The Cook Family: James Council Cook of Autauga County, Alabama

Cook is my father’s mother’s family. The Cook family lived, and many descendants still live, in the Liberty community near Pine Level in Autauga County, Alabama, north of Montgomery. For my dad, they were his closest extended family growing up, whom he visited every weekend. For me, they continued to be my closest extended family on my dad’s side. I knew and loved my grandmother’s siblings and many of my dad’s cousins. I attended several Cook reunions over the years, held at the old Pine Level Schoolhouse, Liberty Church, or my grandmother’s house in Montgomery.

Cook has also been one of the most obscure and hardest to research of my families. For one thing, the generations were very long. My grandmother was one of the “younger set” of her father’s children, and he was one of the “younger set” of his father’s children — with the result that my grandmother’s oldest brother was twenty-five years older than her, and my great-grandfather’s oldest brother was nearly forty years older than him. My grandmother’s grandfather was born more than 200 years ago and fought in the Civil War. Another problem is that the Cooks seem to have left relatively few records. For the longest time, my great-grandfather, James Council Cook (born 1817 in South Carolina), is the furthest back we knew.

In this article, I’ll peel back the layers, examining what we’ve known for years and what we are finally concluding about the Cook ancestry, spurred on largely by DNA research.

Sarah (Cook) Richardson

My grandmother, Sarah Ruth Cook, was born 16 Mar 1928 at the Cook family homeplace near Liberty Church in Autauga County, Alabama, the daughter of Joseph Eli Cook and his second wife, Ada Priscilla Harris. She was one of fourteen children, and one of eight of the “younger set”. She grew up in the Liberty community and attended Marbury High School, where she graduated in 1946. 

Sarah married my grandfather, Robert Pierson Richardson, on 5 Sep 1948 in Montgomery. They raised three sons together, and were married for seventy years. Sarah worked for the Belk-Hudson department stores in Montgomery in the 1960s and 1970s, rising to the position of credit and personnel manager. She later worked for First Alabama Bank. She was a good, loving, intelligent, industrious woman who loved her family. She organized several family reunions, and was the driving force that pulled together the genealogy books we composed on the Richardson and Cook families. In her later years, she loved to stay engaged with her grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins through Facebook. She was always interested in everything I did, right up until the end.

Robert passed away 17 Oct 2018 in Montgomery at the age of ninety-two, and Sarah followed only a year later, 6 Jan 2020, at the age of ninety-one. They are buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Montgomery.

Joseph Eli Cook

Joe Cook married (1) Nancy Leola Barbour, daughter of John L. Barbour and Nancy Clementine Jarman, on 8 Dec 1901 in Autauga County. Together they had six children:

Leola died 8 Feb 1917 at the age of thirty. Joe Cook married (2) Mrs. Ada Priscilla (Harris) Posey, daughter of Eli Harris and Louise Emmaline Neeley, on 14 Jun 1917 in Autauga County. Joe and Ada had eight children together:

James Council Cook

Proceeding another generation brings us a huge step into the past, with my great-great-grandfather born almost two hundred years ago. He, James Council Cook, was almost sixty years old when my great-grandfather was born. He was born 25 Apr 1817 in South Carolina, and settled in Autauga County, Alabama, about 1842. He appeared on the 1850 census in Autauga County, with this record:

1850 Federal Census, Autauga County, Alabama
page 23A stamped (45 handwritten)
Huddleston Beat
Dwelling #324, Household #338
22 Oct 1850

James Cook Jr.	34	M	Farmer	S.C.
Ann	28	F		Miss.
Ezekiel	10	M		Miss.
John	8	M		Miss.
Nancy	6	F		Ala.
William	4	M		Ala.
Sarah	2	F		Ala.
Ruben	2/365	M		Ala.

There are several indications — including the birthplaces of his oldest children on the census — that he spent some time in Mississippi before settling down finally in Autauga County. We can suppose that James Cook was married in Mississippi and lived there long enough for his oldest two children to be born there. Sure enough, following the trail back to Mississippi, we find the record of James’s first marriage to Nancy (Ann) Ethridge on 3 Jun 1838 in Noxubee County, Mississippi.

James Cook appeared again on the 1860 census in Autauga County:

1860 Federal Census, Autauga County, Alabama
Page 20
Pineflat Beat, Huntington P.O.
Dwelling #137, Family #144
18 Jun 1860

James Cook	41	M	Farmer	S.C.
Ann	40	F		Miss.
John	18	M	Farmer	Miss.
William	14	M		Ala.
Sarah	12	F		Ala.
James N.	9	M		Ala.
Samuel	7	M		Ala.
Howard	6	M		Ala.
Sion	4	M		Ala.
Mathew	2	M		Ala.

