What became of Catherine Long, wife of Mr Cook?

What became of Catherine Long, daughter of Jonas Long and Elizabeth Merrell?

She was born about 1826, probably in Middlesex County, New Jersey. She married around age 16 or 17, had at least one child, who produced grandchildren and great grandchildren of Catherine.

I don't know the full name of Catherine's husband and I do not know when or where she died.

Family tree of Jonas Long, Elizabeth Merrell, and their seven children

Catherine resided in Northfield, Richmond County, New York. This small island is now popularly known as Staten Island and lies east of New Jersey, separated by narrow waterways (Arthur Kill, Kill Van Kull, Newark Bay, Raritan Bay, and New York Bay).

Map of Richmond County (Staten Island), New York, 1839.
To the west was Essex County (now Union County)
and Middlesex County in New Jersey.

Modern map showing location of Staten Island in the northeastern United States

In 1850, Catherine resided with her mother, Elizabeth (Merrell), her step-father, William Owen (1788-1852), her sibling, Abraham Long (1830-1896), Abraham's wife, Martha Sperling, and Catherine's son, John W Cook. Relationships were not asked for in the 1850 census. We know how this collection of surnames relates because of other records. Catherine Long, widow, was named as a daughter of Elizabeth Long, deceased daughter of Richard Merrill in 1865.

We can surmise that Catherine married a man with the last name Cook and that he died between the conception of his son, John William Cook, circa 1844, and the recording of the 1850 census.

1850 United States federal census. Northfield, Richmond County, New York.
William Owen. Age 62. Farmer. Born in Massachusetts.
Elizabeth Owen. Age 54. Born in New York.
Catherine Cook. Age 24. Born in New Jersey.
Abraham Long. Age 23. Boatman. Born in New York.
Martha Long. Age 17. Born in New York.
John W Cook. Age 5. Born in New York.

In the 1860 census, Catherine was still with her son, who went by William instead of John. Note the nearby family of Jacob Brastead and Lavinia.

1860 United States federal census. Northfield, Richmond County, New York.
Jacob Brastead. Age 79. Retired farmer. Real estate $1000. Personal estate $25. Born in New York.
Lavinia Brastead. Age 81. Born in New York.
Sarah Heath. Age 70. Real estate $1000. Personal estate $500. Born in New York.
Catharine Cook. Age 35. Washerwoman. Personal estate $20. Born in New York.
William Cook. Age 15. Boatman. Born in New York.

In 1870, Catherine was in the household of her son, John William Cook, his wife, Mary E, and their two sons, Charles and William. Mary was the daughter of Jeremiah Lisk (1814-1902) and Jane Marie VanPelt (1816-1900).

1870 United States federal census. Northfield, Richmond County, New York.
John William Cook. Age 24. Oyster dealer. Born in New York.
Mary E Cook. Age 27. Keeping house. Born in New York.
Charles E Cook. Age 5. At home. Born in New York.
William E Cook. Age 3. Born in New York.
Catherine Cook. Age 43. Laundress. Born in New Jersey.

In the 1875 New York State census, Catherine was with her widowed daughter-in-law, Mary Eliza, and her two grandsons. This probably indicates that Catherine's son, John William Cook, died between 1870 and 1875.

1875 New York State census. Northfield, Richmond County, New York.
Mary Eliza Cook, head. Age 32. Widowed. Born in Richmond County.
Charles E Cook, son. Age 10. Born in Richmond County.
William L Cook, son. Age 8. Born in Richmond County.
Catherine Ann Cook, mother. Age 49. Born in Richmond County.

Charles E Cook (1864-1945) married Bertha Moore (1866-1947). I did not find any children of this couple.

William Ellwood Cook (1867-1937) married Ida May Braisted (1867-1931). She is perhaps related to the elderly couple residing near Catherine and John William Cook in 1860. Her paternal grandmother was Sarah Jane Merrell (1821-1903). They had four children who lived to adulthood, who in turn had children and grandchildren.

Catherine Long has living descendants.

Family tree of Catherine Long, born about 1826, probably in Middlesex County, New Jersey.

