Cook Family Genealogy

Corporal Cook's grandfather, Cyrus Cook, brought his family to Milton sometime after the birth of his son, Samuel Cook, in Templeton, MA 1809. Cyrus, born in Westminster, MA, 1767, married Lydia Houghton, 1798, in Templeton. Lydia was the daughter of Silas and Lydia (Bent) Houghton of Milton. Cyrus⁶ Cook's ancestors can be traced to Robert Cooke, [b. 1670, Dorchester] son of Robert and Sarah ___ Cooke. Lydia's father Silas, was a descendant of Ralph and Jane (___) Houghton who settled in Milton in 1690. Her grandfather, Joseph³ Bent, was a grandson of the immigrant, John Bent, that settled in Sudbury in 1638. Joseph³ appears in Milton Records in 1697. He was born March 1676, in Sudbury [Wayland], the son of Joseph² and Elizabeth [Bourne] Bent just three months before his father was accidently shot and killed by his brother Peter Bent. Joseph's mother was probably the "Goodie Bent" whose funeral Milton's pastor, Peter Thacher, attended May 15, 1681. Joseph and his siblings lived with their grandparents, Thomas and Elizabeth [Besbeech] Bourne of Marshfield. Following the deaths of his grandparents in 1684 & 1686 he was placed in the guardianship of his uncle John Man, a blacksmith, that resided in Milton, 1679-1693.

Milton records regarding Cyrus Cook are sketchy but he probably relocated from Templeton to the Scotts Woods section of Milton, on or near property belonging to his wife's parents. Cyrus and Lydia had three daughters and three sons. Eunice, the youngest daughter died in 1837 at the age of seventeen. Her gravestone is next to her sister's stone "Miss Lydia Cook" who died April 29, 1850, aged 50. A third sister, Elizabeth, married Pierce Pope in 1837 and relocated to Bridgewater. Artemus is believed to be the eldest of Cyrus's children. He married Sally Sampson August 11, 1828, "both of Milton". She was the daughter of Levi and Sally [Hunt] Sampson. Artemus established residence, about 1830, at what is now 347 Hillside Street. His house and barn, a Colonial/Vernacular, still exist and are properties listed in the Scotts Woods Historic District. Samuel, Cyrus's second son and the father of Charles Cook, the subject of this sketch, was a farmer and a prominent Milton resident [list town offices]. Samuel married Beulah Hunt, January 17, 1837, the daughter of Thomas and Mary [Thayer] Hunt. By 1840 Samuel Cook and his brother-in-law, Charles Hunt, had purchased and divided the 40 acre Samuel Tucker farm on Hillside Street. Hunt kept the Tucker House and Cook built a new home on a knoll just west of Hunt's property. The Samuel Tucker House and the Samuel Cook House are also included among the properties of the Scotts Woods Historic District — Tucker's being at 93 Hillside Street and Cook's at 107 Hillside Street. Amos, Cyrus's third son moved to Roxbury.