With the coming of the Civil War in 1861, James Cook was, at age forty-four, a bit past the prime age for a fighting man. The First Confederate Conscription Act, passed in April 1862, called for the conscription of all white males between the ages of 18 and 35. The Second Conscription Act, in December 1862, extended the age to 45 years, and the Third Act, in February 1864, extended the age to 50 years. In May 1864, at age 47, he was finally drafted, enlisting 28 May 1864 in Captain John J. Moore’s Company of Alabama Reserves (which became Company C, 3rd Battalion, Alabama Reserves) and mustering in at Montgomery on 30 Jul 1864. The battalion was sent to guard Selma, a major manufacturing center for the Confederacy. [2]

Ann Cook, James’s wife, died sometime between the birth of her last children, the twins, in January 1861, and December 1866, when James remarried. Her tombstone at Liberty Church bears the name “Annie Cook” but no dates. James Cook’s compiled service record here gives us a major clue as to her possible death date. After 1 Nov 1864, he went absent from his company without leave. The death of his wife at home may have been the occasion for this. He was never charged with desertion, and later was given a pension for his service, so evidently those in the know thought he had a good reason. We also know that Ann died before the 1866 state census was recorded.

James Cook and Ann Ethridge had these known children:

1. Ezekiel Cook, born 26 Mar 1839 in Mississippi. He enlisted 16 Sep 1861 at Montgomery, Alabama, in Captain Thomas L. Faulkner’s Company (Autauga Guards) — but by happenstance, this company was assigned to a unit from Ezekiel’s birth state, the 44th Mississippi Infantry, and later reorganized as Company K, 24th Alabama Infantry. Ezekiel was wounded and captured at the Battle of Stones River, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and later died of his wounds, 14 May 1863. We have found no record that he married or had any children.
2. John Cook, born 19 Apr 1841 in Mississippi; died 29 Dec 1915 in Autauga County. Married Juliet P. Horn on 18 Feb 1875 in Chilton County, Alabama. Died 29 Dec 1925 in Liberty, Autauga, Alabama.
3. Nancy Ann Cook, born 3 Jun 1843 in Autauga County, Alabama; died 6 Apr 1922 in Autauga County. Married (1) John William Hollon, 16 Mar 1859 in Autauga County; (2) Fletcher Rawlinson, 15 Nov 1886 in Autauga County.
4. William Cook, born 31 Apr 1845 in Autauga County, Alabama. Alive in 1860, but nothing else is known. Unknown if he survived the Civil War or not.
5. Sarah J. Cook, born 27 Mar 1849 in Autauga County, Alabama; died 19 Mar 1923 in Autauga County; married William T. Bullard, 9 Mar 1884, Autauga County.
6. James Newton Cook, born 28 Mar 1850 in Autauga County, Alabama (tombstone says 27 May 1849); died 15 Nov 1937 in Autauga County; married Eliza B. Bazzell, sister of Sarah Ann Bullard, on 30 Jun 1870 in Autauga County.
7. Samuel Mathew Cook, born 10 Apr 1852 in Autauga County; died 8 Jun 1922 in Autauga County; married Mary M. Barbour on 17 Dec 1891. 
8. Jasper Howard Cook, born 9 Mar 1854 in Autauga County; died 24 Jun 1928 in Autauga County; married Nancy Williams on 21 Jan 1875 in Autauga County.
9. Sion Nolan Cook, born 1 Jun 1857 in Autauga County; died 7 Apr 1948 in Autauga County; married (1) Hannah J. Bazzell, sister of Sarah Ann Bullard, on 19 Feb 1882 in Autauga County; (2) Annie B. Rawls on 24 Jan 1940 in Autauga County.
10. Martha Elizabeth Cook, born 4 Nov 1859 in Autauga County; died 13 Jan 1884 in Autauga County; married William T. Bullard on 1 Nov 1880 in Autauga County.
11. Adaline Cook, born 18 Jan 1861 in Autauga County; died 14 Dec 1943 in Autauga County; married William Chavers on 4 Jul 1878 in Autauga County.
12. Emeline Cook, born 18 Jan 1861 in Autauga County; nothing known after 1870. She may have died young.

James Cook married (2) Sarah Ann Bullard on 20 Dec 1866. She was the daughter of Hannah (Oates) Bazzell and William Riley Bullard. Even though Hannah was never married to Mr. Bullard, evidently Sarah was acknowledged as his child and she was known by the name Bullard.

