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Rough Draft: For Review Only! Note: The information contained in this family history is based
upon the research of John Lee Cook. The first record that we have of the family of John Lee Cook
is that of one William Cook who is alleged to have been born in
1760 and to have lived in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. William was
reported to have been a hat maker. Unfortunately, little else
is known about him. William had a son, John, who was born on 4
December, 1792. John married Margret Ditterline on either the
16th or the 20th of August, 1814 in what is now Portsmouth, Virginia.
Margaret was said to have been born in Amsterdam, Holland on 19
January, 1792. After John and Margaret were married, they moved to Graves
County, Kentucky. Their homestead consisted of 320 acres of land,
the south boundary which is the Tennessee state line. Their property
was continguous with Henry County, Tennessee and is located near
the town of Boydsville. The property lies just east of Tennessee
State Highway 89. The road is Highway 381 in Kentucky. Legend
has it that they made their way to Tennessee with a few personal
belongings, a pony, a small wagon, and a young female slave given
to Margaret by her parents. John constructed a cabin on the property
and later built a grocery store on the property, one of the first
in the County, and became very prosperous. John and Margaret had ten children, seven sons and three daughters,
and they are both buried in a family cemetery located on the original
Cook home place. The cemetery is one of the oldest family cemeteries
in Graves County. A second cemetery, known as the Cook-Boston
Cemetery, is located on the same property approximately 100 yards
to the west. John died on 15 September, 1830 as the result of
an injury to his side and Margaret died at the age of 82 on (day,
month, year I can't make out from photo). Their son William Ditterline
and his daughter Jame Clementine, who died at the age of one month,
are buried in the family cemetery as are William's two sons William
Whitefield and John Ewing Cook. William Ditterline had traveled
from Arkansas to visit his mother when he died suddenly. He was
buried in the family plot along with his father and children who
had predeceased him. Another son, Virgil Young Cook is reported
to have served as a Colonel in the Confederate Army during the
War of the Rebellion. Family History of John Lee Cook Page 2 of Rough Draft: For Review Only!
James J. Cook, also known as J. J., was born in Graves County, Kentucky on 5 May, 1820. He married Mary Love in Henry County, Tennessee on 19 July, 1842. Mary was born in Henry County on 2 January, 1827. They had several children, two of whom lived to be adults: James Ripley and Port Lavaca. In 1851 or 1852, they moved to Texas. They traveled by boat to New Orleans and then by ship to Indianola, formerly located on the west side of Matagorda Bay. The settlement was destroyed several times by storms and does not now exist, having been abandoned. J. J. died in Anderson County, Texas on 28 April, 1868, having moved to East Texas some time after 1853 where he operated Family History of John Lee Cook Page 3 of Rough Draft: For Review Only! Cook's Ferry on the Trinity River. The crossing was on a road
still known as Cooks Ferry Road in Freestone County. His body
was returned to Kentucky and is buried in the Cook-Boston Cemetery
as his thirteen year old daughter Parthenia. She was born on 6
July, 1856 and died 7 December, 1869. There is no documented reason for J. J.'s move to East Texas.
It may have been that Mary Love had relatives living in the area.
The county seat of Freestone County, Fairfield, is located on
100 acres that was donated by David Hall Love of Tennessee. He
fought with Houston's army when Texas won its independence from
Mexico at San Jacinto on 21 April, 1836. There were also several
families of Cook's living at Tennessee Colony at the time. It
is unknown if they were related because they had moved to Texas
from Alabama. Deed records in Anderson and Freestone Counties
indicate that J. J. had purchased property there in 1861 and 1862.
J. J. is alleged to have been murdered, perhaps shot in the
back with two loads of buckshot on the streets of Palestine, by
one J. D. McCauly who had acted as a witness to the deeds. His
wife refused to bury him in Texas and packed his body in charcoal
and shipped it to Boydsville, Kentucky. Mary and P. L. returned
to Kentucky with the body where they remained until 1880. In 1880,
they returned to Fairfield, Texas. They brought with them a young
boy, perhaps an orphan named Bill Lewis. J. J. and Mary's son Port Lavaca is named after a port city
on Matagorda Bay and the county seat of Calhoun County. He was
born in Calhoun County on 20 February, 1853. He was called Vac,
but signed his name P. L. He married Mary Louisa Crawford, also
known as Malinda Lou, on 12 October, 1873 in Tennessee. She was
born on 19 August, 1854 and was the daughter of Joe Crawford (1830-1899)
and Priscilla Cloar (1834-1933). The Cloar and Crawford families
moved together to near Whitlock, Tennessee from North Carolina.
Vack and Malinda Lou had eight children who lived to adulthood,
two of whom had been born in Tennessee. The remainder were all
born in Texas. Joe was born in Freestone County and the others
were born in Nacogdoches. A baby born on the 15th died 16 September,
1874 and another born 3 June, 1882 died on 3 August, 1882. Available
records do not indicate if either were named prior to their deaths.
Deed records indicate that Mary Love purchased land as late as 1895 in Nacogdoches County where P. L. operated a butcher shop or meat market in. Family History of John Lee Cook Page 4 of Rough Draft: For Review Only!
Garrison and did some farming. Lou Crawford had a sister who
married a Cook that was P. L.'s cousin. They lived in the Concord
community in Rusk County. P. L. died 14 October, 1913, Mary Louisa died 29 January 1928,
and P. L.'s mother died on 23 December, 1910. The are all buried
in Greenwood Cemetery in Garrison, Texas Their son Port Lavaca, Jr., also known as Vack, was born on 9 June, 1887 and was the father of one son John Lee Cook who was born on 8 March, 1926 in Garrison. Vack died on 16 April, 1935 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Family History of John Lee Cook Page 5 of Rough Draft: For Review Only! He married MA (give full name...mother father, dates, etc.).
Her second husband...give details about Mart, Luther, Lottie May,
Ruby, Bill, and Rachel. John Lee joined the U. S. Navy during the second world war
and served with the Seabees in the South Pacific. He was discharged
(give date and any meritorious service) on and attended Sam Houston
State University. He graduated xx Month, 1949 with a Bachelor
of Science Degree in Vocational Agriculture. He taught, give other
details of life. John Lee married Ruby Mildred Cunninham on 15 July, 1949 in
San Augustine, Texas. Ruby was the daughter of Robert D. Cunningham
( ) and Adelia "Pinkie" Davis Inman (1890-1962). John Lee and Ruby had two children. A son, John Lee Jr., was
born 17 April, 1950 in San Augustine, Texas the County Seat of
San Augustine County. A daughter, Susan Diane, was born 28 January,
1958 in Crockett, Texas the County Seat of Houston County. John Lee Jr. graduated 17 December, 1971 from Sam Houston State
University earning a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree.
He also graduated 20 May, 1978 from Southwest Texas State University
with a Master of Public Administration Degree. He married Elizabeth
Ann Evans on 18 November, 1995. They had no children. Susan Diane Douglas (how do you want to handle this? graduated
(give details of college work) She retired in December 1998 from
the United States Air Force holding the rank of Chief Master Sergeant.
Any other important details?
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