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Presented  to  the 
I^^|VL  York  Public  Librsry 
-^Jj)y  the  FOX  FP111LY   NEY/S 

HowaPd  Pox,  616  Madison  Av.  Editor 


T+^V\r 


HFT 


VOL.  V 


JANUARY.   1916 


.'No.,1 


Advice  from  Norman  Fox. 

Painted    Post,   July    3rd    1862 
George  H.   Fox, 

My  son.  In  your  letter  sometime 
ago,  you  mentioned  that  you  wanted  a 
classical  Dictionary  and  Anthon's  Vir- 
gil. I  have  looked  over  the  School 
books  and  find  a  copy  of  Anthon's 
Virgil  but  so  far  worn  out  that  it  is 
useless  and  have  sent  you  Cooper's 
Virgil  and  Ainsworth's  Latin  Diction- 
ary, done  up  in  a  paper  package  and 
directed  to  the  care  of  R.  P.  Clapp. 
Troy.  One  of  our  Boatmen  look  the 
package  and  will  dehver  it  to  Charles 
in  Albany  to  send  up  to  Troy  and  have 
forwarded  to  you.  You  ought  to  have 
taken  them  with  you  when  you  left 
home  for  Schdol.  You  mention  about 
a  vacation  in  your  School  but  dont 
say  how  long  and  talk  about  coming 
home.  If  the  vacation  is  five  or  six 
weeks,  I  think  you  had  better  come 
home.  If  it  is  only  two  weeks  you 
better  not.  You  say  it  will  be  dull 
spending  the  vacation  at  Ballston. 
Suppose  it  is?  What  has  that  to  do 
with  the  great  object  of  your  present 
preparation  for  future  life?  You  are 
now  forming  character  for  life,  for 
Weal  or  Wo  in  this  world  and  the 
•world  to  come.  You  are  now  in  the 
most  responsible  and  eventful  period 
of  your  life.  If  the  foundation  of 
your  future  is  badly  laid,  the  Struc- 
ture will  be  weak  and  useless.  If  you 
start  wrong  you  will  come  out  wrong. 


As  the  Twig  is  bent  the  Tree  /is.  .in- 
clined. You  cannot  expect  to  rdacl^ 
'iny  desireable  and  useful  attai'.tm'onts' 
in  life  short  of  persevering  eff'/ri' 
steadiness  of  purpose  and  decision  of' 
character.  There  must  be  no  fickle- 
ness of  mind.  The  Apostle  James 
says,  "A  double  minded  man  (Fickle 
minded)  is  unstable  in  all  his  ways" 
Xo  useful  or  important  attainments 
are  ever  reached  short  of  toil,  perse- 
verance, personal  labor  and  experi- 
ence. That  which  costs  nothing  is 
good  for  nothing.  An  Eminent  writer 
says  any  one  can  have  the  Pearl  if  he 
will  pay  the  price  for  it.  All  useful 
and  noble  attainments  in  human  char- 
acter are  valued  in  proportion  to  the 
.sacrifice,  toil,  perseverance,  perplexity- 
and  disappointments  necessarily  met 
often  times  in  reaching  and  attaining 
them.  Keep  these  things,  my  son. 
constantly  in  your  mind.  You  w-ill 
soon  have  to  tuke  care  of  yourself. 
You  will  soon  be  without  the  counsel 
of  >OLir  father,  who  has  watched  over 
you  with  anxious  care  from  your  cra- 
dle to  the  present  time.  I  shall  not 
return.  I  am  rapidly  on  my  way  to 
the  grave,  the  House  for  all  the  living. 
You  will  have  the  sympathy  of  a 
faithful  nidthei-  after  I  have  gone  the 
way  of  all  the  earth.  She  will  care 
deeply  for  your  temporal  and  spiritual 
welfare:.  You  will  have  kind  brothers 
and  sisters  to  sympathize  with  you  in 
sickness  or  afflictions,  but  they  and 
each    of    them    will    have    cares    and 


Oi^aA 


FOX   FAMILY  NEWS 


Jan.  1,  1916 


duties  of  their  own  and  you  in  a  meas- 
ure will  be  thrown  upon  your  own  re- 
sources, to  grapple  and  contend  with 
the  Selfishness  and  deceitful  friend- 
ships of  lan  unfeeling  world.  Now  my 
son,  I  want  you  to  look  these  truths 
full  in  the  face  and  pi-epare  to  meet 
them.  T  feel  great  anxiety  that  all  my 
childtOi  -Should  be  useful  and  honor- 
cbie  in  their  day  and  generation  and 
above  all,  recipients  of  That  Grace 
which  is  unto  life.  My  oldest  son  is 
fr.Ifillin.T  my  expectations.  My  son, 
niiKe  ycur  peace  with  God.  Choose 
..'etus  Christ  'as  your  Saviour  and 
Counsellor  and  he  will  be  nearer  than 
a  brother.  Then  all  will  be  well  with 
you  in  this  world  and  the  woi-ld  to 
come. 

Yours  affectionately 

Norman  Fox. 

From  the  Archives. 

Copy  of  a  letter  written  by  AlxnsonJ  Fox  from 
Canada  to  Norman  fojr.Jr.,  -.I'hile  the  latter  was 
Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  at  Whitehall,  Aeiv 
York. 

Kingston  C.  W.  Dec.  15th  18  60 

Irons  Hotel. 

Dr  Brother. 

I  am  waiting  patiently  here  for  the 
world  to  move  a  little  faster,  am  get- 
tmg  tired  and  uneasy  at  the  dull  slow 
movement  of  the  clock  &  the  duller, 
slower  movements  of  every  man  who 
does  business  in  this  city  of  stone.  At 
home  when  I  have  a  great  deal  to  do 
I  can  get  up  early  &  work  hard  & 
crowd  oflF  business  but  here  I  have  to 
wait  the  motion  of  the  elements,  get 
up  at  8  o'clock  to  breakfast,  wait  un- 
til 10  o'clock  before  I  can  see  any- 
body, then  talk  a  few  minutes  &  wail 
another  24  hours. 

I  am  ready  to  make  a  solemn  vow 
that  if  I  ever  can  unravel  this  twisted 
mess  of  business  to  which  Father  is 
so  unfortunately  fastened  I  will  never 
show  my  face  this  side  of  the  line 
again.      To    one    of   these    long   vacant 


spells  you  are  indebted  for  this  letter. 
I  never  get  time  to  write  to  you  at 
home,  I  have  so  many  little  matters 
to  attend  to  but  now  it  helps  use  up 
the  time.  It  seems  strange  for  one 
whose  only  trouble  generally  is  to  find 
time  enough  to  do  what  is  necessary, 
to  be  looking  around  for  some  way  to 
use  up  the  time. 

I  have  a  great  deal  of  trouble  in 
closing  up  Father's  old  business  here. 
Mr.  A.  tries  as  hard  as  he  can  to  make 
inatters  worse,  obstinately  refuses  to 
pay  any  part  of  his  honest  debt  to 
Father  &  throws  every  possible  stum- 
bling block  in  the  w^a.y  of  any  feasible 
plan  for  the  payment  of  the  debts. 
There  are  about  $6000.00  of  debts  to 
pay  which  we  could  nearly  wnpe  out 
with  the  mill  property  if  Mr.  A.  would 
only  cooperate  with  us  in  the  matter. 
Instead  of  that  he  is  aiming  to  make 
us  pay  off  the  debt  &  leave  the  whole 
mill   property  to  him. 

But  then  I  am  not  di-scouraged. 
Even  if  everything  here  proves  a  total 
loss  we  have  enough  left  at  home  to 
pay  off  everything  &  have  consider- 
able left  but  it  is  hard  to  work  like  a 
nigger  for  several  years  to  pay  up  old 
scores.  I  can  make  money  enough  at 
the  Po.st  to  pay  off  Father's  debts  if 
they  were  twice  as  large. 

I  have  done  a  good  deal  of  hard 
work  &  had  a  good  deal  of  bitter  ex- 
perience in  this  Canada  scrape  for  one 
of  my  age  but  I  find  it  has  sharpened 
my  wits  &  opened  mj-  eyes  enough  to 
help  me  a  good  deal  in  doing  business 
at  P  Post  without  making  mistakes. 

But  I  suppose  you  dont  care  to 
hear  this  lingo.  I  would  write  in  a 
different  strain  if  I  felt  like  it.  I  am 
glad  to  hear  occasionally  from  you 
that  you  are  geitting  along  so  well  at 
Whitehall,  shall  be  glad  to  hear  be- 
fore  a   great   while    of   "Mr   &   Mrs  N 


Jan-  1,  1916 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 

The  recognized  organ  of  the  Society  of 
the  DescenJaiiis  of  Norman  Fox.  Published 
everp  lr»o  months.  Editor,  Harvard  Fox, 
616  Madison  Avenue,  New  Yorl^.  Subscrip- 
tion $1.00  per  ^ear. 

Fox  Jr"  &  see  the  happy  couple  at 
our  house.  It  is  a  pity  if  -a  young- 
mail  of  your  aljility  and  accO'mplish- 
ments  with  the  whole  of  Eastern  New 
York  for  a  field  to  pick  in,  cant  makti 
a  liaise  of  a  better  half  before  a  great 
while. 

Libbie  wi'ites  to  us  in  gre'ait  glee  in 
anticipation  of  spending  her  Christmas 
holidays  with   you. 

I  suppose  Charlie  also  will  l)e  with 
you.  It  will  seem  almost  like  a  family 
party  to  have  3  of  you  together.  Char- 
lie will  be  out  of  college  next  sum- 
mer &  will  have  to  look  out  for  some 
way  of  getting  a  living.  Perhaps  you 
can  find  a  place  for  him  in  some  lum- 
ber or  forwarding  business  at  White- 
hiaJl.  If  he!  could  make  enough  to  pay 
his  board  the  Hrst  year  in  some  busi- 
ness where  he  could  be  learning  some- 
thing profitable  all  the  while  we  could 
keep  him  in  spending  money  &  clothes 
till  hie:  could  command  good  wages.  I 
see  no  good  opening  for  him  in  our 
business  at  present  as  Billie  &  I  hold 
the  only  'two  good  place.s  in  the  con- 
cern. I  shall  try  to  get  him  a  place 
in  an  Albany  lumber  yard  if  I  can, 
l)Ut  if  not  we  must  do  the  next  best 
thing.  It  wont  do  for  him  to  lie  around 
loose  after  he  gets  out  of  college. 

Billie  has  a  good  place  &  satisfies 
all  concerned.  His  wages  are  to  be 
raised  next  year.  He  has  taken  a 
share  in  a  purchase  of  'timber  land 
which  interests  him  a  good  deal  &  will 
be'  a  good  stepping  stonie  for  hini  into 
the  business.  He  has  bought  a  build- 
ing lot  on  the  nvain  ro'sd  &  is  laying 
out  his  spare  money  on  that  so  as  to 


have  a  cage  ready  for  his  bird  when 
caught.  George  goes  to  District 
School.  Father's  health  is  very  good 
for  him.  Living  at  Painted  Post  agrees 
with  him.  His  face  however  pains  him 
a  great  deal.  Aunf  Selina  is  :vt  our 
house  'and  very  feeble,  I  fear  she  will 
not  live  many  months.  Abbie  has  re- 
gained her  health  entirely  &  looks  fair 
c^'  plump  as  ever  &  enjoys  herself 
well. 

Our  family  matters  never  went  off 
any  more  happily  or  smoothly  than 
now,  we  have  a  large  house  with 
plenty  of  room  for  company  &  plenty 
to  eat  &  live  comfortably.  Our  busi- 
ness matters  there  are  in  good  shape. 
We  have  .just  closed  an  uncommonly 
good  season  for  business  &  have  made 
a  good  deal  of  money. 

Church  inatters  are  moving  pros- 
perously. The  new  fleeting  House  is 
all  finished  outside  &  the  Basement 
will  1)6  lall  ready  for  occupation  in  a 
week  or  two.  The  upper  part  is  just 
ready  for  plastering.  It  will  be  the 
finest  village  Church  in  Western  New 
York   without  exception. 

W.  C.  Bronson  has  just  built  a 
block  of  brick  stores  3  stories  high 
which  beat  anything  in  Steuben  Co. 
In  the  third  s'tory  is  a  Concert  Hall 
.50  X  60  &  17  feet  high.  The  Foundry 
hus  also  l)een  rel)uilt  so  that  Painted 
Post  is  really  looking  fine.  A  Plank 
sidewalk  Co.  was  organized  this  fall  of 
which  C.  F.  Piatt  was  President  & 
Wm  F  Fox  General  Superintendent  & 
have  built  a  sidewalk  from  the  village 
to  the  mills  which  makes  the  walk 
nothing  but   sport. 

We  shall   expect   a  good   long  visit 
from  you  next  summer  either  with  or 
without    Mrs    F.    <Sr    in    the    meantime 
hope  to  hear  from  you  often 
Yours 

A.  .1.  Fox 


FOX   FAMILY  NEWS 


Jan    1,  1910 


Family  News. 


Noel  has  been  appointed  secretary 
of  the  Board  of  Stewards  of  the  Sons 
of  the  Revolution. 

Miarion  Clapp  announces  her  en- 
gagement to  Mr.  James  Boise  White 
of  PJallston  Spa. 

Howard  Freeman  has  returned 
from  California  and  will  probably  ac- 
cept a  business  position  in  New  York. 

Aunt  Corneliia  I'ecently  took  a  trip 
to  Yarmouth,  Xova  Scotia,  visiting  her 
friend   Mrs.   Potts. 

Nellie  has  been  in  the  East  for  a 
month  and  is  now  staying-  with  Aunt 
Elizabeth  at  the  Hotel  Bonta,  Broad- 
way and    94th   St. 

On  Thanksgiving  there  were  eig^h- 
teen>  members  of  the  Society  to  dine 
at  Helen's  home  in  New  Haven.  An- 
other good  sized  family  gathering  took 
place  at  Ethel's  home  in  Detroit. 

Howard  lately  visited  George  and 
Gertrude  at  Binghamton  where  he 
gave  'a  lecture  before  the  Binghamton 
Academy  of  Medicine.  Howard  has 
been  appointed  a  member  of  the  at- 
tending staff  of  the  recently  org-anized 
Radium  Sanitarium. 

Another  letter  to  the  Editor: 
"Dear  Sir: — ^Ve  hear  a  great  deal 
through  your  coluinns  of  the  various 
members  of  the  family  who  are  con- 
nected with  the  militia  etc.  I  should 
be  very  g-lad  to  see  a  li.-^t  of  the  rela- 
tives who  are  members  of  Peace  Soci- 
ties  or  whose  interests  are  strongly 
anti-military. 

Yours, 

Helen  Fox  Trowbridge. 

Uncle  George  recently  visited  the 
Theta  Chapter  of  Psi  Upsilon  at  Union 
College  as  an  official  representative  of 
the  Council.     The  boys  seemed  pleased 


Norman    Fox    1792-1863 

A  sfDiewhat  unnatural  expression  of  the  /ace  in 
this  portrait  is  due  to  the  scar  on  the  riglit  cheek 
caused  by  a  surgical  operation/or  the  removal  of  a 
malignant  growth. 


to  learn  that  his  brother  ('61)  'and 
nephew  ('95)  were  members  of  the 
chapter  and  somewhat  surprised  when 
he  told  them  that  his  father  entered 
Union  College  over  one  hundred  years 
ago. 

Here  is  *  where  little  Montague 
scores  another  hit.  At  a  recent  bath- 
ing seance,  presided  over  by  his  grand- 
mother, little  Montague  remarked  that 
he  didn't  like  his  bath.  When  asked 
why  his  bath  was  not  satisfactory  he 
replied  "It  is  Laodicean."  To  under- 
stand the  significance  of  this  adjective 
we  quote  a.  passage  from  Revelation 
which  Laddie  had  recently  heard  his 
g-randfa-ther  read.  It  relates  to  the 
command  given  .Tohn  to  write  to  the 
Laodiceans  "I  know  thy  works  for 
thou   art  neither  cold   nor  hot." 


