June 2024
Kate Hymes
At the end of the Civil War, Fulton Cox, formerly enslaved in Virginia, arrived in New Paltz. He came to New Paltz in the company of Captain Peter Eltinge, son of Edmund and Magdalene Eltinge. Cox and Eltinge likely met in Virginia where Eltinge’s regiment,156th New York, fought in several battles.
Eltinge recommended Fulton Cox to the New Paltz as a good man to hire. Cox took full advantage of Eltinge’s recommendation. Through hard work, an entrepreneurial spirit, and as he might testify faith in God, he purchased “the best building site on Elting’s Vineland” about 1870 from the parents of Peter Eltinge. News articles indicate that he had been living on the Vineland possibly as early as 1868. Having fulfilled the dream of many formerly enslaved people to own land, Cox sent for his wife, Jane, who had continued to live in the South.
The formerly enslaved aspired to own land, read and write, and establish their own houses of worship. They viewed the attainment of these goals as markers of citizenship and full participation in the nation as free people who had access to the same rights, responsibilities and privileges as their fellow-Americans. One year after Cox purchased land, members of the Black community purchased land on the Vineland to build the New Paltz African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
Cox’s foothold on Elting’s Vineland led to the purchase of property by other Black families: Charles Moody, Charles Rose, and Charles TenBroeck. Most farmed, including Cox, orchards which supplied the locals with grapes. The quality of their produce was commented upon in advertisements and expressions of thanks in local newspapers. Today, we know the Vineland properties as Pencil Hill Road and adjacent properties. Cox, at one time, owned property that stretched from Pencil Hill to land south of today’s Hasbrouck Park. The Black residents of the Pencil Hill neighborhood possibly owned orchard land stretching from Pencil Hill to near Route 32 South.
As many churches of the era, the AME Zion church experienced times when there was not a regular Pastor to lead services. Fulton Cox, and likely others, who desired regular worship aligned themselves with more than one faith community in order to do so. In 1874, Fulton Cox is listed as a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, while at the same time maintaining connexion to the AME Zion Church.
September 1874, Cox, along with Charles Bershear, Jacob Rose and John Wynkoop, organized a Grove Camp Meeting in Gardiner beginning September 12 and extending through September 21. They arranged for special trains from Kingston to the camp meeting, in addition to the regular Sunday trains. Fulton and Jane Cox opened their home to prayer meetings likely attended by members of both AME Zion and Methodist Epiecopal Churches. They hosted “sociables” to raise funds for AME Zion church. The AME Zion Sunday School was held, at times, in the Cox grape orchard where the ripe grapes were as much an attraction as the Sunday School lessons. Sunday schools, especially for Blacks and others without access to literacy instruction, provided instruction in reading and writing.
Fulton Cox’s commitment to connexion may have led to a disagreement between Cox and an AME Zion Pastor who objected to Cox maintaining connexion with both the Black and white churches. Despite an 1877 news article stating that Cox was “expelled” from the AME Zion. The record shows that he remained active in fundraising and other activities of the AME Zion church.
The Coxes acted to assist other formerly enslaved people seeking to build lives for themselves as free people. Given their experience, they believed New Paltz might offer the formerly enslaved, like themselves, opportunities not available to them in the south. He, and likely Jane, recruited and found suitable positions for young women from the south. Several southern Black families chose to settle in New Paltz after the war. The Coxes likely presented an example of what was possible for Blacks who preferred to live in a rural rather than an urban setting.
The Coxes opened their hearts and home to neighbors in need. When Jacob Rose, neighbor and fellow-member of AME Zion church, fell on hard times, Cox initiated a successful charitable giving campaign raising a substantial sum for his support. They opened their home to the aged and provided end of life care.
Fulton Cox, likely accompanied by Jane, traveled to visit friends in Fishkill and Ossining. Cox visited Dr. Bauscher, former Principal, New Paltz Academy, at his home in Clifton Point, Long Island. He attended the funeral of President Ulysses Grant, New York City, 1883, as a member of the New Paltz delegation. He may also have attended Grant’s inauguration.
