of World War II. 175 items.

III.

Guilford College Includes correspondence, reports, memos of trustees, largely concerned with teachers and officers and with buildings; 6 items on integration. 1937-1962. 120 items. A. Board of Trustees 1. Correspondence, 1937-1962 Includes original letter signed by 12 faculty members requesting a meeting with the trustees to discuss college administration, 10/26/1946. 2. Teachers and Officers Committee, 1939- (1957-59) Reports, recommendations, meeting agendas B. Development Program 1. Builders Club (1937-1940 Correspondence and reports. 2. Gymnasium, 1938-1940 Correspondence with and about Alfred Bussele, architect for the gym; discussion of gym’s location on campus C. Black Students, 1959-1961 Correspondence and memos. D. Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1907, 1937-1961 Includes letters from Russel Pope, Raymond Binford, Ada Field.

IV.

Essays and Speeches of May Riddick Cox, 1920-1924 Michelangelo, n.d.; Rock Garden Plants, n.d.; The Exile & Captivity, 1924; The Orations, Songs & Prayers of Moses, 1923; The Missions & Journeys of Paul,

1925; Carot, n.d.; Religions of China, n.d.; Jude, n.d.; Women’s Suffrage in the United States, 1920; The Conquest of Canaan, 1924. V.

Wachovia Trust Department, Guardian Statements for Elen Dundas Cox, Jonathan Elwood Cox, III, and Stephen Thomas Cox, 10/28/1961 – 10/28/1962. Note: Sealed to all except Cox family members named in the statements and their next of kin.

VI.

Memorabilia A. The Superintendent’s Guide for 1917, a New Year’s gift to Joseph Dundas Cox. 1945 desk diary used as a scrapbook for clippings about Elizabeth Gray Vining, 1946-1952, some diary notes. Announcements, clippings. B. Photographs are of family members for the most part, studio portraits from the late 19th and early 20th century, with some later group pictures of Quaker gatherings. Included are pictures of the First National Bank of High Point, 1900, and a lumber mill in Salem, North Carolina, where blocks were cut for Capt. W.H. Snow, 1900. 100 items/ C. Post Card Album 1909-1936

VII.

Bound Book – Lectures of Law and Equity by R.M. Pearson, Chief Justice of North Carolina, abridgement by B.F. Montagu, Raleigh, North Carolina, June 29, 1877. Also included are “ A Rhyming History of England”, extract from a sermon on education delivered by T.H. Pritchard, diary of an unnamed 22 yearold lawyer (10/26/1892 – 5/8/1893) which mentions Dr. J.J. Cox (p. 423), J. Elwood Cox (pp. 416, 418, 431-33) and Capt. W.H. Snow (p. 429).

VIII.

High Point Housing Authority 1940-1963.