Follow that man--David T. W. Cook

For those that haven't been following my search to find the identity of Joseph S. Cook who died in Williamson Co TN here is the short version of that.  I've located two Joseph Cooks in the 1820 census in areas where my families were and I want to know if either of these is the Joseph Cook who married Tamar Northern in 1803 Granville Co NC.  I believe he is the one who is in Simpson Co KY and is listed with Northern families near.  The other Joseph Cook is enumerated in Wilson Co TN near others who have Granville Co NC ties and who will in a few years end up in Williamson & Bedford County Tennessee area.  Our Cook Y DNA points to descendants of Shem Cooke(he died in 1796 in Granville Co NC and was from Amelia Co VA).  I also want to determine if either one of them is the Joseph S. Cook from Williamson Co TN.   To add to the confusion, the probate papers of 2 other Joseph Cooks(one of which IS Joseph S Cook) have been combined and labeled as the Joseph S. Cook in Williamson County TN records and as such, that is how it appears within the Ancestry database.  Joseph S. Cook died without a will and Wm C Cook(my 2nd Great Grandfather) was appointed admin of Joseph S. Cook's estate and reported an inventory and sale of the estate.  The other Joseph Cook in that file folder left a will and the majority of the papers in that folder are for his estate detailing the division of his property among his children.  He died a few years after Joseph S. Cook and lived in Davidson Co and I believe he was a resident of Dist 2 Williamson Co TN.

So I had looked at the entry for the marriage of Joseph Cooke & Tamar Northern in Granville Co NC but never really looked at the marriage bond.  It was hard to find as it is incorrectly indexed as James Nothern instead of Tamar Northern.  I think part of that comes from an indexer who isn't familiar with the document that is being indexed and what to expect on it.  The first name on the bond is that of  James Turner who was Governor of North Carolina at that time.  The bondsman who signs with Joseph Cook is David T W Cook.

From Newspapers.com

Mississippi Free Trader(Natchez, MS) Jun 18, 1840 pg 3 Marriage to Miss Sarah Godley(Wilkinson)

Mississippi Free Trader(Natchez, MS) Nov 16, 1819 pg. 5 --an advertisement that he had placed in order to sell land. (appears to have run Nov 9-mid Dec)

• 10 Lots in the town of Woodville(including those I live on)
• 640 acres of land on the river Comite, Popular Springs improved 
• 350 acres of land well improved near the Mississippi 
• 4500 acres in West TN on Duck, Big Harper, and Elk Rivers.

Weekly Raleigh Register(Raleigh, NC) Dec 28, 1821, Pg. 4

A petition for divorce filed by Lydia Cook in Currituck Co. NC against David T W Cook.

(published for 3 months beginning Nov 8, 1821)

From Ancestry.com

Mississippi, Compiled Marriages, 1776-1935 marriage Elizabeth Collingsworth 13 Jan 1812(Wilkinson)

Mississippi, Compiled Marriages, 1800-1825 marriage Matilda Nelson 26 Oct 1815(Wilkinson)
Mississippi, Compiled Marriages, 1776-1935 marriage Matilda Nelson 2 Nov 1815(Wilkinson)
Louisiana, Compiled Marriages, 1718-1925 marriage Caroline M Nelson 14 Jan 1817(West Feliciana)

1813 Mississippi, State and Territorial Census Collection, 1792-1866 Wilkinson Co. MS
1820 Mississippi, State and Territorial Census Collection, 1792-1866 Wilkinson Co. MS
1820 United States Federal Census in Wilkinson Co. MS
1830 United States Federal Census in Tipton Co. TN
1840 United States Federal Census in Wilkinson Co. MS

U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 1798 May 17-1815 ----- "C"
6535 Cook David T W Capt Miss. Militia  Col Neilson

The Remarks column from that entry is shown in the image below

At FindAGrave.com

I found the entry for his wife Matilda Caroline Nelson Cook

This was a wonderful find as there are biographies for her, her siblings, and her father, John Nelson.  The bio entry has sources and while focusing on the Nelsons and their lives, has a bit about David Taylor Woodward Cook.  The story of where the Nelsons were from, why they came to Louisiana, Mississippi and for a time parts of Tennessee including, Williamson County, Tennessee is in the bios on the Nelsons memorial pages.  They are a great read separate and apart from this mystery.  Do yourself a favor and read them.