Questions:

-Which Mr Cook did Catherine Long marry? When? Where?

-Did Catherine Long remarry after the death of Mr Cook?

-When did Catherine Long die?

-Are descendants of Catherine in my DNA matches?

ONeil DNA Cousins

Have relatives of Mary Neil (1830-1898) been identified among the DNA matches at Ancestry?

Mary Neil, or Neill, or ONeill, was my great great great grandmother. She was born around 1830. On the record of her first marriage in 1847 to my third great grandfather, Calvin Cook (1826-1889), names of parents were not recorded. The names of her parents are from the record of her second marriage to Nicholas Keating (1825-1898) in 1892: Charles ONeill and Catherina Brougham. Mary's death certificate from 1898 only provides her mother's first name, Katie.

Only the names of Mary Neil's parents are known.

In contrast, Calvin Cook's ancestors are well-plotted at this point in my research. As a bonus, this was an intermarrying group with lots of descendants. As a result, I have hundreds of DNA matches who trace back their ancestry to the ancestors of Calvin Cook: Wiggins, Peer, Post, White, Vanderhoof, Stegers, Young, Hopler, DeMouth, Muller, etc.

Ancestors of Calvin Cook, mostly from Morris County, New Jersey.
They intermarried. Their descendants share more DNA because of this intermarrying.

DNA Strategy

This is the strategy for identifying relatives of Mary Neil amongst the DNA matches:

Mary Neil and Calvin Cook have around fifteen descendants in the DNA database at Ancestry. Use of the "Shared Matches" feature (only available for an additional monthly subscription) finds other relatives. These shared matches might be connected through Calvin Cook OR Mary Neil. If the shared match has ancestry amongst Calvin's ancestors, then the connection is probably not through Mary Neil.

A few people do not share matches with the Calvin Cook Morris County ancestry. These are potentially related through Mary Neil's ancestors.

One of the problems is that we are working with tiny segments of DNA that trace back at least six generations. If we land in Ireland, there are few written records to demonstrate a relation.

DNA Matches of Interest

We will look at three people who match descendants of Mary Neil and Calvin Cook, but do not match anyone in the Morris County group. There are more matches who fit this scenario, but they have cryptic usernames, no trees, private trees, scant trees, and do not answer messages.

All three matches share less than 20cM of DNA with my group, or about one small segment of DNA. This indicates that the relation is likely third cousin or more distant.

The sorting feature places the DNA match's matches at the top. (Also a paid feature.) This is such a helpful mechanism for figuring out how relations relate to one another.

We will label the three matches as Person 1, Person 2, and Person 3. Person 2 and Person 3 are siblings. Person 1 turned out to be their second cousin.

Their common ancestors are Hugh ONeil (1835-1888) and Margaret ONeil (1838-1906) of Ireland and Washington, United States. (Washington became a state in 1889.) Person 1 descends from their son George. Person 2 and Person 3 descend from their son Charles.

Household of Hugh ONeil and his wife, Margaret, in the 1880 census.
Washington Territory, United States of America.
Children: Evelena, Minnie, John, Charles, Francis, George, and Kate.

Having the same surname as Mary Neil is great, but this is a common Irish surname and means little until we have paper documentation. Spoiler alert: we do not have any records connecting them at this juncture.

Hugh ONeil was a veteran of the Civil War. He died in 1888, the year before Washington became a state. His death record was a line in a ledger book. His parents were not listed.

Margaret ONeil died in Oregon in 1906 while visiting her children. Her death certificate provides the names of her parents as James ONeil and Margarete, last name unknown by informant, G W ONeil.

Death certificate of Margaret O'Neil.
Died March 15, 1906 in LaGrande, Union County, Oregon.
Collection online at Ancestry

Was Margaret also ONeil? The records of her children provide no other surname. Some of their records are easily viewable online, such as marriage, death, and Social Security Death Index. No surname other than ONeil or ONeill was given for their mother.

Yet her memorial page at Find A Grave provides Cook as her birth name. Hmmm.

Find A Grave memorial page for Margaret ONeil (1838-1906)
Buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Walla Walla, Washington.
How was her birth name of Cook found?

