Research Ramblings

The atDNA kit for my Dad's only living sister arrived today and will go out in tomorrow's mail.  Also noticed that my brother's YDNA upgrade to 67 markers had a batch number.  My daughter should get her swab kit for the mtFull Sequence soon and then we can all hurry up and wait together.   I uploaded a tree to my Aunt's account so that is already in place.  Hopefully I will remember to add the processing times at TheDNAGeek.com's DNA Test processing times page.

I found a "vanity' bio for Roland J Cooke 1839-1913, a 2nd Great Grandson of Shem Cooke & Ann Rucker.  He was the grandson of Roland Cooke(West TN Primitive Baptist).  His family had moved from Gibson Co TN on to Yalobusha Co., Mississippi and then to Phillips Co. Arkansas.  Couldn't find a marriage record for his parents in the Mississippi county records but there was one that listed the marriage for the couple given as his parents about 10 years later than what it should have been considering Roland J was the oldest. I'm not sure if he was from an earlier marriage or if there is an error in the source only gave the year which doesn't sound like one from court records and I didn't care for the description of the source which is an Ancestry Database of compiled Mississippi Marriages(see source info below) with no digital images.

Source Information
Hunting For Bears, comp.. Mississippi Marriages, 1776-1935 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
Original data: Mississippi marriage information taken from county courthouse records. Many of these records were extracted from copies of the original records in microfilm, microfiche, or book format, located at the Family History Library.

So really still not sure and I'm taking this info with a boulder size grain of salt until I see original source info.  The bio continued the theme and also was 10 years off on his mother's year of death.  Still it gave me info on where descendants from this line may live and should help in identifying them should they show up among my DNA matches.

A mtDNA full sequence, upgrade to Y67 and atDNA test for my only remaining paternal aunt

Family Tree DNA has their Holiday sale on with a variety of test packages and upgrades available.  I took advantage of the sale over the Black Friday Weekend.  I purchased an upgrade of my brother's YDNA-37 test to 67 markers, a Family Finder(FTDNA's autosomal test) for my Dad's only living sibling and a mtDNA Full sequence for my daughter. For the tests that I manage,  I have more Promo codes than I can possibly use so I am posting the ones from this week here if anyone needs them feel free to see if they are still active.

FTDNA Coupon Codes Expires Dec. 3, 2017

R29G306PJY3Y $30 off Y-DNA67 ($229 before coupon)

R292SNRLTF2F $30 off Y-DNA67

R24NNLLESIQJ $30 off Y-DNA67

R24NPHFTQ29P $20 off Y-DNA111($299 before coupon)

R29I62CN9KJ4 $30 off Y-DNA111

R24MV668ZWLC $25 off Big Y

R243MEFJ3C4O $10 off Y37, Y67, or Y111($129--$229--$299 before coupon)

R29IQPH8SF6E $10 off Y37, Y67, or Y111  **

R290PL8LF5XQ $20 off Y37, Y67, or Y111  **

R29OVXD7IEE5 $30 off mtFull Sequence($169 before coupon)

R29RF52ROJOC $30 off mtFull Sequence

R298XY65U1OO $20 off any purchase of $150 or more

R29FEFEP6LGM $20 off any purchase of $150 or more

I will post the ones for this next week as soon as I get them.  I'm already really excited about seeing the results of the tests I purchased as well as seeing a bunch of new matches show up from all the sales at FTDNA and AncestryDNA.

If these coupons do not work they have probably been used by another one of my readers.  I offer them on a first come first serve basis.  

** Some people have reported that they were able to use the Y 37/67/111 coupons on upgrades.

Rowland Cook, you had mail.

In my study of the lines of Shem Cooke (brought about by the results of my brother's YDNA test) I've noticed several names which are used frequently by his descendants.  Shem/Shemuel/Isham, Rowland and Claiborne are very common in his line so I've been collecting and studying each of those including all of the spelling variations of both the given and surname.   I found mention of a Rowland Cook in a listing of persons with letters remaining at PO in Cedar Bluff Alabama(Cherokee Co.)  This would be Rowland B Cook, son of Shem Cooke and Temperance Blackwell. Why was his mail not picked up?  Maybe he was away on business in 1841 or had just lapsed on picking up his mail.  He was enumerated in Cherokee Co Alabama in the 1840 AND 1850 Federal Census. This branch is covered in Many Cookes and their Broth (see Ancestry Message board post about book) published in 1967 by Charles G Cooke, which is a self described  "genealogical outline of the Cooke Family of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama."  The author mentioned that he had been unable to place where Rowland B. Cook was during the 1870 census. According to records within the churches where he attended and preached, he had removed to Giles Co TN and been there during that time.  Improved search and indexing in recent years has allowed us to see that he was enumerated  in Madison County Alabama with his wife(30 yrs his junior) and their children.  Amazingly in this entry he is only 5 years older than she. Given the names and ages of his children and wife I can tell this is him.