James and Sarah had four more children:

13. Ada Catherine Cook, born 12 Nov 1869 in Autauga County; died 5 Jul 1959 in Montgomery, Alabama; married Benjamin Dick Muse on 16 Aug 1888 in Autauga County.
14. Joseph Eli Cook, born 4 Apr 1876 in Autauga County; died 17 Apr 1964 in Autauga County; married (1) Nancy Leola Barbour on 8 Dec 1901 in Autauga County; (2) Mrs. Ada Priscilla (Harris) Posey on 14 Jun 1917 in Autauga County.
15. George Daniel Cook, born 14 Oct 1878 in Autauga County; died 7 Jan 1968 in Prattville, Autauga County; married Maggie Rawlinson on 15 Sep 1901 in Autauga County.
16. Plassie Jerome Cook, born 22 Feb 1883 in Autauga County; died 21 Jun 1936 in Autauga County.

James Council Cook died 22 Jul 1903 at his home in Autauga County, at the age of eighty-six. Sarah Ann Cook survived him by more than thirty years, and became a beloved elder in the community. Her birthday was an annual celebration in her old age. She passed away on 11 Nov 1937 at the age of ninety-five. My grandmother Sarah, Sarah’s namesake, remembered her. James and Sarah are both buried in the Liberty Baptist Church cemetery.

Photo identifications

1. William T. Bullard, husband of Sarah J. Cook (13)
2. Paul Cornelius Cook, son of John Cook (4)
3. James Lorenzo Cook, son of John Cook (4)
4. John Cook, son of James Council Cook
5. Sion Nolan Cook, son of James Council Cook
6. James Newton Cook, son of James Council Cook
7. George Daniel Cook, son of James Council Cook
8. Joseph Eli Cook, son of James Council Cook
9. Jasper Howard Cook, son of James Council Cook
10. James Franklin Hollon, son of Nancy (Cook) Hollon, grandson of James Council Cook
11. James Council Cook Jr., son of James Netwon Cook (6)
12. James Henry Cook, son of Jasper Howard Cook (9)
13. Sarah J. (Cook) Bullard, daughter of James Council Cook, wife of William T. Bullard (1).
14. Jesse C. Cook, son of Paul Cornelius Cook (2).
15. Rosa Lee (Dennis) Cook, wife of Paul Cornelius Cook (2).
16. Mattie (DeLoach) Cook, wife of James Lorenzo Cook (3).
17. Mary Jane (Bazzell) Rawlinson, widow of Daniel W. Rawlinson, sister of Sarah Ann (Bullard) Cook (19).
18. Plassie Jerome Cook, daughter of James Council Cook.
19. Sarah Ann (Bullard) Cook, widow of James Council Cook.
20. Hannah (Bazzell) Cook, wife of Sion Cook (5), sister of Sarah Ann (Bullard) Cook (19).

21. Reginald Nix Cook, son of James Newton Cook (6).
22. Eliza (Bazzell) Cook, wife of James Newton Cook (6), sister of Sarah Ann Bullard Cook (19).
23. Maggie (Rawlinson) Cook, wife of George Daniel Cook (7).
24. Nancy Leola (Barbour) Cook, wife of Joseph Eli Cook (8).
25. Maggie Azela (Boone) Hollon, wife of John Franklin Hollon (10).
26. Mary (Oates) Cook, wife of James Council Cook Jr. (11).
27. Thomas Edward Cook, son of James Council Cool Jr. (11).
28. Sarah Ida (Gray) Cook, wife of James Henry Cook (12).
29. William Eugene Cook, son of Sion Nolan Cook (5).
30. Nolan Huff Cook, son of Sion Nolan Cook (5).
31. Thomas F. Cook, son of George Daniel Cook (7).
32. Chester Cook, son of Joseph Eli Cook (8).
33. Ethel Carrie Cook, daughter of James Council Cook Jr. (11).
34. John William Hollon, son of John Franklin Hollon (10).
35. Lottie Mae Cook, daughter of James Council Cook Jr. (11).
36. Lloyd Cook, son of James Henry Cook (12).
37. Maudie Cook, daughter of James Henry Cook (12).

The genealogical frontier

For many years, genealogical progress on the Cook family has been at a standstill. There is not a clear connection between James Council Cook (b. 1817 in South Carolina) and any older Cook, either in Alabama, Mississippi, or South Carolina. There are instead several misleading pieces of information that have thrown researchers off the trail.

