Julia Cook is my great great grandmother. While researching her life, I often stumble upon family trees on-line that have her confused with another Julia Cook. 

It is my intention to set the record straight with solid documentation to separate and define the three women named Julia Cook who were born in Union County, South Carolina in the 1800s.

Before I begin, let me say that, throughout this article, I shall spell Cook without the “e” on the end. I am aware that the name was spelled both Cook and Cooke.

The Cook family of Grindal Shoals has Irish origins. My earliest known Cook ancestor is John Cook, born circa 1715 in County Antrim, Province of Ulster, Ireland. He married an Irish lass — Sarah Fulton — and their children born in Ireland were as follows:

• John
• Hugh
• Robert
• Nancy
• Elizabeth
• Thomas
• Sarah

In the early 1700s, in search of a better life and religious freedom, the Irish from the northern province of Ulster began a mass immigration to colonial America. These Irish men and women were often Presbyterians of Scottish descent and were known as Scots-Irish. 

These early immigrants arrived and settled in New England: from Massachusetts down to Pennsylvania. John Cook, his wife Sarah Fulton, and their sons and daughters were part of this Ireland-to-America wave of immigration.  John Cook took an oath in court and was naturalized in Pennsylvania in 1757.

By the 1760s, great numbers of Scots- Irish had made their way down south through Virginia, North Carolina, and into South Carolina. 

After the death of her husband in Pennsylvania, Sarah Fulton Cook moved her family to South Carolina.  She had settled near Grindal Shoals north of the Pacolet River by 1772.  Her Last Will and Testament was dated May 4, 1783.

The Cook family from Ireland intermarried with many families in Union County, South Carolina — Fowler, Mabry, Hames, Foster, Smith, Brandon, Bentley, Blackwood, Ivey, Adams — and there are scores of Scot-Irish descendants walking around today likely unaware of their Gaelic beginnings.

I am going to make a rather bold statement that all of the men, women, and children in Union and Cherokee Counties who have a Cook ancestor in their family tree are descended from John Cook and Sarah Fulton.

My paternal grandfather had a grandfather who was a Cook. My paternal grandmother’s grandmother was a Cook. Although I am sure that they did not know, my paternal grandparents were cousins. 

Now I shall get to the business at hand: sorting out the three Julia Cooks of the 1800s.

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JULIA COOK 1827-1867

My Julia Cook was born circa 1827, and her birth does involve a brick wall. I do not know the name of her mother and father. After careful and extended analysis of census records, it is my opinion that she was either the youngest daughter of John Cook (b. 1770 to 1780) or the oldest daughter or Mathias Cook (b. 1800-1810

Never mind which Cook fathered Julia — John or Mathias; it has been proven by DNA testing that she was Irish and of the Cook family. If you are remotely interested on how I came to this conclusion, please leave a comment and I will reply.

What is not uncertain is that she married my great great grandfather Franklin Mabry (1824-1879) circa 1845. 

Franklin Mabry was the son of Thomas Mabry (1788–1860) and Zilla Hames (1793–1860). 

Franklin Mabry and Julia Cook had the following children:

• Mary Caroline Mabry (1845–1902)
• Benjamin Franklin Mabry (1847–1925)
• Junius Z. Mabry (1849–1866)
• John C. Mabry (1850–)
• William Thomas Mabry (1852–1911)
• Sarah Adeline “Addie” Mabry (1854–1921)
• Joseph Daniel Mabry (1856–1902)
• Emily Mabry (1861–1903)
• James B. Mabry (1866–1867)

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Julia Cook Mabry was recorded in the 1850 and 1860 census records with husband Franklin Mabry and their expanding family. 

The 1870 census and new wife Missouri Catherine Kennitt bear witness to Julia’s 1867 date of death on the headstone that marks her grave at Corinth Baptist Church

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Julia Cook Mabry’s son James was born in 1866, and died in 1867. I have to wonder if Julia died from complications of childbirth, or did she and her infant son share an illness that took their lives, one after the other?

Julia Cook Mabry lies in the graveyard at Corinth Baptist Church, on the north side of the Pacolet River, not far from where her ancestors once settled.

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JULIA COOK 1847-1902

Julia Cook was born December 25, 1847 to parents Alfred Cook (1815–1887) and Nancy Jane Foster (1813–1849). 

Alfred Cook was the son of William Cook (1773-1850), son of Thomas Cook (1750-1820), son of Irish immigrant John Cook and his wife Sarah Fulton.

Nancy Jane Foster Cook died in 1849, and her daughter Julia Cook is found in the 1850 household of her maternal grandparents, James Foster (1784–1854) and Jinny Miller Foster (1786–1864).

Julia Cook was in the 1860 household of her father Alfred Cook, and the 1870 and 1880 households with husband Joseph Franklin Blackwood (1842–1900).

Julia Cook and Joseph Franklin Blackwood had the following children:

• Susan Talula “Lula”Blackwood (1866–1929)
• Martha Blackwood (1868–)
• John L. Blackwood (1869–1946)
• Monroe Smith Blackwood (1872–1956)
• William Belton Blackwood (1874–1940)
• James Randolph Blackwood (1876–1940)
• Robert Blackwood (1878–)
• Etta Jane Blackwood (1880–1912)
• Nolia Pacolet Blackwood (1882–)
• Joseph E. Blackwood (1884–1886)
• George Lifus Blackwood (1886–1965)
• Alpha Blackwood (1888–1908)
• Bessie Blackwood (1892–1917)

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Joseph Franklin Blackwood died in 1900. Julia Cook Blackwood died two years later, on September 15, 1902. She was buried at Mesopotamia United Methodist Church Cemetery, northeast of Grindal Shoals.

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JULIA COOK 1852-1945

Julia Cook (1852-1945) was the daughter of William Cook Jr. (1806-1860) and his wife Lucinda Golden (1812-1861).

William Cook Jr. was another son of William Cook, Sr, and the brother of Alfred Cook.

Julia Cook, daughter of Alfred, was a first cousin of Julia Cook, daughter of William, Jr.

Julia Cook –daughter of William Cook, Jr— was married twice. Only recent DNA testing and in-depth analysis of census records brought this to light.

This link will explain the complicated relationships between Julia Cook and her two husbands:

WILLIAM FOWLER (1795-before 1860) Married to Rhoda: Answers and More Questions

Julia Cook’s first marriage was to a Cobb, most likely George Scott Cobb (1847–1927). Their son –whose name was eventually changed to James Monroe Fowler– was born in 1876.

The Fowler surname for her first born son fathered by a Cobb was, no doubt, influenced by her second marriage to James Monroe Fowler (1858–1931), whom she married circa 1880. This information is obtained from the 1900 census which also stated that she had given birth six times and had four children still living.

There were three known children born of her second marriage with her Fowler husband:

• Minnie Fowler (1881–1962)
• Forest Eldred Fowler (1884–1926)
• Marvin McAddam Fowler (1889–1927)

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Julia departed this world on February 13, 1945, her death certificate stating a fractured femur and pneumonia as the cause. 

The names of William Cook and Lucinda Golden were entered into the spaces provided for her parents.

There is a headstone at Gilead Baptist Church Cemetery just outside of Jonesville, SC for James Monroe Fowler. There is no marker for his wife Julia Cook Fowler, although she must lie near her husband. 

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It is my hope that all of the above information will help researchers understand the differences as well as the connections between the three Julia Cooks. 

Cook, Mabry, Fowler, Hames. These are my people and perhaps they are yours too.

I am closing with another link which will lead to a very brief article explaining the Smith Cook connections with the Fowler family. 

The SMITH COOK men of Union County, SC & Their FOWLER Family Connections