Harrison Deed Mentions Transferred Note

Now that Wm C Cook's mother & family have been identified, I'm working in Dyer County Tennessee Deeds looking at Harrison deeds and found one mentioning "note made payable to Wm C Cook" it continues on down the page and on to page 74 of Dyer County, Deed Book E.  John B Harrison is the J B Harrison listed with Wm C Cook and Noah Putman in the 1840 US Federal Census of Dyer County Tennessee. He's the Brother In Law of Wm C Cook's Brother In Law(Hiram Putman) and also Wm C Cook's maternal uncle.  The image below is not the full images but it contains the portion about the note.  To see the full images click the link above or the one in the Source section below.

Source

"Deeds, 1824-1882; deed index, 1822-1915," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS5W-B3S3-5?i=472&cat=278884 : accessed 9 February 2023), Deed by John B Harrison to E.A. McCorkle Registered 5 Apr 1841; citing Dyer Co., Tennessee, USA, Deed Book E, p 73; county courthouse, Tennessee; FHL microfilm 833238.

Bella, formerly the slave of Gen Thomas Clark & late of John Waddell & John Lord

Found Bella's will while looking for another record.  It starts out...

In the name of God Amen,  I, Bella Clark
(a coloured woman formerly the slave of General 
Thomas Clark & late of John Waddell & John 
Lord, but liberated as will appear by the records of the
county court of New Hanover....

Also mentions "present Husband a coloured man, by the name of John Lillington(?) alias

McAuslans John now a slave of Mr. John McAuslan"

Full will is at:

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-VW9L-6V?i=200

Source:

"North Carolina Probate Records, 1735-1970," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-VW9L-6V?cc=1867501&wc=32LK-7MS%3A169769101%2C170219401 : 5 Jan 2023), New Hanover > Wills, 1732-1864, Vol. 01 > image 201 of 244; county courthouses, North Carolina.

Other links that might contain information about some of those named.

• Record of slaves and free persons of color, New Hanover County, North Carolina, 1786-1888
• Digital Library on American Slavery
• New Hanover NC Slave Deed Project 

The Importance of Revisiting

It's important to revisit sites(online or in person) which are actively adding resources or databases.  Once you have new information such as surnames or specific locations, reviewing helps.  Sure you  have checked the county books for the surnames you were researching in 2005, but have you checked them armed with the knowledge of the discoveries you've made since then?  It does make a difference.

Surnames are not the only thing you should check.  Make sure that you keep up with what is available for the areas.  How do I know?  Yesterday I noticed that a court record index was available that hadn't been accessible from home the last time I'd visited the online records available for a specific area of interest. While reading thru the index, I located a divorce record from 1886.  Given that information I was able to seek out the County Court Records book and find the page on which the case was recorded.  This record answered my question about what happened to the 1st husband of Tennessee Ferguson and why she was using her maiden name when she married husband #2(Henry F Hill.)  I'd suspected a divorce but couldn't locate court records from the time period.  I'd also searched for records on another case from the same general time period in that area and didn't find the years needed available.  Not sure if I just missed it or if it was added.  Just happy to have found it.  The FamilySearch Research Wiki is great for pulling together a locality resources guide.  

Revisit PERSI for those surnames and areas too.  There are many area resources which were published in Genealogy quarterlies that are helpful.  I found one this morning which contained a lot of Dyer Co TN resources.  it was the July 1972 issue of Ansearchin' News(from TN Genealogical Society).  You can access issues of Ansearchin' News which are older than 10 years thru the TN Genealogical Society's website.  The more recent quarterlies are behind the member paywall.  If you have ancestors who were in Tennessee check out the society's website and consider joining.  

Franklin Co. Arkansas: Cook, Lamb, and Hight Folks

In the 1870 US Federal Census,  Joseph Knox Cook is living pretty much surrounded by his Lamb brother in laws(who are also his maternal cousins) in District 10 of Rutherford County Tennessee.  He went out to Franklin Co Arkansas after the 1880 census as did his brother James Polk Cook.  Joe's brother in law, Nelson Hiram Lamb was already out in Franklin Co AR prior to them arriving in Arkansas. In the 1880 US Federal Census Hiram Nelson was living in the Ivy District.  Joe didn't stay in Arkansas very long(see blog post). 

William G Hight's probate in Franklin Co. Arkansas was mentioned in several previous posts but today the itemized admin settlement was located.  It provides very good detail of the process and in very good penmanship too.  It begins on page 200 and then skips and continues on page 246. 

Sources:  

"United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MD8M-DVM : 4 February 2023), Joseph Cook, 1870.

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDQ2-FFZ : 4 February 2023), Joseph K. Cook, District 10, Bedford County, Tennessee, United States; citing enumeration district 10, sheet 275C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,255,244.

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MNW7-S8T : 4 February 2023), N. H. Lamb, Ivy Township, Franklin, Arkansas, United States; citing enumeration district 60, sheet 753B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm  1,254,044.

Franklin County, Arkansas, "Administrators and guardians Settlements, 1876-1904," entry for W G Hight's estate p. 200(1881); digitized image 191 of 797, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9B7-RJVY?i=190&cat=616228 : accessed 4 February 2023); FHL microfilm 1,027,670.

Franklin County, Arkansas, "Administrators and guardians Settlements, 1876-1904," continuation of entry for W G Hight's estate p. 246(1881); digitized image 216 of 797, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9B7-RJGF?i=215&cat=616228 : accessed 4 February 2023); FHL microfilm 1,027,670.

