Benjamin William had served in the Virginia and Georgia Lines during the Revolution and returned to Virginia to farm. He is shown in the first Federal Census in 1780 owning five slaves. Benjamin died in 1806. John Cook was the eighth child of Benjamin William Cook and Catherine Brewer. He was born in Franklin County, Virginia, 1792. When John reached the age of 22 years he married Margaret Ditterline August 20, 1814. John and his wife migrated to the extreme southeast corner of Graves County in 1820, just one year after it became a county. The territory was a hunting ground for the Chickasaw Indians. The friendly Indians showed them where water was and good hunting places so they could survive. This area was treeless with a few springs to supply water, therefore it was known as the "Barrens". An area later was known as "Cook Spring, a mile from Boydsville, and it is assumed, without research, that this is the area where John Cook and his wife Margaret Ditterline settled on the state line road of Boydsville Community about 1820, before there were many other white settlers. They put a tent beside their wagon and lived in it for eighteen months. John built a one room log house in the yard. It had a dirt floor and overhead the logs had slabs on top of them to make a floor for the upstairs room where they raised six boys:
William Ditterline Cook (1815-1882)
John Wesley Boyd Cook (1818-1888)
James Johnson Cook (1820-1848)
Edward Robinson Cook (1821-1862)
Lewis Benson Cook (1823- )
George Washington Cook (1826-1906
When John died he was buried on his farm, the first of Cook family burials on his land in the Cook Cemetery.
William Ditterline Cook (1815-1882)
John Wesley Boyd Cook (1818-1888)
James Johnson Cook (1820-1848)
Edward Robinson Cook (1821-1862)
Lewis Benson Cook (1823- )
George Washington Cook (1826-1906
When John died he was buried on his farm, the first of Cook family burials on his land in the Cook Cemetery.
Benjamin William had served in the Virginia and Georgia Lines during the Revolution and returned to Virginia to farm. He is shown in the first Federal Census in 1780 owning five slaves. Benjamin died in 1806. John Cook was the eighth child of Benjamin William Cook and Catherine Brewer. He was born in Franklin County, Virginia, 1792. When John reached the age of 22 years he married Margaret Ditterline August 20, 1814. John and his wife migrated to the extreme southeast corner of Graves County in 1820, just one year after it became a county. The territory was a hunting ground for the Chickasaw Indians. The friendly Indians showed them where water was and good hunting places so they could survive. This area was treeless with a few springs to supply water, therefore it was known as the "Barrens". An area later was known as "Cook Spring, a mile from Boydsville, and it is assumed, without research, that this is the area where John Cook and his wife Margaret Ditterline settled on the state line road of Boydsville Community about 1820, before there were many other white settlers. They put a tent beside their wagon and lived in it for eighteen months. John built a one room log house in the yard. It had a dirt floor and overhead the logs had slabs on top of them to make a floor for the upstairs room where they raised six boys:
William Ditterline Cook (1815-1882)
John Wesley Boyd Cook (1818-1888)
James Johnson Cook (1820-1848)
Edward Robinson Cook (1821-1862)
Lewis Benson Cook (1823- )
George Washington Cook (1826-1906
When John died he was buried on his farm, the first of Cook family burials on his land in the Cook Cemetery.
William Ditterline Cook (1815-1882)
John Wesley Boyd Cook (1818-1888)
James Johnson Cook (1820-1848)
Edward Robinson Cook (1821-1862)
Lewis Benson Cook (1823- )
George Washington Cook (1826-1906
When John died he was buried on his farm, the first of Cook family burials on his land in the Cook Cemetery.
Inscription
Copper plate on cemetery gate names burials at this site
