Lax Family History: Joseph Lafayette Lax

The following was written by Evelyn Lax Farris with some editing by Jennifer Jambor Oliver.

Joseph L. Lax

Joseph L. Lax was born February 3, 1837 in Hardeman County, Tennessee near Crews Pond, southwest of Middleburg. He was the son of Berryman and Virginia Obedience (Farmer) Lax. The father was born about 1792 and died in 1874 in the state of Arkansas where he had migrated in 1858. The mother died in Hardeman County, Tennessee, June 27, 1853 and is believed to be buried in the old Crews Cemetery near the Lax home. Paternal grandparents are believed to be Benjamin and Martha B. Lax. (Will made by Benjamin Lax in 1837 in Virginia and probated in Nov. of 1865 in the court of Hardeman County, Tennessee. Children listed in the will were: Berryman, William and Mary). It is known that the parents left Virginia in hte early 1830s and migrated to Bedford County, Tennessee, where they lived for two years. By the mid 1830s, they had settled in Hardeman County, Tennessee, near Middleburg.

(Joseph L. Lax Marriage Certificate)

Joseph L. Lax was married December 7, 1859 to Miss Eliza Ann Cook, born in Montgomery County, North Carolina. [She was born on ] August 20, 1837, a daughter of William and Martha (Pulliam) Cook. [Joseph L Lax and Eliza Ann Cook] were the parents of eight children: five boys and three girls. Of these, four boys and three girls reached maturity. Their names were as follows: Lula (D.B. Sexton), John David (Rose E. Barnett), Joseph Brooks (Ada E. Hailey), Benjamin Franklin (1st [wife] Beulah Crews, 2nd [wife] Bessie Dickerson), Robert Morgan (Mattie Barber), and Molly Ann (William A. Shearin). They were all born in Hardeman County and were reared near Middleburg. Willie, a daughter, was never married.

(Cold Harbor circa 1865)

In June of 1862, Joseph L Lax enlisted in Company C 42nd Mississippi Regiment Infantry. He was received in General Heath's Division and participated in the Battle of the Wilderness and others. He was captured at Cold Harbor and was sent as a prisoner of War to Point Lookout [in Maryland on the peninsula between the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay].

In 1865, he returned to Hardeman County. When he arrived in Bolivar, a friend offered him a ride to Middleburg. Mr. Lax refused saying, "I've walked all the way from Virginia. Now I'll walk to Middleburg." The story told by his son John David goes that he walked the railroad from Bolivar to his home near Middleburg.

Joseph L. Lax pursued the life of a farmer and became a large landowner. [According to the History of Tennessee, 1886 Biographical Sketches, he owned 700 acres.]. He belonged to the Missionary Baptist Church. He departed this life November 26, 1922. His wife, Eliza Ann Cook, died December 21, 1910. Both were buried in the Middleburg Cemetery.