VOL.  V 


MARCH,   1916 


No.  2 


Jehiel  Fox  in  the  Revolution. 

by  Xoel  Blcecker  Iwx. 

Our  great  grandfather,  Jehiel  Fox, 
served  in  the  militia  of  two  states  during 
the  Revolutionary  War.  His  first  service 
was  in  Connecticut  as  stated  after  his 
death  by  his  brother,  Gabriel  Ely  Fox, 
who  said  "Jehiel  Fox  went  out  as  a  sub- 
stitute to  NevM  London  in  the  militia  -about 
3  mo.  -  while  living  at  Connect."  Neither 
the  regiment  nor  the  date  of  this  service 
is  known  and  any  further  particulars 
which  anyone  can  furnish  will  be  most 
acceptable.  It  was  probably  about  1778- 
for  Jehiel  Fox  had  been  born  at  East 
Haddam,  Conn.,  in  1762  and  in  the  spring 
of  1779  he  moved  with  his  father  to  New 
York  State,  settling  at  Canaan,  which  was 
then  in  that  part  of  Albany  County  called 
"Kings  District"  but  is  now  in  Columbia 
County.  There  he  enlisted  in  the  Seven- 
teenth Regiment  of  AlbanyCounty  Militia, 
which  was  raised  in  the  Kings  District 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  William 
Bradford  Whiting. 

In  the  State  Library  at  Albany  we 
find  in  "Audited  Accounts,  Volume  .A", 
at  page  62,  a  reference  to  "  Col.  W.  B. 
Whiting's  Regt.  of  Militia  order'd  on  alarm 
to  Schenectady  under  the  immediate  com- 
mand of  Lieut.  Col.  Asa  Waterman  for 
the  defence  of  the  United  States  from  nth 
to  23d  October  17S1  both  days  included  ". 
That  Jehiel  Fox  performed  this  duty  as  a 
private  in  Captain  Elijah  Bostwick's  com- 
pany is  shown  by  the  pay  roll  of  the  com- 
pany in  "  Certificates  of  Treasurer,  Vol- 
ume II    ",   at   page  63.        In    that    list    his 


name  is  spelled  "HieIFox"and  we  cannot 
tell  whether  it  is  a  clerical  error  or  whether 
he  was  known  by  that  abbreviation  to  his 
friends  and  neighbors.  The  figures  oppo- 
site his  name  showing  the  amount  of  his 
pay  for  that  service  were  partly  burned 
when  the  State  Library  was  destroyed  a 
few  years  ago  but  the  other  privates  whose 
entries  appear  in  full  received  each  /,  i,  is, 
4d. 

This  regiment  was  ordered  out  on 
other  occasions  also  but  its  muster  rolls 
for  those  were  partially  or  wholly  burned 
with  the  State  Library  and  as  Jehiel  Fox's 
name  does  not  appear  in  any  of  the  frag- 
ments preserved  we  cannot  tell  what  active 
service  he  performed  except  that  already 
mentioned.  The  identity  of  our  great 
grandfather  with  that  "  Hiel  Fox"  has 
been  deemed  by  the  Sons  of  the  Revolu- 
tion in  the  State  of  New  York  as  sufficient- 
ly proved  to  entitle  his  descendants  to 
membership  in  that  society. 

In  one  of  his  writings  Uncle  William 
said  that  Jehiel  Fox  served  with  the  Seven- 
teenth Albany  Regiment  on  a  march  to 
New  London  in  1781.  I  can  find  no  other 
authority  to  show  that  this  regiment  made 
such  an  expedition  and  it  seems  improb- 
able that  it  was  sent  so  far  away  while  bor- 
der warfare  in  Northern  New  York  was  so 
acute.  I  am  inclined  to  regard  that  state- 
mentas  a  mistake  caused  by  confusing  the 
two  regiments  in  which  )ehiel  Fox  served. 

Jehiel  Fox's  four  older  brothers,  Reu- 
ben, Hubbard.  Allen  and  Ansel  all  served 
in  the  Revolution  having  enlisted  in  Con- 
necticut before  their  father  moved  to  New 


FOX    FAMILY    NEWS 


March  1   1916 


kiiJed  in  the 

was  ai  Mon- 

-    rn,  after 

■^C2te  of 

..nd 
•  Badge 


The  Ar.r.'^a'.  Reunion. 


NeiJie,  Gertrude.  Alice.  Eihel,  Adaline. 
Ediih.  Rachel,  Dell.  Hope,  Uncle  George, 
Waller,  Montague,  Howard.  Koel,  Harry. 
Alanson,  Kenneth,  Howard  Freeman. 
Edgar.  Charles  I  vins.  Miss  Cornelia  Fulton 
and  M;??  Anna  Carrere.  H.  F. 

A  Trip  to  Bmghamton. 

It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  be  entertajn- 

r  '  George  and  Gertrude  in  their 

-^e  in  Binghamion.     George 

mself  felt    in    the 

^  he   has   elected   to 

:tise  his  profession.     In  the  course  of 

-  .  visit  I  learned  that  he  was  Vice-presi- 

:--::  of  the  Broome  Count}-  Medical  Asso- 

:i:ion  and  Treasurer  of  the  Binghamton 

Academy  of  Medicine.     He  is  very  active 

:"ne  National  Guard,  having  been  com- 

-sioned  caoiain    on  March  15,   igi5  Jn 

-      -;      -. "      .  ance  Company    No.  i. 

-  .  been  elected  president 

\rd   local   association   of 


.\\.r- 


finallv   vie^ 


of  Gf 


MaiBe    \Va 


As  I  ad"  iany  furniture 

;  _5e  .'.a^  fi  J  led,  Gertrude 

ui  how  much  of  it  had 

■  -   ^      ^  -  r    ireroned  by  an  older 

^     ^'1   i  .  :.        :.    the    shabbiest   of 

cioibes.  she  visited  a  neighboring  hamlet, 

"-'^       ca^rf    Apa'^chian    (pronounced    '"apple- 

-_.'  '-.----      ;".h  some  bottles  of  home 

rn,-ce  ;w.:r.;:_;£  ::-;ish,  she  would  call  from 

r  family,       bouse  to  bouse  and  address  the  good  house- 

-e?  Ti-'-  ___-.-:-_^.    ^5  follows:  "Madam,  I 

-    -.  -  ^  ".ure  polish,    which    not 

jjsbcs.       I  make  it  my- 

People  come  into  your 

t    your   furniture  and  bring 

.         -        all  kinds  to  which  yourchild- 

T  exposed."       She  would  then  add 

-  ,ir__.'v.  '"haven't  you  anj-  old  furniture 
you  want  cleaned  up,  the  older  the  better, 

--  -  -  -        :  —  ,.\-:^.^   that    was    your    mother's    or 

-  r  s."        If  the  treasures  were 
,  -                -  :e   .rude  would  get  down  on 

7    _        -  ^-      .'    ;  ;,'  1  .:nees  and  demonstrate  the 

.     f    :     t-  vrares.    Eventually  the  woman 

,  '  _   ::  ^   7  rrsuaded,  without  much  diffi- 

-ins.  Ada,       c-  •".  with  her  old  furniture  at  a 


March  1.    191tJ 


FOX    FAMILY    NEWS 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 

The  retognized  organ  of  the  Society 
of  the  Descendants  of  Norman  Fox. 
Published  every  two  months.  Editor, 
Howard  Fox,  6/6  .Madison  .-Ivenue.  New 
York.     Subscription  $i.oo  per  year. 

low  figure.     If  you  wish  to  corroborate  m y 
storj-,  go  to  Binghamton  as  Kenneth  and 
I  have  djne.     You   will  be  royally  treated. 
Howard  Fox. 

On  Family  Names. 

Shortly  after  Adaline"?  birth.  Uncle 
Alanson  wrote  Uncle  George  as  follows :- 
"There  was  a  time  when  a  birth  in  the 
Fox  family  was  an  occasion  of  great  im- 
portance &  caused  much  discussion  &  com- 
ment. Now  however  such  things  are  get- 
ting too  common  to  awaken  any  great 
amount  of  enthusiasm,  except  with  the 
happv  mother  of  each  new  arrival.  Of 
course  I  have  no  doubt  that  this  young 
lady  is  far  ahead  of  all  the  preceeding 
arrivals,  but  then  the  next  one  will  be  e- 
qually  superior  (excuse  the  bull  )  and  so 
Hattie  will  please  excuse  any  extra  illum- 
inations &c  in  honor  of  ihe  arrival.  I 
would  suggest  the  name  of  Cornelia  lor 
the  young  female,  except  for  a  recent  ex- 
perience of  which  you  may  have  heard. 
.\\.  the  risk  of  spoiling  a  good  story  by  its 
repetition  I  will  proceed  to  narrate  how  on 
the  late  arrival  of  an  additional  female 
Milesian  of  the  Fitz  Martin  family  (de- 
scendants of  the  Irish  Kings  &c.  >  the 
happy  parents  proposed  to  do  honor  to  the 
illustrious  head  of  the  Fox  clan  by  nam- 
ing the  child  Cornelia. 

The  illustrious  head  cS:c  was  highly  de- 
lighted with  the  honor  about  to  be  con- 
ferred upon  her  and  her  face  was  wreath- 
ed in  smiles  from  the  birth  to  the  day  of 
christening.  But  alas!  for  the  vanity  of 
human  expectations.  When  the  Fitz  Mar- 
tin family  presented  the  child  for  baptism 
the  good  Father  Colgan  obstinatelj^  refused 
to  give  the  child  the  name  of  Cornelia. 
■'Sure,"  he  explained,  "there  never  was  a 
saint   by    that  name."     (You    see   Father 


Colgan  was  not  personally  acquainted  with 
the  illustrious  head  &c.  before  mentioned). 
"I  never  would  give  a  child  such  a  name 
as  that.  Call  her  Biddy!  Call  her  Biddy!" 
And  so  the  descendants  of  the  Irish  Kings 
were  obliged  to  succumb  to  the  inexorable 
resolution  of  Father  Colgan  and  b)-  way 
of  compromise,  the  child  was  named 
"  Louisa"  Charles  wonders  where  the 
priest  ever  heard  of  a  saint  by  that  name. 

And  so  for  fear  of  a  similar  experience 
and  in  view  of  the  hard  times  I  would 
suggest  the  name  of  Cornelia.  It  is  a 
grand  old  heathen  name,  however  if  not 
a  good  Christian  name.  You  remember 
the  old  woman  with  the  jewels  &c. 

If  ever  we  have  a  pair  of  twin  boj's 
I  shall  name  them  Marcus  and  Caius 
Gracchus  Fox.  Wont  that  be  classic!  It 
will  be  just  our  luck  however,  having  such 
a  grand  chance  for  a  hit  in  the  way  of 
names  that  our  twins  will  be  girls." 

As  Others  See  Us. 

{Front  the  testimpKy  of  Hon  James  ]V,  Wadsworih 
before  ike  Fjresi  Itrz-estig^tion  Commiiice  tqio  ) 

Q.  "  Was  the  correspondence  placed 
before  you,  do  5'ou  recollect?" 

A.  "  Not  that  I  remember.  The 
general  situation  was  described  and  the 
desirabilty  of  the  purchase  discussed.  Col. 
Fox  I  had  the  greatest  confidence  in :  I  do 
not  know  as  I  have  ever  met  a  man  in  the 
public  service  who  inspired  me  with  more 
confidence,  not  only  as  to  his  integrit}",  but 
the  fact  that  he  seemed  to  know  about 
everv  township  in  the  Adirondacks.  I  had 
been  on  the  Board  about  a  3-ear,  and  had 
noticed  the  remarkably  retentive  memory 
that  he  had  in  that  connection,  and  the 
detailed  description  that  he  could  give  us, 
and  the  idea  he  could  give  us  as  to  the 
value  of  lands.  I  didn't  have  it  only  from 
my  personal  observation  of  Mr.  Fox,  but 
also  from  my  cousin.  Major  W.  A.  Wads- 
worth,  who  had  known  him  very  well  here 
when  he  himself  was  on  the  three-headed 
commission,  and  my  cousin  had  often  at 
that  time  and  since  then  has  expressed  his 
great  confidence  in  Col.  Fox's  ability  and 
integrity.  " 


FOX    FAMILY    NEWS 


March  1,   1916 


A  Manistii^ut  GaiJu'iing—  lyuu 

UPPER  ROW -Noriiiati,  Ada/hie,  Alan,  Aunt  Louise,  IValter. 
MIDDLE  ROlV—r>ute  Charles,  Uncle^Alanson,  Aunt  Cornelia. 
LOWER  ROM— Helen.   George.   Alanson. 


Family  News. 

N'oel  has  been  appointed  sergeant  in 
Troop  A.  Squadron  A. 

Uncie  George  is  taking  a  month's  trip 
with  Cousin  DeWitt  Ivins,  to  Florida  and 
to  the  Isle  of  Pines,  near  Cuba. 

Alice  spent  several  weeks  duiing  the 
past  month  at  Nassau.  Bahama  Islands, 
with  her  friend  Miss  Hadley. 

Helen  writes  that  "little  Mason  drew 
a  picture  the  other  day  of  a  star  with  a 
gun  chasing  a  rabbit.  He  explained  that 
it  was  a  shooting  star". 

Here's  another  puff  for  the  paper  and 
the  family  to  boot,  from  one  of  our  sub- 
scribers. Miss  Harriet  Littlefield.  She 
writes  "I  enjoy  the  "F.\Mll.v  News"  very 
much  and  think  the  Fo.x  family  quite  re- 
markable." 

We  regret  to  learn  of  the  death  of 
Anna's  father,  Mr  D.  Wilson  Moore,  who 
died  at  the  age  of  S6.      He  had  lived  in 


Colorado  Springs  for  the  past  fifteen  years 
and  was  widely  known  for  his  many 
charities. 

Manv  of  our  readers  will  regret  to 
learn  of  the  death  of  Dr.  George  T.  Jack- 
son who,  for  so  many  years  had  been  asso- 
ciated with  Uncle  George  at  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons  and  was  a  neigh- 
bor on  thirty-first  street. 

Howard  recently  went  to  Washington 
at  the  request  of  Senator  Ransdell,  to 
attend  the  hearing  of  the  National  lepro- 
sarium bill,  before  the  senate  committee 
on  public  health  and  national  quarantine. 

Kenneth  has  been  elected  acting  pas- 
lorof  the  CongregationalChurch  of  Paxton, 
Mass.  where  he  will  devote  some  of  his 
time  to  pastoral  work,  in  addition  to  acting 
as  School  Minister  at  Worcester  Academy. 
He  is  teaching  both  Bible  and  ancient 
history  this  year  at  the  school.  He  and 
Rachel  are  now  living  at  126  Providence 
St.,  Worcester,  Mass. 


rtFT 


VOL.  V 


MAY.  1916 


No.  3 


A  Tribute  to  Col.  William  F-  Fox 

by  Hon.  James  S.   Whipple. 

{Extract  frotn  an  article  by  former  Comitiiss- 
ioni't  \Vhipf>:e  in  the  iQoj-q  reports  of  the  Forcat, 
J-is/i  and  Game  Commission  of  the  State  of  !^eii< 
y,>rA-.) 

When  the  first  Forest  Commission 
was  established  and  organized  the  first 
appointment  was  that  of  Col.  Wm.  F.  Fox 
on  November  i,  18S5,  to  the  position  of 
Assistant  Secretary.  One  could  hardly 
appreciate  his  position  at  that  time,  con- 
fronted with  so  much  that  was  new  and 
no  resource  upon  which  to  draw  for  reli- 
able information.  Yet  the  report  for  18S5 
shows  that  he  had  a  clear  insight  into  the 
requirements.  The  organization  of  a  fire 
protection  force,  ejecting  squatters  upon 
the  lands  and  enforcing  the  law,  all  with 
a  small  untrained  force,  were  initial  prob- 
lems. 

From  18S8  to  iSgi  we  find  him  as 
.\ssistant  Forest  Warden,  actively  engaged 
in  executive,  administrative  field  and  rout- 
ine work. 

