An American Family History

Jonathan Fox was born on December 27, 1810 in Ohio.

Some researchers believe that Absalom Fox and Temperance Dickerson were Jonathan's parents. The source for this is his son-in-law, William W. Reynolds', biography. I have not been able to find any source for that marriage.

Jonathan's parents could also have been Bonham and Temperance Fox of Butler County, Ohio. According to census records, they had a son his age. Jonathan named one of his sons Bonham and was born and married in Butler County where the Bonham Fox family lived. He also married Bonham's daughter's brother-in-law.

Jonathan Fox and Eliza Ann Riley married on January 31, 1833. Eliza was the daughter of James Riley and Temperance Yerkes. She was born about 1810 in Jefferson, West Virginia. She was the sister  of Christina Fox Riley's,  husband, James.

Jonathan and Eliza had one child, Christina Fox Sumwalt who was born on January 38, 1834 in Hamilton, Butler County. (See obituary below.)

Eliza died before 1838 in Butler County, Ohio.

Jonathan Fox and Margaret N. Hawk married on January 10, 1838 in Butler County, Ohio. Margaret N. Hawk was born on October 1, 1815 in Butler County. Margaret's parents were Philip Hawk and Catharine Stonebraker.

Jonathan and Margaret had seven children who were all born in Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana.

Catherine Fox was born on December 29, 1839. She died on December 21, 1892 in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas.

Abner Fox was born on September 6, 1840. He married Mary Wolverton. They were married on December 24,1863. He died in 1892 in Wichita. (See biography below)

Bonham Fox was born in 1843. He married Josephine Large. They were married on December 17, 1872 in White, Indiana.  

Eliza Fox was born in 1845. Thomas Fields Fox was born in 1847. Vincent Taylor Fox was born on February 25, 1849. Charles Fox was born 1854.

Margaret died December 22, 1876 and Jonathan died on September 13, 1880 in Kansas.

William W. Reynolds, of this sketch, spent his boyhood and youth in the agricultural districts, remaining a member of the parental household until twenty-five years of age. In the meantime he acquired a good education, completing his studies in the school at Notre Dame, St. Joseph County.

Then in making the arrangement for the establishment of a home and domestic ties of his won, he was united in marriage, on the 1st of October, 1863, to Miss Kate [Catherine] Fox, who was born Dec. 29, 1839, in Lafayette, Ind., and is the daughter of Jonathan and Margaret (Hawk) Fox, natives of Ohio, both of whom are deceased.

The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Reynolds was Absalom [sic - Bonham married Temperance] Fox, who married Miss Temperance Dickerson, and they were both natives of New Jersey [sic-they were born in Virginia, but her great grandparents were born in New Jersey].

Her great-grandparents, Jonathan and Christina (Thompson) Fox, were natives of Maine [I don't know who they were], whence they emigrated to Ohio in its territorial days and settled in Butler County. They built up a cabin home in the wilderness, where Jonathan Fox carried on farming and spent the remainder of his days. Absalom took up the mantle of his father after the latter had rested from his earthly labors, and he too spent his last days at the same homestead where he had settled after his marriage, and became the father of a large family. The children of Absalom and Temperance Fox were six in number. [Bonham and Temperance had six children.]

The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Reynolds Philip and Catherine (Stonebraker) Hawk, were also natives of Pennsylvania, and removed to Ohio during its pioneer days, settling on Indian Creek in Butler County. The maternal great-grandparents were Benjamin and Ruth (Campbell) Hawk, natives of New Jersey, who spent their entire lives in farming pursuits.

The family of Jonathan Hawk (sic should be Fox) included
six children, of whom five are living, namely, Catherine, the wife of our subject; Abner, of Stevens County, this State; Bonham, of Athens, Tenn; Mrs. [Eliza A.] Godman, of Muncie, Ind.; and
Vincent T., of Stevens County, Kan. . .

Mrs. Reynolds received an excellent education, completing her studies in Cincinnati, Ohio, and later engaged as a teacher, mostly in White County, Ind. She is a lady of kind and generous impulses, very charitable to the poor and needy, an affectionate mother and devoted wife. In their pleasant home they often meet with friends who have learned to respect them for their sterling worth, and being among the older citizens of Wichita, are regarded with more than ordinary interest. . .

from Biographical and Portrait Album of Sedgwick County, Kansas, 1888, p. 534-5)

Pioneer Woman Dead
Mrs. Christena [Fox] Sumwalt Dies at Age of Seventy-Three 
Mrs. Christena Sumwalt, wife of John A. Sumwalt, died at 4:15 o'clock this morning at the family residence near Shadeland. She had been sick for some time and her death was caused by a complication of diseases.

She was born in Hamilton, O., January 28, 1834. Mr. and Mrs. Sumwalt came to Lafayette on a canal packet owned by the late William Taylor over fifty years ago. Two years ago last fall, Mr. and Mrs. Sumwalt celebrated their golden wedding anniversary. Mrs. Sumwalt was a member of the Methodist church and during her life was the author of many kind deeds. She was a charter member of the Woman's Foreign Missionary society and also a member of the Wednesday club.

Her daughter, Mrs. Joseph Hawkins, died fifteen years ago and Mrs. Sumwalt raised the two children -Mrs. Hunter Leaming and Walter Hawkins. Besides the husband three children survive - Mrs. Luella Hawkins, of Logansport; Mrs. Thomas Irwin, of Wayne township; and Charles Sumwalt, of Shadeland. The funeral will be held from the house at 10:30 o'clock Friday morning and the burial will be in Greenbush cemetery.

Abner Fox was born in LaFayette, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, September 6, 1840, and is the second of the six children born to Jonathan and Margaret N. (Hawk) Fox both natives of Butler County, Ohio. Jonathan was by trade a butcher; he was married in Butler County, Ohio, and in 1836 moved to LaFayette, Indiana, and was the first butcher to occupy a stall in the LaFayette market house. In the spring of 1854, he came to this township, bought land and engaged in farming until his death, September 13, 1880.

From History and Biography, Counties of White and Pulaski
page 382, Big Creek Township, White County, Indiana.