John Randolph Cox was born January 2, 1822 in Craven County, North Carolina. He was the son of Frederic Isley Cox and Hollon F. Patric Cox. On February 11, 1844 he married Louisa Louvinia Chapman, the daughter of Henri Levi and Lavinia Chapman. They moved to Texas from Alabama about 1850 and settled in the Shady Grove Community, near Nacogdoches.

John and Louisa were the parents of six children: Margaret, John Henry, George S., Zeno Hamilton, Hellena Francis and William McKenzie. John was a circuit riding Methodist minister who was admitted to the Conference November 1859 at Palestine, Texas. He rode horseback over long distances to preach to isolated farm communities. Reverend Cox died December 26, 1896. Louisa died August 2, 1897. Both are buried in the Shady Grove Cemetery.

James Absolem Day was born October 21, 1846 in Macon County, Alabama. He married Mary S. Rusk in November of 1868. Mary S. Rusk was the daughter of David and Elizabeth Reid Rusk. They had one child, William David, born January 22, 1871. Mary J. Rusk died from childbirth complications soon after. James then married Margaret Cox in May 1872. She was the daughter of James and Hollon Cox. They had four children: Joseph R. T., Marvin, Oliver, and Louvenia. James Day died January 14, 1941 and is buried in Shady Grove Cemetery.

(Fortenberry, Dorothy Cox. "Cox, John Randolph." Nacogdoches County Families. Dallas, Texas: Curtis Media Corporation, 1985. p.230).