The red herring

In this day and age when genealogical communication and collaboration have largely broken down, a major red herring has distracted many genealogists and confounded algorithms. On the 1850 census in Autauga County, James Cook was listed living “next door” to a “James Cook Senr.”, born ca. 1790 in South Carolina, while our James, James Council Cook, was listed as “James Cook Jr.” Obviously, this older man was our James Cook’s father, right?

But it was not. “James Cook Sr.” (b. 1790) was not the father of James Council Cook (b. 1817). The “Jr.” and “Sr.” here were merely descriptive particles added by the census taker to distinguish between two men of the same name, one of them “younger” (junior) and the other “older” (senior). Probate records in Autauga County indicate that James Cook “Sr.” died in 1851, and his estate was administered by his son James M. Cook — not James Council Cook. Even on the 1850 census, a younger James (M.) Cook (born about 1829) was living in the household of James Cook “Sr.” There is no mention in James Cook’s probate records of any other James Cook than James M. Cook. Though James Cook “Sr.” (b. 1790) and James Council Cook (b. 1817) would appear to have been living close by each other in 1850, adjacency on the census cannot be assumed to necessarily mean physical proximity, nor can it be assumed to definitely mean a family connection. There is no indication in the Autauga records of any immediate connection between James Council Cook and James Cook “Sr.”, who had been in Autauga County since the 1820s.

Because of these “Junior” and “Senior” suffixes, many researchers have incorrectly identified the older James Cook as “James Council Cook Sr.” Again, all evidence indicates that these two men were not father and son. The suffixes were not a formal part of either man’s name, and there is no evidence that the older man had any middle name.

Early Autauga Cooks

In addition to James Cook “Sr.”, several other Cooks appeared in Autauga County in years prior to 1850. Below I will examine some land, deed, and court records to see what we might glean from them. My dad, Tom Richardson, has done a lot of work in compiling these records.

James Cook “Sr.” (b. 1790) of the 1850 census was the earliest Cook in Autauga County, Alabama. He received a U.S. land patent on 20 Apr 1825, for land that was not near where our Cooks later lived. His earliest land grant was some twenty-three miles to the southwest of Liberty Church, near the village of Peace. He had been in Autauga County for several years prior, and appeared in orphan’s court minutes on 2 Nov 1823 being appointed an appraiser of an estate. William Cook received an adjacent patent issued 10 Mar 1828. An 1832 deed spelled out that William Cook was the brother of James Cook. Both James and William later received patents, in 1837 and 1838, for land further north in Autauga County, new New Prospect, a few miles from Liberty Church.

A third brother, unnamed in any records that we have found, married Ann Blackwell, daughter of Thoroughgood Blackwell, and died by around 1828. Ann, his wife, also died by 1832, leaving two daughters, Phoebe Cook and Elizabeth Cook. When Mr. Blackwell died in 1832, the girls stood to inherit from his estate, so William Cook, their uncle, was appointed their guardian ad litem. Blackwell’s estate records show that another daughter, Eleanor Blackwell, married Jesse Cook, evidently another Cook brother. Jesse Cook (born ca. 1797 in Georgia) and wife Ellender (born ca. 1804 in South Carolina) were still living in Autauga on the 1850 census.

It would appear that the Thoroughgood Blackwell family was connected to the Cook family even before coming to Alabama, so he may be more than a rabbit trail. His name appeared in several South Carolina land grants in the 1780s and 1790s, in Cheraw District, South Carolina, which encompassed the modern-day counties of Darlington, Chesterfield, and Marlboro. I have seen Chesterfield County in particular come up in reference to the Owen, Bullard, and Boone families ― to which, not coincidentally, Thoroughgood Blackwell also connects ― and this also lies near Marion County, which comes up frequently in my grandmother’s autosomal DNA matches.

And then there was a Mathew Cook, with an 1837 patent, whose land was within five to seven miles of the other Cooks. Of all the early Cooks, his land was also closest to ― less than a mile from ― where our James Cook settled; only about a mile from Liberty Church. Autauga deeds place Mathew in the same family network as the other early Cooks. He witnessed an 1844 deed for John N. Cook, son of the above Jesse Cook, selling land to Matilda Owen. In other deeds, Matthew also had dealings with the Owens, selling his own land to Samuel J. Owen in 1838.

There was also a Franklin Cook with an 1835 patent, whose land was not near any of the others, and of whom there is no definite indication of a connection.

