Peter M. Dox Explained

State1:Alabama
District1:5th
Term Start1:March 4, 1869
Term End1:March 3, 1873
Predecessor1:John Benton Callis
Successor1:John Henry Caldwell
Birth Name:Peter Myndert Dox
Birth Date:11 September 1813
Birth Place:Geneva, New York
Death Place:Huntsville, Alabama
Party:Democratic
Alma Mater:Hobart College
Relations:Myndert M. Dox (uncle)
Gerrit L. Dox (uncle)
John Nicholas (grandfather)

Peter Myndert Dox (September 11, 1813 – April 2, 1891) was an American politician who served the state of Alabama in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1869 and 1873.

Early life

Dox was born in Geneva, Ontario County, New York on September 11, 1813. He was the eldest child of Abraham Dox and Anne Cary (Nicholas) Dox. Among his siblings were John Nicolas Dox, Mary Blair Dox (wife of Timothy Fales Wardwell), Anne Nicholas Dox, and Ernest B. Dox.

His paternal grandfather was merchant and skipper Pieter Dox, who served in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War.[1] His paternal uncles included Myndert M. Dox, Collector of the Port of Buffalo, and Gerrit L. Dox, New York State Treasurer.[2] His maternal grandfather was U.S. Representative John Nicholas from Virginia's 18th district.

He graduated from Hobart College at Geneva in 1833.[3] [4]

Career

He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced at Geneva. Dox served as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1842, and as a Know Nothing judge of the Ontario County courts from November 1855 until his resignation on March 18, 1856. He then moved to Alabama and settled in Madison County, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits.[4]

Dox was a delegate to the Alabama constitutional convention of 1865. In 1868, he was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives, and reelected for the following term, serving until 1873.

Personal life

On October 12, 1854, Dox married Matilda Walker Pope (1826–1871).[5] After the death of his first wife in 1871, he married Margaret Simpson.[6]

He retired from public life, and died in Huntsville on April 2, 1891. He is buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bielinski . Stefan . Catharina Lansing Dox . exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov . . 23 January 2023.
  2. Book: Talcott . Sebastian Visscher . Genealogical Notes of New York and New England Families . 1973 . Genealogical Publishing Com . 978-0-8063-0537-0 . 168 . 23 January 2023 . en.
  3. Book: Hobart College: General Catalogue of Officers, Graduates and Students. 1825-1897 . 1897 . Press of W.F. Humphrey . 7 . 23 January 2023 . en.
  4. Book: Charles F. Milliken . A History of Ontario County, New York and Its People . Lewis Historical Publishing Company . 1911 . 368.
  5. Book: Genealogical Notes of New York and New England Families . 2000 . Heritage Books . 978-0-7884-1956-0 . 169 . 23 January 2023 . en.
  6. Book: du Bellet . Louise Pecquet . Some Prominent Virginia Families . 1907 . J.P. Bell Company (Incorporated) . 323 . 23 January 2023 . en.
  7. Web site: DOX, Peter Myndert 1813 – 1891 . bioguide.congress.gov . . 23 January 2023.