I am cross-posting this to both the SCKY and Cumberland County lists because Wilson Cary and his brothers Henry and Nathaniel, sons of Robert and Mary (Cox) Cary of Chesterfield County, Virginia, have numerous descendants in the area. Sandi, if this is too far off topic for the SCKY list please feel free to delete it. I'm mainly posting this to get it in the searchable archives for future researchers. To recap, traditionally Mary the wife of Robert Cary, son of Thomas and Dorothy (Phillipson) Cary, of Chesterfield County is identified as Mary Jennings, the daughter of William Jennings of Amelia County. Mary was significantly younger than Robert and outlived him by over fifty years, dying in March 1836 at 92 (age given in her obituary).Research into the Jennings family of Amelia County revealed the William Jennings did in fact have a daughter named Mary however she married Oliver Jeter. A Brunswick County, VA, Chancery Case contains a deposition from a Henry Cox of Chesterfield County, dated 12 November 1800, which states: "he was well acquainted with Thomas Cary and Dorothy his wife late of Chesterfield County. That the said Thomas and Dorothy had two sons Robert and Thomas Cary, which Robert intermarried with Mary Cox at which the deponent was present..." With Mary's maiden name established as Cox, NOT Jennings, I began the task of trying to determine who her parents were.I hypothesized Henry Cox of the deposition was probably a close relative of Mary perhaps a brother and identifying his parents might lead me to Mary's parents. I began by reviewing the extant Tithe lists and Tax lists for Chesterfield County to identify all the Henry Coxes who lived in Chesterfield County at one time or another with my main focus being those living their in 1800. The list was actually quite short and I was able to narrow the candidates down to one: Henry Cox who married Elizabeth Chappell and was the progenitor of Coxes of Clover Hill in Chesterfield County (I can go into detail about how I eliminated the other Henry's if anyone would like at a later point off list). I focused on this family but soon discovered this Henry's past was as much a mystery as Mary Cox Cary's. Various internet sites gave lineages for this Henry however once original sources were checked it was obvious all were misidentifications. However one interesting tidbit did turn up. I ordered a copy of this Henry's will and noted he left a small inheritance to Walthall Robertson. This piqued my interest since Walthall Robertson was married twice: the first time to Frances Cox whose father is identified as Henry Cox on their marriage bond and the second time to Ann Cary, the daughter of Robert and Mary Cox Cary. It's very probable Frances father Henry was identical with the Henry Cox of Clover Hill. Perhaps Frances and Ann were kinswomen? Maybe first cousins? Robert and Mary lived close to Henry and Judith (Redford) Cox in Chesterfield County, VA, and they were of the correct age to be candidates as parents for Mary and her posited brother Henry but neither named children Mary or Henry in their wills eliminating them as candidates. Having reached a dead end here I reassessed the problem and developed a new strategy. I was convinced Mary was a descendant, probably granddaughter, of Richard and Mary (Trent) Cox based upon the links with their son Henry Cox and his wife Judith Radford so I focused on further documenting their sons John and Richard. I'll begin with John. John has been identified as the John with wife Elizabeth who sell land in Henrico Co in 1736 and had died by 1753 when Henry Cox sell land left to him by his father Richard with the exception of a graveyard where his parents, brother John and John's children are buried. This would appear to completely eliminate John as a candidate however when I consulted the original deed it was apparent it had been grossly misinterpreted. The document actually states the half acre where "Richard and his wife and son's children of my brother John Cox are buried." While the phrasing is awkward, it does note indicate John was dead, so he was once again a candidate. Using the deed abstracts of Weisiger and Davis as guide I reviewed all the deeds mentioning a John Cox to 1774. I found numerous references to various tracts bounding the property of John Cox and Richard Cox on Cornelius Creek until 1757 (I will discuss this more when we get to Richard). In March of that year a John Cox of GOOCHLAND COUNTY, sells 145 acres, no water course given but subsequent transaction indicate it was on or near Cornelius Creek, to William Randolph. The