Harshbarger line: William Cook of Whitley County

It's been a while since I've written about a Harshbarger family ancestor.  I thought I'd written about all of the men, but here is William Cook who has not yet been acknowledged as part of the DNA of the Harshbargers.  I really know very little about the man, considering that he has only been gone about 142 years, but he lived through interesting times, and left his home in Pennsylvania to come to Ohio and then on to Indiana during relatively early times.  In each case, the best of the lands had been acquired by the earliest land speculators and settlers, but good land was still available and the prospects must have seemed bright. 

William Cook was born August 8, 1817, probably in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania.  He was the son of Henry and Catherine Whetstone Cook, and was one of at least eight children of the couple.  When William was quite small, probably about 4 years old, his family packed their goods and moved to Stark County, Ohio.  Henry was a blacksmith in or near Canton, Ohio and also farmed.  Henry ran into business difficulties and filed for bankruptcy about 1842, and was buying or leasing land in Whitley County, Indiana the following year.  He may have planted crops, for he was a farmer, but he must have returned to Stark County where by 1850 he was listed as a blacksmith, with his home and land valued at $27,000.  This was quite a turn around for a man who had been bankrupt just a few years earlier. 

William lived in Marlboro Township, Stark County, in the 1850 census but he was not a man of means.  His property was valued at $1200.  William had married Elizabeth Brown, daughter of David and Barbara Brothers (also seen as Bruder) Brown on December 31, 1837 and by the 1850 there were three children, Sarah, Barbara, and Alfred.  Also living in the household was "Barbara" Brown, age 66, who would be Elizabeth's mother.  I have seen references to Elizabeth as Betsy, which somehow makes her seem a little less stern and more cheerful.  I don't know that William ever used a nickname, though. 

Sometime between 1850 and 1860 the Henry Cook household and the William Cook household all moved to Whitley County.  There was already a Henry Cook in Whitley County in the 1850 census and he was of the right age to be Henry's son and William's brother, but he was too young to be the Henry Cook connected to the land deals earlier in the 1840s.

William and Betsy lived in Columbia City, Whitley County in 1860 and owned land valued at $300 with personal property valued at $80.  It sounds like they were just getting started.  By 1870, only Sarah, the oldest, was left at home,  William was still farming, with property now valued at $1200.  The 1880 census doesn't show a value but his son Alfred and his family is living there also.  It is from this census that we learn that William and Betsy could both read, but they couldn't write.  The deeds I have copies of show that they each signed with a mark.

One of the deeds is interesting.  In it, he couple is selling (for $1) land to their daughter Barbara, who is now Barbara Withers.  There is a lengthy description of the land, but what is interesting is that the deed was notarized by Thomas Marshall, who was later the Vice President of the United States.  This deed was from 1878.  Eight years earlier the Cooks had sold land to William Withers, who was their son in law.  (Barbara Cook married William Withers in 1867). 

William died April 3, 1888 and was buried at Bethel Cemetery, just outside Columbia City.  He seems to have not left a will and I've not found estate papers, although there should be some.  Elizabeth outlived him by 11 years and died before March 8. 1899. Sarah, their first daughter, apparently never married and died at the age of 83, single.  She was a retired housekeeper. 

This family seems to have been one of those families that stays out of sight for the most part.  William may have voted, but he evidently did not take an active role in government.  He and Betsy worked hard and helped their family survive, probably at a higher economic level than they attained.   They may not have had riches, but they lived through the War with Mexico, the Civil War, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and James Garfield, and they saw forests give way to factories and farms.  Their times were fascinating and their lives were challenging. 

The line of descent is:

William Cook-Elizabeth Brown
Barbara Cook-William A Withers
William Withers-Della Kemery
Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks
Their descendants