My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Phillips County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1890.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

* * * *

William C. Cooke, who has been a resident of this county since 1873, removed here from Mississippi, settling in Cypress Township, where he purchased 160 acres of land. To this he has added other tracts, and now owns a farm of 220 acres, with 140 acres under cultivation. Mr. Cooke was a son of Thomas Cooke, who was born in March, 1800, and died in 1846, when our subject was a boy. He was married in Tennessee to Miss Alice Cathey, whose birth occurred in Tennessee, in about 1800, he dying in May, 1874, and leaving eleven children, only two of whom are living: Elizabeth O. (residing in Monroe County) and William C. (the principal of this sketch). The latter was born in Maury County, Tenn., March 17, 1830. He has been married five times; first, in 1852, to Miss Mary Graham, a native of North Carolina, who died in 1855, leaving one daughter, Alice (now Mrs. Jackson, a widow). His second marriage was in 1856 to Nancy Lock, of Mississippi; she departed this life in 1862, leaving three children, two of whom survive: Thomas and Samuel L. His third marriage, in 1865, was to the widow McCloud, who died in 1871, having borne three children, two living: Jenette and Virgil. In 1873 Cynthia Wright, of this county, became his wife, and at her death, in 1876, she was the mother of two children: Margaret A. and Jennie. Mr. Cooke’s present wife was formerly Mrs. Robinson, to whom he was married in 1881. They are the parents of three children, two girls and one son: Cecil, Roy and Lucy. During the war Mr. Cooke enlisted in the Confederate army, in the Mississippi Cavalry, in 1862, in which he served until the close of hostilities. He is a stanch Democrat, and served one term as justice of the peace. He and wife are members of the Christian Church.

* * * *

This family biography is one of 103 biographies included in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Phillips County, Arkansas published in 1890.  For the complete description, click here: Phillips County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Phillips County, Arkansas family biographies, click here

Use the links at the top right of this page to search or browse thousands of other family biographies.