deed itself does not mention his wife's name however the Order Book entry detailing the recording of this deed indicates her name was Elizabeth. From the location of of the property on Cornelius Creek, it bounding Richard Cox's property (actually Hickerson Cox's property, again more on this later), and the name of his wife, it appears Richard and Mary Trent Cox's son John moved to Goochland County by March 1757. Several of Richard and Mary (Trent) Cox's daughters also settled in Goochland County (i.e. Mary who married Daniel Fore/Ford/Faure and secondly Matthias Cheatwood; Elizabeth who married Strangeman Hutchins, Obedience who married Philemon Perkins, and perhaps Martha who married James Ferguson/Farguson) John Cox died leaving a will in 1785 in Goochland. He does not name a daughter Mary, eliminating him as a candidate for her father unless he disinherited her or had already given her an inheritance but I don't think that was the case here. With John tentatively ruled out, I turned to his brother Richard. Richard has never been fully fleshed out by Cox researchers. He is assumed to be the father of Hickerson Cox by many however others have identified him as the son of of his brother John Cox. This is not the case if John of the 1785 Goochland will was the son of Richard and Mary (Trent) Cox as I believe. While mentioned in the will of his father, Richard was basically disinherited by him for some unknown reason and left the land Richard lived on to Hickerson. Interestingly enough, there are no surviving deeds in Henrico that mention the sale of any property bounding that of a Hickerson Cox however as alluded to earlier there are several references to a Richard Cox's land on Cornelius Creek. The only mention of Hickerson Cox as owning property in Henrico prior to his sale of the tract in Jan 1758 are in the processionings recorded in the Vestry Book of Henrico Parish. In comparing the neighbors mentioned in the processioning with those mentioned as bounding the property of Richard Cox in the deedrecords, I found they were the same individuals. It seems that while the property did indeed belong to Hickerson, Richard was basically in possession of it as his guardian (and probable father) so the land was referred to as Richard's in the land records when bounding property owners were named. When Hickerson sold the land in 1758 he was described as "of Chesterfield County" so I turned once again to the Chesterfield records to see if I could find anything about Richard there. I discovered a Richard Cox who purchased land on Powhit Creek from a Perrin Giles in 1754. This land was adjacent to that of Daniel Fore, husband of Mary Cox (daughter of Richard and Mary (Trent) Cox), and near that of Henry Cox (son of Richard and Mary (Trent) Cox) and Thomas Cary (father of Robert Cary who married Mary Cox). I subsequently found reference to the sale of two tracts in 1763 by Richard to Hickerson Cox and George Cox in the Chesterfield County Order Books. These transactions were witnessed by Thomas Cary and Matthias Cheatwood (second husband of Mary (Cox) Fore daughter of Richard and Mary (Trent) Cox). These deeds were never recorded in the deed books, at least they aren't in the index, so I don't know the particulars of them however in 1772 George Cox along with Richard sells land in Chesterfield. No relationship is stated but I wonder if Richard is included in the sale of the property because in the lost 1763 deeds he sold Hickerson and George the property he purchased from Giles but retained a lifetime interest. There is no mention of a probate for any Richard Cox in the Chesterfield County Will or Order Books nor does he ever appear on the tithe or tax lists. Taking all this into consideration, I feel Richard Cox is the best candidate for the father of Mary (Cox) Cary. He's in the right place at the right time with the proper family connections. Further I believe there is enough circumstantial evidence to identify him as the father of Hickerson Cox and possibly as the father of Henry Cox of the Clover Hill Line and as of yet fully fleshed out George Cox. I should also note I have had autosomal DNA matches to descendants of Richard and Mary (Trent) Cox. These are very distant matches though and one cannot take them as proof of a connection to this couple. There are still many more records to be viewed but this is where things stand at the moment. I hope those interested can follow my train of thought without too much difficulty. Please feel free to send me any comments or questions. Sources are available upon request. Regards, Phil