The following is an outline of my research and logic used in identifying the couple I believe is the parents of Wm Clifford Cook. I've been meaning to get this out there somewhere other than my Ancestry tree so that others could see why I have drawn the conclusion that I have.
The research to determine the parents of William Clifford Cook, who was born in North Carolina in 1811 and lived much of his life in northwestern Bedford County, Tennessee, began by establishing his location and identifying his potential mother in 1830. The initial phase of the research focused on determining where William Clifford Cook lived around the year 1830 as that was the earliest time period for which I could identify him.
1. Locating William Clifford Cook in 1830: Information from the Williams vs. Putman TN State Supreme Court Case (1829-1832) established that William Clifford Cook had sworn testimony for the defense and appeared to have spent a good bit of time around Zephaniah Anglin which might suggest that they lived in the same neighborhood.
2. Finding the Cook Household: A review of the 1830 Bedford County, TN, census in that neighborhood revealed a Cook household led by Elizabeth Cook. This household contained a male of the correct age group to be William Clifford Cook.
3. Identifying the Harrison Connection: Elizabeth Cook was living near the Harrison and McClain families. Crucially, the household immediately following hers was that of William Harrison (husband of Elvira Cooper Harrison).
4. Confirming Elizabeth's Identity: William Harrison was a Revolutionary War soldier who had moved from Franklin County, NC, to Bedford County, TN, had a daughter named Elizabeth, born around 1788. This daughter would have been approximately 42 years old, which matched the 40-50 age bracket of the older female in the household of Elizabeth Cook in the 1830 census.
5. Supporting Kinship Evidence: Further research noted that in 1840 Dyer County, Tennessee, William Clifford Cook(surname misspelled as Kook) was enumerated near a J B Harrison. If Elizabeth Cook was indeed the daughter of William & Elvira Harrison, this J B Harrison would have been William Clifford Cook's maternal uncle. Noah Putman(brother in law of William Clifford Cook) was also a neighbor in that 1840 Dyer County, Tennessee Census
6. Conclusion on Mother: Based on proximity, age match, and family continuity between North Carolina and Tennessee, Elizabeth Cook is strongly presumed to be Elizabeth Harrison, William Clifford Cook’s mother.
Evidence Pointing to William Pope Cook as the Presumed Father
With the likely maiden name of William Clifford Cook's mother identified as Harrison, the research logically shifted to Franklin County, North Carolina, where the Harrison family originated.
1. The Franklin County Marriage Record: A check of Franklin County, North Carolina marriage records revealed a marriage on August 13, 1806, between a William Pope Cook and a Betsey Harrison. Betsey is a common nickname for women with the given name Elizabeth.
2. William P. Cook's NC Presence: Tax lists confirm that a William P Cook paid tax in Franklin County, NC, from 1807 to 1810.
3. Migration and War of 1812 Service: The unique name and timeline allowed for tracking this individual into Tennessee:
4. The Absence of the Father: The last known record of William P. Cook is a transaction involving the sale of an enslaved man named Lewis in Maury County, TN, in 1821. Since Elizabeth Cook was listed as the head of household in Bedford County, TN, by 1830, William P. Cook is presumed to have died or left the family sometime between 1821 and 1830. No will or probate records for William Pope Cook were found in Maury or Rutherford Counties. Any will or probate file that existed prior to 1863 in Bedford County Tennessee was likely lost in the courthouse fire.
The Role of DNA Evidence
The circumstantial evidence establishing the "identity merge" of William P. Cook from NC to TN through the Harrison family is strongly reinforced by DNA evidence.
1. Paternal Lineage (Y DNA): Y DNA testing of a direct male descendant of William Clifford Cook connects him to a group of Cook men who descend from Shem Cooke (1722-1796) of Granville County, NC. This can be seen up to Y111. Although William Clifford Cook's descendant's test is a Y700 marker we do not have an identified descendant of Shem Cooke who has tested at that level. If we could get one or more direct male descendants of Shem Cooke to upgrade or test the the BigY level that would greatly help to solidify the connection further. Significantly, the historical research seems to indicate that William Pope Cook is the son of William Cook, who was a son of Shem Cooke, thereby placing William Pope Cook in the correct paternal line.
2. Maternal Lineage (Autosomal DNA): Autosomal DNA evidence shows kinship between William Clifford Cook's descendants and the Harrison and Cooper families, which supports the conclusion that William Clifford Cook’s mother was indeed Elizabeth Harrison, as this connection cannot be explained through any other family lines.
About Joseph S Cook: Addressing the long standing assumption that William Clifford Cook's father was Joseph S Cook: For many years the only clue early researchers had to someone kin to William Clifford Cook was that he was appointed admin of the estate of Joseph S Cook in the fall of 1838 in Williamson County Tennessee. Many took this to mean that Joseph S Cook was his father. Current evidence doesn’t seem to support that. Joseph S Cook himself is a mystery as his probate file gets combined with another Joseph Cook(Davidson Co/Williamson Co) who dies in 1840. All we can take from William Clifford Cook’s involvement in Joseph S Cook’s probate is that he did know him in some way, most likely kin thru his father's side of the family.