Cook is a common name. My Cook ancestry is Dutch, not Irish. The name was Van Der Koeck.

Future Research

More DNA connections will appear with new leads.

More records will find their way in an easily accessible format online.

I'd like to see Brougham turn up amongst the matches.

Private Charles Y Cook, Civil War Veteran 1833-1913

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)

-William Henry Cook (1828-1902), married Emeline Young (1834-1906)

-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).

Affidavit of John B Cox and Daniel A Wiggins
in support of an invalid pension for Charles Y Cook

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.

Thank you, Charles Youmans Cook, for your service during the Civil War.

Tangled Family Lines at First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Rockaway, New Jersey

On May 9, 2026 I visited the First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey. It was a rainy day, so the stones were darkened. I prefer overcast, dry days for cemetery visits, but this is how the schedule worked out.

This is an active church and cemetery. This is their website.

I saw some Wiggins stones. More articles on Wiggins are coming.

Jody at grave of Daniel G Wiggins (1827-1895) and wife Phebe Belcher (1830-1888).
First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey.
May 9, 2026.

Daniel Gard Wiggins (1827-1895) was a granduncle of Sarah Lavinia Merritt (1842-1909), wife of Private Charles Youmans Cook (1833-1913). Charles was the reason for this visit.

Elizabeth Minton (1822-1901) and husband Jonathan Wiggins (1820-1877).
First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey.
May 9, 2026.

Jody at the Cook/Merritt graves.
First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey.
May 9, 2026.

Here's the stone of Catherine Shaw (1825-1891). She was the first wife of Nicholas Keating (1825-1898). After Catherine's death, Nicholas remarried to Mary Neil (1830-1898), my third great-grandmother. Finding this marriage lead to discovering the names of her parents. 

Jody at the grave of Catherine Shaw (1825-1891),
wife of Nicholas Keating.
First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey.
May 9, 2026.

Tangled lines: Catherine Shaw was a granddaughter of Conrad Hopler (1730-1816), making her a first cousin, once removed of Mary Neil's first husband, my third great-grandfather, Calvin Cook (1826-1889).

Two Death Certificates for Henry Hennion 1884

Some people have no death certificate. Henry Hennion received two death certificates when he died in 1884 in Montville, Morris County, New Jersey.

Below are the two death certificates. They demonstrate two versions of forms available at the time.

Death certificate of Henry Hennion
Died September 30, 1884 in Montville, Morris County, New Jersey.

Another death certificate of Henry Hennion
Died September 30, 1884 in Montville, Morris County, New Jersey.

You can look up death certificates in the index created by the New Jersey State Archives on their website. This index is free to use. The actual death certificates are not available online. You can order a copy through the Archives' website for $10, which will then be mailed to you. Or you or someone else can visit the Archives in person and retrieve the record yourself for 50 cents per printed page.

There are two entries in the index for Henry Hennion's death on September 30, 1884.

Henry was buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Boonton, Morris County, New Jersey.

We want to view a death certificate whenever possible because this is the primary source of the date and place of death. From there, we can seek an obituary from the local paper and view the burial location. Sometimes the names of parents are given.

For Henry, we have two different first names for his father Henry and John.

Names of Henry's parents on his two death certificates

Based on his age at time of death, age 61 years, Henry Hennion was born in the early 1820s. New Jersey was not recording births at the local or state level at this time; however, there are sometimes church baptismal records that may have recorded the child's name, date of birth, and names of parents.

At the Dutch Reformed Church in Montville, a baby named Henry Hennion was baptized on April 13, 1823. He was born December 4, 1822 to Abraham Hennion and Clarissa Demott.

Baptism of Henry Hennion in 1823
Dutch Reformed Church
Montville, Morris County, New Jersey
Collection at Ancestry

Names of Henry's parents on his baptismal record

Is this the same Henry Hennion? The time of birth aligns, but the father's name is Abraham, not John or Henry. The mother's name, Clarissa, is close enough to Clara. Demott may be a variant of DeMouth, a common name in the area at this time.

