A BIT OF HISTORY IN REGARD TO THE COOK'S, WOLPH'S, ETC.
by Mrs. L. B. Cook
June, 1908

In the latter part of the eighteenth century, there lived in Virginia, near Staunton, a family by the name of Wolf, and at the same time there had come from Germany and settled in North Carolina, people of the name of Cook. Before coming to Virginia, this Sebastian Wolf of whom we shall speak, and some of his family connection, had settled in North Carolina and so were acquainted with the Cooks. [It was for this Sebastian Wolf that Uncle Boss Cook was named. L.C.]

This Sebastian Wolf by his first marriage had a large family of sons and one daughter, Christina. After the death of the first wife, when Sebastian thought to take another wife, he thought of his old friends, the Cooks, and wooed and won Katharine Cook, who was said to be a lady of medium size and quite graceful in both mind and body. This Katherine clung to the German tongue, though spoke English pretty fluently. The marriage of Sebastian Wolf and Katharine Cook took place about 1789 and in 1790 or thereabout was born a daughter whom they named Sarah. [This daughter was married to John Maze and was the mother of Rebecca Ann Cook of Cooksburg. L.C.] In 1792 another daughter was born whom they named Elizabeth and in 1794 a son was added to the family whom they named John. [Elizabeth was married to Arthur Barrett and we know her as Aunt Betsy Barrett or Grandmother Barrett, who with her stepson Barrett rode on horse back from Harrison County, Ohio to the Maze home three miles above Cooksburg to visit her sister, Sarah Maze. L.C.] This completed the family circle and ere many years Sebastian, the father was removed by death and was buried on Crooked Creek, about five miles from the Allegheny in Armstrong County in Pa. to which place the family had removed soon after their marriage.
       Now we will go back and take up another branch of the family. It so happened that Katherine, the second wife of Sebastian Wolf, had a jolly brother of wonderful strength and manly proportions, named Daniel, [This was my Great Grandfather Cook of whom the following tale has been told. One time while in Pittsburgh he was seen picking up a barrel of whisky and drinking from the bung hold, his strength being so great. L.C.] who thought his sister Katherine's step daughter, Christina, was fair to look upon, so he wooed and won this Christina Wolf [spelled "Wolph" in the original--S.B.], not being at all related to each other. They had a large family of children, a son named Daniel [This Daniel used to live on Hominy Ridge--L.C.] and one named John [This was Grandfather Cook--L.C.], one daughter Katherine who married a man by the name of Starr, one daughter who married a man by the name of Maze, ([Uncle Boss Cook says this was Jimmy Maze--L.C.] and several others unknown to me, which may be supplied. John Cook, son of Daniel and Christina Wolf Cook, having removed with his parents to Pennsylvania and settled in Venango County, was married to Susannah Helpman and they were the parents of ten children as follows: Christina, named for her Grandmother Cook, who was married to George Young and died after giving birth to three children, the oldest being Susan, who married a man by the name of Kelly and is still living in Crawford County, Pa. [Susan Kelly has died since this was written--L.C.] A son named John who served as a soldier in the Civil War and who died suddenly near Shippenville and Isaac Young who died at Big Walnut where he resided. Margaret Cook, Daughter of John Cook, [Known to us as Aunt Peggy and is buried in the Phipps Cemetery about three miles from Knox--L.C.] was married to a man named Phipps. She died young leaving no children. Her sister Elizabeth was later married to this same Mr. Phipps and to this union was born three children, namely Valentine Phipps, [Val Phipps served in the Civil War and his wife and daughter Emma still reside in Shippenville--L.C.] Jerry Phipps, who died of consumption in 1879 and Emma who was married to a Mr. Wilson and lives at present in Minneapolis, Minn. Elizabeth Cook Phipps, being left a widow, was later married to Robert Piper, by whom she had three sons, Robert, James, and George. James is still living near the old Piper home. Daniel Cook was married to Mary Herring [They lived for some time in Shippenville and it was at their home that Aunt Rebecca Cook and Andrew Cook were married--L.C.] and raised a large family of children, most of whom are living in Minnesota, where the parents died. John Cook [Nicknamed Hog John Cook on account of him going around the country with a trained hog--L.C.] who was married to Susan _ and had a large family. [One daughter, Priscilla Goble resides at Seigel, Pa. Dave is dead but his family live in Clarion, Calvin is near Emlenton, and two sons live somewhere in the West--L.C.] Phillip Cook was married to Louisa B. Barrett of Bucyrus, Ohio [Louisa B. Barrett Cook was a Great Grand daughter of Sebastian Wolf of whom we spoke at the beginning of this history--L.C.] and they were the parents of three children, Susan Elizabeth, married to C. H. Miller and Arthur Phillip, who died at two years of age, and Louisa at home. Andrew Cook was married to Rebecca Ann Maze, [She is a granddaughter of Sebastian Wolf--L.C.] and they were the parents of five sons and three daughters, four sons and two daughters still survive, namely: Wesley of Pittsburgh. Jake of Portland, Oregon. A.W. and T.B. of Cooksburg. Mrs. C.C. Ross of Clarion and Ida M. Calvin of Los Angeles, Cal.
