Hello Everyone,
In my estimation, we've accomplished a lot since the list reactivated
about 2-1/2 years ago. The big questions, of course, remain: Where was
John Cooley born? Who were his parents? Who did he marry?
We've got some clues. There's the undocumented mention in "James Stuart
and Mary Matthews of Wilcox County, Alabama" that William Matthews
Cooley's mother was Sarah Matthews, probable daughter of James Matthews
who, indeed, was living near the family in Stokes County. I fear, however,
that someone along the way saw the name William Matthews Cooley in the
Surry County NC records and came to conclusions that aren't necessarily
true. Nevertheless, we have something to work with.
The genetic match with William Henry Cooley (1797-1877) and James Cooley
(1808-c1872), both born in Pennsylvania, is tantalizing as a possible
collateral line, which could one day lead to John's origins.
And there's still work to do in determining more of John's descendants.
Who, for example, was Perrin C Cooley's father? The Jack Cooley / Gloria
Tanner autosomal match appears to strengthen the idea that he was of the
Perrin Cooley Sr family. (The match has also given me much-needed
confidence in the viability of autosomal testing.)
The mystery of John Cooley (1797-1880+) and Annis Hardin is still
unresolved. That John was born in Adair County, KY suggests that he was of
the Daniel Cooley line, but a John Cooley has already been attributed to
Daniel. I've contacted three or four of his Y descendants but none have
responded.
And that brings me to the matter of Y-DNA for Daniel. We have yet to have
a sample from his descendants.
And we still need a Reuben Cooley sample.
There's also the matter of John Cooley (1827-1900+) and Sarah Ann
Treadwell. John was born in Missouri in 1827. His movements mirrored that
of William Washington Cooley causing some of us to believe he was another
son of Isaac N Cooley (James, John). But Isaac's will has been found. It
doesn't include mention of a John Cooley among his children. Again, DNA
from a descendant would be helpful. (I've been looking for one!) I'm
tracking his line at
http://ancestraldata.com/ahnentafel/256/lineages/johncooley-desc.html by
having listing him as a grayed-out (possible) brother of Perrin C Cooley.
Have I missed anything?
Of course, we've continued to have great success. Thanks to Gloria
Tanner's discovery of the newspaper notice for James Cooley's (1797-1858)
estate, we now know that the mysterious John Cooley (m2 Martha Bearden)
was a son of Perrin Sr.
Jonathan Lycurgus Cooley (1842-1926) appears to be sorted out thanks in
part to the various newspaper accounts of his sister, Nancy Alice Cooley
Crockett (1873-1937).
We had the delightful surprise in discovering that a descendant of Edmond
Cooley (1773-1851), who married Charlotte Speace, is of the exact Y-DNA
signature of the Stokes County Cooleys. This was totally unexpected. I
think we can be confident that it was not coincidence that Edmond and John
Cooley's son-in-law, Luke Burnett, appear on the same Spartanburg, SC
deed. But we may never know whether he was the Rice Cooley who shows on
the 1800 Stokes County census. (That would explained Rice's disappearance
from the record.)
Speaking of Luke Burnett, we've traced his family to his death in Georgia
in 1859. It remains to be seen whether we will one day find a matrilineal
descendant of his wife, Hannah Cooley, and, therefore, the mitochondrial
DNA for her mother "Mrs John Cooley."
Of course, the revival of the list was founded with the discovery of
William Matthews Cooley's DNA and the sorting out of the major portion of
his family.
One more thing. Many of you know that my Y-DNA test in 2006 re-energized
my interest in genealogy and that I've been in hot pursuit of disproving
the "Dutch Cooley" theory since then. Being co-admin of the Cooley DNA
Project has given me some influence in getting tests done to sort out the
various early American Cooley lineages. In the process we've discovered
that at least five different Y-DNA lineages are represented in Hamil's
single "Dutch lineage" -- all of them mentioned in her manuscript:
Stokes Cooleys: 13-24-15-11-11-13-12-12-10-13-11-30
"Joseph T Cooley": 13-23-15-11-10-15-12-12-12-13-13-29
"Francis Cooley": 13-25-15-10-11-14-12-12-10-13-11-29
Cooley-Firmin: 13-24-13-10-11-14-12-12-12-13-13-29
The Dutch Coles: 13-26-10-12-14-12-12-13-13-13-31
Furthermore, a descendant of the New Jersey Cooley-Lippicott line (also
mentioned in Hamil) is now testing. And I'm looking for an eligible tester
for John Cooley (1731-1801) of Portsmouth, Ohio, whose son Peter Cooley
(married Nancy Perry) is mentioned in Hamil. In the end, I wouldn't be
surprised that we find a dozen or more separate lineages in her
manuscript. As Elizabeth Cooley of the Cooley Family Association of
America (whose husband was of the Cooley-Lippicott lineage) said in a 1977
letter to Dennis Young: "That book of Lura Coolley Hamil has caused us
plenty of headaches with folks accepting her data as 'gospel proof.' ...It
should be labeled with a huge 'Skull and cross bones.' Mrs. Hamil went
about grabbing up anything she felt might go together, has mixed up many
different Cooley families, etc."
Several of the list members have contributed heavily to our successes. I
dare not try to list everyone here for fear I'll leave someone out. But a
perusal of the list archives at
http://johncooley.net/list/ quickly
reveals the fabulous contributors.
Enjoy the holidays folks and have a very Cooley New Year!
-Michael
Received on Sat Dec 14 2013 - 16:34:10 MST