COOK, Major Aaron

1613 - 1690  (77 years)  Submit Photo / Document

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• Name	COOK, Aaron
  Prefix	Major
  Birth	20 Mar 1613	Bridgeport, Dorsetshire, England
  Christening	20 Mar 1614	Bridgeport, Dorsetshire, England
  Gender	Male
  Death	5 Sep 1690	Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States
  Burial	8 Sep 1690	Northampton, Hampshire, Massachusetts, United States
  WAC	20 Dec 1928	SLAKE
  _TAG	Reviewed on FS
  Headstones	Submit Headstone Photo
  Person ID	I51394	Joseph Smith Sr and Lucy Mack Smith
  Last Modified	19 Aug 2021

  
  

  Family ID

  F25708

  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	DENSLOW, Joan ,   b. 1625, Dorsetshire, England Dorsetshire, Englandd. 1674, Hartford, Connecticut (Age 49 years)
  Marriage	Nov 1645	Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut
  Family ID	F25706	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2022

  
  

  Family 2	DENSLOW, Jane ,   b. Abt 1613, Allington, Dorsetshire, England Allington, Dorsetshire, Englandd. 1 Apr 1671, Hartford, Connecticut, United States (Age 58 years)
  Marriage	1649	Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut
  Family ID	F25707	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	24 Jan 2022

  
  