       Susan Cook was married to George Berlin and was the mother of six children, four of whom survive. [Mrs. Jake Martin, Beaver, Pa. Mrs. Harmon Phipps, Knox. John Berlin, Knox, and Lettie McComb, Clarion. L.C.]
       Jerry, the youngest of the ten and the only one at present living, was married to Julia Ann Agnew, and are the parents of a large family, four of whom survive. [Dick, Man, Dos and Ella MacBeth.--L.C.] One of the ten children of John and Susan Helpman Cook, died from inhaling heat when it was accidentally rocked over on the hearth by a small member of the family. John Cook was married a second time to Katie Ritter and they were the parents of seven children. [Sebastian, S.H., Elijah, Martha Snyder, Mary Jane Henry, Levancy Slocum, Sarah Lindsey. L.C.]
       To go back now, we will trace the history of Sebastian Wolf and family by his second wife, Katherine Cook, with whom we are more closely connected. Sarah, the oldest child married John Maze. They moved to the Clarion River and settled three miles above Cooksburg, where they reared a family of eleven children, seven daughters and four sons. [Tommy, Billy, Jackson, James, Mattie Magee, Harriet Henry Siegworth, Jane Dobson, Polly Hulung, Rebecca Cook, Sally Spence, Betsy Morgan. L.C.] Elizabeth, the second daughter of Sebastian Wolf, her widowed mother, and John, the third child, moved to Ohio and settled in Tuscaros Co. In about the year 1819 [the date "Nov 13 1817" is written over the "1819" in the manuscript--S.B.] Elizabeth was married to Arthur Barrett, son of Arthur Barrett, a former Virginian. This was Arthur Barretts second marriage, his first wife having been a Huff, who at her death left three sons, Meredith, Louis who never married, and William and a daughter, Mary Ann, who was united in marriage to the Rev. Dyas Neil. Wm. and Meredith reared large families in Harrison Co. Ohio. Mrs. Neil was the mother of four children, three of whom survive. Arthur Barrett and Elizabeth Wolf Barrett raised one daughter and three sons, several children dying in infancy. Arthur, the husband died about the year 1845. Louisa, the daughter and oldest child, always remained with the widowed mother and cared for her with the greatest patience, until she, the daughter, was called to rest in April, 1884. A year later the mother was laid beside the daughter in the Green Ridge Cemetery at Green Ridge, Mo. Enos, the second child was married to Mary Lewis, who bore him four children only one, Mrs. Crouch, who lives at Kansas City, Mo. [sic] Enos and Mary, the parents and one daughter Mrs. Welch are buried near Cook Camp, Mo. John, the third soon [Grandfather Barrett who spent some time with Mrs. L.B. Cook, his daughter was married about 1844 to Sarah Lavely, daughter of John and Ann Gorsuch Lavely. To this union were born two children. In 1846, a son named Wm. Galen Smith Barrett. He was married to Alice Hollister, of Oskaloosa, Iowa, who bore him three children, namely, Galen, Mabel and Sarah. [Sarah is the one who visited me last summer, 1913. L.C.] A daughter was born Jan. 13, 1848 named Louisa and as stated before was married to Phillip Cook in 1878 [June 1-1878 is written over this--S.B.] Phillip Cook having died in 1897 was survived by his wife. [She died June 25th, 1908--L.C.] In 1852 John Barrett was married a second time to Ann Eliza Harvey, of Bucyrus Township, Crawford Co. Ohio. In May 1853, the young wife gave up her life at the birth of little twin daughters who were named Sara and Ann Eliza for the wives of the father, John W. Barrett. In 1855 John Barrett married a third wife named Lena Lauck, who bore him five children, Harvey, the oldest being a resident of Texas. Melanchton died at four years of age. Clementine was married in 1893 to Geo. W. Dixon and is a resident of [Espanola--L.C.] New Mexico [where she is interested in school work--LC.]. Fletcher, the fourth child is a resident of Cloud Croft, New Mexico. Ella, the youngest, who was married to Wm. West died at Mutchachinock, Iowa, in 1885. [She will probably be remembered by some of the readers as she visited her sister Mrs. Phillip Cook. She was a lover of nature and flowers, spending much of her time gathering wild flowers in the woods here.]

