Charles Cook (1833-1913) was born in Morris County, New Jersey to Stephen H Cook and Elizabeth Vanderhoof. He served in the Civil War (1861-1865) with Company L, 27th New Jersey Infantry from September 1862 through July 1863 for a total of nine months.
Various Acts enabled Charles to file for a pension and increases. The pages in this packet reveal further information about the family. I was hoping that his pension would help link him to his great grandfather, Conrad Hopler, but not so. The issue at this point in the research is finding documentation that Charles' mother, Elizabeth Vanderhoof, was the daughter of Jacob Vanderhoof and Ann Hopler. Conrad Hopler, who served in the Revolutionary War, was the father of Ann.
If you can obtain an application for a pension for service in a war, you should do so. Anything could be in that file.
This pension record was ordered through Civil War Records. The price was $110 and the turn-around time was one month. The actual pages are in the custody of the National Archives.
 |
| Family tree showing Charles Y Cook (1833-1913), his siblings, parents, and grandparents |
Charles died of dysentery after a trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 11, 1913. He attended a fiftieth commemoration and died of an infection he survived fifty years earlier during the War. He was honorably discharged on July 2, 1863, which was in the middle of the three-day Battle of Gettysburg. His papers do not list this location or Battle as one that he participated in.
 |
| Death certificate of Charles Y Cook died July 11, 1913 in Denville, Morris County, New Jersey. Available in person or through the mail via New Jersey State Archives. |
Charles Cook was buried with his wife, Sarah Merritt, at the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey.
 |
| Jody visiting the grave of Charles Y Cook (1833-1913) and his wife, Sarah Merritt (1842-1909). First Presbyterian Church, Rockaway, New Jersey. May 9, 2026 |
This cemetery is where Conrad Hopler (1730-1816) has a gravestone. I am seeking documentation that Conrad Hopler is a great grandparent of Charles Y Cook.
 |
| Jody visiting the grave of Conrad Hopler (1730-1816). First Presbyterian Church, Rockaway, New Jersey. May 9, 2026 |
Stephen Cook and Elizabeth Vanderhoof married in 1819. They had at least five children:
-Ann M Cook (1820-1868), married Jesse Lee (1818-1888)
-Silas Cook (1825-????) (only mentioned in the books of Louisa Caroline Freeman Hickerson)
-Calvin Cook (1826-1889), married Mary Neil (1830-1898)
-Charles Y Cook (topic of this article)
 |
| Five children of Elizabeth Vanderhoof and Stephen Cook identified by Ms Hickerson in her book, Vanderhoof. |
I am missing at least one source of Ms Hickerson's research. I have found nothing about Silas Cook, born March 3, 1825, outside her mention.
Charles was able to claim a pension in 1890 because of service-related disability and in 1907 because he lived long enough. A card index exists. Charles has two different cards. The one at Ancestry reflects only the 1890 claim for disability. The card at Fold3 reflects both claims.
 |
| Pension card for Charles Y Cook U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 at Ancestry |
 |
| Pension card for Charles Y Cook US, Civil War Pensions Index, 1861-1900. NARA T289. Fold3. |
 |
| Pension file of Charles Y Cook Civil War "alleges that at Newport News [Virginia] about Feb 20, 1863 he contracted rheumatism in back and hip." |
The family bible is mentioned in Charles' sworn statement from 1904. "He having been born on the 27 day of August eighteen hundred and thirty three- that his mother's family bible which is in the possession of his brother's widow contains the entry of which the following is a copy." This would have been Emeline Young (1834-1906), widow of William Cook. They had at least ten children. Who received the bible of Elizabeth Vanderhoof? I need it.
 |
| Pension file of Charles Y Cook. He mentioned his birthdate as written in his mother's family bible. |
Charles clarified his name. "He always understood that he was named after a relative Charles Youmans by name but that his mother did not use the 'Y' in naming him and that he only took up the use of the 'Y' himself after reaching the age of twenty years and [illegible] did so in order to distinguish himself from others having the name of 'Charles Cook'."
First, thank you, Charles, for realizing that so many men bearing the name Charles Cook would confuse researchers for centuries. This has been my experience in researching COOKs.
Second, thank you for clarifying that you used the middle initial 'Y' and the middle name 'Youmans' and that this name was a relative's name.
Who was Charles Youmans? Charles Elmer Youmans (1809-1864) married Anna Cook (1808-1897), a paternal aunt of the younger Charles Youmans Cook.
 |
| 1860 federal census Charles Y Cook living with his mother, Elizabeth Cook [born Vanderhoof], in Rockaway Township, Morris County, New Jersey. By this time Charles had started using his middle initial. |
 |
| Charles Cook using his middle name Youmans. Rev. D. E. Platter (compiler), Historical Manual of the Rockaway Presbyterian Church (Trenton, New Jersey: Wm. S. Sharp, printer and stereotyper, 1880), 5. |
Charles explained his family of creation. He married Sarah Lavinia Merritt in 1861. They had at least five children. I'm not sure if they had two sons named George Cook.
 |
| Charles Y Cook's listing of his wife and children |
The children of Charles Cook and Sarah Merritt were: Laura, Mary, George, Phebe, and Samuel.
In First Presbyterian Church Cemetery with Charles and Sarah is a stone for George, engraved with a date of death January 6, 1866, aged two years, three days. This would give a birth around January 1864. So Mary could not have been born May 12, 1864. The pension lists George's birthdate as October 4, 1866. This could be a second son named George Cook, named after the baby who just died. There was no child named George living with this family in the 1870, so perhaps the second George also died early. Or there was only one. This remains unclear.
Sarah Merritt was also a Wiggins descendant. More research is needed on Wiggins. She and Charles Cook were probably cousins.
 |
| Family tree of Sarah Lavinia Merritt showing ancestors and her children with Charles Y Cook |
Daniel A Wiggins submitted an affidavit to support Charles Y Cook's application for an invalid pension. His age was listed, which is not usually seen in older records. Looks like 47 or 49 years old in 1891. This could be David Alvin Wiggins (1845-1927). He was a second cousin of Sarah Merritt, sharing great grandparents Jonathan Wiggins (1763-1815) and Phebe Fordham (1764-1851).
Charles wrote his occupation (brakeman, unable to perform because of illnesses contracted from war) and residences. He lived in Brooklyn, New York from 1884-1888. This explains the birth in Brooklyn of his granddaughter, Laura Bidgood (1884-1952), and his appearance in the Brooklyn city directories.
 |
| "then in Brooklyn, NY from 1884 to 1888 . . ." |
 |
| "4 years in Brooklyn from 1884 to 1888 all the rest of time in Rockaway Township, Morris County, New Jersey." |
 |
| 1887-1888 Brooklyn, New York city directory Charles Y Cook, weigher, 248 South Second. Weigher was an attempted occupation of Charles Y Cook following the Civil War. |
-We still do not have a record supporting that Jacob Vanderhoof and Ann Hopler were the parents of Elizabeth Vanderhoof, wife of Stephen Cook.
-What other sources was Ms Hickerson using in her research of Vanderhoof and Cook in Morris County, New Jersey?
-Where is the family bible of Elizabeth Vanderhoof? In 1904 it was in the custody of Emeline Young (1834-1906), widow of William Cook.
No comments:
Post a Comment