In  1893  the  Commissioner  became  the 
subject  of  legislative  investigation  and  as 
a  result,  a  new  forest  law  was  passed  and 
a  new  Commissioner  appointed.  How- 
ever, it  is  pleasing  to  note  that  this  same 
act  particularly  specified  that  the  present 
Superintendent  should  be  continued  in 
office. 

Supt.  Fox  prepared  a  very  exhaustive 
article  entitled,  "  Land  Grants  and  Land 
Patents  of  Northern  New  York."  His  re- 
searches in  preparing  this  monograph 
were  most  skillfully  made,  and  have  been 


of  great  value  in   locating  our  lands  and 
mapping  the  extensive  area. 

In  1895  he  became  Engineer,  with 
duties  similar  to  those  he  had  under  the 
old  Commissioner  as  Superintendent. 
After  a  few  years  his  title  was  changed  to 
Superintendent  of  Forests.  Col.  Fox  was 
expert  advisor  of  the  board  and  in  the  per- 
formance of  these  duties  $2,000,000  worth 
of  land  was  acquired. 

This  general  summary  of  the  develop- 
ment of  a  forest  preserve  and  a  forest 
policy  in  this  State,  has  been  given  because 
a  careful  examination  shows  it  largely  to 
be  the  work  of  Col.   Fox. 

It  is  most  interesting  to  read  the  for- 
mer reports,  which  are  largely  from  his 
pen  and  note  what  imprcjvements  and  pol- 
icies he  advanced  for  the  benefit  of  the 
State.    In  these  matters  he  was  always  first. 

He  began  years  ago  to  collect  statist- 
ics showing  the  lumber  cut  and  saw  clear- 
ly what  was  happening,  also  the  result. 
He  established  a  system  of  fire  protection 
and  forest  protection  which  was  generally 
copied  by  other  states.  He  continuously 
advocated  the  purchase  of  land  as  a  forest 
preserve  on  the  grounds  of  benefit  to  the 
State  and  at  the  same  time  a  business  in- 
vestment. He  desired  to  see  our  state 
lands  put  under  scientific  forest  manage- 
ment. Nearly  fifteen  years  ago  he  advo- 
cated the  reforesting  method  which  is  now 
in  operation.  He  was  quick  to  appreciate 
the  value  of  a  skilled  force  and  employed 
the  first  graduate  of  the  first  forestry  school 
in  the  country. 

He    often    had    to  act  as  mediator  in 


10 


FOX    FAMILY    NEWS 


May  1,   1916 


order  to  reconcile  conflicting  ideas  and 
theories  of  such  radically  opposite  interests 
as  the  forestry  enthusiast  and  the  Adiron- 
dack lumberman.  Of  Col.  Fox  it  must  be 
said  he  did  much  and  well  at  the  oppor- 
tune time.  He  left  as  his  monument  two 
great  forest  preserves  in  the  two  mountain 
regions  of  this  state,  aggregating  1,635,000 
acres,  and  established  a  stable  forestry 
policy  on  a  great,  broad  basis. 

In  additiem  to  his  forestry  work,  he 
was  a  recognized  authority  on  civil  war 
history  and  the  author  of  many  notable 
works.  His  first  literary  production,  en- 
titled "The  chances  of  being  hit  in  battle" 
was  published  in  the  Century  Magazine 
in  188S  and  is  a  most  interesting  comput- 
ation. After  ten  years  of  study  and  in- 
v^estigation  "Regimental  Losses"  was 
ready  lor  publication  and  it  is  the  most 
authoritive  work  of  its  kind  His  other 
historical  writings  are,  "  New  York  at 
Gettysburg"  (3  vols).  "Slocum  and  his 
men".      "  Life  of  Gen.  Greene". 

His  forestry  writings  include  a  large 
portion  of  the  official  reports  1885-1907 
inclusive,  "  Forest  Tree  Nurseries  and 
Nursery  Methods  in  Europe,"  "  Tree 
planting  on  Streets  and  Highways 
"  The  Maple  Sugar  Industry",  "The  Ad- 
irondack Spruce,"  "History  of  the  Lum- 
ber industry  in  New  York,"  and  many 
minor  articles. 

He  was  a  high  class  gentlemen  of  the 
old  school  and  was  loved  and  respected 
by  a  large  number  of  people  in  many 
states.  A  member  of  the  Chi  Psi  fratern- 
itv,  he  was  at  one  time  its  president.  He 
belonged  to  Dawson  Post,  No.  63  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  was  a  com- 
panion in  the  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal 
Legion,  corresponding  secretary  of  the 
Society  of  the  Potomac,  member  of  the 
New  York  Historical  Society,  American 
Forestry  Association  and  Society  of  Amer- 
ican Foresters. 

Col.  Fox  died  on  June  16,  1909.  For 
twenty-five  years  he  had  been  connected 
with  the  Forestry  Department.     The  work 


he  did  and  the  services  he  rendered  for 
the  State  during  the  full  period  of  his  term 
of  employment  can  not  well  be  overesti- 
mated. He  was  a  highly  cultured,  careful, 
diplomatic  man.  He  saw  far  into  the  fu- 
ture, planned  and  worked  slowly  and  care- 
fully carrying  the  Department  along 
thiough  good  and  ill  repute.  The  work 
needed  all  through  the  formative  period 
just  such  a  man.  No  other  man  would 
have  done  as  well.  His  heart  was  in  his 
work. 

Our  Brooks  Ancestry. 
by  General  Simeon  HI.  Fox. 

Since  I  wrote  the  sketch,  "Thomas 
Fox  of  Concord,  Mass."  that  appeared  as 
a  supplement  to  the  FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 
of  March  i,  1914,  I  have  followed  out  a 
clue  and  secured  evidence  that  enables  me 
to  state  positively,  that  "Hannah"  (Brooks) 
Fox,  widow  of  Thomas  ( i)  Fox  of  Concord, 
Mass.,  did,  about  the  year  1661,  marry 
second  as  the  third  wife  of  Andrew  (i) 
Lester,  of  New  London,  Conn.  She  is 
thereafter  known  as  "Ann"  or  "Anna". 
The  interchangeable  use  of  the  three  forms 
of  the  name  is  not  at  all  uncommon  in  the 
old-time  record.  The  form  used  seems 
to  have  depended  upon  the  vagaries  of 
each  particular  recorder,  for  not  infre- 
quently he  used  two  of  the  forms  in  the 
same  record. 

It  now  seems  more  than  probable  that 
the  widow  Hannah  (Brooks)  Fox  took  most, 
or  all,  of  her  children  with  her  to  New  Lon- 
don. She  certainly  took  the  two  oldest, 
Hanna,  aged  13,  and  Thomas  aged  11. 
The  other  children  were:  Samuel  aged 
about  10,  John  aged  about  8,  David  about 
6,  and  Isaac  aged  4.  In  all  probability 
Samuel  and  John  instead  of  coming  about 
"1675"  as  Miss  Caulkins  says,  had  spent 
their  boyhood  at  New  London,  but  only 
became  evident  in  the  records  when  they 
arrived  at  man's  estate.  There  is  a  clue 
that  seems  to  indicate  that  Timothy  (2) 
Brooks,  the  brother  of  Hannah  (Brooks) 
Fox — Lester,  about  1662  also  came  down 
to  the  vicinity  of  New  London  and  dwelt 
there   until   a  little  before   1670.    when    he 


May  1,  1916 


FOX    FAMILY   NEWS 


11 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 

The  recognized  organ  of  the  Society 
of  the  Descendants  of  Norman  Fox. 
Published  every  two  months.  Editor, 
Howard  Fox,  6/6  Madison  Avenue,  New 
York.     Subscription  $i.oo  per  year. 


probably  returned  to  Massachusetts  and 
seitled  at  Billerici,  where  he  made  his 
home  for  about  ten  years.  The  two  young- 
est of  the  Fox  children,  David  and  Isaac, 
also  returned  to  Massachusetts.  David 
was  at  Woburn,  where  dwelt  his  grand- 
father Brooks,  two  Brooks  uncles,  and  a 
childless  sister  of  his  mother,  Sarah 
(Brooks)  Mousall,  and  probably  he  fcjund 
a  home  with  one  ofthese.  Isaac, 
in  all  probability  had  a  home  with  his 
uncle  Timothy  Brooks  at  Billerica. 

The  genealogy  of  the  fainily  of  Henry 
(1)  Brooks,  of  Woburn,  Mass.  compiled  by 
those  careful  students  of  Massachuetts 
family  histories,  William  R.  Cutter  and 
Arthur  G.  Loring,  of  Woburn,  appeared  in 
the  "New  England  Historical  and  Geneal- 
ogical Register"  of  January  and  April, 
1904.  I  do  not  attempt  to  follow  this  care 
fully  compiled  history  literally,  and  if  any 
errors  are  made  herein  they  are  to  be 
charged  entirely  to  me.  I  will  say  thai 
some  additional  facts  have  been  gleaned 
since  the  above  genealogy  was  compiled, 
that  adds  materially  to  the  family  history 
— particularly  so,  is  the  identification  of 
the  "daughter  Lester"  mentioned  in  the  will 
of  Henry(i)  Brooks,  as  the  Hannah  Brooks 
who  on  December  13,  1647,  married  Thom- 
as (i)  Fox,  of  Concord,  Mass.,  and,  second, 
Andrew  (i)  Lester,  of  New  London;  and 
proof  incidentally  appears  to  show  that 
Henry  Brooks  of  Woburn,  and  Thomas 
Brooks,  of  Concord,  Mass.  were  brothers. 

The  early  history  of  these  two  Brooks 
brothers,  as  indicated  in  the  records,  is 
exceedingly  meagre.  They  probably  came 
to  America  about  1631,  and  they  doubtless 
brought  their  wives  and  oldest  children 
with  them.  The  name  of  the  first  wife  of 
Henry    Brooks   has   not   been  discovered, 


and  she  was  doubtless  the  mother  of  his 
children.  She  had  died,  and  before  March 
27.  1651,  he  had  married,  second.  Susanna, 
the  widow  of  Ezekiel  Richardson,  of  Wo- 
burn. She  died  September  15,  168I,  and 
he  married,  third,  July  12,  1682,  Annes 
Jaquith.  He  died  April  12,  16S3.  He 
was  probably  born  about  1592.  In  his  will 
dated  July  iS,  16S2,  he  mentions  three  sons 
and  two  daughters;  John,  Timothy  and 
Isaac,  Sarah  Mousall,  and  "  daughter 
Lestor".  His  reference  to  the  latter  is  as 
follows ; 

T  give  and  bequeath  to  my  daughter 
Lestor  five  shillings  and  no  more  because 
she  hath  received  her  portion  already,  as 
will  appear  by  a  receipt  in  her  hand." 

To  the  five  children  mentioned  in  the 
will,  we  can  add  ;  Joseph  born  at  Concord, 
Mass.  "12  2.  1641",  who  probably  had 
died  early.  It  is  also  probable  that  Martha, 
the  first  wife  of  Thomas  (i)  Bateman,  of 
Concord,  who  died  August  3.  1666,  was  a 
daughter  of  Henry  (i)  Brooks;  and  per- 
haps the  Mary  Brooks,  wife  of  Richard 
Norcross,  of  Watertown,  Mass.  was  another 
daughter.      She  died  February  24,  1672. 

As  I  stated  in  a  previous  article,  Han- 
nah, the  daughter  of  Henry  (i)  Brooks, 
of  Woburn,  married,  December  13,  1647, 
as  the  second  wife  of  Thomas  (i)  Fox,  of 
Concord,  Mass.,  and  by  him  had  six  child- 
ren ;  he  died  April  14,  1658.  She  married 
in  1661,  Andrew  (i)  Lester,  of  New  Lon- 
don, Conn.,  and  by  him  had:  Timothy, 
born  July  4.  1662;  Joseph,  born  June  15, 
1664,  and  Benjamin,  born  1666.  These 
three  Lester  sons  are  hereafter  to  be  con- 
sidered as  half-brothers  of  the  Foxes  of  the 
second  generation  who  settled  at  New 
London. 

In  a  court  record,  under  date  of  June 
25,  1663,  Andrew  Lester  of  New  London, 
Conn.,  refers  to  'my  two  daughters,  and  so 
in  law  T.  fTox."  ("son-in-law  "  here  doubt- 
less indicating  "step-son").  It  is  an  attach- 
ment in  a  suit  for  defamation,  against 
Tobiah  Colls.  In  the  court  records  at 
Hartford,  the  suit  is  dismissed  on  Septem- 


12 


FOX   FAMILY   NEWS 


May  1,  191G 


ber  3.  following.  In  ihe  record  of  dismiss- 
al the  son-in-law  is  further  identified  as 
"Thorn:  Fox"  and  the  two  daughters,  as 
"Mary  Lester  «&  Hannah  fTox".  Andrew 
(i)  Lester  died.  January  7,  1669/70  (not 
lune  7.  1669,  as  Miss  Caulkins  states). 
The  original  N'ew  London  church  records, 
among  the  admissions,  gives  the  following: 

"Aug.  2S,  '72.  The  widow  Leister 
Inyned  to  or  Chh  by  a  Lr  fro  ye  Chh  o( 
Concord." 

It  appears  by  a  deed  under  date  of 
March  5,  iGSS/g,  that  the  widow  "Anna" 
Lestor  had  married  Isaac  (i)  Willey,  of 
N'ew  London.  She  was  then  again  a 
wMdow,  as  Willey  had  probably  died  about 
1685.  As  she  was  called  "daughter  Les- 
tor" in  her  father's  will,  dated  July  iS, 
16S2.  it  is  not  probable  that  she  had  mar- 
ried Willey  much  previous  to  this  date.  Of 
course  there  were  no  children  by  this  last 
marriage.  She  died  in  1692  As  she  was 
a  mother  in  1666,  she  was  probably  born 
after  1620. 

Tobiah  Colls,  against  whom  Andrew 
Lester  brought  suit  for  defamation  in  1663, 
died  the  year  following.  He  has  been 
identified  as  Tobiah  Cole,  formerly  of 
Woburn,  Mass. 

Family  News 

Edgar  was  recently  admitted  to  the 
bar. 

Howard  has  been  appointed  Visiting 
Dermatologist  to  the  German  Hospital. 

A  son  was  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
R'lbert  Armstrong  (Carrie  Clapp)  on  April 
14th.  He  has  been  named  Robert  Clapp 
Armstrong. 

Little  Mason  recently  saw  a  fan  upon 
which  was  an  elaborate  picture  of  a  bul' 
fight.  After  many  inquiries  as  to  details 
he  finally  asked  whether  "the  mama  bull 
was  good  to  her  little  ones." 

Captain  lames  D.  Fox  of  .Aurora,  111. 
writes  the  editor  in  speaking  of  the  paper, 
"the  pictures  are  worth  the  money  as 
there  are  some  things  that  are  common  to 
all  of  the  descendants  of  Daniel  Fox,  of 


AlausoH  Jehiel  Fox    Charles  Jawes  hox 

George  Henry  Fox 
Xorman  Fox,  Jr.   William  Freeman  Fox 

(  ftom  an  old  ambrotype  taken  about  /SjS) 


East  Haddam. "  In  speakingof  the  article 
on  Gettysburg  he  writes  that  one  of  the 
earliest  commands  was  "Company  B. 
right  into  line,  fire."  "The  return  shots,'' 
he  continues,  "caused  thirty  of  that  com- 
pany to  fall  to  the  ground  either  dead  or 
wounded,  two  of  whom  were  my  brothers, 
wounded,  but  not  mortally." 

BORN':— To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alan  Fox 
on  February  27,  a  son.  He  has  been 
named  Joseph  Carrere  Fox. 

BORN:— To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mason 
Trowbridge  on  March  19th,  a  son.  He  has 
been  named  George  Fox  Trowbridge. 

DIED:  — Dell  Carrere  Fox  on  March 
loth.  in  New  York  City,  in  the  24th  year 
of  her  age.  She  was  buried  in  the  Mora- 
vian Cemetery,  Staten  Island. 


