George Cook, the son of George Cook and Elizabeth Philpot, was born January 28, 1828, at a small parish by the name of Brabourne, Kent England.
His parents were very poor, and he suffered many privations in his youth. His mother died when he was ten, leaving five children. The following are their names in the order of their birth: Charlotte, Mary, George, Elizabeth and Harriet. His father afterward married on 26 November 1838 a Sarah Hayward and she born his three daughters. Two of the girls grew to womanhood. Their names were Ann and Sarah. This shows that George was the only boy in the family to live.
During his youth, he worked as a farm laborer, afterward getting a position with a spinster lady by the name of Mary Purshouse. He never attended a regular school in his life, but learned the alphabet at the parish Sunday School.
After his marriage his wife taught him to read, and he was very familiar with the Bible, having read it through a number times. His memory was very good and he could refer to almost any passage at any time.
In the year 1850, he became converted to the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly called Mormonism, and was baptized 25 May 1850 by Elder T. Caffall at Dover, Kent, England.
He was married to Hannah Burrows January 31, 1854, and on March 12, 1854, they sailed from Liverpool for America on the ship John M. Wood (?), intending to go to Utah with the Mormon people. The LDS records for Dover Branch indicated that they left for the "valley". He was also on church records as early 1848 in Dover Branch, Kent, England. They were seven weeks on the ocean, being an old sailing vessel, finally landing at New Orleans May 2nd, where they took a boat up the Mississippi River and Missouri River, stopping at a place called Florence, which is not far from where the city of Omaha now is. Here they camped for some time, preparing to make the long journey over the Rocky Mountains to the Salt Lake Valley.
While here the Cholera broke out among them, and a great many died and were hurriedly buried. Many of them would appear to be in perfect health in the morning, and would be dead and buried before sundown. Conditions were such that they could not keep them. Very few of those stricken recovered, among those few being the subject of this sketch, who was taken critically ill, and no one thought he would recover, but in a few days he was as well as ever with the exception of the weakness incident to such a severe illness.
Finally they were prepared to start on the journey westward. Each family or group had an outfit of its own, consisting of one large wagon [or as it was termed in those days a "Prairie Schooner"] with two or three yoke of oxen and one or two cows. George Cook with his wife Hannah and her sister Louisa and her husband Wm. Kingsford, purchased two yoke of oxen with a wagon and one cow. This what was called an independent company, each family or group owning their own outfit.
Both these men were inexperienced in handling cattle, and therefore did not know what kind to select, and the result being that they purchased one yoke of wild steers and one yoke of very large old cattle. The old cattle soon became sore footed, and at night instead of feeding with the rest would like down to rest, and would be gaunt and thin in the morning. Another thing that was against them was whenever any of the other members of the company were mired in the mud they would always ask for Cook's big cattle to pull them out. The result was that in a few weeks both of the old oxen died on the road and they were left with only one yoke of steers and one cow. By borrowing a cow from another member of the company and working the two cows they were able to make the rest of the journey, although they had many privations and trials to pass through.
In the forepart of October they were caught in a heavy snowstorm, and as their teams were jaded were compelled to wait for assistance which came in the shape of a few young men from Salt Lake Valley with fresh teams, and they reached Salt Lake City on the 28 of October, tired and weary from their long journey but in the enjoyment of good health.
The advice that was given by the authorities of the Church to those who already had homes in Utah was for them to take in those who had just arrived and furnish homes for them during the winter and provide employment for them. In line with this advice George Cook and his wife were provided with a home with a family of Elijhu Pettingill about ten miles north of Salt Lake City, in what was then called Session's Settlement, but now know as Bountiful.
The following spring they moved to Ogden where they procured a city lot on what is now know as Madison Avenue on the block north of Lester Part Square. Here he built an adobe house of two rooms from adobes he made himself. During the four years they resided in Ogden they passed through many hardships and privations, their first four children being born there. The first were a pair of twin boys who died in their infancy. In face, one of them was dead at birth, and the other only lived a short time.
They also suffered for the necessities of life while there, being for months at a time without flour, having a limited amount of bran bread. In the summer of 1857, when the first wheat was threshed, George carried a bushel of wheat on his shoulder to the grist mill at Riverdale, which still stands there, to have it ground into flour which he carried back home, a distance of approximately three or four miles.
It was while residing here that Johnson's Army was sent out by the U. S. Government in the spring of 1858 with the avowed intention of exterminating the Mormons. The main body of the Church deserted their homes and departed for the South, leaving a few men to guard their property, among them being George Cook.
Their headquarters was what was known as Farr's Mill in the northern part of Ogden.