Putting together pieces

In sum, these men, who all appear to be connected somehow, settled in Autauga County in the 1820s and 1830s:

• (Unknown) Cook, born between 1780 and 1790; married Ann Blackwell; died around 1828, leaving two daughters.
• William Cook, born presumably around 1785; he may be the William Cook who married Nancy Copeland on 7 May 1811 in Morgan County, Georgia. He appears to have had no children, since a deed provides for a nephew to inherit. He sold his land in Autauga in July 1840 and it is unclear where he went.
• James Cook, born about 1790 in South Carolina; married Elizabeth (maiden name unknown); died about June 1851 in Autauga County, with estate proceedings naming heirs.
• Mathew Cook, born about 1790 in South Carolina; married Nancy (maiden name unknown). He sold his Autauga land in January 1838 and moved to Mississippi. He appears to have had some continued contact with Autauga County, witnessing a deed between Samuel J. Owen and John N. Cook (son of Jesse Cook) on 12 Feb 1844.
• Jesse Cook, born about 1797 in Georgia; married Eleanor Blackwell before 1820. He was in Autauga County in 1850 but moved to Smith County, Texas, by 1860, where he lived until at least 1870.

It is also not immediately clear where our James Council Cook fits in this. Of these men, both James (b. 1790) and Jesse (b. 1797) had other known sons named James Cook who are associated with them, James M. Cook (1827–1863), son of James Cook, and James Jefferson Cook (1820–1888), son of Jesse Cook, respectively.

That leaves Mathew Cook, to whom I direct more scrutiny. We can fit together the following circumstantial timeline:

• 1835: Mathew Cook in Autauga County, purchasing in estate sales in 1835 and 1836.
• May 1837: Mathew Cook receives a land patent in Autauga County.
• Jan 1838: Mathew Cook sells his Autauga County land patent to Samuel J. Owen and moves to Mississippi.
• Jun 1838: James Council Cook marries Ann Ethridge in Noxubee County, Mississippi.
• 1839–1841: Older children of James Council Cook born in Mississippi.
• Jun 1843: Oldest daughter of James Council Cook, Nancy Ann, born in Alabama.
• Feb 1844: Mathew Cook appears again in Autauga County to witness deed.
• Sep 1860: James Council Cook patents Autauga land less than a mile from former land patent of Mathew Cook.

And that’s where we can arrive, even before the introduction of DNA evidence.

DNA evidence

As is the case in so many of my families, the new frontier of DNA research has provided crucial breakthroughs that, combined with on-the-ground, paper-trail research, has allowed us to make a solid case for advancing the family tree back at least one more generation.

Y-DNA

Braswell

We were able to test the Y-DNA of my grandmother’s youngest brother, Taylor Lamar Cook to examine the Cook paternal line. The Cook Y-DNA haplogroup is R-DF13 > R-FT309617, with an estimated common ancestor born around 1750 CE. We learned that the Cook paternal line is a strong match with the paternal line of early Virginia settler Rev. Robert Bracewell and his descendants named Braswell ― with a high likelihood that the paternal ancestors of our Cooks were patrilineal Bracewell-Braswell descendants. I have struggled to find any verifiable consistency to the Y-DNA matches, other than the appearance of the surnames Bracewell, Braswell, Brasuell, Brassell, Brazil, etc.

My grandmother also has autosomal DNA matches to Braswell descendants that consistently triangulate to Cook ― indicating that the connection to Braswell is probably only a few generations past the Cooks we know. I haven’t yet resolved these matches to a particular Braswell branch, but there are several that look promising.

Lafayette Cook

Only one close Y-DNA match matches the surname Cook, a descendant of a man named Lafayette Cook, born 1847 in Autauga County, Alabama. And with Lafayette Cook, we embark on a strange odyssey which ultimately gives us a good context and evidence for our Cook connection.

Lafayette Cook was born 29 Nov 1847 near Chestnut Creek in Autauga County, Alabama, according to his own testimony in pursuit of a Union Civil War pension. He enlisted 20 Dec 1863 in Company F, 91st Regiment, Indiana Infantry, and later served in Company B, 128th Indiana Infantry. After the war, he lived in Memphis, Tennessee; Arkansas; and Missouri. He died 28 May 1918 in Goodman, McDonald County, Missouri.