Elizabeth Hennion (1818-1890) married Peter I Cook (1814-1889). Elizabeth's death certificate lists her parents as Abraham Henion and Clarissa. She must have been a sister of the Henry Hennion baptized in 1823. 

Death certificate of Elisabeth Cook
died November 20, 1890 in Upper Montville, Morris County, New Jersey

Peter I Cook was my second cousin six times removed. He was the son of John Henry Cook (1773-1859) and Jane Wandle (1778-1849). They were buried at the Pompton Plains First Reformed Church Cemetery.

These lines tangle as we travel back in time through the generations, but the children need to be attached to the correct parents. I'm not sure if we are dealing with two separate people named Henry Hennion or one.

One Source of Error Rectified

Find A Grave is a great resource for genealogical information, but be cautious about the linked relations.

Yesterday I highlighted the memorial page for Emaline B Cook (1836-1891), wife of Joseph S Prosser (1832-1910). They were buried at Saint John's United Methodist Church Cemetery in Turnersville, Gloucester County, New Jersey.

Emaline was incorrectly linked as a daughter of my fourth great grandparents, Stephen H Cook (1797-1853) and Elizabeth Vanderhoof (1799-1878), who lived in Morris County, New Jersey. One of their sons, Henry or William Henry (1828-1902), married Emeline Young (1834-1906), likely the source of this mix-up.

I requested that this connection be removed. Overnight the memorial manager did just that.

Updated memorial page
Emeline B Cook
without parents

Ancestry links memorials of Find A Grave in its search results. Multiple trees incorrectly attribute Emeline as a daughter of Stephen Cook and Elizabeth Vanderhoof. The initial evidence would be the (incorrect) link on Find A Grave and 16-year old Emeline Cook in Stephen's household in 1850 in Rockaway Township.

Sampling of trees at Ancestry
that incorrectly attribute Emeline Cook, wife of Joseph Prosser,
as a daughter of Stephen Cook and Elizabeth Vanderhoof

Please use caution when copying from Find A Grave and Ancestry.

I will copy Emeline's death certificate from 1891 on my next trip to the New Jersey State Archives.

False Daughter

While researching Elizabeth Vanderhoof (1799-1878) and her husband, Stephen H Cook (1797-1853), of Morris County, New Jersey, I found that someone made an error at Find A Grave.

Find A Grave is a great resource for viewing gravestones. The inscriptions can contain full names, relationships, dates, and places. The bonus, as well as the problem, is that memorial pages can be linked in relationships. Ancestry.com links hints directly to Find A Grave, making it very easy to align these relationships into family trees.

An extra daughter, Emeline, was attributed to Stephen and Elizabeth at Find A Grave.

Memorial page at Find A Grave
for Stephen H Cook (1797-1853)
showing daughter Emeline

Emeline Cook (1836-1891) was the wife of Joseph S Prosser (1832-1910). They married in Camden County, New Jersey in 1855. They lived in Camden and Gloucester Counties, which is another clue that Emeline may not have been of the Cooks of Morris County.

Memorial page at Find A Grave
for Emeline Cook (1836-1891), wife of Joseph Prosser

New Jersey death certificates are not online. I can pick up a copy of Emeline's record on my next trip to the Archives. The names of her parents might be provided on this document.

This error may have happened because of the 1850 census. Emeline Cook, age 16, was listed in the household of Stephen Cook in Rockaway, Morris County, New Jersey.

1850 United States Federal Census
Rockaway Township, Morris County, New Jersey
Household of Stephen Cook
Next household is Richard Vanderhoof (1814-1892)
and his second wife Elizabeth Cook (1810-1875)

This Emeline was not a daughter of Stephen, but rather a daughter-in-law. She was Emeline Young (1834-1906), wife of William Henry Cook (1828-1902). A clue is that the household members are listed out of order of age: Henry Cook age 21; Emeline, age 16; Charles age 17. (Lots of information on Charles will be in a future article.)

We have a picture of Emeline Youngs. Her family photo album is preserved at the Denville Museum.

To address the error at Find A Grave, I submitted suggested edits to the memorial manager.