Abraham Cooke and Martha Clayton of Virginia

This website is dedicated to the descendants of 

Abraham Cooke & Martha Clayton of Virginia.

​I have been at this for 35+ years now. I do not claim to have all of the answers. In fact, I welcome criticism, advice, suggestions, and ANY new information that may lead to getting the FACTS straight & posted for this family. 

Not much was known about Abraham Cooke before I started this. Aside from a footnote in one version of Dr Stubbs' works on Mordecai Cooke of Mordecai's Mount, Gloucester County, VA, I believe that I was the first to assign Abraham to a lineage. 

There are many assumptions out there regarding Abraham & Martha, and many errors as well (some attributable to me). I hope to set the record straight with what is known, unknown, provable, and assumed at this site. However, I will not re-invent the wheel, and offer links to my existing sites (for later generations & family trees), and other researchers' sites. 

One such site is that of Bob Baird. He and I corresponded with some regularity in the past, via snail mail and early email. I was able to gather the information from Courthouses and other resources here in Virginia, and he assembled the data in a very useful format on his site. His is most often visited, and his is most complete. Please take the time & visit: http://www.genfiles.com/cook

With advice from fellow researchers, countless letters and emails, hours-upon-hours perusing dusty court records, and the DNA testing of a dozen "Cook(e)s", I believe WE have finally verified Abraham & Martha Cooke's place in our collective genealogy. While missing pieces to our puzzle remain (namely, Abraham's parents), we now know where they settled, and have placed MOST of the likely family members in this Tree.

I thank (& curse!) my aunt, Nell, for getting me started in this endeavor. 

I also thank others who have worked with me over the years, via snail mail and email, to compile and analyze the records we were able to find: Bob Baird, Clayton Heathcock, Dorothy Haizlip, Carola White, Janice Meredith, and MANY others.

Jim Cooke, December, 2013.

vacookes[at]gmail[dot]com

________________________________________________________________

A note about sources:

In ALL cases, when possible, I used primary sources for my research. This would include Court Records (Deeds, Wills, Orders, Suits, Birth, Marriage & Death records, etc; Bibles, Road Orders, Processions, Land Tax Records, and Personal Property Records). I haven't come to my conclusions hastily, nor do I take this lightly. And, more recently, I have utilized Y-DNA testing as a supplemental tool to verify that much of what we believed to be true is correct (this has also been helpful in narrowing our search and proving that other Cooke lines are NOT related- IE. the Gloucester Co, VA Cookes)..

I spent many years in & drove many miles to the Court Houses in Virginia, preferring books to reading microfilm. I probably have seen EVERY "Cook(e)" reference in all of the extant records of Cumberland, Goochland, Amelia, Hanover (what is left of it), and Buckingham (ditto) counties, etc....When it comes to these Cookes, I RARELY rely on another's research, and utilize their research only after verifying source info &/or seeing the record for myself. 

I have Deed Book (DB), Will Book (WB), Order Book (OB), Chancery Suit, etc..., references upon request......I just have to dig to find them among my many pages and files. (I was often lax on documenting sources when I first started, and would later return to the Courthouses to get the info).

Extant records, Genealogies, and DNA testing, have come together to reveal what we believe is the true and correct "Family" for Abraham Cooke and Martha Clayton. Their issue:

1. Matthew Cooke (b. 27 Jun 169_) (St Peter's Register)

2. Hannah Cooke (bap 21 Dec 169_) (ditto)

3. Abraham Cooke, Jr (born ca1690, died in Lunenburg, VA, now Mecklenburg Co, VA, b/w 2 Apr & 4 Jul, 1748)

4. William (died b/w 1747 and 1752) - had son "Claten", and probably had at least 3 boys.

5. John (ca1700-1775) of Green Creek, Cumberland Co, VA

6. Benjamin (d1759) of Hanover (a son of Abraham & Martha?) SEE BELOW

7. Robert (a son of Abraham & Martha?)

8. Frances, who married Edmund Butler of Bad Luck Creek, Cumberland Co, VA. (Was she a daughter? Related?). Frances & Edmund had a granddaughter named "Martha Claten Butler".

[NOTE: names in red are DNA matches as per descendant testing]

The baptism records for Matthew and Hannah are all that is known for the first two children shown above. SOME have suggested that "Matthew Cooke" was actually "Mathew Cox of Goochland" court records. I have yet to find information on either, and, indeed, they may have died young.

Robert - mentioned in a road order dated 28 Nov 1707 where Abraham Cook was made surveyor of a Bridle Road "...from Maj'r Meriwether's Mill to the three runs of Chickohommany [Chickahominy] Swamp...." The location of this road is unknown. However, the area below Chickahominy Bluffs near Mechanicsville, VA is a place where "three bridges" cross the Chickahominy River.

Benjamin "Sr" - patented 400 acres in present-day eastern Louisa County, VA in 1722. Deeds in Louisa Records indicate that he was "of St Martin's Parish, Hanover" and that he died there in 1759. From those deeds we know his known issue: Benjamin Jr and William (below).

NOTE OCT 2016: A claimed descendant of Benjamin Cooke, Sr Y-DNA tested. His results did not match to ours, but the testers paper trail to "Benjamin Sr" is weak & not proved. Ben Sr as a son of Abe & Martha remains a possibility.

• Benjamin, jr (b.1742 -12 Jan 1800) mrd Effie Jones (d1803), and moved to Elbert Co, Georgia after 1777.

• William (ca1735-1801) mrd Keziah Burch and moved to Surry Co, NC. A son, Benjamin (1758-1806, Charlotte Co, VA), had a daughter, Martha White Cook, who mrd, 1798, Stephen Cooke (grandson of John Cooke of Green Creek, Cumberland Co, VA.) 

NOTE: Others have suggested that Francis, Lucy, and Reuben were also children of Benjamin Cooke, Sr (d1759).

Frances - See Bob Baird's "Genfiles" site for more.

More info available on the SUB-PAGES below, and at the following links:

http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/c/o/o/James-E-Cooke/

[NOTE: survey info shown here under the "Family Photos" section]

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=cookesmithtree

http://vacookes.wix.com/abrahamcooke

http://www.genfiles.com/cook/