Freed people of African descent looked forward to participating in the franchise and casting their first votes. Fulton Cox was among them and likely attended political meetings led by Jacob Wynkoop. The election of 1876 was hotly contested in New Paltz. The results of the election would determine the course of national reunification and the role of the formerly enslaved in American public, civic, social, and economic life of a unified nation. Grant refused to run and the Republican Party chose as its candidate Rutherford Hayes and the Democratic Party chose New York governor, Samuel Tilden.
New Paltz Democrats contested 200 of the votes cast by Republicans for the reason that individuals had been paid to vote Republican. Fulton Cox’s vote was challenged. He was challenged because he was not a naturalized citizen (New Paltz Independent, Nov. 9, 1876). A curious assertion given that the Reconstruction amendments to the constitution affirmed legal citizenship of the enslaved and their descendants – the 14h amendment, and the 15th amendment enfranchised Black men nationally. In the same issue, New Paltz Independent stated that the majority of the “colored vote . . . was cast solidly for the Republican ticket.” Two years later, New Paltz Times, Nov. 20, 1879, asserting that Cox had sold his vote and voted Democrat. Not likely, evidence indicates that Cox was a lifelong Republican. In any case, both instances appear to be examples of voter suppression and intimidation. A year before his death, 1888, Cox ran for the offices of New Paltz Town Supervisor and Clerk. He was defeated for both offices.
The Hayes – Tilden election was so heated and divisive, it was not settled at the ballot box. The popular vote went to Hayes, while Tilden had the majority of the electoral college votes. A special Congressional Election Commission resolved the discrepancies and declared Rutherford Hayes the winner. Hayes’ ascension to the Presidency was the result of a secret compromise that led to the end of Reconstruction with the removal of Union troops from the South, leading to an era of terror known as Jim Crow marked by widespread voter disenfranchisement and violence, lasting about 100 years.
Like many farmers, Cox worked several side-jobs. He worked as a New Paltz roadmaster, possibly on Pencil Hill and Water Street. He sold slate from his Pencil Hill property to the Turnpike Company. He hauled heavy household goods and other cumbersome or weighty items for delivery to homes, businesses and workplaces. An accident hauling heavy household items led to his death in 1888. Fulton Cox’s will reveals great concern for the welfare of his wife, Jane. He stipulated that funds should be available for her to use as she deemed necessary and fit. He also stipulated that after her death, the Cox estate would go to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and so there was no confusion, he made clear it was not to be left to the AME Zion Church. Probate notices reveal that Fulton Cox had at least two siblings, Thomas and Fannie. Repeated probate notices addressed to them or their heirs resulted in no response.
Jane Cox died 1893. She had been a member of the Temperance League and may, like Fulton Cox, have had connexion with both AME Zion church and ME church attending worship services at both. Her funeral took place at the Methodist Episcopal Church and was officiated by two of the church’s ministers, Rev. Frank Beal and Rev. A. E. Schepmoes. The service was well-attended. Upon her death, the sale of the Cox house and estate, the proceeds went to the Methodist Episcopal Church as the Coxes wished. In appreciation, the Methodist Episcopal Church dedicated a stone tablet to the couple and placed it in a place honor at the church’s then location on Church Street. The Coxes are among the church’s largest benefactors. Fulton and Jane Cox continued to be remembered and recognized by the ME church through the late 1940s.
NOTES:
— A lot of people may think “Eltinge” is a typo, but it isn’t. Research has shown that Edmund, Magdalene and Peter appear to have spelled Elting with an –e. However, in news articles referencing Elting Vineland, the -e is dropped. Spelling was not consistent at the time and varies among sources.
— John Wesley promoted the term connexion to emphasize the need for network and community among Methodist classes, societies and conferences. Connexion, as a network of interconnected relationships, became critical to the aspirations of newly freed people of African descent at the end of the Civil War. To construct lives as free people, African Americans built connexion in the religious, economic, civic, and social life of the communities in which they chose to put down roots.
Sources:
New Paltz United Methodist Church Archives
Newspapers:
New Paltz Times, June 1869 – Aug 1895
New Paltz Independent, Aug 1876 – Aug 1877
Kingston Freeman, Aug 1949
Online exhibit:
Fulton Cox: Tales of a Congregation – African American History through the Lens of of the AME Zion Church, New Paltz, NY, https://omeka2.hrvh.org/exhibits/show/ame-zion-church-in-new-paltz/church-congregants/fulton-cox
