David Cox

David Cox was born April 23, 1841, in Dundee, Angus, Scotland; the son of David Tullo Cox (1810 – 1847) and Christina Young (1818 – 1905).

David Tullo Cox was a brother in the famous Cox family of Dundee. The Cox brothers owned and operated one of the largest jute manufacturing businesses in the world. However, David Tullo Cox chose to be a seaman and was a mate or Master of sailing ships. His was a difficult life and he barely survived one incident in which his ship capsized and he and several of the crew were not rescued until near starvation. David lost several toes and part of a foot which were later replaced with cork at St. Petersburg, Russia. It was during his recovery and treatment at Bristol that he apparently spent time in Dundee and fathered David Cox. Christina Young was a jute weaver and would have been working at Camperdown, where the Cox Brothers facility was located. David Tullo Cox probably was working there temporarily while recovering and met Christina. David Tullo returned to sea before his son David was born and never returned to acknowledge his son’s birth, later dying of fever aboard ship in the Gulf of Mexico in February 1847. Christina documented the situation at the Lochee kirk session and named her son after his father but never baptized him although she would have been permitted to do so.

David lived with his mother Christina and her family until he was in his teens and then with his mother until he was 21. David was Christina’s only child. Christina’s father James was a mason and David no doubt learned the trade from James. By the age of 20 he is working as a mason. He stayed in the mason and building trade his entire working life.

In September 1862, David left for New Zealand to join his uncle William Stewart Young who had emigrated there shortly before. The cost of his passage was shared by his family and the provincial government.  

In 1871, David comes to the United States. It is not known whether David went home to visit Christina before coming to the United States in 1871. It appears all incoming passenger lists to Great Britain pre-1878 were destroyed in error by the British Board of Trade in 1900. He eventually settled in St. Louis, Missouri. David was naturalized in St. Louis on October 20, 1876. That record shows only that he was a native of Great Britain and still a subject of the Queen at the time of his naturalization. In St. Louis, David worked in various forms of construction and home remodeling and repair. A journal of his expenses and billings survives. From the journal, it can be seen that David was doing stone work in St. Louis.

David married Annie Muir July 3, 1873, in St. Louis, daughter of William Muir and Helen Bald. She was born January 23, 1851, in Bow Street (site of her father’s bookstore), Stirling, Scotland, and died January 7, 1941, in Denver, Denver, Colorado. The family lived in Webster Grove, Missouri, and St. Louis, before moving to Denver, Colorado, about 1891. David does not appear in the 1890 Denver City Directory. In 1891, the Directory shows David as a stone contractor, located at 7th street on the southeast corner of Wewatta, boarding at the Colorado House so his family followed shortly afterwards.

The 1892 Denver City Directory shows David, stone contractor, 7th Street at the corner of Wewatta with the family residing at 2018 14th in the Highlands area of Northwest Denver. David's son, Tilden, is working with his father and residing at 1820 14th Street in Highlands.

David built the "House of the Gargoyles" at 3425 Lowell Boulevard in 1888/9, Gargoyle House Picturesoon after his arrival in Denver, for his family home. Interesting stone carvings are found on the eaves, the tops of chimneys, and in the spaces between windows. Gargoyle heads are located at the ends of the gutters as down spouts [See details picture.] He may have built a number of the stone buildings of that period. He reportedly worked on the Wyoming capitol building as well.

Stone House PictureAbout 1898, he built a second family home next door at 3381 Homer Boulevard. The family moved into that house and rented the Gargoyle House. The house at 3381 is not as intriguing, being square cut stone. However, the outside walls are eighteen-inch thick slabs of pink (now turned gray) sandstone from Creede, Colorado, laid upright, a rare method of construction which required cranes to lift the stone blocks. Both houses are designated national landmarks. In 1900, the family was still living at 3381 Homer Boulevard in Denver. This address was later changed to 3417 Lowell Blvd. At this time, David owned and operated David Cox and Son located at 1st and Walnut.

David and his son worked on many homes and buildings in the Denver area. However, records have been difficult to locate. One home of note that David worked on was that of John Brisben Walker. This home was located in Northwest Denver near David's own home. Picture of the Walker house. These homes have been written about extensively and both of David’s homes have been restored by later owners.

David died February 15, 1915 in Denver and is buried at Crown Hill cemetery in Lakewood, Jefferson, Colorado with Annie. Many of the family are buried at Crown Hill.

The children of DAVID COX and ANNIE MUIR were:

The David Cox family

 

© 2018 Robert Moody