1790 Census, Wilkes County, North Carolina

Aris T. Cox possibly was the son of Matthew Cox Sr. and Lucy Dickerson.  I do not know how Aris T. Cox might have been connected to other Coxes who were in Wilkes County, North Carolina in 1790.

Aris T. Cox does not appear to be a likely candidate to have been the father of my fourth great grandfather Reuben Cox because there were no males under the age of 16 in the family, and Reuben Cox would have been 4 years old in 1790.

Some researchers do report that Aris T. Cox had a son named Reuben Cox, but Aris's son Reuben is reported as having been born 10 Jul 1803.  My Reuben Cox was born 6 Mar 1786.  I have found both Reubens in the census, and they were not the same person.

I do have some doubts that this Aris Cox was the son of Matthew.  I wonder if he might have been a brother or a cousin or a nephew of Matthew instead.  The problem is that Matthew's son Aris is reported to have been born on 4 May 1774.  If that date is correct, then Aris would have been extremely young to have been the head of household in 1790.  And Matthew didn't die until 1804.  So it seems likely to me that Aris T. Cox would have still been living in the household of his father in 1790.

There were two Asel Crosses in the 1790 census in North Carolina, one in Wilkes County and one in Rowen County.  I believe the two men were father and son, with Asel Cross Jr. living in Wilkes County and Asel Cross Sr. living in Rowan County.

Asel Cross Jr. died in Wilkes County, and his wife Temperance Dedman died in what is now Scott County, Tennessee.  His son Abraham was enumerated in the census in Scott County in 1850.

My Crosses were primarily in Anderson County, Tennessee.  But it has been necessary to research the Scott County branch of the family because some of them appeared in very early Anderson County, long before Scott County was created in 1849.  I believe that the two families had common roots in Baltimore County, Maryland.

There is some uncertainty in my analysis of which Asel Cross was which.  Asel Cross Jr. and Temperance Dedman were married in 1782 in Rowan County.  This census entry seems to have more females than might be expected.  If one of the females was Temperance herself and the other three were daughters, then Asel and Temperence would have had to have had four children between 1782 and 1790, namely their son Abraham and three daughters whose names are not known.

Charles Cate Sr. and John Cate were living next door to each other.  Charles Cate Sr. was the son of my seventh grandparents Capt. Robert Cate Jr. and Elizabeth Wyatt, the husband of Sarah Baldwin, and the brother of my sixth great grandfather John Cate.  The "John Cate" situation gets confusing.  The John Cate who was living next door was not the brother of Charles Cate Sr.  Rather, he was the son of Charles Cate Sr. and Sarah Baldwin.

The "John Cate" situation gets even worse.  I am descended from the Captain Robert Cate Jr. line of Cates.  The John Cate who was the brother of Charles Cate Sr. had a son William P. Cate who moved to Jefferson County, Tennessee.  William P. Cate was my fifth great grandfather.  In addition, there was a very famous John Cate Sr. in Jefferson County who was from Orange County, North Carolina.  He was my fifth great grandfather.  The two Cate lines were probably related, but to my knowledge such connection has not been proven.

This John Cate was the son of Charles Cate Sr. and Sarah Baldwin.  As such, he was the nephew of my sixth great grandfather John Cate. This John Cate married Elizabeth (Betsy) Manard.  Elizabeth (Betsy) Manard was the daughter of Gibson Manard who was living a few houses further down.

Gibson Manard Sr. and Sarah were the parents of Elizabeth (Betsy) Manard who married John Cate.

James Padgett was my fifth great grandfather.  James was the father of my fourth great grandmother Susannah Padgett who married my fourth great grandfather Reuben Cox.  Reuben Cox and Susannah Padgett were married in Wilkes County, North Carolina in 1805.  Thomas Cox was living two houses away from James Padgett in 1790, and David Cox was living three houses away.  It seems very likely that either Thomas Cox or David Cox was the father of Reuben Cox.

Thomas Cox is a candidate to have been the father of Reuben Cox.  Thomas was living two houses away from James Padgett, who was the father of Reuben Cox's wife Susannah Padgett.

David Cox is a candidate to have been the father of Reuben Cox.  David was living three houses away from James Padgett, who was probably the father of Reuben Cox's wife Susannah Padgett.

John Cox is a candidate to have been the father of Reuben Cox.  However, I don't think it was him.  In the column for males <16, there is either a smudge or a one, and I think it's more likely that it is a smudge than a one so that there were no young males in the home.  Also, John Cox did not live as close to James Padgett as did Thomas Cox and David Cox.