Joseph Cox

BACKGROUND: Reverend Joseph Cox was born around 1778. Originally a tanner, he became a preacher and, in the 1820s, an elder of Bethel AME Church. He was the older brother of Rebecca Cox Jackson, the visionary preacher and writer who would go on to found a Black Shaker community; after their mother’s death, Rebecca lived with Joseph and cared for his four children, before her own religious awakening in 1830 led her toward independent preaching and eventual separation from her brother and the AME Church. Cox’s own son, John, died of tuberculosis at age nine in 1832 and was buried at Bethel Burying Ground. Cox died of an intestinal ailment on September 5, 1843, at the age of 65. His funeral was held September 8 at his residence on Gaskill Street, and his funeral procession to Bethel Burying Ground ran several blocks, as reported in The Public Ledger (September 9, 1843); he was likely buried beside his son John.

THEOLOGY: Cox served as pastor of Bethel Church, later Mother Bethel, from 1834 to 1840, following his ordination as an elder in the 1820s.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

• Ordained an elder of Bethel AME Church in the 1820s, after working as a tanner.
• Served as pastor of Bethel Church, later Mother Bethel, from 1834 to 1840.