Elizabeth (Griffin) Cook (abt. 1650 - 1726)

Born about 1650 in England or Wales [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 4 Sep 1726 at about age 76 in Needham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Biography

Nothing is known of the origins of Elizabeth (Unknown), wife of Andrew Watkins. Andrew is thought to have come from England or Wales. He and Elizabeth were both probably born about 1650, based on the baptismal and marriage records for their children.

The date and location of the marriage of Elizabeth and Andrew is not known, but based on having six children baptized by 1686, they were probably married between 1670 and 1675.^[1] The absence of Colonial birth and marriage records suggests that Andrew and Elizabeth married and had at least some children in their country of origin.

Andrew's first Colonial record is for the baptism of a child in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1685.

Andrew and Elizabeth's children baptized in Roxbury were:^[2]

1. Sarah (bp 1685)
2. Andrew (bp 1686), married Mary Streeter in 1701, in Charlestown
3. Samuel (bp 1686), married Elizabeth Cook in 1705
4. Elizabeth (bp 1686), married Joshua Smith in 1709
5. Mary (bp 1686)
6. Peter (bp 1686)
7. Abigail (bp 1688)

In 1683 a petition was granted to a Roxbury group to found a new settlement. In 1684 land was surveyed, and the settlement site was approved. The land grant was named New Roxbury and included what is now the towns of Woodstock and Pomfret, Connecticut. On 5 April 1686 lots were laid out and a first group of 13 settlers began working the land. The lots were formally assigned in August, at New Roxbury, with all 50 of the initial proprietors present. Lot 35, twenty acres, was given to Andrew Watkins.^[3] Andrew had five of his children baptized the week following the opening of the land to settlement, probably anticipating moving to a place that would not have an organized church for several years. However, there is no further record of him there. His property supposedly was held by Jonathan Bugbee in 1710. The baptism of his daughter Abigail in 1688 in Roxbury suggests that his family did not move there, at least during the early years.

The Watkins family may have moved from Roxbury, perhaps between 1702 and 1705, to that part of Dedham that was set off as Needham in 1711. Son Andrew was of Roxbury when he married in 1701^[4], but son Samuel was of Dedham when he married Elizabeth Cook of Watertown in 1705^[5], and daughter Elizabeth married Joshua Smith in Dedham in 1709.^[6]

Andrew died before March 1710/11, when Edward Cook deeded land to Andrew, "son of my wife Elizabeth Cook".^[7] No records have been found for either the death of Andrew or the marriage of Elizabeth to Edward Cook.

Edward died in 1711, when Andrew Jr. sold that land, but reserved the life rights for "Our loving mother Elizabeth Cook the relict widow of Edward Cook".^[7] Elizabeth died on 14 September 1726, in Needham.^[8]

Research Notes

The most likely scenario for Elizabeth and Andrew is that they were born and married in England or Wales and had children there, and arrived perhaps about 1683, based on the baptism of daughter Sarah in 1685. The five children baptized in 1686 probably immigrated with their parents.

Was the Elizabeth Cook who Samuel Watkins married a daughter of Edward Cook? That marriage was in Watertown.

The record for the marriage of the widow Elizabeth Watkins to Edward Cook, if found, would help determine the date and location of Andrew’s death.

Sources

1. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. https://www.americanancestors.org/DB1568/i/21176/1607/426908825
2. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/i/7787/353/141320224
3. ↑ Bayles, Richard M., "History of Windham County, Connecticut", 1889, pages 836-841
4. ↑ "Massachusetts Marriages, 1695-1910, 1921-1924", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:9SFZ-8KP : 28 July 2021), Entry for Andrew Watkin, 1701.
5. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). https://www.americanancestors.org/DB190/i/13325/249/239009881
6. ↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:QR52-VXHR : 11 May 2022), Entry for Joshua Smith and Elizabeth Wadkins, 23 Aug 1709; citing Marriage, Dedham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007548965.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Clarke, George Kuhn, "History of Needham, Massachusetts, 1711-1911"; 1912, page 18;page 63
8. ↑ Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, U.S., Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988; Needham; source: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records; https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2495/images/40143_270569__0001-00003?pId=7335558