Harshbarger line: Henry Cook 1794-1861

 Henry Cook is both an open book and a mystery.  He's an open book because we can trace him from at least 1820 to 1860 through census records.  He have his date of birth, as noted on his gravestone (well, calculations are in order, but since no birth or church records have been found, it's the best we have).  So while we can trace the decades of his life with some degree of certainly, we can't name his parents for sure, nor can we guess why son William is left out of his father's distribution.  So there are mysteries yet.

Henry Cook notes on the census (or whomever gave the census taker the information) that he was born in Pennsylvania.  It's believed that he was born in Berks County, which later became Schuylkill County, and that he was the son of Adam and possibly Elizabeth Leitzel Koch.  There may have been eight or more Koch children, and the family was originally from Germany.  Adam's father, also Adam, was the original immigrant.  Full disclosure:  I have seen one tree giving him a different set of parent, who were from New Jersey.  I have not been able to find any documentation at all for this family, and it doesn't make as much sense as the parents I have tentatively given him.  The Adam I mentioned did have a son named Henry, and the Koch family intermarried mostly with families from Germany.  Henry's wife was descended from German immigrants.  

We don't know when Henry started using the name "Cook" instead of "Koch" but he is listed as "Cook" in the 1820 census in Canton, Stark County, Ohio.  He seems to have been a fairly recent arrival, because it's believed that his son William was born in Pennsylvania and his son Joseph was born in 1819 in Stark County.  He married Catherine Whetstone (Wetstein and other spellings), daughter of John and Mary Magdaline Whetstone, probably about 1815 or 1816, although again, I've not found records yet.  

The young couple settled into life in Canton, Ohio where Henry was a blacksmith.  He went into partnership with a man named Levi but the business failed.  Then he seems to have been blacksmithing and farming, and in 1842 had to file for bankruptcy.  By now there were several mouths to feed but the older children (there were at least 8) would have either been on their own or at least working and contributing financially to family life.

His son Joseph was in Whitley County by 1845, and William may have come just after the 1850 census was taken.  Henry actually purchased land in 1843 in Whitley County.  Joseph may have made the move first, perhaps to clear the land and get a farm up and running.  Henry was still in Stark County at the 1850 census, but was in Nimshillen Township, still occupied as a blacksmith.  Doubtless he did some farming, too.  There are several land records for Henry involving land that he purchased or possibly leased from various Kepler men in Stark County.  He owned land in Thorn Creek Township, Whitley County when he died September 16, 1861.  

Henry Cook is buried at Stough Cemetery, which if it isn't in Thorn Creek Township is very near to it, just north of Columbia City, a little west of SR 9.  His wife, Catherine, who died August 19, 1887, is  buried there, also.  Henry left an inventory showing farm animals and equipment, some household goods that were mostly claimed by his widow, and several notes, both owed to others and owing to him.  It appears that son William owed his father $88 but the debt was settled for $79.   The mystery, of course, is why William doesn't seem to have been given a share of his father's estate.  Perhaps he had been given land or money earlier (he was the oldest surviving son, it seems), but I have found no record of that.  

I'd like to hear some of Henry's stories.  The trip to Ohio would have been difficult, even though some or most of it would have likely been by water.  Stories I have read of travels just a few years earlier indicate it may have taken months to make make the trip.  And then, why did they decide to go to Whitley County?  The trip would not have been as difficult as the trip from Pennsylvania to Ohio, but it likely wasn't easy, and by now they were more than 30 years older than during their first major move. He was a young man during the War of 1812.  Did he participate, or did he want to?  There are always questions to ask about these ancestors of ours.  

The line of descent is

Henry Cook-Catherine Whetstone

William Cook-Elizabeth Brown

Barbara Cook-William Withers

William Withers-Della Kemery

Goldie Withers-Grover Harshbarger

Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks

Their descendants