Daniel Coxe III ( – January 19, 1730) was an English physician and governor of

West Jersey West Jersey and East Jersey were two distinct parts of the Province of New Jersey. The political division existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. Determination of an exact location for a border between West Jersey and East Jersey was often ...

from 1687 to 1688 and 1689 to 1692.

Biography

The Coxe family traced their lineage to a Daniel Coxe who lived in

Somersetshire ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England, in the 13th century and obtained a

doctor of medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

degree from Salerno University. Daniel Coxe's father was also called Daniel Coxe. He was from

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish. The ...

, London, and died in 1686. Daniel Coxe the son was born in London, the oldest of thirteen children, and was educated at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, where he became a doctor of medicine in 1669. He was a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

and a member of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

(Coxe is the Society member referred to by

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

in his diary entry of 3 May 1665 when he poisons a cat with tobacco oil at Gresham College). Coxe was appointed a physician to the court of King

Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...

and later to that of Queen Anne.

Colonial landowner

Coxe never left England, he served nominally as

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

by purchase of land. He then bought other land in the

Mississippi Valley The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...

. He attempted to settle a colony of Huguenots in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, but failed. Initially Coxe purchased land in

in the mid-1680s. He bought out the heirs of Edward Byllynge there in 1687. Coxe opened the earliest commercial-scale pottery in New Jersey. He sold out most of his land there to the West New Jersey Society of London, in 1692. Later in the 1690s Coxe acquired a grant of land in 1698 known as " Carolana" which had been given by Charles I to Sir Robert Heath; this he purchased from Sir James Shaen, or his son Arthur; Shaen had acquired the rights from

Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk (12 July 162813 January 1684) was an English nobleman and politician. He was the second son of Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel, and Lady Elizabeth Stuart. He succeeded his brother Thomas Howard, 5th Duke of ...

. Clarence Walworth Alvord, Lee Bidgood, ''The First Explorations of the Trans-Allegheny Region by the Virginians, 1650-1674'' (1912), p. 241
archive.org
The Carolana holding remained with the Coxe family until 1769 when it was exchanged for land in the Mohawk valley of what is now

New York state New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...

Later life

Coxe died in 1730, and was buried in London, England. His portrait is held by the Royal College of Physicians in London.

Family

Coxe married Rebecca Coldham (only surviving child and heiress of John Coldham, Esquire of Tooting Graveney, Alderman of London and Rebecca Wood) on 12 May 1671. They had a son Colonel Daniel Coxe and a daughter Mary. Daniel Coxe IV (1673–1739), with an agent John Tatham, went to his father's North American lands. He lived in the American colonies from 1702 to 1716 and after returning to England published an account in 1722 of his travels and a description of the area encompassed by his father's claim, entitled ''A Description of the English Province of Carolana, by the Spaniards called Florida, And by the French La Louisiane''. He was appointed by the

Duke of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...

as Provincial Grand Master of

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

for the provinces of New York,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and

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, but died before he had chartered any lodges. In 1731, he claimed that he possessed superior title to that of the West Jersey Society, via a superseding deed that his father had recorded years earlier; the courts upheld Coxe's claim. Hundreds of families were forced to repurchase their own property from Col. Coxe or be forcibly evicted. The ensuing scandal was one of many injustices that inflamed American anger against the British during the years leading up the Revolutionary War. There were lawsuits; there were riots; Col. Coxe was burned in effigy; but to no avail. As a result, many Hopewell residents left New Jersey, either unable to pay Col. Coxe or disgusted with the colony's rampant political corruption. One group of Hopewell expatriates settled on the Yadkin River in what was then Rowan County, NC. This community, the Jersey Settlement, continued to attract new settlers from the Hopewell area for several decades. Mary became a Maid of Honour to Queen Caroline, the wife of King

George II George II or 2 may refer to: People * George II of Antioch (seventh century AD) * George II of Armenia (late ninth century) * George II of Abkhazia (916–960) * Patriarch George II of Alexandria (1021–1051) * George II of Georgia (1072–1089) ...

and later married

John Montgomery (died 1733) John Montgomery (died 1733) was an Irish MP for County Monaghan, Ireland. He was the second son of Colonel Alexander Montgomery MP for County Monaghan, of Ballyleck, County Monaghan and Elizabeth Cole, daughter of Colonel Thomas Cole of Mount F ...

in 1732 and had a son

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, who were both M.P.'s for County Monaghan in Ireland. After Col. John Montgomery's death she married William Clement LL.D. Vice Provost of Trinity College, Dublin and M.P. both for the College and the City of Dublin. She died at Beaulieu, Co. Louth in 1790 aged 97 years.

Sources

New Jersey

References

External links

* Th
Weld Coxe Collection
including correspondence, pamphlets, maps and other materials documenting the Coxe family in America, is available for research use at the

Historical Society of Pennsylvania The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a long-established research facility, based in Philadelphia. It is a repository for millions of historic items ranging across rare books, scholarly monographs, family chronicles, maps, press reports and v ...