Samuel S. Cox
Encyclopedia
Zanesville, Ohio
Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The population was 25,586 at the 2000 census.Zanesville was named after Ebenezer Zane, who had constructed Zane's Trace, a pioneer road through present-day Ohio...
– September 10, 1889, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) was an American Congressman and diplomat. He represented both Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
, and also served as United States Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
Cox was the grandson of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
Congressman James Cox
James Cox (Representative)
James Cox was a member of the United States House of Representatives in the 11th Congress.He was born in Monmouth County, New Jersey on 16 October 1753, the son of Judge Joseph and Mary Cox...
. He attended Ohio University
Ohio University
Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...
and Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, graduating from Brown in 1846. He practiced law in Zanesville and became the owner and editor of the Statesman, a newspaper in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. In 1855, he was secretary of the U.S. legation to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
.
Cox was elected to Congress as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
in 1856, and served three terms representing Ohio's 12th congressional district
Ohio's 12th congressional district
Ohio's 12th congressional district is currently represented by Republican Representative Patrick J. Tiberi. This district includes the heavily African-American part of Ohio's capital city, Columbus, Ohio along with its northern suburbs, including Westerville, Ohio.Historically it has been a safe...
and one representing the 7th district
Ohio's 7th congressional district
Ohio's 7th congressional district is currently represented by Steve Austria. This district includes the cities of Springfield, Circleville, and Lancaster as well as some of the southern suburbs of Columbus and nearby counties.-List of representatives:...
. After giving an impassioned speech in 1864 denouncing Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
for allegedly supporting miscegenation
Miscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
(see miscegenation hoax), he was defeated for reelection and moved to New York City, where he resumed law practice. He returned to Congress after winning election in 1868 to New York's 6th congressional district
New York's 6th congressional district
New York's Sixth Congressional District is a congressional district for the United States House of Representatives in New York City. It includes most of Southeastern Queens including the neighborhoods of Cambria Heights, Edgemere, Far Rockaway, Hollis, Jamaica, Laurelton, Queens Village, Rosedale,...
. He served two terms, was defeated by Lyman Tremain
Lyman Tremain
Lyman Tremain was a jurist and politician from New York.He was admitted to the bar in 1840 and practiced in Durham, where he was elected to his first political office as town supervisor in 1842. He was appointed District Attorney of Greene County in 1844...
in the New York state election, 1872, running for Congress at-large on the state ticket, but was elected to the vacant Congressional seat of the late James Brooks
James Brooks (Whig)
James Brooks was a U.S. Representative from New York during the latter half of the American Civil War.He was born on November 10, 1810, in Portland, Maine. As a student, he attended public schools and then the academy at Monmouth, Maine. By the age of 16, he was teaching school, in Lewiston, Maine...
in 1873. Cox was then re-elected six times.
In May 1885, Cox resigned his Congressional seat to accept appointment by President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
as U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, succeeding Lew Wallace
Lew Wallace
Lewis "Lew" Wallace was an American lawyer, Union general in the American Civil War, territorial governor and statesman, politician and author...
. After serving for a year as Ambassador, he ran for Congress yet again, in a special election to fill the term of Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Politzer József, was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he acquired in the 1880s and became a leading...
, who had resigned his seat; Cox was once again elected and served until his death on September 10, 1889. During his last term, he was chairman of the House Democratic Caucus
Democratic Caucus Chairman of the United States House of Representatives
The following is a list of members of the U.S. House of Representatives who have served as chair of the House Democratic Caucus. Chairs are currently limited to two consecutive terms.-Source:*...
.
Cox was a supporter of civil service reform and westward expansion. He was a backer of the Life Saving Service, later merged into the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
. He was also known as the "letter carriers' friend" because of his support for paid benefits and a 40-hour work week for U.S. Post Office
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
employees. In gratitude, postal workers raised $10,000 in 1891 to erect a statue to Cox in Tompkins Square Park
Tompkins Square Park
Tompkins Square Park is a 10.5 acre public park in the Alphabet City section of the East Village neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is square in shape, and is bounded on the north by East 10th Street, on the east by Avenue B, on the south by East 7th Street, and on the...
in New York.
He was known as an eloquent public speaker. His nickname "Sunset" came from a particularly florid description of a sunset in one speech.
Cox wrote several books including A Buckeye Abroad (1852), Eight years in Congress, from 1857 to 1865 (1865) and Three Decades of Federal Legislation, 1855-1885 (1885).