VOL.  V 


rtFT 


JULY,  1916 


No.  4 


Isaac  (3)  Fox  of  Colchester,  Conn. 

by  General  Simeon  I\/.  Fox. 

Isaac  (3)  Fox,  for  a  time  of  Colchest- 
er, Conn.,  was  the  son  of  Samuel  (2)  Fox, 
of  New  London,  by  his  second  wife,  Jo- 
anna, said  Isaac  having  been  born  about 
1686  at  New  London.  Samuel  (2)  Fox  left 
a  will,  dated  April  6,  1727,  in  which  he 
mentions,  two  daughters  and  four  sons; 
Elizabeth  and  Anna,  and  Samuel  "the 
elder",  Isaac,  Benjamin,  and  Samuel,  "the 
younger".  The  two  daughters  and  the 
elder  Samuel  were  children  by  the  first 
wife  Mary  Lester,  Isaac  and  Benjamin  by 
the  second  wife  Joanna,  and  the  younger 
Samuel  by  the  third  wife  Baihi-hua  (Rog- 
ers) Smith.  There  is  no  absolute  proof  to 
fix  the  identity  of  this  second  wife  Joanna, 
but  inferential  testimony  is  very  strong 
that  she  was  Joanna  Way,  the  daughter 
of  George  Way  of  Providence,  R.  I.  Jo- 
anna's mother  was  Elizabeth,  the  daughter 
of  Joanna,  the  wife  of  Deacon  John  Smith 
of  New  London,  by  a  former  marriage. 
Elizabeth,  the  daughter,  had  married 
George  Way  who  had  later  settled  at 
Providence.  Probably  after  1670  she  left 
her  husband  and  with  the  most  of  her 
children  came  to  New  London,  where  her 
mother  was  living  Elizabeth  Way  was  a 
Quaker  and  it  is  probable  that  the  daughter 
Joanna  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  her 
mother.  In  16S3,  when  John  Rogers  was 
getting  his  revolt  against  the  established 
church  well  under  way,  Joanna  Way  was 
one  of  the  active  militants  who  defied  the 
established   order,    and   suffered    persecu- 


tion. It  will  be  understood  that  the  Bap- 
tists. Quakers  and  Rogerenes  had  much 
in  common  in  their  beliefs  and  these 
names  were  applied  at  random  to  those 
who  dissented  from  the  established  creed. 
Samuel  (2)  Fox  became  a  follower  of  John 
Rogers;  presumedly  after  the  death  of  his 
first  wife  Mary  Lester.  April  14,  1685, 
Joanna  Way,  with  divers  others,  was 
punished  for  certain  acts  of  aggression; 
but  after  this  date  her  name  appears  no 
more  in  the  records.  Samuel  (2)  Fox  just 
about  this  time  took  to  himself  a  helpmate 
whose  name  was  Joanna,  and  by  her  had 
these  two  sons,  Isaac  about  1686,  and 
Benjamin  168S.  The  wife  Joanna  died  in 
the  epidemic  in  October  i68g.  Samuel 
(2)  Fox  in  i6go  married,  as  his  third  wife, 
Bathshua  (Rogers)  Smith  ;  she  was  a  sister 
of  John  Rogers,  and  a  militant  whose  per- 
sistency is  evinced  by  acts  of  frequent 
record.  It  is  not  a  female  trait  to  quit 
when  they  move  for  conscience  sake,  and 
what  is  a  better  explanation  of  Joanna 
Way's  sudden  lapse  into  quietude,  than 
matrimony  and  the  cares  of  maternity, 
so  soon  followed  by  her  pathetic  death. 
Various  other  little  things  are  confirmat- 
ory, and  not  one  scrap  of  evidence  to  the 
contrary  has  yet  appeared. 

Isaac  (3)  Fox,  the  son,  married  in  New 
London,  February  28,  1705-6,  Mary  Jones, 
the  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Catharine 
(Gammon)  Jones  of  New  London.  He 
was  probably  about  twenty  years  old  at 
time  of  marriage,  March  21,  1707,  (1706-7), 
Samuel  (2)  Fox  made  deed  of  gift  to  his 
son  Isaac  Fox   of  land    "near  the   north 


14 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 


July  1,  1916 


bounds  of  New  London."  Isaac  (3)  Fox 
doubtless  dwelt  in  the  North  Parish  until 
early  in  1715,  when  on  Jan.  10,  he  bought 
forty-nine  acres  of  land  in  Colchester  of 
Joseph  Dewey  of  Hebron,  upon  which  he 
settled.  This  land  lay  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  town  of  Colchester,  in  the 
region  then  known  as  Paugwonk,  now 
forming  the  northern  part  of  Salem;  and 
it  was  also  near  the  farm  of  his  brother 
Henjamin  (3)  Fox.  The  east  boundary 
of  Millington  Parish,  East  Haddam. — the 
home  of  subsequent  descendants  of  Isaac 
(3)  Fox, — was  but  a  little  to  the  west.  Of 
Isaac  (3)  Fox's  children,  Samuel,  Isaac, 
Thomas,  Mary,  Jedediah  and  John  were 
doubtless  born  in  the  North  Parish  of  New 
London;  Gershom,  Gideon,  Ann  and  Dan- 
iel were  born  in  Colchester.  The  wife  Mary 
(lones)  probably  died  about  1730.  We  find 
in  the  record  of  marriages  by  Joshua 
Hempstead,  preserved  at  New  London, 
the  following: 

"  Isaac  Fox  &  Mary  Reynolds  in  Col- 
chester. Fox  went  from  N.  L.  July  4, 
I732." 

This  must  be  understood  that  the 
marriage  was  on  July  4,  1732,  and  that 
Isaac  Fox  left  at  a  subsequent  date.  The 
results  of  this  marriage  were  not  happy; 
what  the  trouble  was  is  not  known. 

April  16,  1734,  Isaac  Fox,  husband- 
man, sold  his  homestead  in  Colchester  to 
Samuel  Tubbs  of  Lyme,  and  bought  land 
in  the  North  Parish,  near  Chestnut  Hill  of 
Nathaniel  Comstock.  Oct.  16,  1734,  Isaac 
Fox,  "formerly  of  Colchester  in  County 
of  Hartford  *  *  and  now  of  New  Lon- 
don", "for  and  in  consideration  of  his 
performing  the  conditions  of  one  certain 
Bond  by  him  given  me"  made  deed  of  gift 
"  to  my  loving  son  John  Fox  of  New  Lon- 
don." of  this  New  London  land.  June  S 
1735  said  John  Fox  sold  this  land  to  Isaac 
Avery  of  New  London,  and  on  July  19, 
following  Isaac  Fox  confirmed  the  sale  by 
a  quitclaim  deed.  Under  date  of  July  iS, 
1735,  Joshua  Hempstead  records  in  his 
diary  (p.  290)  "  Isaac  Foxes  Wife  of  ye 
North  Parish  got  the  authority  together  to 


Consider  if  they  Could  do  anything  to 
help  her  who  was  Left  by  her  husband  & 
Sold  out  of  everything  &  like  to  Come  to 
want." 

Isaac  Fox  had  apparently  given  each 
of  his  children  their  respective  portion  as 
they  became  of  age;  the  bond  mentioned 
in  the  deed  to  his  son  John  is  not  preser- 
ved; it  was  probable  however  that  it  de- 
volved upon  John  to  settle  with  the  minor 
heirs.  Isaac  (3)  Fox  went  to  Rhode  Island 
and  settled  near  Providence.  On  April 
17,  173S,  he  bought  land,  probably  in 
Gloucester,  "on  the  Killingly  road",  of 
John  McDonald.  His  wife  Mary  Reynolds 
had  probably  died,  as  he  married  at  Pro. 
vidence,  July  30,  1739,  Susanna,  the  wid- 
ow of  William  Steere.  She  had  been  the 
second  wife  of  Steere  and  was  evidently 
much  younger  than  Isaac  Fox.  By  her 
there  were  two  daughters  Anne  and  Ruth. 

Isaac  (3)  Fox  died  in  1754;  his  will  of 
that  year,  gives  the  use  of  his  house  to 
his  wife,  and  his  farm  in  Gloucester  to  his 
two  daughters  Anne  Fox  and  Ruth  Fox, 
•'  none  of  my  children  except  these  to 
have  any  part  of  my  estate  they  having 
already  received  their  portion".  When 
Isaac  (3)  Fox  left  New  London  there  were 
four  minor  heirs,  Gershom,  Gideon,  Ann 
and  Daniel;  Daniel,  at  the  age  of  nine, 
had  been  bound  out  to  James  Cone  of 
East  Haddam  to  learn  to  tan  and  shoe- 
make.  The  Colchester  records  record  as 
follows;  "Anne  daughter  to  Isaac  Fox 
Dyed  November  14.  1736".  The  church 
records  say  that  she  "was  maid  to  Philip 
Caverly."  It  will  be  noted  that  Isaac 
Fox  repeated  the  name  in  his  subsequent 
family. 

He  evidently  made  his  preparations 
to  leave  deliberately,  and  made  due  pro- 
vision for  the  care  of  his  minor  children 
left  behind.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate 
that  any  of  his  earlier  children  ever  joined 
him;  but  on  the  contrary  they  seem  to 
have  made  their  homes  in  the  vicinity  of 
their  birth  place 

This    is    the    brief  story  of   Isaac  (3) 


July  1,  1916 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 


15 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 

The  recognized  organ  of  the  Society 
of  the  Descendants  of  Norman  Fox, 
Published  every  two  months.  Editor, 
Howard  Fox,  6i6  Madison  Avenue,  New 
York.     Subscription  $/.oo  per  year. 


Fox.  the  father  of  Daniel  Fox  of  East 
Haddam,  and  therefore  the  direct  ances- 
tor of  the  "Descendants  of  Norman  Fox". 

A  Royal  Ancestry. 

by  Anna  Cheesebrough  Wildey 
In  the  FOX  FAMILY  NEWS  of  Sept. 
1,  1913,  to  the  Article  on  "our  Ancestress, 
Anne  Hutchinson"  by  the  Rev.  Kenneth 
C.  MacArthur,  I  am  adding  her  remark- 
able Ancestry  recorded  from  742  A.   D. 

She  was  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Francis 
Marbury  and  Bridget  Dryden,  his  2d  wife, 
a  daughter  of  John  Dryden  of  Canons 
Ashby,  Northamptonshire,  England.  She 
was  born  July  10  1591  and  married  Aug- 
ust 9,  1612  in  London,  England.  William 
Hutchinson  bap.  August  14,  15S6  in  Al- 
ford,  Lincolnshire,  England,  a  son  of  Jtjhn 
Hutchinson  and  wife  Margaret  Brown  of 
Lincoln,  Lincolnshire,  England 

In  the  Church  Records  of  Alford,  are 
recorded  the  Baptisms  of  their  fourteen 
children  born  before  1634,  one  of  whom, 
Bridget,  became  the  wife  of  John  Sanford 
and  were  the  parents  of  Governer  Peleg 
Sanford  of  Rhode  Island,  who  married 
tor  his  2d  wife.  Mary  Coddington  daugh- 
ter of  William  Coddington,  Governor  of 
Rhode  Island. 

William  and  Anne  Hut  hinson,  with 
his  mother,  and  their  ten  living  children 
sailed  for  New  England  in  the  ship 
"Griffin",  landing  in  Boston  Sept.  iS,  1634. 
He  became  Treasurer  of  the  New  Colony 
succeeding  Governor  William  Coddington 
and  died  1642  in  Newport,  Rhode  Island. 
His  widow  Anne  with  her  whole  House- 
hold were  massacred  by  Indians,  the 
following  summer  1643  at  her  home  in 
New  Netherland  (now  Pelham  Bay  Park.) 
In  this  Park  on  "Split-Rock"  near  the  site 


of  her  house,  in  1911  a  Bronze  Tablet  was 
placed  to  her  memory  by  the  Society  of 
Colonial  Dames  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
This  Tablet  was  wrenched  from  the  Rock 
and  stolen  and  the  Society  are  now  making 
efforts  to  have  it  replaced  and  with  the 
same  Inscription. 

"ANNE  HUTCHINSON 
"Banished  from  the   Massachuetts  Bay 
Colony  in  1638 

"Because  of  her  devotion  to  Religious 
Liberty. 

"This  Courageous  Woman 
"Sought  Freedom  from  Persecution 

"In  New  N'etheiland 
"Near  this  Rock   in   1643   she   and   her 
Household. 

"Were  Massacred  by  Indians" 

Marbury  Ancestry 

Anne  Marbury  daughter  of  Rev.  Francis 
Marbury  and  wife  Bridget  Dryden 
daughter  of  John  Dryden. 
Rev.  Francis  Marbury  (son  of  William  of 
Girsby  and  wife  Agnes  Lemon)  mar- 
ried 1st  Elizabeth  Moore. 
Wii.LiAM     Marbury    son    of     Robert     and 

wife  Katherine. 

RoHEKT  Marbury  son  of  William  Marbury 

of    Girsby,     Lincolnshire     and     wife 

Anne    Blount,    daughter    of    Thomas 

Blount  son  of  Walter,  Lord  Mountjoy, 

a     lineal     descendant    of     Rudolphus 

count  of  Guines  in  Normandy,  and  of 

Charlemagne,  through  Judith  daughter 

of  his  grand-son  Charles  2d  Le  Chauve 

(the  Bald)  King  of  France   and    Emp' 

eror  of  the  Romans,  803. 

Charlemagne,     King    of    the     Franks 

and  Emperor  of  the  Romans  (742)  married 

H ildegarde, daughter  of  Childebrand,  Duke 

of  Lubia.  Their  son 

Louis  1st  Le  Debonaire,    Emperor  of 

the  West,  (778)  married  Judith  of  Bavaria, 

daughter  of  Count   Welf   (Guelph)  of   Al- 

thorp.  Their  son 

Charles  (the  Bald)  Le  Chauve,    King 

of  France   and   Emperor    of  the    Romans 

(S03)  married   Rechilds  daughter  of   Baso 

King  of  Burgundy.  Their  daughter 


16 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 


July  1,  1016 


Judith  married  Baldwin  1st,  the  first 
Count  of  Flanders,   (died  8-g  )     Their  son 

Baldwin  "ind.  Count  of  Flanders 
(d.  919)  m  .rried  Elstrude  (or  Alfrieda) 
daughter  of  Alfred  the  Great.  King  of 
England. 

For  the  fuller  descendants  in  ihe 
different  lines,  see  V'ol.  45  "Genealogical 
and  Biographical  Record". 

War  News. 

At  the  time  of  writing  six  members 
of  the  family  have  put  on  their  uniforms 
and  are  read}'  to  be  ordered  to  Mexico. 
Four  of  the  Boys  are  members  of  Troop 
A.  Squadron  A.  including  Sergeants 
Alanson  and  Noel  Fox  and  privates  Ed- 
gar and  Howard  Freeman,  the  last  of 
whom  has  just  enlisted.  George  is  with 
his  Ambulance  Company,  having  been 
summoned  from  his  class  reunion  at  Am- 
herst and  Clinton  was  called  from  Toledo 
to  join  his  organization,  which  is  Troop  D. 
First  Squadron  New  jersey  Cavalry.  The 
editor  expects  to  go  to  Plattsburgh  on  J  u  1  y 
5th  to  attend  a  camp  of  instruction  for 
medical  officers. 

Family  News 

Ada  writes  that  she  attended  the  30th 
reunion  of  her  class  at  V"assar. 

Kenneth  will  preach  at  the  Baptist 
Church  in  Suffield  this  summer. 

During  the  recent  Preparedness  par- 
ade in  New  York,  Alanson  and  Noel  acted 
as  mounted  aides  and  Howard  served  as 
a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee 

In  the  past  month  both  Alanson  and 
Howard  have  made  trips  to  Detroit  where 
needless  to  say  they  visited  with  Ethel 
and  enjoyed  her  hospitality. 

Rob  was  recently  in  the  East  on  a 
business  trip.  He  modestly  informed  us 
that  he  had  been  made  First  Vice-Presi- 
dent and  General  Manager  of  the  Barns- 
dall  Oil  Company. 

