Washington County Biographies



Part of the Wisconsin Biographies Project



Hopewell Coxe

Hon. Hopewell Coxe (deceased); was born in Northumberland, Northumberland Co., Penn., June 28, 1812; son of Samuel Coxe; he received a common-school education, and in 1832 commenced the study of law with Judge Ellis Lewis, of Williamsport, Penn., a man of prominence in the legal profession of that place. Mr. Coxe was admitted to the bar in 1838, and in 1839 entered upon the practice of his profession in Williamsport in company with Robert Fleming; in 1842, he removed to the State of Kentucky, where he spent some three years; in the spring of 1845, he came to Wisconsin, first stopping a short time in Milwaukee, and then proceeding to Cedarburg, Washington Co., in 1846; in the fall of that year, he was elected county or Probate Judge of Washington Co.; was re-elected, and held the office eight years; he is said to have tried the first law suit in Cedarburg, holding his court in the schoolhouse; he was elected as one of the Representatives of Washington Co. (which then included what is now Ozaukee), in the Constitutional Convention of 1846, and served on the Committee on Suffrage and Elective Franchise; possessed of more than average abilities, he proved an influential member of that body, and was highly respected by his associates; after the State government was established, Mr. Coxe served in the Assembly; during the session of 1857, he represented the southern district of Washington Co.; in 1852, he removed from Cedarburg to Hartford, where he purchased a farm adjacent to the village, and devoted considerable attention to fruit growing; he opened an office in the village, and practiced his profession until the time of his death, which occurred June 16, 1864. Mr. Coxe was married in Milwaukee, June 9, 1847, to Miss Amelia Ludwig, daughter of Henry and Wilhelmina (Gluer) Ludwig. They had three children-the eldest, Charles H. was married, Nov. 18, 1874, to Miss Laura Peck, and resides in Hartford; the second, Josephene, is the wife of Judge H. W. Sawyer; the youngest son, H. D., is living at home. Mrs. Coxe makes her home in the village of Hartford.

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