Springfield-Greene
County LibraryDR. LEE COX. Nothing is more true than that men grow by accretions from without and that association of kindred minds results in the expansion of ideas and enlargement of the horizon. This being true, what a fine field is afforded the young physician in Springfield, where is gathered so large a number of men eminent in the profession. This city is well known for the loyalty of the brethren to the traditions of the profession and at the same time for the progressiveness of the members in the noble science. The population considered, there is no city in America that has so many successful physicians and surgeons as this. Among those whose skill has shed lustre upon the profession is Dr. Lee Cox, who is known in medical circles throughout Missouri and is universally recognized as a scholar of rare attainments and a practitioner of renown. He was born in McDonald County, Mo., in 1861 (February 28), and is a son of W. R. and Eliza (Behaven) Cox, the former of whom was a native of Kentucky and was born about 1828 to William Cox and his wife. William was also a Kentuckian and was a soldier in a number of the early wars of the country. In an early day he became a resident of Missouri and until his death, which occurred a few years ago, he was a successful farmer of Pike County. He was seventy-five years of age at the time of his demise, and his wife's death also occurred in Pike County. They reared a family of four children: Leander, William R., Elizabeth and ----. After the death of his first wife the grandfather married a second time and this wife bore him two sons and two daughters: Nana, William, Emma and John. William Cox was a man of some note and was at one time judge of Pike County. He seemed to possess the faculty of money-making and became possessed of a fine property before his death. He was a church member and politically a Republican. At the time of the removal of the family to Missouri, W. R. Cox, the father of the subject of this sketch was but a boy, but he had previously attended school in Kentucky for some time and finished his education in Pike County, Mo. As soon as old enough he began learning the trade of cabinetmaking and at an early day which he followed with success for many years, but prior to the opening of the Civil War moved to McDonald County, where, in connection with following his trade he has been engaged in tilling the soil and has been reasonably successful. He was married in McDonald County and there reared his family whom he reared in comfort and gave such educational advantages as the public schools afforded. Politically he is a Democrat and for many years has been a member of the Masonic Fraternity. He is a man who has become well known for the interest he takes in public affairs, as well as for his devotion to his home and family, and during the thirty-five or forty years that he has lived in McDonald County he has gained many friends, and few, if any, enemies. His wife was born in Indiana in 1835, a. daughter of William De Haven, who was a York Stater by birth but removed to Indiana at an early day, where he followed the trade of a mill-wright. At an early day he came to McDonald County, Mo., also, and here followed his trade with great success. He eventually became a large land owner and built and owned several mills. In 1849 he was taken with the "gold fever" and made the overland journey to California, where he was successfully engaged in mining and later in the sheep-raising business. His family went to that region with him, their journey thither occupying about six months. He died in California in 1878 or l879, where his wife also died, both being earnest and worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. To the parents of Mrs. Cox six children were given: Jehial, Joseph, Eliza, Sarah, William and Hiram, who died in the West, where all the family are living with the exception of Mrs. Cox. The parents of Dr. Lee Cox were united in marriage about 1850 and a family of five children were given to them--four sons and one daughter: Albert, who is a bookkeeper in the Anchor Mills of Springfield, married Maggie Teaque, by whom he has five children-Clarence, Clyde, Blanche, Mildred and Early; Lee, the immediate subject of this sketch; Bell, wife of Samuel Prater, a native of Kentucky but now a resident of McDonald County, Mo., is the mother of four children--May, Ray, Teresa and an infant; Leonard is in the confectionery business in Webb City, Jasper Co., Mo., and Charles, who is now attending business college in Springfield. The parents of these children are living on a farm in McDonald County, which place is located about two and one-half miles from Pineville the county seat. They are among the highly honored people of their section and have numerous friends. Dr..Lee Cox spent the first years of his life in his native county and obtained his education in the public schools of Pineville and in Drury College. After leaving this institution he entered the office of Dr. Barrett in the spring of 188-- and, after studying medicine there until the spring of 1888, he entered the St. Louis Medical College in 1889 and graduated from the same in 1891, after which he at once commenced practicing with his former preceptor, Dr. Barrett, since which time he has been very successful in his chosen calling. He is a genial companion and his agreeable and cheerful ways have a great influence on his patients, by whom he is retained after being once employed. Politically he is a Democrat, is a member of the County Medical Association, and, like his father and grandfather before him, is decidedly public spirited.
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