For the past 3 months, I have been untangling all the Cook families in Laurens, South Carolina. I made private Ancestry trees for them so I can the right people in the right family.
The Cook families are as follows (by head person):
James Cook (1750?- 1816) married Ursula Mitchell. Ursula was the daughter of Isaac Mitchell and Mary Williams and granddaughter of Daniel Williams and Ursula Henderson Williams. I believe James Cook was son of Clayton Cook and Henrietta Henderson. James Cook lived near the North Creek on the Little River in 1786.
John Cook (brother of James above 1756 to 1781)- He was killed, along with several other men at he massacre at Hayes Station by William Cunningham. I think he may be my direct ancestor but I am not sure. He may have married a Randolph because there is a lease and release from a James Randolph and wife to a John Cook between the years of 1770-1777.
Randolph Cook (1760’s -1840) married a daughter of Thomas Henderson and Francis Henderson first ( he is listed as a Legatee on Frances Henderson’s will in 1813 in Laurens County, SC. His second wife was Mary Potter. He died in Illinois. I believe Randolph may be a son to John Cook above.
Cornelius Cook ( 1770-1838) married Nancy Kinman. I think Cornelius had a sister named Mary Cook ( 1775-1813) who married Thomas Donaldson. Cornelius Cook may be a nephew to James Cook and son of John Cook. He was living near a son of James Cook in 1820. Cornelius Cook lived on the Saluda near the Greenville County on the Laurens Co side and sister Mary Cook lived across the Saluda on the Abbeville County side.
John Cook ( 1765- 1835)- son of a Anne Jane Cook and stepson to John O’Neil. He is executor on Anne O’Neil’s estate record in Laurens. He was married to Catherine Griffin. John Cook lived in the area of Mudlick Creek ( near the Little River).
Abraham Cook- (1790- 1843) was married to Henrietta Irby. Henrietta Irby was the daughter of William Irby and Henrietta Henderson. He lived on the Little River area of Laurens.
George Washington Cook (1792- 1845) was married to Mary Polly Garrett. She was the daughter of Jesse Garrett and Elizabeth Henderson. Elizabeth Henderson was the sister to Randolph Cook first wife and daughter to Thomas and Frances. Jesse Garrett is executor on Frances Henderson’ s will in 1813 in Laurens.
Mary Cook Mitchell Putman (1771- 1847) may be the mother of the above George W. Cook) from a first marriage. Mary Putman and George W. Cook are both married in Warrior Creek Cemetery in Laurens.
I have discovered a pattern of Cooks marrying into Henderson families or grandchildren of Henderson families. Most of the wives are descended from men who were killed or wounded at the Massacre of Hayes Station.
My research on the Cook families isn’t over. I am missing a generation of Cooks between 1760-1790, namely the parents of these men. I am in need of estate records for Clayton Cook and Henrietta Henderson Cook who died somewhere between Cumberland County, Virginia and Granville County, North Carolina. I also need to find more information on the Randolph family.
Hello, wrt your post about finding Nimrod Donaldson in the 1820 census, can you tell me how you found that record? I haven’t found any record for William McCollough from Greenville for that census.
Cheers,
Chris
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Do you have an Ancestry. com account? If so, that is where I found it. I don’t post census records or estate records because I don’t want download everything to my computer. Plus, most people who read my post have Ancestry accounts where they can find the records I reference in my blog. I do try to cite my sources in my blog. Regarding William McCullough, it took me a while to find him in 1820 because the census taker wrote his name as “Wm. McColouh”. One thing to remember is that there were no exact spellings of names in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. People wrote down names and words as they sounded. William McCullough’s name is on page 21 on the 1820 census in Greenville on Ancestry. He has one Free White Person aged 16-25 which I am assuming is Nimrod Donaldson. Both of Nimrod’s parents were dead by this time and his siblings were married. The McCullough’s could have hired him to be a farm hand or taught him how to build things. Are you a distant cousin?
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On the Cook untangling- my GGGF was George Washington Cook 1792-1845.
I have been looking for his father and mother. I have information that his father left South Carolina and moved to Illinois-no information if he ever returned to SC.
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There is a Randolph Cook who left SC in before 1820. Randolph is on the 1820 census in Tennesee and then he is on the Franklin County, Illinois census in 1840, He died in Illinois.
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I have paper work from a now deceased Aunt who did the family genealogy before computers ! In her work I found a possible name for George’s father-Jesse or Jessie.
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Did your aunt have actual documentation for Jesse? I can’t find any thing on a Jesse Cook.
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