The sources present a highly compelling and circumstantially strong case that William Pope Cook of Franklin County, North Carolina (who married Betsey Harrison), is the same individual who moved to Tennessee and is the father of William Clifford Cook. This evidence forms a continuous chain linking spouse, Elizabeth/Betsey Harrison, and the continuous movement from NC (1806-1810) to TN (1814-1830) via the migratory path of the Harrison family.
I feel fairly confident given the current sources that the evidence points to the parents of William Clifford Cook(b. 1811 d. 1882) likely being William Pope Cook and Elizabeth Harrison who were married in Franklin County, North Carolina on August 13th of 1806 and who moved to Bedford County Tennessee.
Sources:
"United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYY2-SVHP?i=166 : accessed 30 January 2023), Tennessee > Bedford > Not Stated > image 167 of 282, Household of Elizabeth Cook; citing NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This was the summary of the notes provided by Google Gemini about my research: (a bit wordy and over dramatic IMO)
**The discovery of William Clifford Cook's parents can be logically viewed as finding a key piece (Elizabeth Cook) that unlocks a safe (William Clifford Cook’s identity). First, her location next to her known Harrison parents establishes her maiden name and links the family to Franklin County, North Carolina. Then, searching North Carolina records based on that maiden name reveals the identity of the father, William Pope Cook, whose movements subsequently align perfectly with the Harrison family's migration path to Tennessee, culminating in the genetic confirmation that William Clifford Cook belongs to the established lineage of William Pope Cook.
Disclaimer: I used NotebookLM with my notes on my research of the parents of William Clifford Cook to pull together the outline. I also asked it for a summary. See it's response noted above(**) If any researchers have additional evidence or conflicting evidence please contact me. I want to be thorough and consider all sources.
I've been experimenting with Google's NotebookLM this week. If you haven't tried it you should. I've uploaded documents which include proof arguments and notes on my Cook family. I've been having it generate audio overviews on a number of research opportunities(proving Wm C Cook's father, the children and their families etc.) One of the settings will allow you to have it do a critique which I found really useful for making me think about approaches to research problems. In addition to Critique, the other settings are the Deep Dive, Brief, and Debate. Keep in mind that you need to really know your subject and pay attention to what is being stated so you are aware if (or when) a wrong assumption has been made. Still a very valuable tool.
I spent some time yesterday gathering together some of my blog articles, research notes and source lists to use at Google's NotebookLM. Google's NotebookLM is an AI-powered research and writing assistant(it uses Gemini AL) that helps users to understand and organize information from sources they upload such as PDFs, Google Docs, website etc. I wanted to use it to generate a video version of some of my research topics. It will also do audio overviews, mind maps, reports, flashcards and quizzes. Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings had written about his experience with it back in October of last year. I've wanted to try it for awhile but am just now making the time.
Source: Bedford Co Tennessee Deeds Book v. 1851-1852 p 55, E C Harrison to Wm Weaver; FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKX-M84Z : accessed 21 October 2025), IGN 8150805, Image 532 of 848.[There is an index at the start of 1851-1852 though the vol is not named(image 486 of 848)]
I found a deed(E C Harrison to Wm Weaver) that was registered in Bedford Co TN Deed books(1851-1852) in 19 July 1850 though the indenture date was 13 Dec 1825.
The description mentions land Granted to William Harrison(640 acres on Alexander Creek)
"A Certain tract or parcel of land lying and being in the County of Bedford and State of Tennessee, in the Second District, Eleventh Section and said fourth Range. On the waters of Alexander's Creek. And being a part of a six hundred and forty Acre tract of land, Granted to William Harrison"
It wouldn't be the same as the Bounty Land listed in the pension papers for Wm & widow Elvira. I would think that was federal and the 640 acres would be granted by the state of TN.
I've contacted the TN State Archives and I'm awaiting their response which hopefully will point me in the right direction for finding out more about this grant.
Source: Bedford Co Tennessee Deeds Book v. 1851-1852 p 55, E C Harrison to Wm Weaver; FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKX-M84Z : accessed 21 October 2025), IGN 8150805, Image 532 of 848.[There is an index at the start of 1851-1852 though the vol is not named(image 486 of 848)]
Today I checked out my updated Ancestry Composition at 23&me. No real surprises. I have loads of Colonial American ancestry on both sides of my family. Still, it's entertaining to see what locations my ancestors may have lived.
