Background
William Cox was born October 22, 1856 in Maysville, Kentucky. He was the son of William Hopkinson and Elizabeth R. (Newman) Cox.
William Cox was born October 22, 1856 in Maysville, Kentucky. He was the son of William Hopkinson and Elizabeth R. (Newman) Cox.
Cox was educated in the private schools of Maysville.
He was of Norman ancestry – his family name originally being DeCaux – and was a descendent of William the Conqueror. In 1889, Cox became president of the State National Bank in Maysville, holding this position until 1901. He was also director of the Electric Light and Gas Company for a time.
Cox took an active part in the development of Maysville, financing the construction of the Cox Building in that city.
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. They had one daughter, Roberta Stockton (Cox) Wheat.
Foreign seven years, Cox served on the Maysville City Council, presiding over the Council for five of those years. In 1888, he was chosen as the Republican nominee for a seat in the United States. House of Representatives, but he declined the nomination.
In November 1893, Cox was elected mayor of the city of Maysville.
He was the first mayor of the city elected under the new Kentucky Constitution of 1891. Cox was a delegate to the 1892 Republican National Convention that nominated Benjamin Harrison for a second term as President of the United States. He was chosen as Kentucky"s representative to the delegation that officially notified Harrison of his renomination.
Cox was elected to represent Mason and Lewis counties in the Kentucky Senate.
He was re-elected once, serving a total of eight years. During his term, he supported the local option solution to the question of prohibition.
In 1906, he received every Republican vote in the legislature for election to the United States Senate, but lost to Democrat Thomas H. Paynter. Cox was elected Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky in 1907, serving under Governor Augustus East. He died October 13, 1950.