Joseph Cook

BIRTH 25 Feb 1683, Wallingford, Connecticut

PARENTS Samuel and Hope Parker Cook

MARRIAGE

(1) Eleanor Johnson, 14 Oct 1714, Wallingford

CHILDREN: 1. Phebe b. 7 Oct 1715, Wallingford

2. Benjamin b. 5 Jan 1718, Wallingford

3. Daniel b. 19 Aug 1720, Wallingford

4. Walter b. 21 Dec. 1722, Wallingford

5. Joseph b. 18 Jan. 1726, Wallingford

6. Lois b. 23 May 1729, Wallingford

7. Lambert b. 7 Feb. 1732, Wallingford

8. Hannah b. 15 Nov. 1735, Wallingford

DEATH 7 Nov 1764, Goshen, Litchfield, Connecticut

The ninth child of five sons and four daughters, Joseph was born in Wallingford, New Haven, Ct. which his parents, Samuel and Hope Parker Cook had helped establish in 1670. Wallingford Vital Records incorrectly record a first marriage for him to Abigail ___. However, Abigail married Joseph Cooles/Cole who remarried after Abigail died about the same time Joseph Cook married Eleanor Johnson. Wallingford was his home until he was 57 years old when new land opened for settlement in Litchfield County, the northwest corner of Connecticut.

Litchfield County was the last in Connecticut to be settled and the first to be sold rather than given as free shares to settlers. Goshen was sold at New Haven in December 1737 at 60 pounds a share with the requirement that settlement begin in two years. Lots were picked by chance drawing and 28 families moved there immediately. Joseph drew lot Number 16 and received land at the top of what became known as Town Hill because some thought it would be the center of the new town.

Already established in Wallingford, his sons began moving west and north. Daniel bought land next to his father’s in Goshen and his family remained there for five generations. Walter and Lambert bought land a few miles north in Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The family center began to encompass the southwest corner of Massachusetts and the northwest corner of Connecticut.

Joseph died in Goshen at the age of 82 years on November 7, 1764. His probate indicated that he had done well farming in Goshen. Eleanor’s estate was probated three years later on December 21, 1767.