| General Family Notes | |||||||||||
| NOTES and DOCUMENTS RELATED TO THE COOK'S | |||||||||||
 James Samuel Cook in early 1900's, about 1910. |
 A group of men and boys at James Cook's store at Gibson in about 1910. * If anyone can identify any of these men please let Jim Cook know it ! |
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 James S. and his wife Ada Alice (Nelson) Cook. |
 A copy of part of a page from the 1840 Census in Alabama with a listing of several Cook men - Benjamin Cook, William Cook and George Cook. At this time it is thought that George Cook's oldest son, Valentine, was the Father of Charles Cook of Bates. |
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| James S. Cook's Obituary in 1918 | ||||||||||
| James S. Cook was a hard working farmer and merchant, living in the Gibson area most of his life. He was reported to have had numerous teams of mules and wagons that were used to carry and sale merchandise in the Oklahoma Territory. He also raised corn and cotton in the Poteau River bottoms near Gibson and had a grits mill on Cedar Creek where he milled corn for his and others use. He had tuberculosis in his last years and the flu epidemic during that time quite possibly was the cause of his death. The words of the following resolution of respect makes some very truthful comments upon his life as testfied by most people that knew him. | ||||||||||
| The Advance Reporter 11 July 1918 James S. Cook's Obituary To the Worshipful Master, Wardens and Brothers of Weeks Lodge No. 623 F. & A.M: |
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| We, your committee report the following resolutions of respect in honor of Bro. James S. Cook: Bro. J.S. Cook was born Sept. 23rd, 1878, died April 27th, 1918. Bro. Cook was a good citizen. Had been a member of the Baptist church for several years. Was made a Master Mason April 10, 1909, and lived an upright life, was highly respected by all who knew him. He left four little children, his wife being dead two years before he died. Such will be the case with us all. We will have to submit our lives in the hands of Him who doeth all things well which we'll all have to say, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Therefore be it resolved that we extend our heart felt sympathy for the children. May the good Lord bless them in their sad bereavement. Also: that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Waldron Reporter for publication. And a copy spread on our minutes and kept on the orderies of our Lodge. |
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| Respectfully submitted, T.R Bums, J.S. Haywood, E.R Minor, Committee. | ||||||||||
| From the pen of Iva Cook Plummer - 1990 - A daughter of James S. Cook | ||||||||||
| A short note of Iva Cook's memories of her childhood in Gipson. This note is an exact transcription of her own words. Iva Cook married Irvin Plummer on March 4th, 1923 and lived in a house on her fathers place for several years. They had two children Glenda and Jack Plummer. In the 1930's they moved to Redlands, California and lived there until they retired at which time they returned to Mount Ida, Arkansas in about 1964. In the late 1980's due to poor health they moved back to California to live with their daughter, Glenda. | ||||||||||
| Iva Cook Plummers Early years in Gibson | ||||||||||
| My father was born in Batesville, Ark. The family moved to Cauthron. My Grandfather passed away and Grandma married Lewis Walker. Her name was Susan. My mother was born in Stringtown (Boles), Oklahoma. They were travelling by wagon to Cauthron, Ark.
They camped at night and cooked on a campfire and my Grandmother Nelson was burned to death. I don't know any particulars about it. My Grandfather Nelson had already passed away, and momma was raised by her Uncle Bobby Nelson and her Grandma Nelson. She had
no brothers or sisters. My father had one brother, Oliver Cook for whom my oldest brother was named, Oliver Raymond Cook. Oliver married May Farmer and they had 2 or 3 children but only one lived, Myrtle Cook. She was my only first cousin. My folks first home was a homestead at the foot of the mountains South of Cauthron. There they built a log cabin and a boy named Oliver Raymond was born and a girl named Esta Mae. They built a log cabin which was larger near the road where I was born, the third one (Iva Cook). We lived there a few years and my father bought a nice home down near Bates, a community called Gibson. There I lived until I married. The home had belonged to Dr. Kline. This was a beautiful valley between Poteau Mountain and Blackfork Mountain. I was about 4 years old when we moved there. It was a village which had a church, store(general store) that had everything from soup to nuts. Lots of people came there to trade. Every Saturday especially the parking places were covered with wagons and teams of horses since there were no cars to speak of. This was a beautiful valley between Poteau and Blackfork Mountains. The settlement was called Gibson. There was a General Store, blacksmith shop owned by Grandpa Burns. They were nice neighbors. They had a son & family who lived in the yard. They were very close families and good neighbors to everyone. Grandpa Burns had a blacksmith shop and a very good one, with lots of work to do. The only one close. The son Tom Burns had a grist mill also a barber shop with an ice cream parlor(!) and soup and sandwiches. There were several children in the Settlement and they would gather every evening in the BIG road (we called it) and played games until dark. Those were the 'good ole days'. There were a few years that I do not remember what happened, only that we were to school in the one room school house. I always enjoyed going to school. Our pasttime was studying our lessons after supper for the next day of school. I started to school at the age of four. The school was not crowded and I insisted on going to school. We carried drinking water from a spring which my father kept cleaned out, walled up and was real good water. It was on his land. He owned 624 acres and he kept it all in good condition. He gave several men work and I heard in later I years he was very nice to them. He owned half interest in the General Store and he would bring them food from the store and kept them well fed. He had share croppers and also had renters so we always had children to play with. Everyone was an equal. Most everyone was desirable to play with. |
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