looking for Parents Samuel C Cook

+2 votes
229 views
I am looking for parents of Samuel C Cook b Apr 5, 1884 Bexar Tx d. Jan 24, 1968 in Grand Prairie Tx. married to Veda Stell Garner.  His father was Arthur Cook but cannot locate anything on him other than death certificate for Samuel stating father Arthur Cook mother Veda which is incorrect because that was his wife not his mother.
in Genealogy Help by Anonymous Anonymous G2G1 (1.3k points)

Regarding the death certificate (apologies for the paywall - please tell me a free link anyone has one), it looks like the widow Veda is the informant.  She has given the father's name as Arthur and she said that she does not know her husband's mother's name.  That is highly interesting, since she and Samuel were married in 1912 and the woman I've identified as the mother figure on the census returns lived until 1935.  She does seem to be too young to have been the birth mother, and her husband Zachariah Haywood, who claims Samuel as his step-son, seems old enough for a previous marriage. One possibility among many is that Zachariah had a first wife who brought Samuel with her when she married Zachariah.  Then Cook could be her maiden name or the name of her first husband.

Another possibility to bear in mind is that if Veda didn't know Samuel's mother's name, she might not really have known his father's name either, and just pulled a hazy memory that might not really connect with anything. Sorry to have to mention that...

** editted to correct Veda's name -- sometimes i incorrectly called her Vera.

2 Answers

+3 votes

Hi there!  Welcome to WikiTree!

It looks like you are asking about this profile: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cook-30878  Is that right?  

It is really helpful for these kind of questions if you link the profile.  Not only does it save your helpers from duplicating your efforts, but it also works in the other direction, allowing viewers of the profile to see the discussion that ensued in G2G.

As you are crafting the question, you will notice fields at the bottom for tags and for linking a profile.

You can still edit your question to include the applicable profile, if you want.  Meanwhile, I will have a look at Samuel and his father Arthur.  If you don't mind, i will try to add a few live links to actual sources.  

Cheers

Shirlea

by Shirlea Smith G2G6 Pilot (280k points)

You have a very interesting situation here!

I've built a profile for a possible mother or mother-figure, Dora L Price married Zachariah Haywood.  Samuel would have been born before their marriage.  However, she would have been very young.  I wonder if he is a relative but not her son.  

Interestingly, Dora's father's name was Calvin (looks like that is your Samuel's middle name), and up her mother's side there is a whiff of a Cook family.  

Nothing conclusive yet!  Here is my sketch at Ancestry for Samuel.  Please note that it is just an assembly of sources and hints, not anything to trust yet.

+1 vote

And here is a wild card lead: 

Name: Author L. Cook
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 02 Sep 1883
Event Place: Montague County, Texas, United States
Spouse's Name: Tulla L. Price

GS Film Number: 001024888
Digital Folder Number: 005706851
Image Number: 00064
 

Citing this Record
"Texas, County Marriage Index, 1837-1977," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QK8B-622S : 22 December 2016), Author L. Cook and Tulla L. Price, 02 Sep 1883; citing Montague County, Texas, United States, county courthouses, Texas; FHL microfilm 1,024,888.

If this Author L Cook is Veda's Arthur Cook, and Tulla is some relative of Dora's (a possibility, since a few of her uncles spent some time in Texas), then maybe young Samuel is their orphan son who somehow fell to Dora to raise...it is a long shot, but could be worth investigating...otherwise, I'm not turning up very many Arthur Cooks in the right vicinity!

by Shirlea Smith G2G6 Pilot (280k points)
edited by Shirlea Smith

Dora Price Haywood's death certificate shows an S C Cook as informant.

Z T Haywood

 in the Texas, Death Certificates, 1903-1982

Name: Z T Haywood
Gender: Male
Spouse: Dora Haywood
That's a fantastic fact to notice, Betty!  

That should indicate that Samuel's wife Veda should have been at least somewhat aware of the existence of Dora, so if Veda says she doesn't know the name of Samuel's mother, it would seem to indicate that Veda didn't consider Dora to be Samuel's mother....so there is possibly another mother out there somewhere.
Samuel is the informant on Dora's death above. So Samuel didn't know Dora's mother's name. Because Samuel is the informant, it would indicate that Dora is Samuel's mother?

At least that's the way I see it.
Oh wait. I see. On Samuel's death certificate, Veda doesn't know his mother's name. I get it now. So if Veda doesn't know that Dora is Samuel's mother, then Dora is probably not Samuel's mother. I get it now.
That's what i was thinking....not a solid proof of anything, but definitely something to consider.

Dora Price Haywood

Birth
Death 21 Jun 1935 (aged 67)
Burial Lewisville, Denton County, Texas, USA
Plot 13a
Memorial ID 33787610 ยท View Source

looks like a marker base with name etched into it; marker found between Samuel/Veda Cook and John Allen Grisham, 13a

I built a profile for Dora https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Price-19853

I've made mention of her connection with a young Samuel Cook.  

Are we ready to say for sure that the Samuel Cook enumerated with Dora is the same one that married Veda?  I think so, since they are all buried so near each other.  Is there anything to make us think there are two different Samuel Cooks in this picture?

Calvin Price

 in the 1870 United States Federal Census

Name: Calvin Price
Age in 1870: 24
Birth Year: abt 1846
Birthplace: Georgia
Dwelling Number: 292
Home in 1870: Cross Roads, Cherokee, Georgia
Race: White
Gender: Male
Post Office: Ophir
Occupation: Farm Laborer
Male Citizen over 21: Y
Inferred Spouse: Frances S Price
Inferred Children: Dora Price
Alexander S Price
Household Members:
Name Age
Calvin Price 24
Frances S Price 26
Dora Price 3
Alexander S Price 10/12
Thanks Betty!  Please feel free to add to Dora's profile, and to create profiles for her family members, if you like.  This is obviously going to be an interesting puzzle.
Could Tulla be a mis transcription of Lulu?
Could be, or could be Petula, or could be none of the above.  

I don't know anything about Texas records.  Wish we could see the actual entry.  Might even name parents! or even ages! I don't really think 'Tulla' is Dora Lulu Price, because she would only be 16 and probably still in Georgia (although it would be helpful to spot her on a 1880 census, or some land records showing when her family ended up in Texas) and Veda didn't know she was Samuel's mom.  And the registration of her marriage to Zachariah should have said Dora Cook instead of Dora Price.  But anything is possible at this point.

I think i will start profiles for Tulla and Arthur and ask a G2G question about them to see if i can get the attention of any Texas experts.

Cheers

Shirlea
Hi, just reading thru G2G postings and this caught my eye.  Had family that once roamed around the Denton, Montague County areas and Oklahoma.  Just wanted to mention that on Texas Death Certificates, the question is not what the mother's name is, but what the mother's maiden name is.   Basically its asking for the mother's LNAB, and is not asking for her given name or any of her married names.

However, many times people do fill it out with the mother's complete name and often use the married last name.  So on Samuel's death certificate, the mother's maiden name as "unknown" can mean that, at a minimum, the informant simply did not known Samuel's mother's maiden name.  Unfortunately, this means that the "unknown" neither supports or denies all sorts of theories.

Good luck on your researches; sounds to me like y'all are touching all the bases.
Thanks, Art!  You make an excellent point! If our informant Veda was conscientiously intending to answer the exact question, then saying 'unknown' could mean anything from she never knew (or didn't remember) Dora's maiden name up to not knowing who her own husband Samuel's mother was.

I guess more research is required; time to look for sources not available online, such as doing it old-school at an LDS centre or writing away to the records repository...I probably won't be able to get around to that.  Hope someone can!

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