Walter Cooke had two wives. Were they surnamed Brenton and Holbrook?

Question

Walter Cooke (questionable PGM) has wives listed on his profile

Catherine Brenton and Experience Holbrook. They are mostly unsourced. Their alleged parents are mostly unsourced.

The bio states that available records do not give them surnames.

Anyone got a good source for these surnames? Otherwise they need to be changed to Unknown.

Answer 1

Negative results, in case others are looking, also.

I couldn't find indications of LNAB for either wife of Walter Cook(e). As mentioned below (Will of William Brenton), William Brenton (of Rhode Island) had a sister Catharine Cook, but no connection to Walter Cook(e)..

- child Cooke mentioned above, born in Weymouth to Walter Cooke and Experience ---.

- Vital Records from the NEHGS Register v128:154, April 1974
Notes and Corrections section. "Catherine, Wife of Walter Cooke of Mendon," submitted by Jane F Fiske. She has "... mixing-up of facts led to the belief that she [wife Catherine] was a second wife, and Experience [was] shown to belong to someone else," referencing Chamberlain's History of Weymouth, and Snow-Estes Ancestry. I couldn't determine why Ms Fiske came to that conclusion.

- History of Weymouth, Massachusetts, in four volumes. Vol. 3. Genealogy of Weymouth Families by George Walter Chamberlain, M.S. Weymouth Historical Society. Howard H Joy, President. Under the direction of the Town. 1923. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=njp.32101067881407;view=1up;seq=5. p 174. Walter Cooke - "His first wife was Experience ---, and his second wife was Catherine ---, who died at Mendon, 2 Jan 1695-96. He died there Jan. 1695-96." No indication of LNAB for either wife.

- The Snow-Estes Ancestry, Nora E Snow, Hillburn, New York, 1939. www.archive.org. p 102-3. Mentions wife Catharine ---. Does not mention other spouse(s).

- The genealogical dictionary of Rhode Island : comprising three generations of settlers who came before 1690 : with many families carried to thefourth generation. by Austin, John Osborne, 1849-1918. www.archive.org. Under William Brenton: "1673, Feb 9 Will – proved 1674, Nov 13, at Newport where he died" - bequests “…  To sister Catharine Cook’s children, [Pounds]20.” No indication that that Catharine (Brenton) Cook was wife of Walter, or was specifically located in Weymouth (or anywhere).

EDIT: Torrey's Marriages has "COOKE, Walter ... & ?1/wf Catherine [ALDRICH] (-1696) (doubtful; no evidence)." I couldn't access all his references, but found no ALDRICH. Among references: "Hill #1 53." which is Bartlett, Joseph Gardner, John Hill of Dorchester, Mass., 1633, and Five Generations of His Descendants, Also Ancestral Lines of Some Families Intermarried with His Descendants and Colonial and Revolutionary Records. www.archive.org. Couldn't determine what "53" referred to (total 22 pgs) and no individual numbered as 53.

Comments

Thank you Bruce. That's very helpful.

Answer 2

Here's a Walter Cook whose wife, named Experience had a Cook child in Weymouth, Norfolk, MA in 1662. 

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F45T-NTY 

Comments

Link doesn’t work for me.

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I believe Frank is referencing:

Familysearch.org – search F.N.: walter, L.N.: cook; Any Place: massachusetts, Year Range: 1620-1700
In search results:
Mass Births and Christenings, 1639-1915
Cook, female, born 9 Nov 1662, Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts; father: Walter Cook; mother: Experience

[No maiden name indicated for Experience - bjv]

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Walter Cook

mentioned in the record of Cook

Name	Walter Cook
Sex	Male
Wife	Experience
Daughter	Cook

Other information in the record of Cook

from Massachusetts Births and Christenings

Name	Cook
Gender	Female
Birth Date	09 Nov 1662
Birthplace	Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts
Father's Name	Walter Cook
Mother's Name	Experience

•  
•  
• No image available

Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915

Indexing Project (Batch) Number	I01448-0
System Origin	Massachusetts-EASy
GS Film number	2031513
Reference ID	pg 48

Citing this Record

"Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915," database, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F45T-NTY : 4 December 2014), Walter Cook in entry for Cook, 09 Nov 1662; citing Weymouth, Norfolk, Massachusetts, pg 48; FHL microfilm 2,031,513.

Answer 3

Walter Cooke, born 1621, son of Thomas 

Walter Cooke, born 1618, son of Tho.

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NYBQ-TVX

https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NNVZ-1VD

Comments

Thanks, Frank. But Anne is seeking sources for the names of his spouses.

Answer 4

 

Walter Cook

Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records

Name	Walter Cook
Event Type	Death
Event Date	05 Jan 1695
Event Place	Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
Gender	Male

View the original document. The original may contain more information than was indexed.

Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001

Reference ID	v 33
GS Film Number	855377
Digital Folder Number	007011111
Image Number	00039

Citing this Record

"Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch(https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29P-MX7T : 3 November 2017), Walter Cook, 05 Jan 1695; citing Death, Mendon, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States, , town clerk offices, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 855,377.

Answer 5

Katherine Brenton (b1628 England and d1/2/1695 Mendon Ma) was his wife

Experience Cooke b9/9/1662 was his daughter. She married Deacon Peter Adams (b7/20/1653 d12/8/1723 Medfield Ma) in 1680.

Please fix the duplicate records for Walter Cooke’s wife, I’m new to this and don’t want to merge and mess anything up.

Comments

Hi Jaime, Walter did have a wife Experience. She was his first wife and we know she existed because she was named in the birth record of one of his children. I've put her profile back to before you tried to turn her into Katherine.

Walter had another wife Cathorn (in her death record) who I suppose is Catherine. Do you have a valid source, such as a primary record or peer-reviewed genealogical journal for the surname Brenton?

Although the name was certainly spelled Cooke it was also spelled Cook as in their death record. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q29P-MX7T

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I’m so sorry if I caused you any trouble by changing... can you access this link? Here there are links to primary sources:https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/19524222/person/18024654669/gallery

I was assuming that it was sloppy record keeping and Experience was listed as wife incorrectly instead of as daughter as her dates don’t match up. And Cathorn is another example of inaccuracies on this document. 

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So Walter Cooke and Katherine Brenton had a daughter named Experience (Cooke) Adams who married Deacon Peter Adams. Experience and Peter then had a son called Peter as well. This Peter married Sara Hill and they named their daughter Experience Adams too. 

See link: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/19524222/person/380082253242/story

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Walter Cooke and probably Experience, his first wife, had a daughter Experience Cook who married Peter Adams.

I don't see anything on the attachments to the Ancestry tree that indicate that Cathorn/Catherine, second wife of Walter Cooke was named Brenton.

Answer 6

Katherine Brenton was from England not Rhode Island. And Cooke is spelled with an (e) at the end