Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
Heathcock Genealogy Database - Person Sheet
NameJane (Jenny) Meredith , GGGG Grandmother
Birthbef 1769, VA
Death11 May 1852, Stewart Co TN Age: 83
BurialParker Co Cemetery, South of Dover, TN
FatherWilliam Meredith (1742-1824)
MotherAnn Bonds (ca1744-1791)
Spouses
1Phillip Cook , GGGG Grandfather
Birthca 1765, NC or VA
Deathca 1809, Garrard Co KY669 Age: 44
FatherWilliam Nichols Cook (1730-1810)
Marriage20 Dec 1790, Surry Co NC670
ChildrenElizabeth (1791-1829)
 Meredith (1793-)
 William (1795-1875)
 Peyton Skipwith (1797-1852)
 Ann (ca1799->1860)
 John W. (1806-)
Notes for Jane (Jenny) Meredith
Jane "Jenny" MEREDITH b. ca 1769, VA, m. 20 Dec 1790, in Surry Co., NC, Phillip COOK, b. ca 1767, NC or VA, (possibly the son of William Nichols Cook) d. ca 1810, probably in Garrard Co., KY. Jane died 11 May 1852, Stewart Co., TN, buried: Parker Cem., south of Dover, Stewart, TN.

To Pulaski Co., KY after husband died. On 1813 Pulaski Co. Tax Roll she is listed with 100 acres of land on Wolf Creek & 2 horses.

From Pulaski Co., KY to Stewart Co., TN in 1826. Lived with son William in Stewart Co., TN until her death (on 1850 census with son).

Phillip: To Garrard Co., KY before 1810.

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According to Carola White, a careful historian who personally searched Garrard County records in 1981:671

Garrard Co Tax Books, 1807-1824:673
1807 James Cook, Grove Cook, Nichols Cook
1808 James Cook, Grove Cook
1809 Grove, Paton Cook, Philip Cook

In the 1810 census:
Jane Cook is Head of Household, with one white male >21
Grove Cook
Peyton Cook
(not Philip)

In 1811 Jane was in Pulaski Co KY where her father, William Meredith, and her brother, Elisha Meredith were living. She is listed with 100 acres through 1826, but is not listed in 1827.

Her sons William and Peyton Cook went to Stewart Co TN in 1818 and apparently went back to Pulaski Co KY for their mother in 1826. Her brother Elisha Meredith was still listed in Pulaski Co KY in 1827 but not in 1828.

She died in Dover, Stewart Co TN in 1851, aged 82.
Notes for Phillip (Spouse 1)
Robert W. Baird has looked at the Cooks of Surry County and environs and believes that Phillip Cook was probably a son of William Nichols Cook, b in about 1731. For a complete description of Robert’s research on William Nichols Cook, see the web page.669

The argument is based on the fact that there was another William Cook in Surry Co at that general time, a judge who died in 1801 and left a detailed will that named each of his eleven children. Robert Baird therefore believes that other well-documented Cooks in Surry Co at this time were probably sons and daughters of William Nichols Cook, namely:

1. Stage Cook (ca 1760 - ?)
2. Grove Cook (ca 1773 - aft1850)
3. Phillip Cook (c1765 - c1809)
4. Peyton Cook (ca 1774 - aft1850)
5. John Cook (may have been son of the other William Cook, according to Baird)
6. Winnifred Cook (c1765 - aft1840)
7. Mary Cook (23 Aug 1763 - 3 Mar 1858)
8. Anna Cook (c1765 - ?)

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Another careful historian, Carola White, believed that the father of Phillip Cook, Grove Cook and possibly Nichols Cook was the James Cook who was listed in the Garrard Co KY tax rolls in 1807 and 1808.

Following is taken from Carola White’s 1981 handwritten letter:671

James Cook, listed in Garrard Co KY 1807 and 1808, was Phillip’s father — also of Grove, Peyton, and probably Nichols. I don’t know how much Clyde has told you about James. He was, undoubtedly, a Revolutionary soldier. His grandson, Meredith Cook, brother to your Ann Cook Duck, told his granddaughter, Mrs. Delia Randle, that he was Captain James Cook.

He was probably born about 1740 in Orange Co VA. We do not know the name of his wife but they were probably married about 1764, in Orange Co. His wife probably died about 1779 or 1780 in Surry County NC. He seems to have been a "loner" and left his family with relatives, returning after lunch. Clyde Cook says there is a family tradition that he was a “long hunter” and made expeditions into Kentucky and Tennessee, probably with Daniel Boone, who lived on the Yadkin River, not far away. It was a James Cook who went with Colonel John Donelson to the Cumberland River in 1780. This expedition was to encourage settlers. John Donelson's journal has a very interesting account of the dangers and hardships they endured. James Cook signed the Cumberland compact, 1 May 1780. We have his signature.

In 1783 he received 640 acres in Davidson County on Drake’s Creek.672 This was not a military land grant but the land was given to settlers who had served in the Continental Line. I believe it could be purchased by others, but was given to James Cook. There is some evidence that he may have made some land transactions later for Stokley Donelson and William Terrill Lewis. We do not know what happened to the 640 acres in Davidson County (later Sumner County) but he probably turned it over to the land agents.

There are many names of the Cumberland settlers that seem to have some connection with the Cook family, either in NC or VA – Crutchfield, Hooper, Coleman, etc. James Cook is listed as one of the early settlers of Stewart Co TN. This county was formed in 1803 from Montgomery Co. He served on juries and grand juries in 1805 and is listed as owning 100 acres on Wells (or Willis) Creek. Large landowners in this area were George Hooper and Henry Edwards. (History of Stewart Co TN, by Iris H McClain). George Hooper was the executor of his father's will and the husband of James’ sister Elizabeth. Henry Edwards was probably another brother-in-law because his sister Sarah married — Edwards. We don't know how long he remain there – he was in Garrard Co KY in 1807 and 1808.

Apparently, when his son Philip died, he took Jane (Meredith) Cook and her family to Pulaski Co KY where he stayed long enough to be given 50 acres of land for improving the land – pre-exemption. He probably returedn to Stewart Co but it is impossible to distinguish between him and another man with the same name. We do not know when he died but since William and Peyton went to Stewart Co in 1818, possibly their grandfather sent for them. He may have left them a small inheritance, not recorded now in county court records.

James known children were: Philip, b ca 1767; Annie, b ca 1765, mar Samuel Downey 5 April 1786, Surry Co NC; Grove b 1772 (census), mar Polly McMickle ca 1795 (will of father, John McMickle, rec. Nov Ct 1806, Surry Co NC); Peyton Skipwith, b 1777 (census), mar Mary — Cook ? Riggs ? (mar bond torn, Zadrock Riggs on bond). We think there were a James Cook Jr, William Nichols Cook, and John Cook. Crutchfield (known as Critchfield and in Surry Co NC) are closely related, from letters, etc., and the fact that they went to Garrard Co KY shortly before the Cook family. John Critchfield (Crutchfield on pension record and in Kentucky) according to DAR records married Sylvia Nichols. My great-grandfather, Peyton S. Cook, was named for his uncle.
Last Modified 10 Aug 2021Created 3 Jul 2023 using Reunion for Macintosh
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