After the army had found that they had been misinformed relative to the attitude of the Mormons toward the government and had been disbanded, George Cook with others traveled south to join their families who had been camping near and is now Payson, Utah County.
Sometime in August they returned to their homes to care for a bounteous harvest, for although, owing to the people moving away, there had been no crops planted, there was a heavy crop of volunteer wheat, it having been as exceptionally rainy season, and the wheat crop was heavy and plump.
They remained in Ogden until the spring of 1859, when on the 17 of March, they moved to South Willard to rent the farm of Elijhu Pettingill, their old time friend and benefactor. In November 1862, George Cook purchased eight acres of land at Willard and also a city lot. He moved his log house from the Pettingill farm to the lot on east side of Main Street where he resided the rest of his life.
He was active in Church work, being an acting teacher nearly all the time he was in Utah. He was a High Priest for a good many years, and a man of sterling character and well thought of by all residents of the community where he resided.
His wife died on the 15 of February 1891, and the remainder of his life he spent a great deal of his time reading the Bible, although he always maintained a little garden on the tract of ground he had first purchased when he moved to Willard.
He died on January 1, 1906, at Willard, Utah, being nearly seventy-eight years of age.
His parents were very poor, and he suffered many privations in his youth. His mother died when he was ten, leaving five children. The following are their names in the order of their birth: Charlotte, Mary, George, Elizabeth and Harriet. His father afterward married on 26 November 1838 a Sarah Hayward and she born his three daughters. Two of the girls grew to womanhood. Their names were Ann and Sarah. This shows that George was the only boy in the family to live.
During his youth, he worked as a farm laborer, afterward getting a position with a spinster lady by the name of Mary Purshouse. He never attended a regular school in his life, but learned the alphabet at the parish Sunday School.
After his marriage his wife taught him to read, and he was very familiar with the Bible, having read it through a number times. His memory was very good and he could refer to almost any passage at any time.
In the year 1850, he became converted to the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly called Mormonism, and was baptized 25 May 1850 by Elder T. Caffall at Dover, Kent, England.
He was married to Hannah Burrows January 31, 1854, and on March 12, 1854, they sailed from Liverpool for America on the ship John M. Wood (?), intending to go to Utah with the Mormon people. The LDS records for Dover Branch indicated that they left for the "valley". He was also on church records as early 1848 in Dover Branch, Kent, England. They were seven weeks on the ocean, being an old sailing vessel, finally landing at New Orleans May 2nd, where they took a boat up the Mississippi River and Missouri River, stopping at a place called Florence, which is not far from where the city of Omaha now is. Here they camped for some time, preparing to make the long journey over the Rocky Mountains to the Salt Lake Valley.
While here the Cholera broke out among them, and a great many died and were hurriedly buried. Many of them would appear to be in perfect health in the morning, and would be dead and buried before sundown. Conditions were such that they could not keep them. Very few of those stricken recovered, among those few being the subject of this sketch, who was taken critically ill, and no one thought he would recover, but in a few days he was as well as ever with the exception of the weakness incident to such a severe illness.
Finally they were prepared to start on the journey westward. Each family or group had an outfit of its own, consisting of one large wagon [or as it was termed in those days a "Prairie Schooner"] with two or three yoke of oxen and one or two cows. George Cook with his wife Hannah and her sister Louisa and her husband Wm. Kingsford, purchased two yoke of oxen with a wagon and one cow. This what was called an independent company, each family or group owning their own outfit.
Both these men were inexperienced in handling cattle, and therefore did not know what kind to select, and the result being that they purchased one yoke of wild steers and one yoke of very large old cattle. The old cattle soon became sore footed, and at night instead of feeding with the rest would like down to rest, and would be gaunt and thin in the morning. Another thing that was against them was whenever any of the other members of the company were mired in the mud they would always ask for Cook's big cattle to pull them out. The result was that in a few weeks both of the old oxen died on the road and they were left with only one yoke of steers and one cow. By borrowing a cow from another member of the company and working the two cows they were able to make the rest of the journey, although they had many privations and trials to pass through.
In the forepart of October they were caught in a heavy snowstorm, and as their teams were jaded were compelled to wait for assistance which came in the shape of a few young men from Salt Lake Valley with fresh teams, and they reached Salt Lake City on the 28 of October, tired and weary from their long journey but in the enjoyment of good health.
The advice that was given by the authorities of the Church to those who already had homes in Utah was for them to take in those who had just arrived and furnish homes for them during the winter and provide employment for them. In line with this advice George Cook and his wife were provided with a home with a family of Elijhu Pettingill about ten miles north of Salt Lake City, in what was then called Session's Settlement, but now know as Bountiful.
