500 N Washington Ave
St Peter, MN, USA

Eugene Saint Julien Cox House

The Eugene Saint Julien Cox House, now known as the E. St. Julien Cox House, is a Carpenter Gothic-style house in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1871 for Eugene Saint Julien Cox, the first mayor of St. Peter, and his family. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 1970.

The building has been restored inside and out to its late 19th-century appearance by the Nicollet County Historical Society, which opens it as a house museum a few days per week during the summer.

National Register of Historic Places - Eugene Saint Julien Cox House

Statement of Significance:

The most exciting and colorful character in the frontier Peter is its first mayor, Eugene Saint Julien Cox. A lawyer by training, he first practiced law in Wisconsin, coming to Saint Peter in 1857. His genteel manners, eastern style of dress and an obvious accent distinguished him among the townspeople as a man of consequence. The Cox name was to stand out in a town whose fur trade background was just beginning to give way to the commerce of the Yankee trader and the plow of the Ohio Valley farmer.

Cox served as an officer in the Civil War and was home on leave during August 1862 when the Sioux Indians made their last desperate attempt to reclaim the land, they ceded to the white man in 1851. Cox was selected to lead some two hundred volunteers to the rescue of New Ulm and guide the homeless refugees Mankato and Saint Peter.

After the war he returned to Saint Peter where he was elected the town's first mayor and served in the State Legislature. Cox contended for a seat in Congress but was defeated. In 18?8 he was appointed a district judge and, in this capacity, created a legend that remains extant. Saint Peter would not soon forget the judge who sent a defendant out for beer and then shared it with him before finding him guilty. Lawyers could easily lose their senses of humor after presenting a well-documented summary, only to find the judge asleep with his head on the bench. When it became apparent, he could no longer keep his seat in the courts of law, Cox faced the legislature in a spectacular impeachment trial that lasted for half a year. Even his best friends could not defend the judge against charges of drunkenness and negligence of duty. He was found guilty inj.882, but nine years later the Minnesota legislature reversed its findings, absolving Cox, officially, of all charges.

The life of Eugene Saint Julien Cox is correlated with the history and development of Nicollet County and the city of Saint Peter. His life reflects the accomplishments of dedicated pioneers who established our heritage while reminding each of us of the frailties and shortcomings of the human spirit.