WILLIAM H. COX, CADET MIDN, USN
William Cox '78
William Henry Cox was admitted to the Naval Academy from Tennessee on September 26, 1874 at age 17 years 11 months.
Loss
William "was accidentally drowned while practicing in a shell-boat" (source link defunct) at the Naval Academy on April 14, 1875 .
Other Information
From researcher Kathy Franz:
William lost his mother Sophia and all his siblings by 1858. His father James and his uncle John were both merchants in Jonesborough in 1860. They all lived with his grandfather Charles Byers, a bookkeeper, and his second wife Emeline. The Byers' children were Florence, age 12, Alice, age 10, Cyrus, age 7, and Ida, age 2.
When William died in 1875, classmate George Sparhawk sent a letter to Alice explaining about the accident and his feelings for William. She was 25 years old and living in Massachusetts at the time. Alice became a school teacher and married Dr. George Alvin Hill, an eye specialist, on March 10, 1888, in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. She died March 1, 1919, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
His father died in 1866, and William was raised by others.
William's uncle came to Annapolis with him when he enrolled at the Naval Academy in September 1874.
During his first year at the Naval Academy, William's class witnessed classmate Francis Hoyt Duer who acted very strangely. For example, he would jump up and clap when a classmate gave a wrong answer. He continued to worsen and was finally sent to a hospital in early 1875 and discharged.
William received almost daily demerits while at the Naval Academy. The last entry April 11 states: Dirty floor at 10 A.M. inspection. Getting permission to go to round house and remaining out of doors and lying on the grass during meditation hours.” On April 2, he was dangling feet out of window during study hours. On the 5th while Supt of building, he left his post, and he also received a demerit for throwing an apple core at another cadet.
William was part of the fourth year's “green” crew. They went out early the morning of April 14, 1875, on a scull on Grave-yard Creek. The four-oared shell boat overturned, and William was holding on to one end and finally climbed back on it. Classmate Edward Lloyd told him to wait there, and he would swim to shore for help. When they returned, William had slipped back into the water, and all efforts to save him were fruitless. It was unclear if William could not swim or if he suffered a cramp in the water. His body was discovered at 4 p.m.
William's funeral was held on April 16 at the Naval Academy chapel. His body was then escorted by the Academy band playing a funeral march to the train depot for shipment to Tennessee.
He is buried in Tennessee. His gravestone depicts an overturned boat next to a drowning man.
Memorial Hall Error
William is not included with his classmates in Memorial Hall. This omission was discovered when researching another alumni.
William is one of 3 members of the Class of 1878 on Virtual Memorial Hall.
The "category" links below lead to lists of related Honorees; use them to explore further the service and sacrifice of alumni in Memorial Hall.