Sources:

Jacksonville Republican (Jacksonville, Alabama) 01 Dec 1841, Wed • Page 4  (https://www.newspapers.com)

Year: 1830; Census Place: Fayette, Georgia; Series: M19; Roll: 17; Page: 196; Family History Library Film: 0007037.  Search on Rowland B Cook (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8058)

Year: 1840; Census Place: Cherokee, Alabama; Roll: 3; Page: 132; Family History Library Film: 0002332.  Search on R. B. Cook (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8057)

Year: 1850; Census Place: District 26, Cherokee, Alabama; Roll: M432_3; Page: 53B; Image: 112.  Search on R. B. Cook (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8054)

Year: 1860; Census Place: Bowdon, Carroll, Georgia; Roll: M653_113; Page: 552; Family History Library Film: 803113. Search on R. B. Cook (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7667)

Year: 1870; Census Place: Township 3 Range 1 Subdivision 53, Madison, Alabama; Roll: M593_27; Page: 102A; Family History Library Film: 545526.  Search on Bryant Cook (https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7163)

Almedia Jones Bassett--U.S. Special Census on Deaf Family Marriages and Hearing Relatives

James A Bassett and Almedia Jones

The Special Census entry for Almedia and James was the first one that I located and led me to finding those for the rest of the extended family.  In the initial post(US Special Census Find) I detailed the information for the couple so I won't repeat most of it but I would like to add additional info which was not on that form about the family.

James and Almedia were married about 1874 according to their deaf census information and their 1900 census entry says about 1875.  Their marriage took place in Franklin, Johnson Co., Indiana.  Almedia  was living in Indiana with her sister and brother in law and that is where she married James. They must have been in California by 1876 as their oldest child is listed as born there in their 1880 Sonoma Co CA enumeration.  They were in California for several years and then in Tennessee during the birth of one child before going back to Indiana and eventually on to Chicago IL area.    James was born in Pennsylvania and his parents were born in California and New York. Almedia was born in Tennessee as were both of her parents. They seem to have traveled a great deal.  James and his sister Jane Bassett Adkinson in particular and for a time the family was in Wisconsin.  There were several deaf schools in those areas they traveled to and that may have been part of the reasoning.

James and Almedia along with their families left records in so many places--- a wonderful thing because it maps out the timeline of their lives.  If you are a Bassett or Atkinson research (or a Riddle and Hitchcock researcher) I'd recommend checking out the Special census for all of the families.

Correspondence in Pension file of James Blackwell

On August 28, 1930, Dr. Blackwell Markham of Durham NC wrote a letter to the Commissioner of Pensions in Washington, D.C. asking for information on the following Revolutionary Pensioners of North Carolina.

• James Blackwell, 10th Regiment, Bradley's Co. enlisted July 20, 1778.
• Thomas Marcum, private.
• Thomas Blackwell, private.

The information provided in the response gives a bit of insight into the Blackwell, Pope, Cook, Clopton and Nall families of the Granville County, North Carolina area.

The digital images of the original file including the correspondence can be found at Fold3.com in the Pension file  of James Blackwell(North Carolina) which include his widow's pension W. 18613 .  Below is the information(typed by me) which was included in the 2 page letter from E.W. Morgan in response to Dr. Markham's inquiry. 

Rev. & 1812 Wars Section

October 30, 1930

Dr. Blackwell Markham

First National Bank Building

Durham, North Carolina

Dear Sir:

You are advised that it appears from the papers

in the Revolutionary War Pension claims, W. 18613, that

James Blackwell of Granville County, North Carolina

enlisted and served twelve months and twenty-two days

as a private in Captain John Dickerson's Company of

North Carolina Light Horse and was discharged May 10,

1777.

He served three months as captain in the Granville

County North Carolina Cavalry and was discharged

November 17, 1781.

He was allowed pension on his application executed

November 8, 1819 while a resident of Granville County, 

North Carolina, aged about eighty-eight years.

He died April 1, 1823 or in 1824.

Solder married July 17, 1767 Elizabeth Clopton,

who died in 1768.  He married April 2, 1773 in Granville

County, North Carolina, Temperance Pope, who died

February 14, 1840.

Digital Images from Fold3 located at :
https://www.fold3.com/image/11705429
https://www.fold3.com/image/11705430

Digital scans of original info from The National Archives (http://www.archives.gov)
NARA M804. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application
Files. Roll 0256.  James Blackwell (North Carolina)

Estray Notice --Amelia County, Virginia(1766)

An estray notice in the Thursday, December 4th 1766 edition of Rind's Virginia Gazette placed by Shem Cook. (www.newspapers.com)

A search of estray laws at Google Books yielded several books which cover colonial and early American law.  I found one about the areas in which many of my ancestors lived but I'm sure there are others there or at the other online books sites. Try a search for one and include the name of the area in which your ancestors lived.

From Google Books
Laws of the State of Tennessee: Including Those of North Carolina Now in Force in this State. From the Year 1715 to the Year 1820, Inclusive, Volume 1

The Revised Code of the Laws of Virginia: Being a Collection of All Such Acts of the General Assembly, of a Public and Permanent Nature as are Now in Force; with a General Index. To which are Prefixed, the Constitution of the United States; the Declaration of Rights; and the Constitution of Virginia, Volume 1