The Fall 2025 edition of the Bedford County Tennessee Quarterly is out and has an article about Revolutionary Veterans who were in Bedford County. I was happy to see such a listing. The article mentioned my 4th Great Grandfather, William Harrison noting that the info for his listing came from Texas DAR Roster. I am baffled by the year of death they are showing as 1816 so I'm trying to find the listing in the Texas DAR. I found several who had joined under his service but they were all showing 1833 as the date of death. There has been some confusion whether the month was Jan. or Jun., his year of death is 1833(given in widow, Elvira's pension file.) William Harrison is enumerated in the 1830 census in Bedford Co. TN's District 9 surrounded by family. He is mentioned on the 1835 listing of pensioners but as having died in 1833. His listing is under Rutherford County but the age would imply that it is him since he was born about 1749. Rutherford County was over the county line just north of where he was in 1830. Since this was from a file
WILLIAM HARRISON
RUTHERFORD COUNTY LIEUTENANT NORTH CAROLINA CONT'L LINE $240.00 ANNUAL ALLOWANCE $2,424.66 AMOUNT RECEIVED OCTOBER 6, 1820 PENSION STARTED AGE 84 DIED JUNE 22, 1833
Source: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tn/statewide/military/warof1812/pensions/pen1835.txtThe is a deed between Thomas Callen and Jackson Lile in Bedford County TN Deed Book FF page 159 in October of 1834 that mentions Harrison in the land description in reference to a nearby tract. Specifically it says "beginning at a Black Oak & Dogwood near South of the place old man Harrison lived & died." I'd really like to get this all figured out and find out where he is buried as well.
I don't have a lot of memories from my childhood. I probably used a good bit of that space to store 1980s song lyrics. When I started first grade in the fall of 1974, my family was renting a home from Ray and Rebecca Taylor on Liberty Road in Charlotte, Tennessee. At that time, kindergarten was not required, so I went directly into first grade.
The house we rented no longer exists. It was torn down around 1976 when the Taylors built their new home farther back on the same lot. The property is now addressed as 1171 Liberty Road. The older home sat to the right of the driveway near the front of the property, shaded by a few trees.
I remember several details about that place. A drain or gully ran along the yard, carrying off wash water. Wild apricots grew there, and my family planted a small garden to the right of the house. I loved running through the garden rows. Feral cats roamed the property—we named them Sluggo, Nancy, and Rare-Back. To the left of the driveway stood a tree with moss at its base. I used the moss to build tiny towns and lawns, with acorns serving as cars.
Because the house was surrounded by fields, ticks were a constant problem. We also heard mice and flying squirrels stirring around in the attic.
I was in Ms. Rachel Weaver’s first grade class at Charlotte Elementary, where Bill Caldwell served as principal. I rode Mr. Petty’s bus to school—possibly bus number 37.
In the fall of 1975, we moved from Charlotte to a house in the Spanish Oaks subdivision located in the Pomona community. At the time, I was in Mrs. Elliot’s second grade class at Charlotte Elementary. Since Pomona was then part of the Burns school district, I transferred to Mrs. C Richardson’s 2nd grade class at Burns Elementary. In that class they used a color coded reading program which I think was called SRA. I really loved these.
About two years later, the school district lines were redrawn, and Pomona was placed in the Dickson district. From that point on, I attended Dickson Elementary, James E. Sullivan Middle School, Dickson Junior High School, and Dickson County Senior High. We remained in Spanish Oaks until the fall of 1986.
This is part of my research of William Green Cook, my great-grandfather, that I have published to my Ancestry Tree and is included in his Gallery. This is a listing from the Tax books of Rutherford Co TN for the years 1912-1944. Since anyone who is not a subscriber can't see it despite it being a PUBLIC tree, I'm publishing a copy of it here on my blog for others who are interested in the Wm Green Cook & Jane Bell King family. I blogged about the process I used to create it several years back. You can find that post HERE
Notes & observations:
1915,1916 No tax books were found for these years
1918-1920 Cowan should be Currin verified with a check of the district that shows no Cowans Abe Currin shows Cook as his north bordering neighbor..
1920: Property value likely $250 and not 550.
1921 & 1922: Coursey should be Currin verified by checking Abe Currin’s entry
1921: Tmis should be Thomas as the Ida Thomas Heirs are listed with Cook as their west bordering property.
1943 & 1944: Not sure why the land acreage changed for these years. The value remained the same.Possible typo? In the tax book?
Sources:
Description-----------------------Film------IGN
Tax books District 1-25 1912-1913 421410 8663749
Tax books District 1-25 1914, 1917 421411 8663750
Tax books District 1-25 1918-1919 431412 8663751
Tax books District 1-25 1920-1921 431413 8663752
Tax books District 1-25 1922-1923 431414 8663753
Tax books District 1-25 1924 431415 8663754
Tax books District 1-25 1925 431416 8663755
Tax books District 1-25 1926 431417 8663756
Tax books District 1-25 1927 431418 8663757
Tax books District 1-25 1928-1929 431419 8452271
Tax books District 1-25 1930-1931 431420 8663758
Tax books District 1-25 1932 431421 8663759
Tax books District 1-25 1933 431422 8663760
Tax books District 1-25 1934 431423 8663761
Tax books District 1-25 1935 431424 8663762
Tax books District 1-25 1936-1937 431425 8663763
Tax books District 1-25 1938-1939 431426 8663764
Tax books District 1-25 1940-1941 431427 8663765
Tax books District 1-25 1942-1943 431428 8663766
Tax books District 1-25 1944-1945 431429 8663767