The following spring they moved to Ogden where they procured a city lot on what is now know as Madison Avenue on the block north of Lester Part Square. Here he built an adobe house of two rooms from adobes he made himself. During the four years they resided in Ogden they passed through many hardships and privations, their first four children being born there. The first were a pair of twin boys who died in their infancy. In face, one of them was dead at birth, and the other only lived a short time.
They also suffered for the necessities of life while there, being for months at a time without flour, having a limited amount of bran bread. In the summer of 1857, when the first wheat was threshed, George carried a bushel of wheat on his shoulder to the grist mill at Riverdale, which still stands there, to have it ground into flour which he carried back home, a distance of approximately three or four miles.
It was while residing here that Johnson's Army was sent out by the U. S. Government in the spring of 1858 with the avowed intention of exterminating the Mormons. The main body of the Church deserted their homes and departed for the South, leaving a few men to guard their property, among them being George Cook.
Their headquarters was what was known as Farr's Mill in the northern part of Ogden.
After the army had found that they had been misinformed relative to the attitude of the Mormons toward the government and had been disbanded, George Cook with others traveled south to join their families who had been camping near and is now Payson, Utah County.
Sometime in August they returned to their homes to care for a bounteous harvest, for although, owing to the people moving away, there had been no crops planted, there was a heavy crop of volunteer wheat, it having been as exceptionally rainy season, and the wheat crop was heavy and plump.
They remained in Ogden until the spring of 1859, when on the 17 of March, they moved to South Willard to rent the farm of Elijhu Pettingill, their old time friend and benefactor. In November 1862, George Cook purchased eight acres of land at Willard and also a city lot. He moved his log house from the Pettingill farm to the lot on east side of Main Street where he resided the rest of his life.
He was active in Church work, being an acting teacher nearly all the time he was in Utah. He was a High Priest for a good many years, and a man of sterling character and well thought of by all residents of the community where he resided.
His wife died on the 15 of February 1891, and the remainder of his life he spent a great deal of his time reading the Bible, although he always maintained a little garden on the tract of ground he had first purchased when he moved to Willard.
He died on January 1, 1906, at Willard, Utah, being nearly seventy-eight years of age.
George Cook, the son of George Cook and Elizabeth Philpot, was born January 28, 1828, at a small parish by the name of Brabourne, Kent England.
His parents were very poor, and he suffered many privations in his youth. His mother died when he was ten, leaving five children. The following are their names in the order of their birth: Charlotte, Mary, George, Elizabeth and Harriet. His father afterward married on 26 November 1838 a Sarah Hayward and she born his three daughters. Two of the girls grew to womanhood. Their names were Ann and Sarah. This shows that George was the only boy in the family to live.
During his youth, he worked as a farm laborer, afterward getting a position with a spinster lady by the name of Mary Purshouse. He never attended a regular school in his life, but learned the alphabet at the parish Sunday School.
After his marriage his wife taught him to read, and he was very familiar with the Bible, having read it through a number times. His memory was very good and he could refer to almost any passage at any time.
In the year 1850, he became converted to the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly called Mormonism, and was baptized 25 May 1850 by Elder T. Caffall at Dover, Kent, England.
He was married to Hannah Burrows January 31, 1854, and on March 12, 1854, they sailed from Liverpool for America on the ship John M. Wood (?), intending to go to Utah with the Mormon people. The LDS records for Dover Branch indicated that they left for the "valley". He was also on church records as early 1848 in Dover Branch, Kent, England. They were seven weeks on the ocean, being an old sailing vessel, finally landing at New Orleans May 2nd, where they took a boat up the Mississippi River and Missouri River, stopping at a place called Florence, which is not far from where the city of Omaha now is. Here they camped for some time, preparing to make the long journey over the Rocky Mountains to the Salt Lake Valley.
While here the Cholera broke out among them, and a great many died and were hurriedly buried. Many of them would appear to be in perfect health in the morning, and would be dead and buried before sundown. Conditions were such that they could not keep them. Very few of those stricken recovered, among those few being the subject of this sketch, who was taken critically ill, and no one thought he would recover, but in a few days he was as well as ever with the exception of the weakness incident to such a severe illness.
Finally they were prepared to start on the journey westward. Each family or group had an outfit of its own, consisting of one large wagon [or as it was termed in those days a "Prairie Schooner"] with two or three yoke of oxen and one or two cows. George Cook with his wife Hannah and her sister Louisa and her husband Wm. Kingsford, purchased two yoke of oxen with a wagon and one cow. This what was called an independent company, each family or group owning their own outfit.
