| Notes |
Dear Mike, Dierdre and Susan,
Attached is a new ancestry chart for Mary Cook (Mrs. William Stafford). This is not carved in granite, but I think it's close. It turns out that Daisie Fritz was wrong about Mary's parents. She was "in the right church, but the wrong pew." It was another branch of the same Cook family. Strangely, the evidence was right in front of our noses and we didn't see it.
According to the chart prepared by Daisie Fritz, she states that Mary Cook was the daughter of Charles Cook and "Hannah (Barton?)". She goes on to state that Charles was born in Portsmouth, RI on November 13, 1741, that he served in the Revolutionary War from 1779-80, and that he was the son of William Cook and Susanna Briggs.
That Charles Cook existed is not in dispute. He, his parents and their ancestries are all well documented in the Genealogy of Portsmouth, RI. However, I have been unable to find a record of his marriage to anyone, including Hannah or Hannah Barton. Furthermore, DAR has been unable to locate his War records. Daisie speculated that Hannah's maiden name was Barton, but thus far, no Hannah Barton has been found married to a Charles Cook. Alas, Daisie provides no sources for the information on her chart. Since so much of her chart has proven to be accurate, I (we) assumed that she couldn't be wrong about her own great-grandfather.
I now suspect that she was. The proof lies with Florence Stafford Gingrich.
In a letter dated August 23, 1933, from Florence to her cousin Grace Stafford Durfee (The complete letter is in LDS church microfilm #802466), Florence states the following:
"William Stafford son of Joshua Stafford & Susannah his wife and Mary Cook daughter of Asher (or Abner) Cook & Hannah his wife were married by Samuel Taber in Tiverton October 31, 1802."
Above "Asher (or Abner)" she also has written, "Could not read the writing." This is extremely important because it means Florence was actually reading from a document. This was not hearsay.
While a search for Asher turned up nothing, I did find an Abner Cook. Abner was born about 1742, the son of Stephen Cook and Mary Tallman. Abner was Charles Cook's cousin, and Mary Tallman is a sibling of Hannah Talman (1715-1750) in Mike's database.
Furthermore, Abner Cook was married to (Guess who?) Hannah. Not Hannah Barton, but Hannah Shearman. Hannah Shearman was born about 1746, daughter of William Shearman. Abner Cook and Hannah Shearman were married about 1764 in (Guess where?) Tiverton, RI. According to LDS Abner and Hannah had five children, but only one, Ruth Cook (abt 1776-5 Dec 1851) is documented. (Mary Cook was born September 6, 1778, in Tiverton, which fits.). I have a search request on file with DAR to see if Abner Cook served during the Revolutionary War, but they have so far not responded.
While some of this is still conjecture, I believe it to be true. It is also very frustrating because I can't tell you how many hours I spent trying to find Hannah Barton, and that darned letter was there all the time. Susan sent me a copy of the letter, and so did Dierdre. Why didn't any of us notice it?
|
1778 - Yes, date unknown