Mr.  Charles  Summer  Miller  was  mar- 
ried on  June  14th,  to  Mrs    Emilie   Barnes 


Austin  Russell 
Austin  Russell  was  legally  adopted  by 
Harry  and  Adaline  in  July  1915-  He  was 
named  after  Harry's  maternal  grand- 
father. Col.  Austin  Rice,  one  of  the 
founders  of  Mt.  Holyoke  College. 

Turner.  The  wedding,  .w-hich  was  a  very 
quiet  one,  was  attended  by  AuntCornelia, 
Uncle  George,  Alanson  and  Alan. 

Nellie  attended  the  recent  Music  Con- 
ference of  the  General  Federation  of  Wo- 
men's Clubs,  held  in  New  York  and 
made  a  speech  upon  municipal  music. 
She  also  had  an  exhibit,  the  first  of  its 
kind,  representing  the  history  of  munici- 
pal music  in  the  United  States. 

Mason  has  left  New  Haven  to  enter 
the  employ  of  Colgate  and  Company  the 
manufacturers  of  soap  and  toilet  articles. 
He  is  organizing  a  new  legal  department 
which  the  company  is  creating.  His  ad' 
dress  is  105  Hudson  Street,  Jersey  City. 
Helen  and  the  children  will  spend  a  good 
part  of  the  summer  at  Glen  Cove. 


KFT 


VOL.  V 


SEPTEMBER,   1916 


No.  5 


Fourth  of  July  at  Glen  Cove. 

This  year  the  "Glorious  Fourth"  was 
celebrated  at  Iris  Pond,  Glen  Cove,  L.  I. 
in  a  somewhat  novel  manner,  Uncle 
George  acting  as  host  to  a  number  of 
assembled  relatives  and  a  few  friends. 
Among  those  present  was  a  small  detach- 
ment of  the  United  States  Army.  In 
addition  to  certain  conventional  patriotic 
ceremonies  a  "Gettysburg  Tree"  was 
planted  in  honor  of  the  three  uncles  who 
were  in  the  Civil  War  service  at  the  time 
of  this  battle  and  the  birthday  of  the  edit- 
or of  the  FOX  FAMILY  NEWS  was  also 
celebrated. 

Here  is  the  program  of  the  exercises 
which  began  at  noon  in  an  enclosure 
surrounded  by  shrubbery  and  were  finish- 
ed in  time  for  the  luncheon  which  follow- 
ed. 

1.  Bugle  Calls  On  the  Victrola 

2.  Star  Spangled  Banner  "     " 

3.  Declaration  of  Independence 

Read  by  Mason 

4.  Lincoln's  Gettysburg  Oration 

Read  by  Alan 

5.  John  Burns  of  Gettysburg 

Read  by  Aunt  Elizabeth 

6.  Tree  Planting 

With  remarks  by  Uncle  George 

Uncle  Robert 


Address 
America 


Sung  by  the  Congregation 

After   listening  to  the  spirited  bugle 
calls  the  military  contingent  marched  into 


the  enclosure  headed  by  little  Mason  with 
drum  and  paper  hat.  This  consisted  of 
four  real  soldier  boys  in  khaki  bearing 
"  the  colors"  which  were  duly  saluted  as 
the  National  Anthem  was  sung.  While 
the  musical  ability  of  the  Fox  Family  may 
not  be  rated  as  above  par,  its  talent  for 
elocution  is  excieptional  and  was  most  cred- 
itab'y  displayed  in  the  three  following 
numbers  of  the  program. 

In  connection  with  the  planting  of 
the  tree  in  the  center  of  a  bed  containing 
circles  of  red,  white  and  blue  flowers. 
Uncle  George  said:- 

"  Before  planting  this  little  cedar  tree 
dug  three  years  ago  on  the  battlefield  of 
Gettysburg,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  you  to 
hear  a  few  words  in  regard  to  its  history 
and  the  reason  for  this  family  gathering 
today.  At  the  Gettysburg  reunion  held 
on  the  spot  where  fifty  years  before  the 
battle  had  been  fought,  there  were  assem- 
bled between  fifty  and  sixty  thousand 
veterans  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
armies.  By  virtue  of  an  humble  partici- 
pation in  the  Civil  War,  it  was  my  great 
privilege  to  be  one  of  this  number.  Lieut. 
Howard  Fox  of  the  Medical  Reserve  Corps 
U.  S.  A.  (whose  birthday  we  are  incident- 
ally celebrating)  was  also  there  and  assign, 
ed  to  duty  in  the  large  Field  Hospital 
near  the  Headquarters  of  the  Commanding 
General.  Noel  and  Alanson  were  fortu- 
nate in  being  present  among  the  more  or 
less  distinguished  visitors  on  this  historic 
occasion.  On  July  4th  Noel  and  I  went 
to  Gulps  Hill  and  from  there  walked 
along  the  intrenchments  of  the  1st  Division 


18 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 


Sept.    1,  l\)[6 


of  ihe  l'2ih  corps.  Among  great  rocks  in 
the  woods  we  found  the  monument  of  the 
107th  Regt.  N.  Y.  V.  and  across  the  clear- 
ing where  the  2nd  Mass.  and  the  27ih 
Indiana  regiments  made  a  fierce  but  dis- 
astrous charge,  were  other  monuments 
of  the  3rd  Brigade. 

Becoming  weary  of  monuments  and 
attracted  to  the  fiora  of  the  region,  I  noted 
in  addition  to  various  wildflowers  a  num- 
ber of  seedling  cedars  growing  in  the 
woods.  One  of  these,  Noel  and  I  dug  up 
with  a  sharp  stick  and  considerable  diffi- 
culty and  wrapping  my  wet  handkerchief 
around  its  roots  I  brought  it  home  and 
placed  it  in  a  pot  in  the  greenhouse  where 
it  has  been  growing  since. 

We  plant  this  tree  today  to  honor  the 
memory  of  my  three  brothers  who  prompt- 
ly answered  their  country's  call  in  its  lime 
of  need,  who  showed  their  eagerness  to 
do  their  full  duty  as  citizens  of  our  great 
republic  and  their  willingness  to  sacri- 
fice their  lives  if  necessary  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union. 

Do  not  think  of  the  planting  of  this 
tree  as  merely  asentimental  performance. 
It  is  far  more  than  that.        It  is  a   tribute 


of  tender  affection  for  those  near  and  dear 
to  us  who  fought  at  Gettysburg — it  is  a 
sincere  appreciation  of  what  they  and 
many  others  accomplished,  during  the 
long  and  harrowing  years  of  the  Civil 
War — and  it  is  a  grateful  recognition  of 
those  incalculable  blessings  which  their 
glorious  achievements  have  brought  to 
us  as  a  nation.  I  trust  this  tree  will  live 
and  thrive  for  many  years  to  come.  As 
its  roots  sink  deeper  into  the  soil,  may 
the  love  for  those  whom  it  is  intended  to 
commemorate  sink  even  deeper  into  our 
hearts.  And  as  its  top  shoots  upward  to 
the  blue  sky  above,  may  our  admiration  of 
their  patriotism  and  those  qualities  which 
so  endeared  them  to  us  grow  even  greater 
and  higher." 

It  is  intended  that  a  tablet  shall  be 
made  to  mark  this  tree  bearing  the  follow- 
ing inscription  :- 

THIS    TREE 

was  dug  by  Lieut.  George  Henry  Fox 

July  4th,  1913. 

on  the  firing  line  of  the 

3rd  Brigade.  1st  Division,  12th  Corps. 

BATTLE     FIELD     OF    GETTYSBURG 


Sept.   1,   1916 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 


19 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 

The  recognized  organ  of  the  Society 
of  the  Descendants  of  Norman  Fox. 
Published  every  two  tnonths.  Editor, 
Howard  Fox,  6/6  Madison  Avenue,  New 
York.     Subscription  $[.oo  per  year. 

and  planted  at  Glen  Cove 
July  4th,  1916. 

in  memory  of  his  brothers 
Chaplin   Norman  Fox 
Lt.  Col.  William  F.  Fox 
Major  Charles  J     Fox 

Uncle  Robert  being  formally  introduc- 
ed said:- 

"On  behalf  of  the  entire  Fox  clan  and 
the  friends  and  neighbors  who  have  honor- 
ed this  occasion  with  their  presence,  I  ex- 
press to  Uncle  George  our  appreciation  of 
his  considerate  and  abundant  hospitality. 
We  appreciate  the  time,  thought  and  work 
which  he  has  given  in  preparation  for  this 
historic  occasion. 

It  was  most  thoughtful  in  him  to  se- 
cure this  tree  at  Gettysburg  and  bring  it 
to  Glen  Cove  and  now  place  it  in  a  bank 
of  flowers  as  a  memorial  in  all  coming 
years  to  Uncles  Norman,  William  and 
Charles.  Uncle  George  might  have  been 
in  that  battle  also,  but  he  was  too  young  to 
enlist  until  a  year  later.  Great  as  was 
the  service  performed  by  the  three  uncles 
named,  we  ought  not  to  forget  the  service 
rendered  by  Uncle  Alanson.  Although 
physically  incapacitated  for  service  in  the 
field,  he  earnestly  labored  in  securing  re- 
cruits, in  managing  the  finances  of  the 
men  who  went  to  the  front  and  in  many 
ways  nobly  serving  his  country.  Father 
Fox  a  veteran  of  the  War  of  i8i2,  ought 
not  to  be  forgotten  in  this  enumeration  of 
loyal  Foxes  in  the  time  of  the  country's 
peril.  Using  the  words  of  the  Scripture, 
"The  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon" 
as  a  tf.xt  he  made  stirring  speeches  urg- 
ing men  to  enlist  for  the  preservation  of 
the  Union. 


It  is  interesting  that,  while  I  speak,  I 
can  look  around  on  four  descendants  of 
the  elder  Norman  Fox  dressed  in  their 
khaki  uniforms  and  ready  to  respond  to 
to  their  country's  call  for  service  in  Mex- 
ico. They  represent  the  fourth  and  fifth 
generations  bearing  the  Fox  name,  who 
have  given  themselves  to  service  of  their 
country.  We  rejoice  in  all  that  this  Fourth 
of  July  means,  in  all  our  family  life  as 
well  as  in  the  life  of  the  American  nation. 
Certainly  the  Fox  family  has  never  been 
lacking  in  patriotic  enthusiasm.  Differ- 
ent members  of  the  family  participated  in 
all  the  wars  which  have  occurred  on  these 
American  shores.  It  is  glorious  when 
duty  calls  to  die  for  our  country;  but  it  is 
still  more  glorious  to  live  for  our  country. 
We  can  today  say  with  the  great  Daniel 
Webster,  ''Let  out  object  be  our  country, 
our  whole  country  and  nothing  but  our 
country." 

We  have  just  reverently  saluted  the 
American  flag.  I  was  born,  as  you  know 
under  a  cornerof  the  farflung  British  flag. 
I  loved  it  in  my  early  days  but  I  fore- 
swore my  allegiance  to  it  when  I  saw  that 
I  was  to  live  in  the  United  States  and 
then  I  became  an  American  citizen. 

But  in  a  real  sense  I  love  the  British 
flag  still;  I  love  it  not  less,  but  I  love  the 
American  flag  more.  Us  stripes  are  sym- 
bjls  of  humanity  and  its  stars  are  prophe- 
cies of  liberty,  may  it  ever  float  over  the 
"land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the 
brave".  May  it  and  the  British  flag  beau- 
tifully entwine  in  all  coming  years  the 
way  they  have  entwined  for  the  last  one 
hundred  years.  These  flags  are  symbols 
of  much  that  is  noblest  in  history,  subli- 
mesl  in  literature  and  divinest  in  religion. 

All  honor  to  Uncle  George  today  for 
his  love  for  the  memory  of  the  brothers 
who  gave  themselves  to  their  country ! 
All  glory,  on  this  national  holiday  to  our 
country  and  its  victorious  flag!  All  praise 
to  God,  the  God  of  our  fathers,  our  God, 
and  the  God  of  our  children!" 


20 


FOX   FAMILY  NEWS 


Sept.   1,   1916 


The  following  members  of  the  family 
were  present — Aunt  Elizabeth,  Aunt  Cor- 
nelia, Uncle  Robert,  Uncle  George,  Ada, 
Gertrude,  Nellie,  Adaline,  Edith,  Helen, 
Walter,  Montague,  Howard,  Harry,  Alan- 
son,  Mason.  Alan,  Edgar  and  Howard 
Freeman.  Montague  Ir.  and  Mason  Jr. 
G.  H.  F. 

Family  News 

Cousin  Marie  Wait  has  resigned  her 
position  as  librarian  at  Peddie  Institute 
after  fourteen  years  of  service. 

Howard  has  been  fortunate  in  secur- 
ing as  an  office  assistant.  Dr.  S.  J.  Nilson 
who  also  assists  him  in  his  college  and 
hospital  work. 

We  regret  to  announce  the  death  of 
Dr.  John  F.  W.  Whitbeck  of  Rochester 
who  «as  known  to  many  of  the  family 
and  had  been  a  college  classmate  and  life- 
long friend  of  Uncle  George. 

Mrs.  Alice  McDufiie  of  Le  Mars, 
Iowa,  one  of  our  subscribers,  writes  the 
editor  as  follows:  —  "I  am  renewing  my 
subscription  to  the  dear  little  paper,  which 
I  really  cannot  do  without.  As  one  of 
your  subscribers  said  "The  pictures  are 
worth  the  price"  especially  when  they  con- 
tain pictures  of  my  dear  friend  Hattie 
Gibbs'  children.  Your  father's  picture 
when  a  little  boy,  the  group  in  the  March 
number  and  the  sayings  of  cute  little  Mason 
Trowbridge  all  make  so  much  of  interest 
to  me". 

In  a  later  issue  we  expect  to  publish 
some  letters  from  the  boys  on  the  border. 
Up  to  the  present  all  have  been  well. 
Clinton,  whose  troop  is  at  Douglas,  Ari- 
zona, has  been  made  a  corporal  Not  to 
be  outdone  by  his  brother,  Charles  Ivins, 
has  also  been  made  a  corporal  in  the 
training  camp  for  boys  at  Fort  Terry, 
Plum  Island.  We  also  hear  that  he  won 
a  medal  for  shooting  last  year  at  Andover. 
Howard    spent    several   weeks    at  Platts- 


From  the  Archives. 

The  following  acrostic  was  written 
just  one  hundred  years  ago  by  Alanson 
Fox  to  his  fiancee,  Maria  Chesebrough. 
(Noel   and  Alanson,   please  take    notice!) 

To  Miss 


IVJild  as  the  breath  of  early  opening 

morn 
/\nd  beautious  as  the  rose  which  pearly 

dews  adorn 
Raised  in  the  garden  of  Innocence  and 

Love 
|n     Wisdom's    path    she    freely 

moves. 
/\ttend  her  steps  and  view  her  peaceful 

way 

Calm  as  the  evenings  mild  of  summers 

day, 
Her  manners  graceful  and  her  soul 

sublime 
Ee"n  blest  wMth  love  and  goodness  all 

divine. 
Sweet  are  the  %vords  that  from  her  lips 

do  flow 
Each  is  a  balm  to  heal  the  ills  of  grief 

and  woe 
Born  for  a  blessing  to  virtue  and  man- 
kind 
Resplendant  orb  that's  cherished  by  a 

hand  divine. 
O   rnay   thy  life  in   Virtue's  ease  be 

sp^nt 
Until  thy   race  be  run    with  sweet 

content 
Qod  then  shall  call  thee  to  a  happier 

Rest 
Heave  thy  last  sigh  and  sink  upon  an 

angel's  breast. 


burg  as  a  medical  officer,  acting  for  part 
of  the  time  as  a  regimental  surgeon. 


VOL.  V 


NOVEMBER.  1916 


No.  6 


More  about  the  East  Haddam 
Foxes. 

