While I'd searched on the same terms before, I like to try again after a few months have passed. Today I ran a Google search for "Gilford Cook" Tennessee and it returned a book listed as
Correspondence of James K. Polk: 1842-1843 (Vol 6)
By James Knox Polk, Wayne Cutler
Page 566 was part of the preview and particularly interesting because it gave me the following information
6th Jan 1840
Letter from H. J. Anderson
Autograph Letter Signed
TN State Library & Archives Governor's Papers
Recommends Commutation of the prison sentence of Gilford Cook.
I thought it odd that it contained information on letters which were outside the time frame that the title suggests. I might have missed this if I were just pulling books to search within.
This gives me an additional person to add to Gilford's FAN club listing. I've written about Gilford in several previous blog posts. What sparks my interest in him? I've got about 7+ matches to descendants of Garrison King among the DNA matches of me and my siblings. Garrison's wife is believed to be a Cook(perhaps sister of Gilford). Our YDNA(111 marker) testing indicates that our Cook(e) line closely matches that of Shem Cooke of Granville Co NC and the surrounding areas. Shem owned land in Franklin Co. NC which is where Gilford was listed as being from and where he married. From information in his State Penitentiary records I also learned that he lived in Wilson Co TN before moving to Dickson TN in 1833 along with the name of a neighbor in each of those locations. I need to find more on Gilford's descendants to see if they too are among my paternal DNA matches. My paternal Grandfather and his siblings were the products of a Cook & King marriage so they could connect thru either side...maybe---Or an entirely different line although I know the connection is paternal thanks to them uploading to GEDmatch.. Now to find out who H.J. Anderson is and hopefully the full contents of the letter. More clues!
Previous Posts mentioning Gilford Cook:
Gilford Cook --Dickson Co TN
Garrison King--Dickson Co TN--list of heirs
Showing posts with label Gilford Cook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gilford Cook. Show all posts
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Friday, April 12, 2019
Gilford Cook--Dickson County Tennessee
In a previous blog post, I'd written a bit about Garrison King who lived in Dickson Co., TN and some of whose descendants are among my DNA matches. In that post, I also mentioned Gilford Cook who is likely the brother-in-law of Garrison King(Garrison's wife was a Cook).
I found two entries in Tennessee Convicts: Early Records of the State Penitentiary Volume 1. These gave me a lot of additional information on him which I used in the summary below.
Gilford Cook was born and raised in Franklin County, North Carolina and it was there where he married Sarah Bass, December 2nd of 1821. Gilford was a shoemaker and lived in Wilson Co TN(near Richard Drake) before moving to Dickson Co. TN in 1833. He was charged with and convicted of larceny in a Dickson Co Court and thus sentenced to 3 years in the penitentiary where he was received on the 19th of February 1837. His family lived near Kendrick Myatt's on old Natchez trace 15 miles from Charlotte. Gilford was discharged January 8, 1840, where his conduct while there was recorded as good. His description according to this record was: age 48, 6 foot 2 inches with dark hair and grey eyes.
Below is the 1840 census entry for Gilford Cook's family which would have been almost 4 months after his release.
Sources:
Charles A. & Tomye M. Sherrill, Tennessee Convicts: Early Records of the State Penitentiary 1831-1850 Vol. 1, (Mt. Juliet, Tenn: C. A. Sherrill 1997), pgs. 22 & 197.
"North Carolina, Civil Marriages, 1763-1868", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q296-MHWZ : 11 May 2018), Gilford Cook and Sarah Bass, 1821.
"United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYTB-92VB?cc=1786457&wc=31SJ-16P%3A1588669927%2C1588670578%2C1588665902 : 24 August 2015), Tennessee > Dickson > Not Stated > image 11 of 72; citing NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
I found two entries in Tennessee Convicts: Early Records of the State Penitentiary Volume 1. These gave me a lot of additional information on him which I used in the summary below.
Gilford Cook was born and raised in Franklin County, North Carolina and it was there where he married Sarah Bass, December 2nd of 1821. Gilford was a shoemaker and lived in Wilson Co TN(near Richard Drake) before moving to Dickson Co. TN in 1833. He was charged with and convicted of larceny in a Dickson Co Court and thus sentenced to 3 years in the penitentiary where he was received on the 19th of February 1837. His family lived near Kendrick Myatt's on old Natchez trace 15 miles from Charlotte. Gilford was discharged January 8, 1840, where his conduct while there was recorded as good. His description according to this record was: age 48, 6 foot 2 inches with dark hair and grey eyes.
Below is the 1840 census entry for Gilford Cook's family which would have been almost 4 months after his release.
Sources:
Charles A. & Tomye M. Sherrill, Tennessee Convicts: Early Records of the State Penitentiary 1831-1850 Vol. 1, (Mt. Juliet, Tenn: C. A. Sherrill 1997), pgs. 22 & 197.
"North Carolina, Civil Marriages, 1763-1868", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q296-MHWZ : 11 May 2018), Gilford Cook and Sarah Bass, 1821.
"United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYTB-92VB?cc=1786457&wc=31SJ-16P%3A1588669927%2C1588670578%2C1588665902 : 24 August 2015), Tennessee > Dickson > Not Stated > image 11 of 72; citing NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
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