William Hopkinson Cox

Cox was born October 22, 1856, in Maysville, Kentucky.^[1] He was the son of William Hopkinson and Elizabeth R. (Newman) Cox.^[2] His paternal grandfather, George Cox, immigrated from London, England, in 1817 and founded a dry goods store in Maysville, Kentucky, in 1819.^[2]

Cox was educated in the private schools of Maysville.^[2] He began working in the family store at age fifteen, and he and his brother George assumed operation of the store when their father died in 1885.^[2] In 1904, the brothers sold the successful business to the firm of D. Hunt and Son.^[3] In 1889, Cox became president of the State National Bank in Maysville, holding this position until 1901.^[1][2] He was also director of the Electric Light and Gas Company for a time.^[2]

Cox took an active part in the development of Maysville, financing the construction of the Cox Building in that city.^[4] He also owned a housing terrace on Market Street between Third and Fourth Streets in Maysville, which became known as the Cox Block of Maysville.^[2][4]

In 1880, Cox married Susan E. Farrow, niece of the Chief Justice Peters of the Kentucky Court of Appeals.^[5] They had one daughter, Roberta Stockton (Cox) Wheat.^[4] Cox and his wife were faithful adherents of the Episcopal church.^[4]

For seven years, Cox served on the Maysville City Council, presiding over the Council for five of those years.^[1] In 1888, he was chosen as the Republican nominee for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, but he declined the nomination.^[5] In November 1893, Cox was elected mayor of the city of Maysville.^[5] He was the first mayor of the city elected under the new Kentucky Constitution of 1891.^[1]

Cox was a delegate to the 1892 Republican National Convention that nominated Benjamin Harrison for a second term as President of the United States.^[1] He was chosen as Kentucky's representative to the delegation that officially notified Harrison of his renomination.^[1]

Cox was elected to represent Mason and Lewis counties in the Kentucky Senate.^[4] He was re-elected once, serving a total of eight years.^[1] During his term, he supported the local option solution to the question of prohibition.^[1] In 1906, he received every Republican vote in the legislature for the election to the United States Senate, but lost to Democrat Thomas H. Paynter.^[1]

Cox was elected Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky in 1907, serving under Governor Augustus E. Willson.^[4] He died October 13, 1950.

• Biographical Cyclopedia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Chicago, Illinois: J.M. Gresham Company. 1896.
• Johnson, E. Polk (1912). A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities. Lewis Publishing Company. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
• Legislative history and capitol souvenir of Kentucky : portraits and sketches of Senators, Representatives, and officials and attaches of the various state departments. W.E. Bidwell, E.H. Ellwanger. 1910. Retrieved 2008-11-28.