SAMUEL FOX

Samuel Fox was born in 1825 in Prussia. “Fox” is the English translation for the German name “Fuchs.”

He arrived in Montgomery County prior to 1857, for at this time he was established in a mercantile business with an Irish immigrant, Mr. J. Clark. The business was called Clark & Fox. At the time they rendered their taxes, the value of their inventory was valued at $5,000, a sizable sum for that day.

Samuel purchased the store building and Lot 3, Block 3, in Danville in a sheriff’s sale on July 7, 1857. This was the property that had belonged to Edmund Wooldridge and John E. George and had been sold to Patrick Glaze and Paul J. Simons in 1854. It was foreclosed after a judgement in favor of a debt owed to Houston wholesalers Groesbeck and Rice.

Samuel was enumerated in the town of Danville in Montgomery County in 1860 and was living in a house with Clark. By that time, he owned real estate valued at $1000 and personal property valued at $10,000.

On February 14, 1862, Fox was listed on the muster rolls of the Danville Mounted Riflemen, a local militia unit, under Capt. S. D. Wooldridge. He was elected fifth sergeant.

In 1864, Captain Wooldridge named his new son Samuel Henry Fox Wooldridge, likely in honor of Samuel Fox.

Samuel Fox was over age for Confederate service and does not appear on the rolls of the Confederate States Army. His whereabouts in 1870 are unknown.

However, in 1870 there was a Henry S. Fox living in the third ward of Houston, Harris County. He was an iron merchant, born in Prussia, with wife Lena and two small children. Another Henry Fox also lived in the third ward of Houston; he was born in Prussia, had a wife named Rachel, one daughter age seven, and was a dry goods merchant. Either of these men could be our Samuel Henry Fox.

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