By  General  Simeon  M.  Fox 

Among  the  papers  left  by  Elder 
Norman  Fox  is  certain  memoranda  to 
which  is  given  the  title : 

"Daniel  Fox  &  his  family  connections 
—  In  Haddam,  Connecticut  —  etc..  — 
Furnished  by  Henry  Williams  of 
Orange   County,   N.   Y." 

This  Henry  Williams  was  doubtless 
a  descendant  of  the  East  Haddam 
Williams  family.  Reuben  Fox,  the 
eldest  son  of  Daniel  Fox,  of  East 
Haddam,  and  later  of  New  Canaan, 
N.  Y.,  married,  about  1672,  Hannah 
Williams,  and  settled  in  Cornwall, 
Litchfield  County,  Conn.  In  his  inter- 
view with  Elder  Norman  Fo.x,  Mr. 
Williams  said,  that  his  father  and 
Reuben  Fcx's  wife  were  cousins:  he 
also  said  that  Hannah  Burr,  the  first 
wife  of  Daniel  Fo.x,  and  the  mother  of 
Reuben,  was  a  sister  of  his  (Williams) 
grandfather  Burr.  The  mother  of 
Henry  Williams  was  therefore  a  Burr, 
and  a  niece,  by  marriage,  of  Daniel 
Fox. 

From  these  notes,  briefed  down  by 
Elder  Norman  Fox,  I  will  quote  the 
following  extracts ; 

"Jeremiah  Fox,  Lives  Glass  Factory 
10  m  Troy,  his  Grand  F  was  Cous  to  my 
Fath  —  Sand   Lake." 

"Oliver  Fox  was  nephew  to  Dan 
Ezekiel  Do  Ebenezer  —  all  nephews  to 
Grd.  Fox  —  This  one  is  Grandson  of 
O.  Fox  —  Dan  Fox  moved  up  to  N. 
Canaan   during  the  War." 

"Grd.  Fath  had  many  connections  in 
Haddam   by  name  of   Fox." 

This  memoranda  may  seem  somewhat 
cryptical     at     the     first     glance,     but     a 


knowledge  of  the  surrounding  con- 
ditions make  the  explanation  easy,  and 
the  interpretation  is  as  follows : 

The  grandfather  of  Jeremiah  Fox 
who  lives  at  the  Glass  Factory  at  Sand 
Lake,  ten  miles  from  Troy,  was  a 
cousin  to  Jehiel  Fo.x,  the  father  of 
Elder    Norman    Fo.x. 

Oliver  Fox,  Ezekiel  Fox  and 
Ebenezer  Fox  were  all  nephews  to 
Daniel  Fox,  the  grandfather  of  Elder 
Norman  Fox.  Jeremiah  Fo.x  of  Sand 
Lake  was  a  grandson  of  Oliver  Fox. 

.'\dditional  information  is  gathered 
from  letters  from  .Albert  R.  Fox,  a 
grandson  of  the  above  Jeremiah  Fox, 
preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Society 
of  the  Descendants  of  Norman  hox. 
1    quote   as    follows : 

Letter   dated   February   1,   1881. 

"F"ox,  Jeremiah,  born  1766  at  East 
Haddam,  Conn. ;  his  father's  name  we 
cannot  ascertain  —  His  mother  died  in 
1768.  He  had  brothers,  Zemuel  (should 
be  Samuel,  S.  M.  F.  )  and  Oliver  —  His 
father  remarried  and  purchased  a  farm 
near  Kinderhook  Lake,  Columbia 
County,  N.  Y.,  —  and  afterwards  re- 
moved west  and  died.  Jeremiah  Fox, 
my  grandfather,  went  with  a  friend  of 
his  father's  to  Saratoga,  by  the  name 
of  Smith,  and  remained  until  of  age 
and  then  learned  the  weaver's  trade ; 
afterwards  into  merchandising,  and 
died   in    1825." 

A  previous  letter  of  Dec.  2,  1680, 
states  as   follows : 

"Jeremiah  Fox,  born  July  22nd,  1766; 
was  an  orphan,  resided  near  Kinder- 
hook  Lake  —  Married  Eunice  Bristol, 
Dec.  16,  1780.  They  were  baptized  into 
the  Skodack  Bapt.  Chh..  1811  :  and  were 
early  or  constituent  members  of  the  1st 


22 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 


Nov.   1,  1916 


Baptist  Church  in  Alhany.  He  was  my 
grandfather —  died  on  a  journey  to 
Canada,  in  Turin,  Lewis  Count.v.  N.  Y."' 

Taking  up  the  Connecticut  records  of 
the  French  and  Indian  wars,  we  find 
the  following  among  the  soldiers  who 
went  out  from  East  Haddam : 

Samuel  Fox,  Gershom  Fox.  Isaac  Fox. 
Samuel  Fox,  Jr.,  Oliver  Fox.  William 
Fox,  Ezekiel  Fox.  Israel  Fox,  Amasa 
Fox,  Lemuel  Fox.  Silas  Fox,  Joseph 
Fox  and  Joshua  Fox.  Of  these  the  first 
three,  viz  :  Samuel.  Gershom  and  Isaac, 
were  the  elder  brothers  of  Daniel  Fox : 
Lemuel  and  Silas  were  the  sons  of 
Isaac;  Joseph  was  the  son  of  Thomas 
(4)  Fox,  the  brother  of  Samuel, 
Gershom.  etc..  —  he  died  in  the  army: 
Joshua  was  the  son  of  Ebenezer  (3) 
Fox.  a  cousin ;  Samuel  Fox.  Jr.,  William 
Fox,  Oliver  Fox,  Ezekiel  Fox,  Israel 
Fox  —  and  perhaps  Amasa  Fox  —  were 
doubtless  sons  of  Samuel  (4)  Fox  — 
the  brother  of  Daniel. 

The  statement  made  by  Henry 
Williams,  that  Daniel  Fox  had  nephews. 
Oliver  and  Ezekiel  Fox,  is  veritied,  and 
undoubted  proof  given  that  Daniel  Fox 
was  a  brother  of  Samuel  (4)  F"ox.  and 
therefore.  Daniel  was  a  son  of  Isaac 
(3)  P'ox  of  Colchester.  The  statement 
that  Ebenezer  Fox  was  also  a  nephew 
of  Daniel  Fox  was  an  error,  as  said 
Ebenezer  was  a  cousin.  Presumedly 
Ebenezer  Fox,  Jr.,  was  referred  to,  and 
he  was  second  cousin  to  Daniel. 
Ebenezer  (3)  Fox  of  New  London, 
son  of  Isaac  (2).  and  therefore  a  cousin 
of  Isaac  (3)  Fox  of  Colchester,  bouglit 
land  in  East  Haddam  in  1730  and 
settled  in  Millington  Parish  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  sons  of  Isaac 
(3)  of  Colchester.  It  is  not  strange 
that  his  relationship  should  be  slightly 
confused:  but  this  error  docs  not  disturb 
the  other  conditions. 

In  April.  1760,  Samuel  Fo.x,  aged  24. 
and  Oliver  Fox.  aged  19,  "of  Connecti- 
cut" went  over  in  Dutchess  County, 
N.  Y.  and  enlisted  in  Captain  Bogardus' 
company.  It  must  be  understood  that 
Dutchess  County  extended  north  to 
Albany  County  and  included  what  was 
later  set  oflf  as  Columbia  County ; 
Rensselaer  County  was  later  set  ofif 
from  Albany  County.  Oliver  Fox.  and 
probably   his   brother    Samuel,    returned 


to  East  Haddam.  Oliver  soon  married 
and  had  sons ;  Oliver,  Samuel  and 
Jeremiah  born  to  him  in  East  Haddam 
—  the  latter  born  July  22,  1766.  Oliver's 
first  wife  died  in  1768,  he  married  again 
and  removed  to  New  York,  settling  near 
Kinderhook  Lake,  close  to  the  boundary 
line  between  Dutchess  and  Albany 
Counties.  His  brother  Samuel  Fox, 
(Jr.),  probabh-  settled  near  him,  as  the 
revolutionary  rolls  show  that  Oliver  Fox 
and  Samuel  Fox  served  together  in 
Colonel  Pawley's  command  :  also  Oliver 
1^'ox.  Jr..  enlisted  from  Dutchess  County. 

In  the  census  of  1790,  Oliver  Fox. 
Samuel  Fox  and  Jeremiah  Fox  appear 
as  heads  of,  apparenth-,  young  families 
in  Rensselaerwick,  N.  Y.  Daniel  Fox, 
Levitt  Fox,  Consider  Fox  and  Jacob  M. 
Fox  were  the  heads  of  families  in  New 
Canaan ;  and  a  John  C.  Fox  was  living 
in  Hudson.  Oliver.  Samuel  and 
Jeremiah  are  confirmed  as  sons  of 
Oliver  (5)  Fox  formerly  of  East 
Haddam ;  Daniel  and  Levitt  Fox  will 
at  once  be  recognized  as  the  father  and 
son  from  East  Haddam.  Jacob  M.  Fox 
was  the  son  of  Jedediah  (4)  Fox,  the 
brother  of  Daniel.  His  full  name  was 
Jacob  McCoy  Fox.  and  he  was  the 
Lieut.  Jacob  Fox  who  served  in  the 
Revolution  from  Norwich,  Conn.  Con- 
sider Fox  was  the  son  of  Benjamin  (4) 
Fox  (Benjamin  3.  John  2)  of  New 
London.  Conn.  Consider  Fox  had 
brothers  William,  Samuel  and  Benjamin 
who  settled  at  Hoosick,  N.  Y.  before 
the  Revolution  —  Samuel  returned  to 
New  London.  Lieut.  Jacob  M.  Fox  had 
brothers  Jeremiah.  Jr.  and  John  who 
served  in  the  Revolution  from  Connecti- 
cut, who  later  settled  in  New  York 
State.  Whether  the  John  C.  Fox  of 
Hudson  was  that  brother  John,  I  have 
not  jet  determined. 

The  foregoing  will  give  something  of 
an  idea  how  the  exodus  of  the  Foxes 
from  East  Haddam  and  New  London 
began  —  the  consuming  desire  for  more 
and  cheaper  land,  and  a  longing  for 
something  better  beyond.  Isaac  (4) 
Fox.  the  brother  of  Daniel,  in  1662, 
went  up  to  Campton.  N.  H.,  taking  a 
nephew,  Winthrop  Fox,  with  him.  He 
prepared  a  home,  and  his  son,  Isaac  Fox, 
Jr.,  brought  up  his  mother  and  the  rest 
of  the  family,  the  following  spring. 
Isaac  (4)  Fox  sold  his  homestead  in 
East    Haddam    on    February    20,    1759; 


Nov.   1.   191G 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 


23 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS 

The  recognized  organ  of  the  Society 
of  the  Descendants  of  Norman  Fox. 
Published  every  two  months.  Editor, 
Howard  Fox,  616  Madison  Avenue,  New 
York.    Subscription  $1 .00  per  year. 

on  April  16,  of  the  same  year,  his 
brother  John  Fox  sold  his  homestead 
in  East  Haddam  to  the  same  party,  and 
thereafter  disappears  from  the  East 
Haddam  records.  He  did  not  go  to 
Campton   with   his  brother   Isaac. 

Gabriel  Ely  Fox  —  the  youngest  son 
of  Daniel  Fox,  told  Elder  Norman  Fox, 
in  1844,  that  his  father,  Daniel  Fox,  had 
two  brothers,  Isaac  and  John  —  "one 
brother  settled  in  the  southern  states.'" 
All  the  brothers  of  Daniel  Fox,  except 
John,  are  otherwise  accounted  for.  If 
a  brother  did  settle  in  the  south  it  must 
have  been  John  ;  and  nothing  has  been 
found  that  disturbs  this  theory.  Daniel 
Fox's  son  Daniel,  Jr.,  went  down  and 
dwelt  for  a  number  of  years  at 
Chester,  Virginia ;  possibly  his  uncle 
John    Fox   was   of    that    vicinity. 

A  Swnday  School  Picnic 

(As  described  in  a  letter  written  in  i8y2,  from 
Uncle  A/anson  to  Uncle  George  and  Aunt  Harriet 
while  in  Europe  ) 

Last  Wednesday  our  Sunday  School 
had  a  picnic  at  Eldridge  Park,  near 
Elmira.  Last  Sunday  there  was  an 
astonishing  event  in  Sunday  School  and 
we  were  very  much  gratified  at  the 
large  attendance  and  increasing  interest. 
For  some  unaccountable  reason  the 
school  was  not  so  full  today.  We 
mustered  about  250  strong  at  the  Depot 
Wednesday  morning  and  crowded  into 
three  cars.  The  train  stopped  at  the 
Park  and  let  us  off  and  "all  went  merry 
as  a  marriage  bell"  till  noon  when  it 
commenced  to  rain  and  all  the  afternoon 
it  continued  to  rain.  We  had  engaged 
La  Frances  Band  from  Elmira  which 
met  us  on  the  ground  and  made  it  as 
pleasant  as  the  weather  would  admit. 
A  little  building  on  the  ground  afforded 
shelter  for  as  many  as  could  stand 
upright  in  it  and  the  rest  did  the  best 
they  could.  It  was  a  fine  opportunity 
for  Mark  Tapley.  It  was  a  fine  oppor- 
tunity    also     to      indulge     in     original 


remarks  about  "Baptist  Picnic"  — 
"Baptists  not  afraid  of  water"  &c  &c. 
Ed  Smith  noted  down  in  his  book  how 
many  jokes  lie  heard  during  the 
afternoon  of  that  kind.  I  forgot  now 
how  many  hundred  he  counted.  What 
a  conscious  air  of  originality  lighted 
up  each  one's  face  as  he  made  the 
remark  to  you,  thinking  of  course,  it 
must  be  entirely  new  to  you.  The 
Conductor  in  the  morning  had  told  me 
the  exact  minute  at  which  we  must  be 
at  the  Park  gates  to  take  the  train  and 
we  had  compared  watches.  Of  course 
our  shelter  was  quite  a  distance  from 
the  gates  and  of  course  it  rained  just 
a  little  harder  than  usual  at  the  time 
the  train  was  due,  and  of  course  tne 
train  was  half  an  hour  behind  time  and 
no  waj'  for  us  to  learn  it  except  by 
waiting.  Here  was  Mark  Tapley's  best 
chance  and  among  his  imitators  you  can 
easily  imagine  your  humble  ser- 
vant, Ed  Smith,  Ada  and  others. 
Mother  came  well  up  to  the  Tapley 
standard,  but  among  those  who  did 
not,  you  can  easily  guess  were  Louise, 
Daniel  Orcutt,  Ella  Weston  &  Mr.  Bur- 
land  &  Alva  &c  &c.  The  Elmira 
Advertiser  next  day  mentioned  that  the 
Painted  Post  Baptist  folks  "indulged  in 
an  umbrella  picnic  at  Eldridge  Park 
yesterday."  Every  day  last  week  except 
Wednesday  was  warm  and  pleasant. 

A  Letter  from  Stuart  Freeman 

"I  did  not  join  the  National  Guard  in 
this  last  awakening.  There  did  not 
seem  to  be  any  enthusiasm  over  it  here 
and  I  don't  know  of  anj'body  outside 
the  already  enlisted  militia  who  joined 
the  movement  to  the  border.  In  the 
East,  on  the  contrary,  everyone  I  ever 
heard  of  seems  to  be  either  in  Texas  or 
Arizona  or   New    Mexico. 

My  preparedness  movement  was  lim- 
ited to  joining  a  drill  Co.,  of  young 
men  instead  of  going  to  the  Citizens 
Camp  at  Monterey.  I  was  unable  to 
get  a  months  vacation,  however  and 
contrary  to  plans,  could  not  attend. 
Have  joined  a  rifle  clul)  and  at  the  last 
shoot  qualified  as  a  marksman. 

The  militia  is  certainly  getting  some 
wonderful  experience  at  the  border  and 
they  will  all  be  better  men  for  having 
gone    through    it." 


24 


FOX   FAMILY  NEWS 


Nov.   1,    1916 


A  Prize  Contest. 

(.4   program    siicgfsted   by    Hcl,r:    ami     Mason 
some  years  ago.) 

