Mary Mina Cox married Rev. Richard Cordley on May 19, 1859 in Hambur, Michigan. He had been a pastor in Lawrence, Kansas since 1857.

In addition to the work of the church, the Cordley's were known to have employed a black woman as housekeeper and cook who was a fugitive slave. This act being illegal at the time, helps identify the Cordley's as active participants in the network called the "Underground Railroad."

Image of Mrs. Richard Cordley (Mary Minta Cox), taken from E.F. Caldwell's "A Souvenir History of Lawrence, Kansas, 1898."