More Pieces of the Puzzle: Cook and Harrison

While continuing to work on the paper trail to identify Elizabeth Harrison's Cook husband, I went ahead and connected her as Wm C. Cook's mother. I also attached the census data, the link to my blog post(s) with the reasoning, and a note in the Suffix field of her profile.  

I revisited the YDNA matches of my brother for the COOK(E) Project and went over my notes and corresponded with one of the project admins.  While we do match a group of Pattersons as close as we match Cooks, the Pattersons lived near the GA & NC Cooks that descend from the Shem Cooke and there seems to be a connection to his line.  If our connection is thru Wm Pope Cooke that married Betsy Harrison, then we would likely connect all the way back to Shem Cooke thru a line of men with the given name of William. Prior to the BigY testing the 37, 67, and 111 marker tests were all we had.  There is representation more so from Shem's son James thru his children  Roland(d. 1842 West TN) and Shem(d.1862 Carroll Co GA)  There is one tester who descends thru the elder Shem Cooke(d. 1796)'s son William but he only tested at 37 markers.  His result contains no differing mutations with my brother at that level so he is an exact match at 37 markers.  This is an older test so I'm unsure if an update is possible but I am trying to make contact with others from that line who might be interested to see if we can come up with a way to compare.  At the same time I'm working further on his paper trail to see if it crosses with ours.  When my brother's test came in, I worked the matches trees to figure out exactly how they all were the connected.  Many of them didn't have trees...so I had to do a lot of sleuthing to figure it out but for the most part I have a very good picture of how they connect.  

I have access to AncestryDNA match lists of several descendants of the Shem Cooke(Carroll Co GA) and I have been looking at their closer matches to see if I could find an intersection with our clusters of unknowns which are likely Cook/Harrison related.   I did find one where I started noticing surnames that were familiar among those matches and have now identified more Harrison matches.

After having Elizabeth Harrison Cook connected for 2 days I am now seeing matches that descend from her siblings.  The great thing is that those matches are not all thru Rebecca Harrison who would match with the Cook Putmans because of their connection to Hiram Putman(Elizabeth Putman Cook's brother).  There are descendants of Nancy Harrison Hight, Gideon V Harrison, Edward Cannon Harrison and Martha Harrison Smith.  I think too somewhere back in there is another HIGHT connection or a connection to the Nichols(wife of a Hight).  The relationships of those matches are mostly 5C & 5C1R and are all well in range for those relationships.  Checking the shared matches is helpful as well to make sure none of them matched her(they didn't.)  

It should be noted that Thrulines® is a Tool that works using our DNA match list along with the trees on Ancestry.  It's still up to us to document and prove our conclusions so that our research is solid.  

Progress with Cook research

To locate where Wm C Cook would have been around 1830 I used the information that was gained from the Williams vs. Putman State Supreme Court Case.  Given the testimony from that case it appears that Wm C Cook lived in close proximity to Zephaniah Anglin. A look at the census page from 1830 Bedford Co. TN in which Zephaniah appears show a Cook household with a male that could be Wm C Cook.  Also I believe that this Elizabeth Cook's maiden name was Harrison.  The Wm Harrison listed immediately following her is the household of Wm & Elvira Cooper Harrison.  The two households above Elizabeth are sons of Wm & Elvira.  Wm & Elvira did have a daughter named Elizabeth(b. abt 1788) who would be about 42.  The older female(presumable Elizabeth) is in the 40-50 age bracket.

A number of trees claim that Wm P Harrison of 1830 Williamson Co TN is Wm & Elvira's household however the ages for William and Elvira do not match up as they do here on the 1830 Bedford Co TN enumeration.  

Something else to consider:

On the 1840 US Federal Census of Dyer Co TN,, Wm C Cook was enumerate immediately before his brother-in-law Noah and a J B Harrison who at the time I recognized as the Brother-In-Law of Hiram Putman(another of Wm C Cook's Bro-In-Laws).  If Elizabeth Cook from 1830 Bedford Co TN census is Wm C Cook's mother, and the daughter of Wm & Elvira Harrison, then that J B Harrison that is enumerated in Dyer Co TN with Wm C Cook is not only the brother-in-law of his brother-in-law, but Wm C Cook's maternal uncle. 

This makes a pretty good argument for that and also offers an explanation for why we match a cluster of the Harrison/Cooper descendants that are not also Putmans.  I have several ideas I want to test to determine Elizabeth's spouse.  There is a William Pope Cook who married a Betsey Harrison Aug. 18th of 1806 in Franklin Co. NC.  The Pope name is common in the YDNA of the Cook line that we most closely match. 

It is my belief based on the above evidence/clues that Elizabeth Cook is the daughter of William & Elvira Cooper Harrison and the mother of Wm C Cook. 

Sources:

"United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:1TGQ-9RH : accessed 30 January 2023), Household of Wm C Kook, Dyer, Tennessee, United States; citing p. 104, NARA microfilm publication M704 , (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration.), roll 521-522; FHL microfilm 24,544.

"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.).

"North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSHB-W9GK-4?cc=1726957 : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1, Marriage Record of William Pope Cook to Betsey Harrison, 13 August 1806 in Franklin County NC; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History.

Williams vs. Putman, Tennessee State Supreme Court Case Middle District Ordered from TN State Library & Archives via https://supreme-court-cases.tennsos.org/ Delivery(Jan 2, 2019) via email of scanned digital images(PDF) 41 pages. (Location at TSLA Range: 33 Section: A Shelf: 2 Box Number: 375)