COMIXG!!! 
EXHIBITION    OF   MOTHERS 

AT 

MADISOX  SQUARE  GARDEX. 


M  A  T  E  R  X  A  L     W  O  X  D  E  R  S. 
WORLD'S    GREATEST    PARENTS. 


TEX  —  PRIZE  COXTESTS  —  TEX 
Any  child  may  enter  its  parent. 


EVEXTS 


1.  Great  weight  lifting  contest. — - 
Mothers  to  carry  sons'  heavy  suit  cases. 
100  yards. 

2.  Mothers  to  push  morris  chairs  — 
50  j'ards.     Speed  and  form  to  count. 

3.  Mothers  to  balance  on  high  step 
ladders  and  lift  boxes  from  shelf. 
Hands  not  to  be  used  for  support  in 
backing  down. 

4.  Human  alarm  clocks.  Test  for 
memory  and  accuracy  in  waking  children 
at  odd   hours. 

5.  The  delivery  by  chosen  mothers 
of  encomiums  upon  their  respective 
children,    illustrated   with   anecdotes. 

6.  Speed  test  —  Overcoat  drill. 
Mothers  with  only  one  child  to  add 
rubbers. 

7.  Test  of.  powers  of  persuasion. 
Perfectly  wideawake  children  to  be 
induced  to  go  to  bed.  Resignation  if 
unsuccessful,  to  count. 

8.  Signal  corps.  Greatest  number  of 
hints  to  be  conveyed  in  a  given  time 
without  detection  from  outsiders. 

9.  Children  to  parade  before 
mothers.  Prize  to  be  awarded  to  mother 
best  concealing  pride.  Any  mother  who 
nudges  another  to  be  counted  out. 

10.  Tableau. 


George  Henry  Fox  Williain  Freeman  Fox 

Alansonjehiel  Fox 

Norman  Fox  Charles  James  Fox 

(Frotn  a  photograph  taken  in  18S4) 

Family  News 

Edith  and  Montague  have  changed 
their  address  to  2  West  95th  Street. 

Uncle  Robert  is  preaching  this  fall 
in  Yonkers  at  the  Warburton  Avenue 
Baptist  Church. 

Helen  and  Mason  are  now  living  in 
(ilen  Ridge,  Xew  Jersey,  where  they 
have   taken  a  house. 

Uncle  George  recently  celebrated  his 
70th  birthda\'  at  "Riverbend."  Among  the 
congratulatory  telegrams  received  during 
a  dinner  in  his  honor  was  one  from 
Helen  and  Mason  signed  "X'ew  Jersey 
Rob  and   Nellie." 

Kenneth  has  accepted  a  call  to  the 
Second  Baptist  Church  at  Suffield.  where 
he  began  his  pastorate  early  in  Septem- 
ber. He  has  twelve  acres  of  land 
which  ought  to  satisfy  his  duck  raising 
proclivities. 

Aunt  Cornelia  has  given  up  her 
apartment  and  will  make  her  home  with 
-ilan  at  9  East  10th  Street,  where 
Little  Joseph  will  also  spend  the  winter. 
Alan  spent  four  weeks  in  Glacier 
N'^ational  Park  recently  on  a  camping 
trip. 

George  has  been  elected  treasurer  of 
the  Broome  County  Medical  Society. 
He  went  to  Camp  Whitman  with  the 
First  Ambulance  Comp  ny  but  was  unable 
to  go  to  the  border  on  account  of  foot 
trouble.  After  his  return  from  camp 
he  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Depot 
Unit. 


FOX  FAMILY  NEWS-SUPPLEMENT 
NOVEMBER  1916. 


Letters  from  the  Mexican 
Border. 


Serg'eant  Alanson  Gibbs  Fox 
Troop  A.  Squadroti  A.,  A'.  6".  IJ.  S. 

(Extracts from  letters  to  his/ami,'y) 

July  7th.  We  finally  got  off  yester- 
day morning  and  rode  up  to  Yonkers 
where  we  entrained  at  the  freight 
yards  of  the  New  York  Central  Rail- 
road. Our  train  which  was  the  first 
section,  contained  A.  and  B.  troops  of 
Squadron  A.  and  had  fifteen  horse  and 
flat  cars  and  five  day  coaches  for  the 
men.  The  Yonkers  R':^d  Cross  Society 
served  us  sandwiches,  eggs,  cake  and 
fruit  and  all  kinds  of  refreshments. 
We  unscrewed  the  backs  of  the  seats 
and  were  able  to  lie  flat  and  had  a 
good  night's  sleep,  h-ut  after  sleeping 
on  the  ground  for  several  weeks,  I  am 
accustomed  to  hard  beds. 

July  8th.  With  all  the  windows  and 
doors  of  the  cars  open  and  with  en- 
gines burning  soft  coal,  you  might 
take  us  for  the  10th  Cavalry,  but  a 
little  thing  like  dirt,  does  not  bother 
me  at  all.  This  morning  most  of  the 
men  stripped  to  the  waist,  when  our 
engine  stopped  for  water  and  a  hose 
was  played  on  us,  which  was  as  re- 
freshing as  a  shower  bath.  I  think  I 
never  saw  a  better  crowd  of  men  than 
there  is  in  our  troop  and  it  is  a  plea- 
sure to  be  among  them. 

July  9th.  Everybody  along  the  line 
cheers  us  as  we  go  by  and  I  am  be- 
ginning to  feel  like  a  regular,  which  I 
now  am  under  the  new  law.  This  train, 
as  one  of  the  men  wrote  home,  runs  as 
fast  as  a  dry  brook.  At  St.  Louis, 
Dave  Francis  entertained  me  at  the 
Racquet  Club  and  told  me  to  bring 
as  many  men  as  I  wished.  I  brought 
eight  Troop  A  men  and  we  had  a 
swim  in  the  pool  and  a  wonderful 
luncheon.     This    afternoon    I    washed 


out  my  underwear  with  Fels  Naptha 
soap,  and  you  can  tell  Kate  1  am  fast 
becoming   an   expert. 

July  10th.  Last  night  1  amused  the 
train  by  going  through  it  after  the 
men  had  gone  to  bed  and  imitating  a 
colored  porter,  asking  each  man 
whether  he  was  getting  off  at  Fulton 
Chain,  Saranac,  Lake  Placid,  etc.  The 
two  newly  acquired  Pullman  porters 
seemed  to  enjoy  it  as  well  as  any. 
Apparently  I  am  one  of  the  jokers  in 
this  outfit.  At  St.  Louis  we  took  on  a 
black  tonsorial  artist,  who  is  now  busy 
getting  the  men's  heads  to  look  like 
Thomas  M.  Osborne's  pets. 

July  11th.  I  called  up  Rob  on  the 
long  distance  telephone.  He  seemed 
very  pleased  to  hear  my  voice  and 
Noel's.  Yesterday  Ray  Biglow  and  I 
rode  on  the  caboose,  my  first  exper- 
ience, and  sitting  up  on  the  top  affords 
a  real  view  of  cotton  and  corn,  about 
all  there  is  down  this  way.  In  the 
evening  we  formed  the  Caboose  Quar- 
tette and  at  several  short  five  minute 
stops,  proceeded  to  give  the  natives 
samples  of  our  close  harmony.  Last 
night  I  went  through  the  train  doing 
my  usual  impersonations  of  the  con- 
ductor, porter,  newsboy  and  baggage 
expressman.  The  men  seem  to  look 
for  me  every  night. 

July  12th.  I  had  charge  of  the  A. 
Troop  detail  of  14  men  in  loading  and 
unloading  the  237  horses  in  our  sec- 
tion. The  officer  in  charge  arranged 
to  wake  me  on  reaching  Houston  and 
did  so  at  2.15  this  morning.  Unfor- 
tunately the  Pullman  conductor  woke 
me  at  1.30  A.  M.  and  as  I  had  gotten 
to  bed  at  10.30  my  amount  of  sleep 
was  limited.  It  is  Edgar  Freeman's 
birthday  today  and  he  did  not  remem- 
ber it  until  I  spoke  to  him  about  it. 

July  14th.  We  reached  McAUen 
Thursday     morning.       Our     camp     is 


26 


FOX  FAMILY  XEWS— SUPPLEMENT 


Nov.   1,   191 G 


about  60  miles  from  Browusville  and 
only  about  7  miles  from  the  Rio 
Grande.  It  is  sure  hot  here  and  the 
country  is  pretty  desolate  and  God 
forsaken.  I  am  acting  as  stable  ser- 
geant for  24  hours,  so  I  expect  to  be 
with  the  horses  tonight  and  sleep  on 
a  bale  of  hay. 

July  16th.  I  am  feeling  well  and 
very  gradually  getting  used  to  the  sun 
and  heat.  Between  10  and  4  it  is  ter- 
rible and  you  have  to  keep  under 
cover  as  much  as  possible. 

July  17th.  I  have  started  getting 
up  a  vaudeville  entertainment  and 
have  been  appointed  chairman  of  the 
committee.  You  see  practically  noth- 
ing but  corn  and  cotton,  but  there's 
lots  of  that.  The  cactus  is  thick  and 
I  never  saw  such  a  country  for  bugs 
and  insects.  One  man  found  a  taran- 
tula in  his  shoe.  When  you  go  to  bed 
you  have  to  shake  out  everything. 
"Bill}'"  is  fine  and  everyone  takes  a 
personal  interest  in  him.  I  tell  you. 
I  am  glad  that  I  have  him  with  me. 

July  17th.  By  the  way,  it  is  104  in 
the  shade  and  122  in  the  sun  today 
(2.45  P.M.).  A  dead  horse  is  waiting 
to  be  buried  and  the  wind  is  wafting 
this  way. 

July  22nd.  Quite  a  number  of  the 
horses  are  dead,  but  "Billy"  is  as  fine 
and  chipper  as  can  be.  Everyone  in 
the  Troop  knows  him  and  he  is  a 
great  favorite.  At  a  vaudeville  enter- 
tainment given  by  our  Troop  I  acted 
as  manager  and  finally  had  to  do  a 
little  stunt  myself.  I  managed  to  get 
hold  of  a  piano  in  ^IcAllen  and 
brought  it  up  on  our  motor  truck.  It 
made  a  great  hit. 

July  2.5th.  I  did  not  write  on  Sun- 
day as  expected  as  the  heat  was  ter- 


Sergea7it  Alatison  Gibbs  Fox 

mounted  on  "BUly" 

rible.  106  yesterday  in  my  tent  and 
from  125  to  130  in  the  sun.  On  Sun- 
day, 7  of  us  went  to  Mission  in  a 
Ford  jitney  to  visit  some  friends  who 
had  asked  me  to  bring  some  musical 
men  and  so  I  brought  over  Jim 
Thornton,  on  tho  piano.  Nat  Holmes, 
Fritz  Achelis  and  I  helping  out  on  the 
singing,  Dave  Stuart  and  Livingston 
Whitney  on  the  ice  cream  and  cake. 

July  26th.  I  am  feeling  perfectly 
well  and  losing  lots  of  weight  and  look 
as  dark  as  the  Mexicans.  The  FOX 
FAMILY  XEWS  came  today  and  I 
showed  the  copy  to  a  lot  of  the  men 
in  the  troop. 

July  29th.  I  take  a  sponge  bath  in 
a  galvanized  tub  which  I  bought. 
Bleecker  laughed  at  it.  but  I  notice 
that  he  uses  it. 

Aug.  Sth.  I  returned  yesterday 
from  a  five  days  hike  of  96  miles. 

Aug.  12th.  Dr.  McCullagh  seems 
well,  and  I  think  he  is  pretty  busy. 

Aug.  20th.  Our  6  day  hike  ended 
on  the  3rd  day  on  account  of  the  ty- 
phoon we  had  Friday  night.  It  was  one 
of  the  worst  storms  I  have  ever  seen. 


Nov.  1,  1916     FOX  FAMILY  NEWS— SUPPLEMENT 


27 


We  were  all  soaked  to  the  skin  and 
some  of  the  tents  blew  down. 

Aug.  22nd.  Our  troop  has  started 
religious  meetings  every  Sunday  and 
next  Sunday  I  am  to  be  the  leader. 
First  call  has  been  changed  from  .5.15 
to  5.30  in  the  morning,  so  you  see  we 
can  sleep  late  in  the  morning.  If  any 
one  mentions  the  word  McAllen  when 
I  get  home,  I  shall  shoot  him  dead. 
However,  when  I  return  I  shall  miss 
the  life  and  forget  all  the  discomforts. 

Aug.  30th.  Today  I  am  sergeant  of 
the  guard  and  am  in  camp.  Our  troop 
started  on  a  five  day  hike  and  I  hope 
to  join  them  tomorrow.  Noel  gave  the 
non  coms.  of  our  troop  a  most  inter- 
esting talk  on  the  rifie.  It  was  one  of 
the  best  talks  I  ever  heard. 

Sept.  2nd.  The  troop  left  on  the 
day  of  my  birthday  for  rifle  and  pistol 
practice  on  the  range,  and  then  up  to 
Monte  Christo,  22  miles  from  McAllen 
where  we  are  now  camping.  We  ex- 
pect to  be  here  for  five  to  ten  days. 
It  is  an  interesting  detail  and  an  easy 
one,  except  for  mosquitos  at  night 
which  are  terrible.  We  call  them 
eagles.  With  our  tent  screened  in  at 
McAllen  and  shower  baths  we  live 
like  human  beings. 

Sept.  11th.  I  am  perfectly  well,  but 
have  lost  lots  of  weight.  My  waist 
line  has  materially  decreased.  We  just 
had  a  call  to  arms,  which  we  have 
every  once  in  a  while,  when  we  do  not 
expect  it.  The  other  day  we  had  a 
call  to  arms  for  our  troop  and  I  was 
the  very  first  man  saddled  and  up  on 
his  horse.  "Billy"  stands  perfectly 
still  and  seems  to  understand  what  I 
am  doing. 

Sept.  13th.  Bleecker's  likeness  to 
Villa  has  been  remarked  already  by 
some  of  the  men.  Edgar  and  Howard 
Freeman   have   made   excellent  troop- 


ers. Of  the  24  Yale  men  in  our  troop, 
one  is  on  leave  with  a  broken  ankle, 
the  other  23  are  right  here. 

Sept.  15th.  Dave  Stuart  is  laid  up 
in  the  hospital  for  a  few  days,  so  I  am 
acting  as  first  sergeant  of  the  troop, 
which  is  splendid  training  and  a  lot  of 
fun.  As  acting  senior  line  sergeant  I 
have  almost  without  exception  been  in 
charge  of  a  platoon  in  drills  and  man- 
euvers, so  I  have  had  a  chance  to  bawl 
out  commands  a  whole  lot. 

Oct.  29th.  Yesterday  the  troop  A. 
baseball  team  defeated  the  7th  Regt. 
by  5 — 3.  Edgar  played  second  base 
and  Howard  third  base.  They  both 
did  well  especially  Edgar,  who  played 
a  star  game.  When  you  consider  the 
7th  Regt.  has  about  1300  men  whereas 
our  troop  has  a  hundred  men,  I  should 
say  that  was  pretty  good  going. 

Sergeant  Noel  Bleecker  Fox 

Troop  A.  Squadron  A.,  N.  G.  U.  S. 

McAllen,  Texas 
October  :30th  1916. 