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• Notes

  Originally posted 10 October 2016 by Barrow C Phelps Aaron Cook, 1610-1690, was the son of Aaron Cook of Thorncombe and Bridport, Dorset, England, and Elizabeth Charde, who married (2nd), Thomas Ford. Aaron Cook, 2nd, came to America on the “Mary and John” in 1630 with his step-father’s family. He went to Windsor in 1636; to Northampton in 1661. He was a proprietor at Westfield, Mass., in 1667; was ensign, 1676; and in King Philip’s War was captain of the garrison in Westfield. He was a member of the Windsor Troop of Horse in 1658, and Major of the Hartford Troop in the same year. He was a Representative in 1668. Aaron Cook married (1st) in 1637 his step-sister, usually referred to as “a daughter of Thomas Ford.” It is believed that her name was Mary (or Miiam) and that she was the daughter of Thomas Ford’s first wife, Joan Waye, baptized Aug. 18, 1612. She died some time between 1645, when her last child was born, and 1650, when Aaron Cook married (2nd) Joan (d. April, 1676), dau. of Nicholas Denslow. Aaron Cook married (3rd) Dec. 2, 1676, Elizabeth, dau. of John and Elizabeth (Papp) Nash, of New Haven; married (4th) Rebecca (died Apr. 6, 1701), dau. of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Deming) Foote, widow of Philip Smith. Children: By Mary Ford: 1. Joanna, 1638-1657, Simeon Wolcott. 2. Aaron, b. 1641. 3. Miriam, b. 1643; m. 1661, Joseph Leeds. 4. Moses, b. 1645. Children by Joan Denslow: 5. Samuel, b. 1650. 6. Elizabeth, b. 1653; m. Samuel Parsons. 7. Noah, 1657-1699; m. Sarah, dau. Joseph Nash. (from source "The Mary and John", Maude Pinney Kuhns) Rebecca Foote, born about 1634, married first about 1657 to Lieut. Philip Smith. He died 19 Jan 1685. She second married Maj. Aaron Cooke, of Windsor, CT, and later a first settler of Northampton, MA, 2 Oct 1688, she being then 54 and he 78 years of age. He died 1690, at age 80. Mrs. Cooke died 6 Apr 1701, at age 67. (Great Migration suggests the first wife may not have existed, because he cannot find a record of Mary Cook as a member of Dorchester church. He contends Joan may have been his first wife citing the naming of Aaron's first child Joanna, however Joan Denslow's mother only names three children of her daughter in her will: Elizabeth, Samuel and Noah. These are the three youngest children, born from 1650 on, after a five-year gap in the birth of children to Aaron Cooke.) Aaron came to America on the ship "Mary and John" in 1630 with his step father's family (Thomas Ford). They settled in the area in south Boston now called Dorchester. He was made a Freeman on June 6, 1635 which would have indicated he was a member of the Dorchester church at that time. On 1 September 1634 granted three acres in Dorchester "up Naponset" ; on 22 November 1634 granted six acres for his "small and great lots at Naponset betwixt the Indian Field and the mill" . Granted sixteen acres for a Great Lot, 4 January 1635/6 . Granted "half an acre of ground over against his lot by the brook near the dead swamp to build his house upon," 5 July 1636 . On 2 January 1637/8 the town of Dorchester ordered that "Jo: Kingsley is limited for his marsh in the neck next Good: Gaylor's which was sold him by Aron Cooke to have only 4 acres". After several years a dispute over representation with the Massachusetts Bay Colony government lead to the removal of many to the Hartford, Connecticut area. Among these was Aaron who moved to Windsor and helped found the town in 1636. The next year, he married his step sister Mary Ford who was the daughter of Thomas Ford and his first wife Joan Waye. Connecticut jury, 1 June 1643, December 1644, 9 October 1645, 29 October 1646, 24 May 1647, 2 September 1647, 7 March 1649/50, 15 May 1650 Called the court of Magistrates as "Capt: Aron Cooke," 11 October 1655. "Lieutenant Cooke is to be Commander in Chief" of a company of men to be prepared to go against the Dutch, 21 May 1653. On 11 March 1657/8 "Capt. Aron Cooke" is in the Windsor section of a list of troopers .He was a member of the Windsor troop of horse and a Major of the Hartford troop in 1658. In 1661, another dispute broke out over representation in government and the role of the church. Aaron left with many of the original Mary and John settlers to found the town of Northampton, Mass. After seven years there, he was a proprietor at Westfield in 1667, ensign in 1676, and Captain of the Westfield garrison during King Phillip's War. It is at Windsor that we first see Aaron as a woodworker. The Museum at Historic Deerfield calls Aaron the founder of the "Ogee Moulding Group" of woodworkers. This same organization also speculates that Nathaniel Cook may have apprenticed for a time with Aaron, since Nathaniel used the same style of joinery and cabinet making for the rest of his life in Windsor. William Pynchon of Springfield often did business with Aaron and there are numerous payments to Aaron listed in his account books from 1652 to 1690 for various carpentry projects. One such project may have been the cradle currently on display at the Josiah Day House in West Springfield. In 1663, Aaron was awarded the contract to build the second Northampton Meeting House. Aaron was a man of character and energy and was popular wherever he located. He was a civil and military leader in Windsor for 23 years. In 1653 he received 50 acres in what was to become Simsbury and was appointed lieutenant in command of 60 men "to be ready at a days warning to operate against the Dutch". Each town had a committee to press men into service for an expedition. On May 28, 1655 he was chosen Captain in Windsor by a vote of 87 to 19. In 1656 he was ordered to summon people to the meetings "by trumpet and drum on top of the meeting house". In 1657 he became a member of the first troop of horsemen ever raised in Connecticut under Major John Mason the celebrated Indian fighter. Aaron Cook was one of the most prominent men of the first settlers of Northampton. A man of more than ordinary energy and ability, he took part in the settlement of Northampton and three other towns. In 1662 he was a selectman from Northampton. In 1668, he represented the town in the General Court and was on the committee to lay out the highways in the area. In 1663 he was made a Captain and afterwards was chairman of the committee on military affairs. He became an expert wolf hunter and in one three year period was paid for 27 wolf heads, which had a bounty of 40 shillings each. It is said that he sent one wolf head in for the bounty with his young daughter Elizabeth. After seven years in Northampton he helped settle Westfield where he received 50 acres on Little River Street in January 1668. He remained there for ten years (1668-1678). He had a license to keep an ordinary (tavern) from March 1668 to 1672. In March of 1672, he was elected to the Court along with George Phelps and Joseph Whiting. Their first case involved the "wearing of silk in a flaunting manner" by three of the inhabitants. He also served on the town building committee which was responsible for the first mill and several bridges. In 1678 he returned to Northampton. Back in Northampton he was elected magistrate which involved serving on the county court, marrying couples, and adjudicating local disputes. On March 27, 1683 he served on the Witchcraft trial of Mary Webster of Hadley. The ruling was that there was sufficient evidence to send her to Boston for further trial. In Boston, Mary was found innocent of the charge. In 1685 he was made Captain of the Northampton Company and in 1688 Governor Andros promoted him to Major. He continued to lead the Northampton militia until his death at the age of 80. As captain, he had a copy of the English book "The Compleat Body of the Art Military" by Lieutenant Colnel Richard Elton first published around 1648. This instruction manual for militia drill was left to his son Aaron the captain of the Hadley troop. He owned considerable land and at his death he owned property in four towns in Connecticut and Massachusetts. His estate was 526 pounds. Aaron's tomb is located in the Bridge St. Cemetary in Northampton. The original stone is enclosed by a new monument erected in 1888 by Josiah Parsons Cook. This new monument states "Here lyeth the body of Major Aaron Cooke aged about 80 years who died September the Vth Anno Dom. 1690. In honor of Aaron Cooke a leader of the Puritans, one of the founders of Northampton this monument has been erected by Josiah Parsons Cooke EDUCATION: Although his inventory does not include them, Aaron Cooke bequeathed several bibles and military books to various of his heirs. ESTATE: On 8 September 1653 "Lieutenant Cooke is allowed fifty acres of meadow in Massacoe [Simsbury]," and in May 1661 "Lt. Cooke owns [this land] to be in his father Ford's improvement". On 14 March 1660/1 "Capt. Cook is required to desist in any further labor on the lower farm at Mussaco, until the matter be issued at General Court, in May next", and on 16 May 1661 the court ordered respecting "Capt. Aaron Cook's grant at Mussaco" that the grant is still in force . In his will, dated [illegible] August 1690 and proved 24 October 1690, "Aaron Cooke Sen[io]r of Northampton" bequeathed that as "my loving son Noah hath on his marriage my inheritance at Westfield given him, as my loving son Aaron had my inheritance at Windsor given him at his marriage, and as much as my son Noah hath left his dwelling at Hartford to come to look to my [decline?] & nurse me in my age at Northampton, I do will & bequeath my house & barn ... to my loving son Noah ... I mean my house in Northampton, likewise all my meadow ... with my pasture land next my brother John Strong's ... my son Noah paying my debts and giving such legacies as I shall after express as soon as he can do it without selling off the land, namely unto his brother my loving son" £40 if he releases the estate from any claims from him