Both these men were inexperienced in handling cattle, and therefore did not know what kind to select, and the result being that they purchased one yoke of wild steers and one yoke of very large old cattle. The old cattle soon became sore footed, and at night instead of feeding with the rest would like down to rest, and would be gaunt and thin in the morning. Another thing that was against them was whenever any of the other members of the company were mired in the mud they would always ask for Cook's big cattle to pull them out. The result was that in a few weeks both of the old oxen died on the road and they were left with only one yoke of steers and one cow. By borrowing a cow from another member of the company and working the two cows they were able to make the rest of the journey, although they had many privations and trials to pass through.
In the forepart of October they were caught in a heavy snowstorm, and as their teams were jaded were compelled to wait for assistance which came in the shape of a few young men from Salt Lake Valley with fresh teams, and they reached Salt Lake City on the 28 of October, tired and weary from their long journey but in the enjoyment of good health.
The advice that was given by the authorities of the Church to those who already had homes in Utah was for them to take in those who had just arrived and furnish homes for them during the winter and provide employment for them. In line with this advice George Cook and his wife were provided with a home with a family of Elijhu Pettingill about ten miles north of Salt Lake City, in what was then called Session's Settlement, but now know as Bountiful.
The following spring they moved to Ogden where they procured a city lot on what is now know as Madison Avenue on the block north of Lester Part Square. Here he built an adobe house of two rooms from adobes he made himself. During the four years they resided in Ogden they passed through many hardships and privations, their first four children being born there. The first were a pair of twin boys who died in their infancy. In face, one of them was dead at birth, and the other only lived a short time.
They also suffered for the necessities of life while there, being for months at a time without flour, having a limited amount of bran bread. In the summer of 1857, when the first wheat was threshed, George carried a bushel of wheat on his shoulder to the grist mill at Riverdale, which still stands there, to have it ground into flour which he carried back home, a distance of approximately three or four miles.
It was while residing here that Johnson's Army was sent out by the U. S. Government in the spring of 1858 with the avowed intention of exterminating the Mormons. The main body of the Church deserted their homes and departed for the South, leaving a few men to guard their property, among them being George Cook.
Their headquarters was what was known as Farr's Mill in the northern part of Ogden.
After the army had found that they had been misinformed relative to the attitude of the Mormons toward the government and had been disbanded, George Cook with others traveled south to join their families who had been camping near and is now Payson, Utah County.
Sometime in August they returned to their homes to care for a bounteous harvest, for although, owing to the people moving away, there had been no crops planted, there was a heavy crop of volunteer wheat, it having been as exceptionally rainy season, and the wheat crop was heavy and plump.
They remained in Ogden until the spring of 1859, when on the 17 of March, they moved to South Willard to rent the farm of Elijhu Pettingill, their old time friend and benefactor. In November 1862, George Cook purchased eight acres of land at Willard and also a city lot. He moved his log house from the Pettingill farm to the lot on east side of Main Street where he resided the rest of his life.
He was active in Church work, being an acting teacher nearly all the time he was in Utah. He was a High Priest for a good many years, and a man of sterling character and well thought of by all residents of the community where he resided.
His wife died on the 15 of February 1891, and the remainder of his life he spent a great deal of his time reading the Bible, although he always maintained a little garden on the tract of ground he had first purchased when he moved to Willard.
He died on January 1, 1906, at Willard, Utah, being nearly seventy-eight years of age.
His parents were very poor, and he suffered many privations in his youth. His mother died when he was ten, leaving five children. The following are their names in the order of their birth: Charlotte, Mary, George, Elizabeth and Harriet. His father afterward married on 26 November 1838 a Sarah Hayward and she born his three daughters. Two of the girls grew to womanhood. Their names were Ann and Sarah. This shows that George was the only boy in the family to live.
During his youth, he worked as a farm laborer, afterward getting a position with a spinster lady by the name of Mary Purshouse. He never attended a regular school in his life, but learned the alphabet at the parish Sunday School.
After his marriage his wife taught him to read, and he was very familiar with the Bible, having read it through a number times. His memory was very good and he could refer to almost any passage at any time.
In the year 1850, he became converted to the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly called Mormonism, and was baptized 25 May 1850 by Elder T. Caffall at Dover, Kent, England.
