Nancy (Hubbard) Cooley (1802 - abt. 1877)

Born 13 Aug 1802 in Rockingham County,North Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Wife of George W. Cooley — married 1 Apr 1819 in Stewart, Tennessee, United States

Descendants

Died about 1877 at about age 74 in Weakley, Tennessee, United States

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Leslie Brown [send private message], Michael Cooley [send private message], and Krissi Kahn [send private message]

Biography

Name

Nancy Hubbard, Nancy Cooley^[1]

Birth

Nancy b. 13 Aug 1802 TN d. 1877 in Weakley, TN d/o William Hubbard and Sarah Johnson.^[1]

1819 Marriage

On 01 April 1819 Stewart Co., TN, Nancy m. George W. Cooney^[1] b. 1798 KY d. btw. 06 Jul 1870 (1870 US Census enumeration) and 21 May 1875 (wife Nancy's will execution; no mention of George) likely in Weakley Co., TN (1870 US Census location; Nancy's will execution location) s/o [[Cooley-1244|William Matthews Cooley b. abt. 1759 Virginia d. 1823 Stewart County, TN and Anna Gray b. abt. 1760.

1819-70 TN Life

Here's a bio on Nancy:^[2]

Nancy and George moved to Weakley County, Tennessee a few years after their marriage and raised a large family.

Nancy was a remarkable woman, possessing a keen mind, strong determination, a gift for oratory, and a flare for doing things that were not always in accord with the strict decorum usually observed by ladies of her time. She was well known throughout the country, not only for her friendly personality and her liking of people, but also because of her services rendered in the capacity of midwife. A woman of large and powerful frame, she was a familiar figure as she rode throughout the countryside astraddle of a big gray horse on her trips to administer to those who had need of her help. She delivered many a baby, and tradition has it that she delivered one of the Lincoln sons while Mary Todd Lincoln was visiting in that neighborhood. Whether that is true or not, there is no doubt that Nancy Cooley and the Lincolns were close friends, for she visited them while they were in the White House. There is an old tintype of Nancy wearing a lace cap that is said to have been a present to her from Mary Todd Lincoln. And there are Todds buried in the same little country graveyard where Nancy is laid to rest. She was always very proud of her friendship with the Lincolns, and often, when meeting a stranger, would extend her hand and say, “Shake the hand that shook the hand of Lincoln.”

A steady church-goer, Nancy would on occasions prove that she herself could preach a bit. At times when the minister failed to show up, she would mount to the pulpit and preach as hair-raising a sermon as the next one. She was an ardent advocate of “equal rights for women” and was never backward in expressing her views on the subject. She once even ran for a county office and went about making stump speeches and campaigning in a manner that must have ruffled the reserve and dignity of some of her contemporaries. Women were just not supposed to hold public office in those days and so she lost the election, but not her spirit and determination

Nancy was a great lover of birds, and owned many fine specimens, some of which had come from Cuba. She had heard of a special kind of seed that was a favorite of these birds, so she sent off for a supply. In due time a new plant began to grow on the Cooley farm and spread rapidly over the countryside. No one knew the botanical name, but from the unmistakable tiny seeds that attracted wild birds of all kinds, they knew that Nancy Cooley deserved the credit, or blame, for its presence. And so it was dubbed “the Cooley Weed” and is still so known in Weakley County. Today it grows rank throughout that part of Tennessee and has been seen as far away as Texas and Oklahoma. The birds and the wind carried the seeds to those parts, but they did not carry the name along; so out there they are just “another weed.”

Nancy Cooley was a woman far ahead of her day and time. As has been pointed out, some of her acts and speeches no doubt shocked the staid sensibilities of many of her associates and neighbors and probably some of her kin but she had a will of her own and adhered religiously to her principles and ideals throughout her active life. And the old-timers of the neighborhood who survived her always remembered and referred to her with admiration and respect.

(Ed. note: The above account can be traced to Clyde Campbell of Houston, Texas, but its authorship is uncertain.)

(Ed. note: The Tumbling Creek Baptist Cemetery is located 14 miles southeast of Dresden, Tennessee, between Como and Gleason. The Weakley County Book of Cemetery Lists states that the cemetery, in use before the Civil War, was established by Nancy Cooley who first buried some children of her slaves there. The five acre cemetery now numbers about 500 graves and is well kept. The description of the cemetery ends with this: “Nancy Cooley visited the White House when Lincoln was President.” [p. 3931)

(From letter to the editor by Allen D. Stanley, January 24, 1984 ‘I also obtained some bits and pieces of information by a personal visit to ‘Uncle Billy’ Hubbard of nearby Gleason, Tennessee (a long time ago now).

