Xenophon Cooke, p. 857

XENOPHON COOKE is a representative farmer, and is a descendant of an old time-honored family of Smith township. He is a great-grandson of James Cooke. James (the great-grandfather) was a native of Lancaster county, Penn., where, in 1752, he was united in marriage with a native of the same county, who bore him the following children: James, born August 11, 1758; Dorcas, born October 12, 1764; John, born December 29, 1766; David, born August 16, 1769; and Margaret, born February 28, 1773. Little is known of this family, save that the father followed agricultural pursuits in Lancaster county, Penn., and the three sons moved to Washington county soon after the Revolutionary war. James Cooks was reared to manhood in his native county, and served as a commissioned officer in the Revolution, and about 1785 came to Washington county. He purchased a tract of 649 acres in Smith township, situated about three and one-half miles south of Burgettstown, where he erected a rude cabin, and began to cultivate the virgin soil. On April 17,1788, he was married to Hetty Galbraith, of Lancaster County, Penn., where Mary A. was born May 20, 1793. In 1795 the mother died, and Mary A., the only child then living, was taken to Lancaster county, Penn., by her mother's relatives, and was married to a Mr. Carpenter, of Lancaster, where her descendants still reside. On May 10, 1797, Mr. Cooke made choice of a second wife, in the person of Martha McCombs, of Washington county, and to this union were born the following children: David, born March 28, 1798; Julia A. (wife of James McDonald, a farmer of Washington county), born December 17, 1799; Samuel (deceased on the old homestead in 1879), born April 22, 1803; Jane (wife of Joseph Vance), born August 6, 1806; Dorcas (consort of Moses Lyle), born May 18, 1809; Oliver P, (a farmer of Smith township), born October 23, 1814; and Matilda (married to David Gault of Cross Creek township;), born May, 1817, all now deceased. James Cooke passed all his married life on the farm in Smith township, which eventually became one of the most valuable places of the neighborhood. David Cooke, the eldest son in the above named family, was born and reared on the home farm, and was united in marriage with Agnes B. Ritchey. She was born in 1808, in Harrison county, Ohio, afterward coming with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ritchey, to Washington county. Mrs. Ritchey was a member of the well-known MoWilliams family of Washington county. To the union of David and Agnes (Ritchey) Cooke children were born as follows: John (a carpenter, of Paducah, Ky., afterward enlisting in Company A, One Hundredth Regiment, the "Round Heads," serving until honorably discharged on account of physical disability), Xenophon (of whom further mention is made), Jane A. (Mrs. W. K. Lyle, of Washington, Penn.), Martha J. (deceased wife of Rev. Alexander White, a U. P. minister, of Washington county), Silas (a Presbyterian minister, of Nebraska, also a member of Company R, One Hundred and Fortieth P. V. I., wounded in the battle of the Wilderness), Marietta (wife of Prof. S. C. Farrar, of Allegheny, Penn.) and Oliver R. (a lawyer of the Pittsburgh bar). Although enjoying but meager educational advantages in early life, Mr. Cooke succeeded by close and earnest study in becoming a scholarly man, equal to many of his more favored neighbors. He read Greek and Latin, was a fine mathematician (becoming a prominent civil engineer), all of which he secured by close application after attaining the age of maturity. In his example the lesson is obvious to those get in the prime of life who bemoan the lack or neglect of early education. " Never too late to learn " is a trite maxim, but one whose truth is evident in all cases where people have had the courage and perseverance to devote time (otherwise spent in a less profitable manner) to the acquirement of needed knowledge. Politically Mr. Cooke was formerly a Whig, afterward uniting with the Republican party, and served in several offices. He was a member and liberal supporter of the Presbyterian Church in Cross Creek township. He died December 24, 1857; his widow is now residing in Allegheny, Penn.

Xenophon Cooke was born November 29, 1835, on the farm in Smith township where he is yet residing. On September 23 1863, he was united in marriage with Jane Galbraith, who was born October 20, 1835, daughter of William and Isabella (Welch) Galbraith, of Smith township, and two children have blessed this union: David M. (deceased at the age of twenty-two years) and Bella (an accomplished young lady, living at home). After his marriage Xenophon Cooke settled on the home farm, and has since followed agricultural pursuits. He is a very influential man, and in politics votes the Republican ticket, having been elected to different offices, and was chosen a justice of the peace, but declined to serve. He and his wife are members of the U. P. Church at Burgettstown.

Text taken from page 857 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).

Transcribed January 1997 by Tawna Varner Brown of Midlothian, TX as part of the Beers Project.
Published January 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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