Cooks Family

[heymarky]

After reading a number of posts and especially the friendly, helpful replies, I signed righth up.

I have so many questions / mysteries / missing pieces that I'm having trouble coming up with single-question posts!

Cheers to you all,

Mark Dyer
Looking (in Scotland) for:
Dyer, Dyet, McBean, McBain, Reid, and probably more

[LesleyB]

Hi Mark
...and a warm welcome to Talking Scot
Looking forward to your posts - once you 've sorted out your questions!!

Best wishes
Lesley

[Cookiefj]

Hi everyone!

I heard about TalkingScot after making contact with my dads second cousin through genes reunited. I asked him how he came up with some of the answers on our grt (grt) uncles who moved to America. I am interested in my grt Uncle who went over to America and (I believe) never came back. All I know is his name, John Cook, his birthdate of 10/07/1892 and that he was there in 1938 when his parents had a photo of the family taken for their 50th wedding anniversary and his picture was pieced in. Anyway, I have since been sidetracked (which I often am) and have recently asked for help on my grt grt grandmother Janet McLean. I've had some good responses and am enjoying following up on the leads.

Great site - I wish I'd found it earlier as by reading the queries it gives me ideas as to how to search my own family.

F-J

[AnneM]

Welcom FJ and may you get lots of help with all your queries whether on this side of the pond or the other.

Anne

[heymarky]

There are two John Cooks in the 1930 US Census who were born in Scotland around 1892. Let's see, the 1930 Census was taken in April, so your John Cook had not had his birthday yet, so his estimated birth year would be 1893. Only one of the candidate John Cooks age matches:

He lives in Clarkstown, Rockland (county), New York. Living on Lenox Avenue.
His native tongue is 'Scotch', Veteran of WWI.
He is a Laborer in a Quarry.
He immigrated in 1903 and has been naturalized (is a US citizen)
Married at age 30 (about the time he immigrated)

Wife: Ella, 26 years old, self and parents born in Pennsylvania.
Son: John M, 1 month (?) old (some scribbles by the age, could
be 1 1/2 over 12)

The other John Cook is married, but his wife is not with him. He is a machinist in an autoworks.

Oh-uh, bad news: found a WWI draft registration for John Major Cook, born 27 Dec 1893 in Scotland. This is probably the one that I just typed in lots of info for.

Oh well, maybe someone else is looking for that John Cook.

[SarahND]

Hi Mark,
Our minds were working on the same problem at the same time... There is a John Cook in the SSDI, born 10 Jul 1892, who died in June 1965. He obtained his Social Security card in the state of Ohio, but his last residence is not given.
Looking in Ohio in the 1930 census, there is a John Cook in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, age 38, married at age 28 (but no wife in sight), born in Scotland. He is a machinist and is boarding in a house with lots of other Scots. He came over to the U.S. in 1925.

This is the second one you found! My vote is for him... We'll see what F-J thinks about it
Regards,
Sarah

[Cookiefj]

Wow! Thanks for that.

I keep thinking that Ohio is the most obvious place he would go as it seems some of his uncles went over there and they weren't much older than him. I did find a death record on Ancestry for a John Cook in Ohio. The date 1965 rings a bell but I've lost it now so I'll have to trail through again to find it! I had also found (and managed to keep!) the 1930 census from Cleveland. Does anyone know if there is a way of proving if this John Cook is the one I'm looking for, i.e. are there any sites where I can find some documentation from the US which would have clues such as parents names? I tried ship passenger lists but it seems a lot of John Cooks who went to the US worked their way there.

F-J

[SarahND]

Hi F-J,
I have never done this, but supposedly if you send away for the actual SS application, there is a lot more information given than is in the index. According to ancestry.com, this is what you may find:

What other information is available from the Social Security Administration?

The Social Security Administration has a microfilmed copy of every individual's original Social Security application (known as the SS-5), as well as claims files. These documents contain additional information not available in the SSDI such as birth place, maiden name, and parents’ names. (Porter 1999)

More specifically, The application form (SS-5) contains the following information:

Full name
Full name at birth (including maiden name)
Present mailing address
Age at last birthday
Date of birth
Place of birth (city, county, state)
Father's full name "regardless of whether living or dead"
Mother's full name, including maiden name, "regardless of whether living or dead"
Sex and race
Ever applied for SS number/Railroad Retirement before? Yes/No
Current employer's name and address
Date signed
Applicant's signature

So it certainly sounds like it would be worth the $$ for you. Since the information of last residence is not found in the SSDI, there is no guarantee he was still in Ohio by the time he died, but was there when he filled out the original form.

Here is the link to rootsweb, which will tell you how to get a copy of the form.

http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ssdi/contact.html

Good luck
Sarah

[Cookiefj]

Thanks Sarah

It looks like that is the best way to go so I'm going to give it a try.

Will let you know how I get on.

F-J