He was married to Hannah Burrows January 31, 1854, and on March 12, 1854, they sailed from Liverpool for America on the ship John M. Wood (?), intending to go to Utah with the Mormon people. The LDS records for Dover Branch indicated that they left for the "valley". He was also on church records as early 1848 in Dover Branch, Kent, England. They were seven weeks on the ocean, being an old sailing vessel, finally landing at New Orleans May 2nd, where they took a boat up the Mississippi River and Missouri River, stopping at a place called Florence, which is not far from where the city of Omaha now is. Here they camped for some time, preparing to make the long journey over the Rocky Mountains to the Salt Lake Valley.
While here the Cholera broke out among them, and a great many died and were hurriedly buried. Many of them would appear to be in perfect health in the morning, and would be dead and buried before sundown. Conditions were such that they could not keep them. Very few of those stricken recovered, among those few being the subject of this sketch, who was taken critically ill, and no one thought he would recover, but in a few days he was as well as ever with the exception of the weakness incident to such a severe illness.
Finally they were prepared to start on the journey westward. Each family or group had an outfit of its own, consisting of one large wagon [or as it was termed in those days a "Prairie Schooner"] with two or three yoke of oxen and one or two cows. George Cook with his wife Hannah and her sister Louisa and her husband Wm. Kingsford, purchased two yoke of oxen with a wagon and one cow. This what was called an independent company, each family or group owning their own outfit.
Both these men were inexperienced in handling cattle, and therefore did not know what kind to select, and the result being that they purchased one yoke of wild steers and one yoke of very large old cattle. The old cattle soon became sore footed, and at night instead of feeding with the rest would like down to rest, and would be gaunt and thin in the morning. Another thing that was against them was whenever any of the other members of the company were mired in the mud they would always ask for Cook's big cattle to pull them out. The result was that in a few weeks both of the old oxen died on the road and they were left with only one yoke of steers and one cow. By borrowing a cow from another member of the company and working the two cows they were able to make the rest of the journey, although they had many privations and trials to pass through.
In the forepart of October they were caught in a heavy snowstorm, and as their teams were jaded were compelled to wait for assistance which came in the shape of a few young men from Salt Lake Valley with fresh teams, and they reached Salt Lake City on the 28 of October, tired and weary from their long journey but in the enjoyment of good health.
The advice that was given by the authorities of the Church to those who already had homes in Utah was for them to take in those who had just arrived and furnish homes for them during the winter and provide employment for them. In line with this advice George Cook and his wife were provided with a home with a family of Elijhu Pettingill about ten miles north of Salt Lake City, in what was then called Session's Settlement, but now know as Bountiful.
The following spring they moved to Ogden where they procured a city lot on what is now know as Madison Avenue on the block north of Lester Part Square. Here he built an adobe house of two rooms from adobes he made himself. During the four years they resided in Ogden they passed through many hardships and privations, their first four children being born there. The first were a pair of twin boys who died in their infancy. In face, one of them was dead at birth, and the other only lived a short time.
They also suffered for the necessities of life while there, being for months at a time without flour, having a limited amount of bran bread. In the summer of 1857, when the first wheat was threshed, George carried a bushel of wheat on his shoulder to the grist mill at Riverdale, which still stands there, to have it ground into flour which he carried back home, a distance of approximately three or four miles.
It was while residing here that Johnson's Army was sent out by the U. S. Government in the spring of 1858 with the avowed intention of exterminating the Mormons. The main body of the Church deserted their homes and departed for the South, leaving a few men to guard their property, among them being George Cook.
Their headquarters was what was known as Farr's Mill in the northern part of Ogden.
After the army had found that they had been misinformed relative to the attitude of the Mormons toward the government and had been disbanded, George Cook with others traveled south to join their families who had been camping near and is now Payson, Utah County.
Sometime in August they returned to their homes to care for a bounteous harvest, for although, owing to the people moving away, there had been no crops planted, there was a heavy crop of volunteer wheat, it having been as exceptionally rainy season, and the wheat crop was heavy and plump.
They remained in Ogden until the spring of 1859, when on the 17 of March, they moved to South Willard to rent the farm of Elijhu Pettingill, their old time friend and benefactor. In November 1862, George Cook purchased eight acres of land at Willard and also a city lot. He moved his log house from the Pettingill farm to the lot on east side of Main Street where he resided the rest of his life.
He was active in Church work, being an acting teacher nearly all the time he was in Utah. He was a High Priest for a good many years, and a man of sterling character and well thought of by all residents of the community where he resided.
His wife died on the 15 of February 1891, and the remainder of his life he spent a great deal of his time reading the Bible, although he always maintained a little garden on the tract of ground he had first purchased when he moved to Willard.
He died on January 1, 1906, at Willard, Utah, being nearly seventy-eight years of age.
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