John Cook

Curiously, there was no person named Lafayette Cook, born 1847, identifiable on either the 1850 or 1860 censuses in Autauga County, or anywhere else for that matter. But there was one Cook family in 1860 in the Chestnut Creek precinct of Autauga County, that of John Cook (born about 1814):

1860 Federal Census, Autauga County, Alabama
Page 38
Chestnut Creek Precinct, Chestnut Creek P.O.
30 June 1860
Dwelling #262, Family #271

John Cook	46	M	Farmer	S.C.
Emily	34	F		Ala.
Jane	17	F		Ala.
Huey	12	M		Ala.
Sarah	10	F		Ala.
James	7	M		Ala.
Eliza	5	F		Ala.
John	1	M		Ala.

This corresponds to a family who, in 1850, were close neighbors to our James Cook:

1850 Federal Census, Autauga County, Alabama
Page 23B stamped (46 handwritten)
Huddleston Beat
22 Oct 1850
Dwelling #327, Family #341

John Cook	30	M	Farmer	S.C.
Emily	20	F		Ala.
Jane	6	F		Ala.
Hugh M.	3	M		Ala.
Sarah E.	6/12	F		Ala.
Ann Hall	13	F		Ala.

John Cook married Emily Hall on 9 Jan 1842 in Autauga County. Henry Cook was bondsman. The 1850 census lists a son, Hugh M. Cook, age 3, and the 1860 lists “Huey”, age 12. The Chestnut Creek post office was about ten miles north of Liberty Church, in what is today Chilton County, so John Cook moved between 1850 and 1860; but his apparent proximity to James Council Cook in 1850 suggests a connection. John Cook patented 319 acres of land near Chestnut Creek (Sections 9 and 4, Township 20 North, Range 16 East), the same day, 1 Sep 1860, at the same land office, Greenville, Alabama, that James Cook patented his 197 acres near Liberty (Sections 20 and 29, Township 19 North, Range 16 East). This land was separated by about nine miles; John Cook’s land was catty-corner to the Confederate Soldier’s Home (now Confederate Memorial Park). The fact that both John Cook and James Cook had been in Autauga County since 1842, apparently living close together, and close to James Cook “Sr.”, yet neither patented their own land until the same day in 1860, appears significant.

Hugh M. Cook

In the matter of Lafayette Cook, nothing stands out especially about these records — until one discovers these notices, printed widely in southern newspapers in June 1867:

Information Wanted. — Any person knowing the whereabouts of H. M. Cook, a native of Autauga county, Ala., will confer a favor upon his distressed mother by addressing Mrs. Emily J. Cook, Montgomery, Ala. He was a member of the 59th Alabama regiment, Col. Hall, was captured and has not been heard from since the close of the war. Any information of his whereabouts, if alive, will be thankfully received.

Consulting the compiled service records of the 59th Alabama Infantry, we find H. Cook, who enlisted as a private in Company B, on 3 Nov 1863, at Montgomery, and who was noted absent without leave. “Lost on retreat from Knoxville to Rogersville. Supposed to be captured, Dec. 4, 1863.”

Lafayette Cook stated that he joined the Union Army in December 1863.

It appears a strong possibility that Hugh M. Cook, born about 1847 in Autauga County, and Lafayette Cook, born 29 Nov 1847 in Autauga County, were the same person. That when captured by the Union Army, he adopted a new name, perhaps to distance himself from his Confederate service — which he claimed in his Union pension application had never happened. His pension would certainly have been denied if it were known that he had also served in the Confederate Army. There is no indication that Hugh M. Cook ever got in touch with his mother.

The match between Taylor Cook and the Lafayette Cook descendant is a close match, only a genetic distance of 3 at Y-111 (111 STR markers). This would suggest that Lafayette Cook, born 1847, was a close paternal relative to James Council Cook, perhaps as close as a nephew. This close match, together with autosomal DNA matches, and our conjectures about Lafayette’s identity and about the apparent connection between John Cook and James Cook — and we believe this supports the conclusion that John Cook and James Cook were brothers.

Autosomal DNA

Given that James Council Cook was only my Grandmother Sarah’s grandfather, I would have hoped for a lot of close autosomal matches to a Cook family, a veritable smoking gun pointing us to James Cook’s origins. But I suppose so much time has passed that others don’t share the same proximity to their Cook families that my grandmother does. People marry and names change and other families face the same problem of poor recordkeeping that we do.

But there are some very close matches — not a smoking gun, but a trail in the fog. 

Lafayette Cook

My grandmother has numerous autosomal matches to descendants of Lafayette Cook (b. 1847), whom we believe was Hugh M. Cook, son of John Cook (b. 1814). Several of these are quite close — 72 cM, 69 cM. There are also numerous matches — one at 69 cM — to descendants of John W. Cook (born about 1855), son of John Cook (b. 1814). This serves to further cement the findings from Y-DNA. But who do John Cook (b. 1814) and James Cook (b. 1817) connect to?