[It might be well to state that at this point in the narrative, Mrs. Cook became weary and put the work aside for a day or so, and when resumed no mention was made of Uncle David Barrett, son of Arthur and Elizabeth Wolf Barrett, so will give a little in regard to them.
David Barrett was married to Belle _ and lived at Bucyrus, Ohio. They had but one daughter, Ida. She visited the relatives at Cooksburg once or twice and will probably be remembered by some of the readers. She was married to Dr. TenBroeck and they reside in Paris, Ill. The father and mother are both dead and are buried in the Greenlawn Cemetery at Bucyrus, Ohio.
Louisa Cook.]

[NOTE: I have in my possession the handwritten manuscript up to this notation; the rest is the typed 1914 version only]
       To go back once more to the family of Sebastian Wolf and Catharine Cook Wolf, their 3rd child and only son John, while still in his teens, after the death of his father, decided that with his widowed mother and single sister, Elizabeth, he would immigrate to Ohio in search of a new home. However his married sister, Mrs. Sarah Maze wanted Elizabeth to remain with her awhile, in Armstrong Co. Penna. Elizabeth was to ride out the next year on a horse her brother had left for her, but her brother-in-law getting into financial difficulty, she sold her horse to help him out and had to remain two years longer until a colt had grown mature enough to make the journey when she joined her family in Tuscaros Co. Ohio, where, as stated before, about the year 1819 [Nov. 13-1817 is written over this date--S.B.] she was married at Gnaden Hutton to a widower named Arthur Barrett. About the same time John Wolph was married to a lady of German extraction whose first name was Mary but last name unknown to me. To them were born ten children, 8 beautiful girls and two sons, all of whom grew to maturity and married. Catherine was married to a man by the name of Case and died near Col. Springs, Col., leaving a family of six children.
       Christina married a man by the name of Hengst and also died in Col. leaving, we think one child.
       Elizabeth or Betty married a Mr. Hughes of Pa. and moved to Nebraska where they reared a large family. Mr. & Mrs. Hughes are both buried at Nebraska City, where their daughter, Mrs. Louisa Brower still lives.
       Eliza married John Woods, by whom she had several children. Mr. & Mrs. Woods are buried at Jefferson City, Mo.
       Mary, a highly talented and beautiful girl married Dr. Peter Woods, brother of John Woods and as late as 1905, having survived her husband, was still living in Fairfield, Ia. She has two sons, Harry and George. The Dr. was a surgeon in the Civil War.
       Sarah, a highly gifted young lady married Rev. Jacob Foegtly [? faint and hard to read--S.B.] a Methodist minister and both were living in 1905 at Nevada, Iowa.
       Lucretia married a man by the name of Altapher and when last heard from lived in North Dakota.
       Huldah, the youngest daughter married a man named Buck and resides with her family in Colfax, Wash.
       Henry married a lady in Ohio and moved to Nebraska, where he became quite wealthy. They are survived by three children, Bucephalus, Bucephula and Shasta, a daughter named for Mt. Shasta, Cal. The boy resides 14 miles from Nebraska City on the old home place.
       Sebastian, a son married in Richland Co. O. and removed to Mercer Co. O. He retired from his farm in 1875, moving to Van Wert, Ohio, where he died of consumption a year later, leaving a wife and two daughters.
       The father of all these 11 children, John Wolph, died during the Civil War while he and his wife were visiting their children in the vicinity of Nebraska City. The wife remained in Nebraska during the remainder of her life and both are buried at or near Nebraska City.
       FINIS