The artist here took some liberties of this famous event where Walter Cox taught a large group of Indians from the porch. F. Walter Cox was highly respected by the natives as he spoke their dialects having served a mission in their territories. Here, the artist shows the north wall (circular garret window) as well as the west wall (row of windows).
In this depiction, the artist shows the south and west walls, F. Walter leading the way with his four wives, who occupied this house, walking behind him. The Emma Petersen (technically his 6th wife) house is where the side walk curves to the right. Manti Temple in the background and grass where 100 West is today.
This is the earliest photograph of the F. Walter Cox house that we've uncovered and the only known photo that shows the original stone chimneys. Those four chimneys were eventually removed and replaced with two brick chimneys that were set further in from the edges of the north and south walls. Four large windows were installed within the former chimney cavities on the north wall. The south wall has two door openings and a small window. Only one doorway appears to be original with the other door and window opening being crudely cut through probably during the construction of the original south addition (most likely a summer kitchen).
Evidence of the original stone chimneys was discovered when we repointed both south and north walls. There are still cavity spaces with a single layer of rock to the outside edge. Also, the crawl space at the attic level shows the hollowed out tops of these original chimneys. Fun fact: while I was shuffling around in the crawl space I found newspaper fragments from 100 years ago in Danish or Swedish . . . early insulation!
This is an actor posing as F. Walter Cox. We understand that this ornate porch was added after the original Cox family left (probably late 1880s) and based on the wear and tear, looks to be from the 1950s or 60s. Anyone know who these people are??? FWC looks like Joseph F. Smith or perhaps a younger ZZ Top?!
Ray P. Cox descends through F. Walter's second wife Jemima's oldest son, George Byron Cox (1849-1934). George Byron was F. Walter's 4th oldest son and married Daniel Henrie's daughter, Susan Lucretia, producing George Byron Cox Jr (1873-1953)--who fathered Ray P. Cox. George Byron Sr. started a farm roughly 130 years ago northwest of Manti that has been continuously run by his direct descendants. Ray P. Cox's son, David (& Kathy) Cox, our dear friends and neighbors, currently operate the cattle farm today.
Daniel Henrie, who originally helped settle Bountiful, was part of the original 1849-50 Manti winter rescue party. One of the original 500 volunteers that constituted the Mormon Battalion, Daniel has a fascinating history. Talk about a legacy for this arm of Cox descendants.
Anyone know who this guy is? Cox descendant??? Year?
This is the best view we've found of the south addition, most likely a summer kitchen that was added in the late 1800s.
This picture shows the two brick chimneys and if you look closely, the wood-sided addition to the south in-between the Emma Petersen bungalow. The carriage house is behind, as is the corner of the old east porch. From looks of this pic, appears to be taken in the 1950s or 1960s.
I believe this is one of Albert Antrei's photos from 1971.
Above is a high-definition scan from an original photograph found in Albert Antrei's house by new home owners (approx. 2002), Bill & Colette Thompson. The Thompsons have discovered a number of historical photographs of Antrei's and were nice enough to share this one. The caption on the back of this photo reads: "1971 - The FW Cox home, east side. The porch was built on by a later owner of Danish birth, and for him it was known as the PROVSTGAARD HOUSE. This side, which faces away from the street, is actually the front, an indication that when the house was built, inside the 'Big Fort,' First West was indistinguishable from a field of sagebrush."
This photo clears up a number of mysteries we've pondered about when we first purchased the home. The porch is gone, but the huge stone holding up the right side is currently sitting in our front yard. This photo shows the dilapidated condition of the home in 1971. Also note the large trees in-between this home and the Emma Petersen bungalow to the south.
Albert Antrei was a remarkable man. Born in Belgium in 1912, his mother brought him to the US during WWI to Chicago where his father had already settled. Highly educated, Antrei ultimately ended up in Manti, Utah where he work in education. In fact, the Thompsons have an original Sanpete Messenger article from the 1950s when he became the principal of Manti High School. Antrei retired in 1977 and resided with his wife, Iona Anderson Antrei in the house that his father-in-law built in 1894 on the east side of town on 600 south. A prolific local historian, Antrei authored a number of works and was one of the editors for The Other 49ers.
The above is from a 1972 SL Tribune article "60 Houses of Rock in Manti" by Charlotte Hoe
I found this picture in the County records, most likely from the late 1970s or early 1980s. As you can see, by this point, the original 6-over-6 single or double-hung windows have been replaced by a 2-over-2 wood solid window. There were a few of these wood windows left when we bought the house in 2015 but they were in terrible shape. The previous owner replaced the 2nd story wood windows with white vinyl windows a few years before. This is the earliest picture we've found that shows the added front (west) porch. Concrete was poured along the entire west wall, concealing the basement windows and stone steps leading up to the two front doors. The south addition was removed and a carport was eventually installed. This effort was done to transform this house into a multi-unit apartment building, colloquially known as "the rock apartments". The garret apartment wasn't added until later when the south chimney was removed and west-facing dormer was installed.
This picture was taken probably in 2014 and shows the condition of the home when we were looking at buying it. By now, the original F. Walter Cox home had transformed into a 6-plex. Note the added dormer for the garret apartment.
This photo was shared by Owen Richardson, from the booklet "Frederick Walter Cox Sr." by John Clifton Moffit. The subtitle is "Frontiersman of the American West".