Sarah Cook Stigall

It is perhaps fitting that the kinswoman to shine a lantern on the trail for us should be named Sarah. Sarah Cook was born about 1828 in South Carolina. She married Richard Stigall on 4 Jan 1850 in Winston County, Mississippi. And my grandmother has dozens of autosomal matches to her descendants, including one at 117 cM and one at 83 cM, through two different children of Sarah Stigall. At the proximity of 117 cM, it is difficult to account for the match by any other explanation than that Sarah Cook Stigall was James Council Cook’s sister.

The Stigall family appeared on the 1860 census in Holmes County, Mississippi:

1860 Federal Census, Holmes County, Mississippi
Page 14
Lexington Beat No. 1
Dwelling #79, Household #79

Richard Stegall	32	M	Farmer	Alabama
Sarah	32	F		S. Carolina
Susanna	11	F		Miss.
James	10	M		Miss.
Malinda	8	F		Miss.
John	5	M		Miss.
Henry	2	M		Miss.
Jasper Stone	8	M		Miss.
Henry Cook	36	M		S. Carolina

In a neighboring household, Martha Cook, age 26, also appeared. Henry Cook would appear to be a brother to Sarah.

We have not been able to find Richard and Sarah Stigall on the 1850 census ― perhaps, as a new household, they were overlooked ― but we did find this, aligning with a Henry Cook born about 1824:

1850 Federal Census, Winston County, Mississippi
Page 361A stamped (721 handwritten)
4 Oct 1850
Dwelling #646, Household #653

Mathew Cook	60	M	Farmer	S.C.
Nancy	56	F		S.C.
Henry	27	M		S.C.
Martha	20	F		S.C.
Samuel	18	M		S.C.
Catherine	16	F		Ala.
Peggy	2	F		Miss.

This shows Henry Cook, age 27 (born about 1823), in the household of Mathew Cook (b. 1790). Let me point out that Henry Cook was bondsman for the marriage of John Cook (b. 1814) in 1842 in Autauga County.

One might think that “Henry Cook” was a very common name, but in an Ancestry search of the 1850 census, only two Henry Cooks, born about 1824 in South Carolina, ±1 year, match ― both in Winston County, Mississippi, and they may be the same person, perhaps he, an unmarried farm laborer living in two different places.

It would appear that Mathew Cook and his wife Nancy probably both died between 1850 and 1860. Henry Cook and Samuel Cook both appear in several records in Holmes County and Winston County, Mississippi, including an 1864 Holmes County deed witnessed by Martha Cook.

My grandmother also has some clear, triangulated autosomal matches with descendants of James Cook “Sr.” (b. 1790); not as strong as these ― I have seen matches with James Cook “Sr.” descendants as close as about 30 cM ― but they are present, affirming the assumption that the “older Cooks” of Autauga County are related.

Mathew Cook

After this long road, we have come back to the doorstep of Mathew Cook. No, this is not a smoking gun. It is at best a circumstantial case that connects the Henry Cook in Sarah Cook Stigall’s household in 1860 to the Henry Cook in Mathew Cook’s household in 1850, with the implication that Mathew Cook was the father of both. Winston County, where Mathew Cook lived in 1850, is the same county where Sarah Cook married Richard Stigall. It is adjacent to Noxubee County, where James Cook married Ann Ethridge in 1838.

There is no direct evidence that James Council Cook was the son of Mathew Cook. But a remarkable series of coincidences appear to point in that direction:

• A man named Mathew Cook patented land in 1837 in Autauga County, Alabama, about a mile from Liberty Church, a place strongly associated with James Council Cook and his descendants.
• Mathew Cook sold his land in 1838 and moved to Mississippi. He appeared on the 1840 census and contemporary state censuses in Newton County, Mississippi.
• James Council Cook (born about 1817 in South Carolina) married his first wife, Ann Ethridge, in 1838 in Noxubee County, Mississippi.
• Mathew Cook appeared on the 1850 census in Winston County, Mississippi, an adjacent county to Noxubee County.
• After his oldest sons were born in Mississippi, James Council Cook settled in Autauga County, Alabama, in about 1842. In 1860, he patented land about half a mile from the land Mathew Cook had patented in 1837.
• Soon after James Cook settled in Autauga, the name of Mathew Cook appeared again in Autauga County, witnessing an 1844 deed. Conceivably this could have been a son, since a Mathew Cook Jr. appears on 1840s Mississippi state censuses.
• Y-DNA and autosomal DNA matches suggest John Cook (b. ca. 1814), father of Hugh M. Cook (b. 1847), may have been a brother to James Council Cook. John Cook’s 1842 marriage in Autauga County was witnessed by Henry Cook.
• Additional autosomal DNA matches suggest Sarah (Cook) Stigall (b. ca. 1828) may have been a sister to James Council Cook. On the 1860 census, Henry Cook (b. ca. 1824) was living in her household.
• Sarah Cook married Richard Stigall in 1850 in Winston County, Mississippi.
• On the 1850 census of Winston County, Mathew Cook (b. 1790 in South Carolina) was listed. Living in his household was Henry Cook (b. ca. 1823).

