The Reverend Joseph Hickox was born near Hartford, CT on August 20, 1788, the son of William Hickox (Hickcox). The was appointed Methodist minister for Detroit in 1815. He had become a ordained preacher in 1812, and after three years was sent to Detroit as a missionary in June, 1815.

He married in 1816 to Jane Hickox (maiden unknown). Hickox is mentioned in The Michigan Pioneer Collection Vol 1 and Vol 2, as preaching in "Pekin, Plymouth, and Redford. A.B. Markham the City Clerk of Plymouth wrote in part: "the first minister that ever preached in this township was Elder Hickox, who then lived on the Rouge. It was May of 1826."
He is also listed as a taxpayer on the River Rouge in 1825.

Hickox bought 40 acres of land in section 32 of "Pekin Township" (later Redford) on October 17, 1834. His father, William had purchased 166 acres of land on July 2, 1821. There is also a notation of a Joseph Hickson who owned land in Section 6 of Dearborn Township purchased July 18, 1818; there is a good possibility that this is really Joseph Hickox, misspelled.

Joseph Hickox's daughter, Caroline later married James Hanchett, the son of , Joseph Hanchett, (Hanchett later moved and settled the town of Coldwater, Michigan, with A. Tibbets, another early Wayne County Pioneer.)in 1836. They later moved to Beloit, Wisconsin, where Reverend Hickox passed away.

Caroline Hickox was born "near Detroit", January 9, 1817, daughter of Reverend Joseph and Jane Hickox. She married James Henry Hanchett on March 2, 1836.
James and Caroline Hanchett had a total of nine children:

George Washington Hanchett born "near Detroit" in 1838. He died in 1868.
Augusta Jane Hanchett, born in Biloit, Wisconsin in 1840. Married Warren Hodgen October 7, 1856. She died January 15, 1874.
Joseph L. Hanchett, born in Beloit, Wisconsin in 1842. He died August 7, 1901.
Charles Henry Hanchett, born in Beloit, Wisconsin April 12, 1841. Died March 17, 1921. Married Marian Dawker (??) on May 21, 1873.
Imogene Leeson Hanchett, born in Beloit, Wisconsin January 12, 1846. Died September 12, 1909. Married Sylvester Cobb on February 18, 1892.
Franklin Jay Hanchett, born November 11, 1850, in Beloit, Wisconsin. Died September 27, 1912. He first married Julia Frenier August 20, 1875. His second wife, Emma Hyatt Davis were married April 28, 1892.
Lewis James Hanchett, was born February 10, 1852 in Beloit, Wisconsin and died January 20, 1928. His first wife was Adelle D. Ward. They married May 23, 18??. His second wife, Jennie Stewart, were married possibly in 1880.
Warren Wilbur Hanchett was born January 20, 1861 in Beloit, Wisconsin. He died April 15, 1924. He married Marion Dunning on February 29, 1888, and may have possibly moved to Holland, Michigan.
Caroline A. Hanchett was born in October 1863 in Beloit, Wisconsin, she died September 18, 1869.

There are HANCHETT surnames listed in the Garden City Tax Rolls. The surname HICKCOX or HICKOX is also found in Dearborn Land Records, Plymouth Church records, and "Pekin" or Redford Land Owners.

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