… they came from strange places. I was talking to Denny briefly yesterday, he stopped by to bring me The Reed Family of Eastern Kentucky books and I went to bed still with the big question of all on my mind. Who was Havila Cook? And why was his daughter Catherine Cook along with Nancy W Reed, given land by Lyles Dolsbury in his Will?

 

So first thing this morning, I got up and put “Havila Cook” in the Google search and I found this dated Dec 4, 2008 otherwise, I would have missed it entirely. I wish he would have sent email alert just to let me know he posted this but am so thankful…  Todd Preston wrote in THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER…

I have dug deep to try to find a response to a query sent by Doris Rose of CA from Shelia Metcalf concerning Martha Hammond b. about 1867, a daughter of Benjamin Hamman.  Benjamin was born about 1834 and his wife Mary “Pop” Caudill was born about 1837 and died in 1910.  My mother always referred to her as “Aunt Pop”. She was the daughter of Elder Benjamin Caudill and Abigail Pennington.

            In the 1900 Magoffin census we find that Mary “Pop” Caudill was the mother of 10 children with 9 living at that time. Martha was the 6th child and her age shows to be 3 in 1870 and 12 in 1880. Martha would have been about age 32 by 1900.

            In the Annals of Tazewell Co. VA we find info that Havila Cook and Ursula Reed were joined in holy wedlock on 18 Oct 1838.  The 1850 Tazewell Co. census lists Lyles Dolesbury, age 105, with his daughter Catherine age 59. Catherine was the widow of William Reid.  Her son Thomas Reid was age 20 at that time.  He later married Minerva Adams, daughter of William “Uncle Billy” Adams, town founder of Adamsville, forerunner of Salyersville, KY.  Lyles Dolsbury died 2 August 1850. He was a Revolutionary War veteran whose daughter Ursula Reid (b. 1823) married Havila Cook. Havila was born in 1812 and his mother was Betty Cook.

            By 1860 this family shows up in Magoffin County. Havila Cook was then age 63 and a widower.  His daughter Elizabeth was age 28. Also in the household were Rebecca Jane age 6, John J. age 4 and Havila age 2.

            The 1880 Magoffin census has Havila Cook age 73, wife Martha age 47 and grandsons John age 14 and Havila age 12.

            Magoffin Marriages shows that Havila Cook married on 8 May 1879 to Martha Colvin at the home of B. F. Adams; also Havila Cook married on 17 Mar 1887 to Martha Reid at the home of Louis Reed.

            This doesn’t answer all the questions in the email but we hope it will help to some degree.

I had most of this information but it’s great to get an answer to one of the biggies…

 

Then Christine IM-ed and said she’d meet us at the Cheesecake Factory tonight at 7:00 p.m. always good to see her. She stays fairly obscure most of the year. LOL

 

I got an email from Ancestry and a woman name Jacquie Robbins the niece of the late Bernice Phipps, is it a small world or what? I wonder if she has that recipe. LOL

 

Got pix of the kids in Myrtle Beach enjoying their trip. I’ll try to post some later.

 

Well, I didn’t get the sign for the yard today; Anthony hates Teds so the sign is out. But, if you do a drive by today… HONK!!!

 

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“If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.