With one inference leading to another, we can construct a compelling circumstantial case that Mathew Cook was the father of James Council Cook.

The name of Mathew Cook appeared on the 1820 and 1830 censuses in Marion County, South Carolina. The listings are consistent with the man who later appeared in Alabama and Mississippi, and they are consistent with him having sons the ages of John (b. 1814) and James (b. 1817), as well as a third older son, perhaps the Mathew Jr. who appeared alongside him on Mississippi censuses.

1820 Federal Census, Marion County, South Carolina

Mathew Cook
1 white male, age 26 to 44 (Mathew)
1 white female, age 16 to 25 (Nancy)
3 white males, age under 10 (John b. 1814, James b. 1817, Mathew Jr.)

1830 Federal Census, Marion County, South Carolina

Mathew Cook
1 white male, age 30 to 40 (Mathew)
1 white female, age 30 to 40 (Nancy)
1 white male, age 15 to 20 (John)
2 white males, age 10 to 15 (James, Mathew Jr.)
1 white male, age 5 to 10 (Henry)
2 white females, age under 5 (Sarah, unknown)

Mathew Cook received a South Carolina land grant in Marion County, surveyed 21 Apr 1826.

Though it may be a circumstantial case, it is the best we have found, after many years of combined research. The data, limited though it may be, points to Mathew Cook.

Conclusions and future directions

I am convinced that my great-great-grandfather, James Council Cook, was the son of Mathew Cook and his wife Nancy. John Cook of Chestnut Creek was an older brother, and Sarah (Cook) Stigall was a younger sister.

My supposition would be that Mathew Cook was a brother to James, William, and Jesse Cook of early Autauga County, but I am less convinced of this specific connection — though it appears there is some connection. Mathew appears to have stayed in South Carolina longer than the others, who were already in Alabama before he received his South Carolina land grant.

The previous generation of Cooks — and it appears likely there was at least one generation of Cooks before this one — is a mystery to me. Below are some ideas I have had toward trying to pierce this mystery.

Additional Y-DNA testing

I would like to do additional Y-DNA testing to help refine the connections between James Council Cook and the other Cooks in his community.

• The previous Lafayette Cook tester tested only up to the Y-111 level. I would like to test him or another Lafayette Cook descendant up to the Big Y level, to refine the distance between James Council Cook and Lafayette Cook.
• I would like to test the Y-DNA of a descendant of John W. Cook (b. ca. 1855), or another son of John Cook (b. 1814), to triangulate the distance between him, the Lafayette Cook tester, and our James Council Cook tester.
• I would like to test the Y-DNA of a descendant of James Cook “Sr.” (b. ca. 1790), to triangulate the distance between him, the Lafayette Cook tester, and our James Council Cook tester.

Braswell

Unless some smoking gun should appear in scanned records, indicating how a Braswell came to be the father of one or more children named Cook, the best we can hope for on the Braswell front is perhaps some future Y-DNA tester showing a closer match than we have, or multiple testers helping us triangulate. 

My grandmother definitely has Braswell autosomal matches, but whether they are mappable (their owners are on sites with a chromosome browser like Family Tree DNA, GEDmatch, or MyHeritage) and consistent enough to triangulate to a particular Braswell branch remains to be seen.

Chromosomal mapping of Marion County, South Carolina, families

I have noticed several clusters of autosomal DNA matches with recurring names and families from Marion County, South Carolina. I would like to explore these more thoroughly to understand what the connection might be to James Council Cook’s ancestry.

I welcome your help

If you are a Cook descendant and connect to any of these families, I very much welcome your help, especially if you have done DNA testing. If you have not shared your DNA results on GEDmatch, that can be a great help. I would be glad if you contacted me to let me know how you connect.