Samuel Hanson Cox (August 25, 1793 – October 2, 1880) was an American Presbyterian minister and a leading abolitionist. Cox was born in Rahway, New Jersey to Quaker family. After renouncing his religion and serving in the War of 1812, he studied law before entering the ministry. He was pastor of the Presbyterian church in Mendham, New Jersey from 1817 to 1821. He then moved to New York City, where he was pastor of two churches from 1821 to 1834. In the early 1830s, Cox helped African American John Sykes Fayette get to Ohio with fellow abolitionists, where he would become the first African American to attend (1832) and graduate (1836) college west of the Appalachian Mountains at what is now Case Western Reserve University. Cox helped found the University of the City of New York, now New Yor