Jacob Dolson Cox, Jr. (1828-1900) was something of a renaissance man. Born in Canada to American parents, Cox attended Oberlin College and later became a lawyer. He moved with his wife, Helen Clarissa Finney, to Ohio where he became a state senator. During the Civil War, he was a brigadier general and led the famed Kanawha Brigade (later Division), which took its name from operations in the Kanawha River Valley in western Virginia.
Cox went on to participate in both the Eastern and Western theaters. After the war, he was elected Governor of Ohio. He also served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President Ulysses S. Grant and found time to practice microbiology on the side. Below, you can see a comparison between our new illustration and a historical photo. What do you think?
Spirit of '61 