Dear  Howard 

As  Alanson  has  doubtless  kept  you 
well  informed  of  how  we  are  situated 
and  what  we  are  doing  there  is  little 
that  I  can  tell  you  about  our  exper- 
iences in  Texas.  This  region  is  a  flat 
plain  of  adobe  clay.  At  least  it  looks 
flat  until  it  rains  when  we  discover 
that  some  places  are  lower  than  the 
others  from  the  fact  that  the  water 
settles  there  in  stagnant  pools  where 
it  remains  until  dried  up  in  the  next 
dry  spell.  It  cannot  run  off  into 
streams  for  there  are  absolutely  none 
except  the  Rio  Grande  itself.  The 
only  kind  of  tree  is  the  mesquite 
which  is  not  very  large  and  bears  a 
few  small  leaves  and  many  large 
thorns.  Consequently  it  gives  little 
shade     from     the     hot    sun.     Of     the 


28 


FOX   FAMILY  NEWS— SUPPLEMENT 


Nov.   1.    1916 


plants  the  most  noticeable  is  the  cac- 
tus which  grows  everywhere  to  a 
height  of  three  or  four  feet  and  occas- 
ionally as  tall  as  twelve  feet  or  so. 
There  are  a  number  of  other  kinds  of 
bushes  all  of  which  have  large  and 
piercing  thorns.  In  order  to  prepare 
for  the  kind  of  fighting  to  be  expected 
in  such  a  country  our  drill  frequently 
includes  work  at  extended  orrler  both 
mounted  and  dismounted  through  the 
cactus  and  at  the  end  of  such  a  drill 
we  pull  the  cactus  spines  from  our 
own  and  our  horses  legs. 

The  commonest  animals  are  snakes, 
lizards,  turtles,  horned  toads,  gophers, 
jack-rabbits  and  coyotes;  the  last  of 
which  I  have  never  seen  although  we 
hear  them  howling  every  night.  Xo 
account  of  this  country  would  be  com- 
plete without  mention  of  the  insects 
of  which  there  are  more  varieties  and 
more  of  each  variety  than  I  ever  sup- 
posed existed.  These  include  the 
scorpions  and  tarantulas  which  are 
frequent  visitors  to  our  tents.  Every 
living  thing  seems  to  have  a  thorn. 
poison,  sting  or  bite  but  from  this  I 
must  except  the  birds  of  numerous 
kinds  many  of  which  have  pleasing 
songs.  The  only  other  beauties  of 
nature  here  are  the  sunsets  and  sun- 
rises which  are  the  finest  I  have  ever 
seen. 

Speaking  of  sunrises  we  have  had 
full  opportunity  to  observe  almost 
every  one  for  four  months.  When  we 
first  came  here  our  first  call  every 
morning  was  at  five  o'clock  but  now 
it  is  six.  On  several  occasions  when 
we  have  had  maneuvers  or  have  been 
away  on  hikes  the  first  call  has  been 
earlier,  the  earliest  being  at  3:4.5. 
On  that  and  a  couple  of  other  times 
we  were  in  the  saddle  and  on  the  road 
before  daylight. 

I  have  been  on  three  hikes  with  the 


Squadron.  One  of  these  was  for  five 
days  and  covered  the  country  for  fifty 
miles  to  the  North  while  the  other  two 
were  along  the  Rio  Grande.  On  our 
hikes  along  the  river  we  passed 
through  numerous  quaint  little  Mexi- 
can villages  in  which  the  houses  were 
roofed  with  thatch  and  built  of  woven 
branches  covered  over  with  clay. 
These  villages  and  their  inhabitants 
seemed  to  belong  in  the  Balkans  or 
the  Philippines  rather  than  in  the 
United  States.  The  troop  was  also 
away  at  another  time  for  about  ten 
days.  I  did  not  go  with  them  then 
but  stayed  behind  in  command  of  the 
part  of  the  troop  which  remained  in 
camp.  There  were  about  twenty  who 
stayed  here  either  because  they  were 
too  crippled  to  ride  or  because  they 
were  detailed  for  spe^^ial  duties 
around  camp.  It  was  the  first  time 
I  had  commanded  a  separate  unit  for 
any  length  of  time  and  I  enjoyed  it 
verv   much. 


Li\/t  to  right 

Alanson,  Edgar,  Howard,  Noel 
In  addition  to  the  ordinary  work  of 
a  line  sergeant  my  particular  job  is 
the  guidon.  This  includes  carrying  it 
at  drill  and  on  the  march,  uncasing 
it  at  reveille  and  casing  it  at  retreat 
or  when  it  rains.  Our  guidon  has 
become  so  torn  by  the  thorns  on  the 
mesquite  trees  that  it  looks  as  battle- 
scarred  as  any  flag  that  ever  passed 


Nov.  1,  1916         FOX  FAMILY  NEWS— SUPPLEMENT 


29 


through  real  war.  My  other  special 
work  is  looking  after  the  small  arms 
and  ammunition  of  the  troop.  This 
includes  instructing  the  men  in  shoot- 
ing, keeping  records  of  target  practice 
and  issuing  ball  cartridges  for  guard 
duty,  etc.,  and  blanks  for  maneuvers. 
This  is  the  first  camp  I  have  ever  been 
at  where  both  ball  and  blank  ammuni- 
tion are  used  and  it  requires  great 
care  to  see  that  no  one  carries  one 
kind  when  he  should  have  the  other. 

During  the  three  months  and  more 
that  we  have  lived   in  this   camp  we 
have  gradually  changed  it  from  a  few 
pieces  of  canvass  over  a  mud  hole  to 
a    very     comfortable     habitation.     In- 
stead  of   sleeping   on   the   ground    we 
have   cots   over  board   floors   and   our 
tents  have  grown  into  canvass  cover- 
ed houses.     The  wall  is  of  boards  for 
twelve  inches  from  the  floor  and  wire 
screen    for    thirty    inches    above    that 
while   the   old   conical   tent   supported 
by   wooden   rafters   instead   of   a  pole 
forms   the   roof.     A   full   sized    screen 
door  with  spring  hinges  completes  the 
edifice  and  keeps  it  comparatively  fly 
and  mosquito-proof  while  the  walls  of 
the  tent  may  be  lowered  outside  the 
screen  walls  to  keep  out  the  rain.  We 
have  plenty  of  room   in  our  tent  for 
while  some  of  the  tents  hold  eight  or 
ten  men   ours   has   only   five;    namely 
Sergeants  Smidt,   Biglow   and   Farrelly 
in  addition  to  Alanson  and  myself.  Our 
dining  accommodations   have   improv- 
ed as  much  as  our  sleeping  ones.     At 
first  we  ate  from  our  tin  plates  while 
seated  on  the  ground  amongst  the  in- 
sects.    Now    we    eat    from    enamelled 
ware  at  tables  in  a  mess  shack  with 
wooden   roof   and    wire    screen   walls. 
Another  great  change  is  the   troughs 
to  water  horses  instead  of  having  to 
lead  them  half  a  mile  to  water.     And 
among    other    improvements    are    our 
showerbaths  and  our  clubhouse  which 


is  a  branch  of  the  Squadron  A  Club 
in  New  York. 

The  one  question  which  you  would 
be  likely  to  ask  us  is  one  which  we 
could  not  answer,  that  is,  when  are 
we  going  home.  Every  day  or  two 
there  is  a  reliable  rumor  that  a  pri- 
vate in  the  next  troop  said  that  a 
sergeant  in  the  Seventh  Regiment 
told  him  that  an  orderly  at  division 
headquarters  h  a  d  heard  General 
O'Ryan  say  that  we  would  entrain  for 
New  York  next  Tuesday  but  each 
time  the  information  has  proved  mis- 
leading. We  might  go  home  next 
week  or  we  might  be  here  all  winter. 
In  the  meantime  we  are  continuing 
to  make  permanent  improvements  in 
our  camp  and  if  we  have  to  stay  we 
are  ready  to  make  the  best  of  it. 

Your  cousin 

/\  oel  Bleecker  Fox 


Sergeant  Clinton  Fox  Ivins 

Troop  D   I  si  X.J.  Cavalry.  X   G    U.  S. 

Plainfield,  N.  J. 
Oct.  23rd,  1916. 

My  dear  Howard:  — 

I  was  certainly  glad  to  hear  that  the 
NEWS  is  right  on  the  job  with  a  "Bor- 
der Supplement"  and  now  that  I  am 
safely  at  home  again  I  will  endeavor 
to  give  an  account  of  myself  and  of 
our  outfit  on  the  Border. 

When  the  call  came  I  had  about 
given  up  all  military  aspirations  for 
I  had  been  living  in  Toledo  for  six 
months  and  had  been  obliged  to  be 
on  furlough  from  my  troop.  But  the 
obligation  was  there  all  the  same  and 
the  call  sounded  just  as  loud  and  com- 
pelling as  if  I  were  back  in  Plainfield 
and  mobilizing  with  my  friends.  So 
I  could   see  but  one  course  and   that 


30 


FOX  FAMILY   NEWS— SUPPLKMKNT     Nov.    1,   1916 


Sergeant  Clintojt  Fox  Ivins 

was  to  catch  the  first  and  fastest 
train  and  head  for  home.  It  was  a  big 
day  for  our  little  town  when  Troop  D 
left  and  with  all  my  hustling  from  the 
west,  I  missed  it  all  by  a  few  hours. 
but  caught  my  breath  and  the  outfit 
at  Sea  Girt  where  we  spent  two  hectic 
weeks  wondering  whether  the  next 
hour  would  see  us  headed  for  home  or 
Mexico.  Finally  we  got  our  orders 
and  at  full  strength,  100  men  and  3 
officers  and  a  herd  of  the  rawest, 
roughest  broncos  that  ever  came  off 
the  range,  started  for  "somewhere  on 
the  Border."  We  were  more  fortu- 
nate than  most  of  the  organizations 
that  came  from  a  distance  and  had 
tourist  sleepers,  and  with  two  men 
in  a  bunk  we  considered  ourselves 
travelling  in  luxury.  Seven  long  days 
brought  us  to  El  Paso  which  we 
thought  our  destination,  but  here  we 
were  told  to  keep  going  and  sojourn- 
ed along  the  border  through  New 
Mexico  and  Arizona  for  22.5  miles  due 
west  until  we  struck  Douglas.  That 
glimpse  of  Mexico,  all  mountains  and 
desert  and  past  the  ill  fated  Columbus, 
gave  us  a  thrill,  for  there  was  to  be 
the  scene  of  our  campaign  and  the 
battles   we    were   about    to   fight.     We 


soon  forgot  all  about  battles,  however 
tor  the  business  of  breaking  green 
horses  and  mules,  digging  ditches, 
fighting  flies,  answering  sick  call  and 
wondering  where  the  thermometer 
was  ever  going  to  stop  climbing  was 
entirely  too  engrossing  for  such  de- 
tails. This  was  the  state  of  affairs 
for  a  month  or  six  weeks,  when  we 
began  to  get  a  grip  on  ourselves  and 
our  horses.  We  learned  how  to  take 
the  climate  and  the  altitude  of  4500 
feet,  the  cooks  how  not  to  sp'oil  the 
ration  and  the  stout  men  grew  thin- 
ner and  the  thin  men  stouter,  and  we 
took  to  soldiering  with  a  zest.  We 
lost  a  good  many  of  our  best  men 
through  the  disability  and  dependancy 
orders  and  I  filled  a  vacancy  as  cor- 
poral and  then  as  sergeant.  Our  two 
lieutenants  and  first  sergeant  were  all 
ex  members  of  Squadron  A.  and  our 
present  "top"  Roy  Cox  is  one  of 
Alanson's  associates  In  the  "Guaran- 
ty." 

If  our  impressions  of  Arizona  had 
been  gained  from  the  situation  at 
Douglas  they  would  have  been  any- 
thing but  flattering  to  that  state.  Lo- 
cated right  in  the  midst  of  a  desert, 
and  hard  by  the  Copper  Queen  smelt- 
er, the  combination  of  heat,  dust  and 
sulphur  was  something  to  make  even 
the  cactus  shrink  up.  The  ground 
was  hard  as  rock,  and  the  most  resis- 
tant to  the  pick  and  shovel  I  ever 
saw,  and  our  intricate  system  of 
drainage  ditches  was  a  heart  and 
back  breaking  undertaking.  We  al- 
ways hailed  the  orders  to  hike  or  man- 
euver from  camp  with  delight  for  no 
situation  could  be  worse,  and  those 
hikes  through  the  mountains  and  up 
the  canyons  were  our  best  and  most 
interesting  experiences  in  Arizona. 
We  were  in  the  country  of  the  Geroni- 
mo  campaign  and  our  visits  to  some  of 
the  old  army  posts  and  Indian  camps, 


Nov.    1     1916     FOX   FAMILY   NEWS— SUPPLEMENT 


81 


regular  oases  and  garden  spots  in  the 
desert,  were  delightful  and  full  of  his- 
toric associations.  The  border  camps 
near  us,  Douglas.  Noco  and  Nogales 
were  busy  humming  centers  and  here 
we  met  guardsmen  of  a  dozen  differ- 
ent states  and  regulars  from  all  arms 
of  the  service.  There  were  plenty  of 
Mex.  always  in  sight  and  garrisons  in 
all  the  border  towns  across  the  line, 
but  the  state  of  Sonora  at  that  par- 
ticular time  was  under  good  control, 
and  except  for  occassional  sniping  and 
cattle  stealing  our  district  was  free 
from  international  trouble».  Toward 
the  end,  our  squadron,  both  men  and 
horses,  rounded  into  first  class  shape 
and  our  troop  and  squadron  drill  went 
off  with  a  snap  and  vigor  that  we 
didn't  think  was  in  us.  Our  recall 
came  none  too  soon,  though  for  any 
of  us  and  the  best  day  of  all  was  when 
we  saw  the  home  town  again,  and  be- 
came plain  citizens  once  more  after 
four  months  in  the  army. 

Clinton  Fox  Ivins 


Private  Howard  Brooks  Freeman 

Troop  A.  Sqicadron  A.,  N.  G.  U.  S. 

McAllen,  Texas,  Aug.  29,  1916 

Dear  Howard:  — 

There  is  an  article  in  the  Outlook 
of  Aug.  23  that  contains  about  as 
graphic  and  interesting  account  of  life 
on  the  border  as  one  could  wish  and 
as  it  was  written  by  a  member  of  the 
Squadron,  can  be  considered  an  au- 
thentic version  of  life  as  lived  by  the 
Foxes  enlisted  in  Squadron  A. 

However,  the  article  mentioned,  re- 
lates tales  concerning  rattlers,  scor- 
pions, tarantulas,  etc.  in  such  a  way 
as  to  make  the  reader  believe  they 
were  the  main  nuisances  here.     They 


haven't  lived  up  to  their  reputation  as 
prophesied  by  the  "know-it-alls"  en- 
countered en  route  from  N.  Y.  Any 
article  concerning  fauna  of  the  border 
should  be  composed  99  per  cent  of  the 
life  and  activities  of  the  fly.  Before 
coming  here  I  thought  1  had  met  the 
fly  and  become  acquainted  with  him. 
even  as  most  of  you  do,  but  I  find 
out  down  here  that  1  was  mistaken. 
May  you  never  know  him  as  we  know 
him,  for  here  is  his  home  and  he  owns 
it.  This  may  sound  exaggerated  but 
if  you  wish  to  know  the  truth,  you 
must  live  here. 


Just  now  camp  is  beginning  to  take 
on  a  permanent  appearance.  Most  of 
the  tents  have  acquired  floors,  some 
have  added  screens  and  rafters  as  pro- 
tection against  any  more  hurricanes 
that  may  come  this  way  and  also 
some  have  planted  palms  in  front  to 
vary  the  monotonous  appearance  of 
camp. 

And  so  goes  life  on  the  border  as 
noticed  by  the  senses.  For  the  eye, 
the  most  glorious  risings  and  settings 
of  the  sun  on  a  most  weary,  desolate 
land,  for  the  ear.  Dame  Rumor  and  the 
bugle,  for  the  nose,  the  ever  present, 
all  prevading  stable,  for  the  tongue, 
the  luscious  bran  and  last  but  not 
least,  for  herein  is  our  comfort  des- 
troyed to  the  sense  of  touch,  the  fly. 
He  appeals  to  all  the  other  senses, 
save  smell  and  as  his  home  includes 
the  stable,  maybe  he  also  comes  into 
prominence  here.  The  history  to 
date  of  war  with  Mexico  will  be  a 
repetition  of  tanglefoot  and  arsenic 
paper.  Other  weapons  are  necessary 
and  the  lesson  in  preparedness 
should  note  this  point,  for  lo,  he  is 
with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  campaign. 


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REFERENCE   DEPARTMENT 


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