At Hathitrust.org

A dictionary of all officers, who have been commissioned, or have been appointed and served, in the army of the United States, since the inauguration of their first president in 1789, to the first January, 1853,--with every commission of each;--including the distinguished officers of the volunteers and militia of the states, and of the navy and marine corps, who have served with the land forces --Gardner, Charles K. (Charles Kitchell), 1787-1869. pg. 125

The Austin papers / edited by Eugene C. Barker. 1919 v.2 pt.2. Austin, Moses, 1761-1821. pg 1751

David T. W. Cook to Austin, July __, 1822.  Came to Texas to see you "in behalf of myself and many others."  Wants land.

The Austin papers / edited by Eugene C. Barker. 1919 v.2 pt.1. Austin, Moses, 1761-1821. pg 355
The above-mentioned letter dated July 1822 is as noted asking for land and was delivered by Austin's brother.  David T W Cook says he will be "on the  River Brassos 3 weeks" and asks him to direct any communication to Mr. Andrew Robertson.

American State Papers: Documents, legislative and executive, of the Congress of the United States ... / selected and edited under the authority of Congress.  pg 63  and pg. 774  Listed among the settlers with claims west of the Pearl River.  

At the Bureau of Land Management site 

I found David T W Cook among a long list of names for Land Holders in Louisiana.  Louisiana Meridian 020N - 002E Lot/Tract 1 Section 20 Union Co.

Do I have the answers or the connection? Not yet. I have a lot more questions and a great number of resources to check.  Would I love to find one of his direct male descendants?  You bet.  My brother has taken the YDNA test and I'd love to compare.  We are currently waiting on our upgrade from Y-67 to Y-111.

Finis E Plumlee--Van Buren Co. TN

I found a book available at HathiTrust Digital Library  It's written by Thomas L. Wilson and titled Sufferings endured for a free government; or,  A history of the cruelties and atrocities of the rebellion.  Complete with a table of contents, it tells the stories of many folks who lost their lives during the time period of the Civil War.

Since the text is fully searchable I was able to find an incident from a county in which many of my maternal ancestors lived.  Though there is a difference in the spelling of his name,  I believe that the story "Murder of Phileneas Plumley" is detailing the events of the death of Finis E Plumlee of Van Buren Co TN.  Finis was married to Lucinda Sparkman.  I have numerous connections to the Sparkman family thru marriages of my cousins.

The page detailing the murder says

"He left a wife and seven little children(who all witnessed his murder) to mourn the loss of a good husband and father."

I was found the census entries for 1850, 1860, and 1870 for the family.  Finis is not listed in the household for the 1870 entry and his burial information including a picture of his headstone can be found at Findagrave.com.   It should be noted that the book says this happened in the early part of 1863 while Finis' gravestone gives February 5th of 1864 as his date of death.  (image of Plumlee household from 1870 Census shown below)

I did find another incident which was claimed to have taken place in Clinton County Tennessee.  While there is a Clinton, TN, there is no Clinton County TN.  I believe the author meant Kentucky instead of Tennessee as I was able to find a record of the person he mentioned living in that county in Kentucky.

This brings to mind Robert Scott Davis' Georgia Black Book, Vol. #1: Morbid, Macabre and Disgusting Records of Genealogical Value.  Davis' work and research is far more in-depth than Wilsons but I'll take research clues wherever I can get them

Sources:
Wilson, Thomas L.(of Tennessee), Sufferings Endured for a Free Government; Or, A History of the Cruelties And Atrocities of the Rebellion ... Philadelphia: King & Baird, 1865. (Online at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008653811).

Tennessee, Van Buren County. 1850 U.S.Federal census, population schedule. Database with Images. Ancestry http://ancestry.com Tennessee .> Van Buren > Dist 3  > Pg 374, line 18( image 4 of 8).

Tennessee, Van Buren County. 1860 U.S.Federal census, population schedule. Database with Images. Ancestry http://ancestry.com Tennessee .> Van Buren > Not Stated > Pg 3,  Line 1(image 6 of 60).

Tennessee, Van Buren County. 1870 U.S.Federal census, population schedule. Database with Images. Ancestry http://ancestry.com Tennessee .> Van Buren > Not Stated > Pg 2,  Line 15(image 2 of 7).

Find A Grave, database, and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed 04 September 2018), memorial page for Finis Ewing Plumlee (5 Jun 1820–5 Feb 1864), Find A Grave Memorial no. 19885633, citing Sparkman Cemetery, Van Buren County, Tennessee, USA; Maintained by Ash Far (contributor 46913275).