“Uncle Billy” was a descendant of Nancy’s father, William Hubbard (and of Nancy, of course). I don’t remember just how they were related, but he told me that, either his father or his grandfather had a newspaper clipping of Nancy’s visit to Washington, D. C. (She is said to have made several visits to the White House) And the white lace cap she wore in the picture was said to have been a gift from Mrs. Lincoln on one of her visits.

But “Uncle Billy” remembered his father or his grandfather telling about one such visit: “Aunt Nancy was preparing for a trip by packing hurriedly a ‘Traveling Trunk.’ She was asked, ‘Where are you going this time, Aunt Nancy?’ To this she replied, “To Washington to get my brother out of prison!’ He had been captured by federal troops and sent to a federal stockade there. Aunt Nancy came home with her brother.”

Continuing from Stanley’s letter: By the way, I have no documented evidence concerning the following, but I’m convinced of its validity, personally, vis: Nancy (Hubbard) Cooley as possibly related to the then Vice-President Andrew Johnson, and could have had some influence through him. As you know, Nancy’s mother was Sarah Johnson, daughter of Gideon Johnson, Jr. and his wife, Mary Baker Degraffenried, and the granddaughter of Baker Degraffenried and wife, Sarah Vass, etc.

US Census data has Nancy living in TN for 30 years:^[1] Resided in (1850) Weakley, Tennessee, USA Resided in (1860) Weakley, Tennessee, USA Resided in (1870) Weakley, Tennessee, USA Resided in Dresden, Weakley, Tennessee

Last Will and Testament of Nancy Cooley

I, NANCY COOLEY, of the County of Weakley and State of Tennessee, being of sound mind and disposing memory, do make and publish this my last will and testament. 1st, I will that all my just debts be paid out of any money or personal property of which I may die the owner of.

Second, After the payment of all my just debts, I will my personal estate of every nature and kind, be equally divided among my children and grandchild (vis, Salley Ann GILLIAM, wife of William GILLIAM, deceased: America CAMPBELL wife of David CAMPBELL; Elizabeth ANDERSON, wife of George ANDERSON; Victoria Isabella VERDELL, wife of Henry VERDELL; Jonathan L. COOLEY and Sally B. COOLEY, daughter of my deceased son Jerome COOLEY. Shall any of my children or grandchild die before I do, leaving a children or children to take the share of their deceased parents would have taken.

3rd, I will and devise my tract of land in Weakley County, Tennessee, upon which I now reside to my daughter Eulalia G. COOLEY, for and during the time she may remain unmarried and in case she never marries during her life.

4th, In case my said daughter Eulalia G. COOLEY should marry, then my said tract of land is to belong to her and my other children and grandchild during their lives with remainder to their children, that is to say, each one of the said devises is to have one seventh of said land during his or her life with remainder to his or her children.

5th, In case my said daughter Eulalia G. COOLEY, never marries, then she is to have the said tract of land during her lifetime with remainder to my other children and grandchild heretofore named during their lives with remainder over to their children, that is to say, upon the death of my daughter Eulalia G. COOLEY, unmarried, each of the other devisees is to take one sixth of said land during his or her life, remainder to his or her children.

6th, Should any of my said legatees and devisees object to this my will, and undertake by legal process to have it annulled or set aside, then i direct that such one or more so objecting shall have no part of interest in my estate whatever under this will or otherwise, and that all of the property mentioned and disposed of herein shall go to and belong to the devisees who do not so object to this my will under the limitations and in the manner above set forth.

7th, I nominate and appoint my daughter Eulalia G. COOLEY, and my friend Ben J. WARD, Executors to this my last will and testament. Witnessed by us in the presence of Nancy COOLEY and at her request on this the 21st day of May 1875 Test: John SOMERS J. G. HENDERSON

Nancy COOLEY Produced in open court and duly recorded this 5th day of March 1877.

Abt. 1877 Death

Nancy d. abt. 1877 Weakley Co., TN.^[1]

Children

George and Nancy had these children:^[1]

1. Sarah Ann Cooley 1822–1905
2. Jerome Bonaparte Cooley 1823–1872
3. America Victoria Cooley 1826–1891
4. Mary Elizabeth Cooley 1833–1910
5. Victoria Isabelle Cooley 1839–1898
6. Jonathan L Cooley 1842–1926
7. Eulalia G Cooley 1845–1884

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} "Public Member Trees", database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/57065137/person/44018112862/facts : accessed 18 April 2018), profile for Nancy Hubbard.
2. ↑ "Public Member Trees", database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/12517313/person/-219726707/facts : accessed 18 April 2018), profile for Nancy Ann Hubbard : accessed 18 Apr 2018 at [1]