Jones County Georgia Cemetery Cook Family Cemetery File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Bev Barney" Table of Contents page: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/jones.htm Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm Chain of Title The cemetery is located within the 202.5 acres of Land Lot 20, District 9, in what was originally designated as Baldwin County. In the summer of 1806 the Georgia General Assembly passed an act providing for the distribution of the land demarcated as Wilkinson and Baldwin counties. On December 12, 1807, Sarah Granberry was a fortunate drawer in the land lottery and was awarded Land Lot 20 in District 9, as shown in Figure ** (Superior Court, Baldwin County, Plat Book PP:118). During some point in the following three years the land came into possession of Larry Granberry, who may have been Sarah's son. On November 18, 1810, Larry Granberry sold the property to John J. Earnest (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book B:530). Earnest sold parcels of Land Lot 20 during the ensuing seven years. In the spring of 1813 he sold a portion of Land Lot 20 (acreage not calculated on deed) to Samuel Cook (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book D:317). Four years later, Earnest included the remainder of Land Lot 20 along with Land Lot 21, in a sale of 300 acres to David White (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book G:310). White held his Land Lot 20 acreage until 1825, when he sold it to Samuel Cook for $3,000. Meanwhile, Cook sold a two acre parcel to Daniel Rosser for $60 (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book E:111). The date for this transaction was April 1, 1812 (recorded on October 22, 1813). No extant deeds were discovered showing Samuel Cook to have owned any of Land Lot 20 prior to his partial purchase of it from Earnest in 1813, therefore, it is assumed that the 1812 date is inaccurate. Daniel Rosser sold his two acre tract to Samuel Dennis on December 24, 1817 (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book J:408). In a separate transaction on the same day, Rosser sold Dennis an additional parcel of Land Lot 20 measuring 141.5 rods (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book J:407). Since Rosser only obtained two acres from the Cook transaction, he apparently got the additional acreage elsewhere. It is possible that he obtained a portion of Land Lot 20 from John Rosser through purchase or inheritance. John Rosser bought a parcel from John Earnest in August of 1811 (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book E:112). The description on the deed does not indicate a land lot number and suggests that the parcel is located in the town of Clinton, however, the parcel may have been within Land Lot 20. Regardless of Rosser's procurement of the property, Dennis found himself with 4.25 acres of Land Lot 20 which he sold in 1819 to James Jordon (Superior Court, Jones County!, Deed Book G:256). On the same day in 1819 Jordon sold the property to Samuel Cook (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book K:193). Cook owned this in conjunction with the 117 acres in the northeastern part of the land lot he purchased earlier from David White along with the remainder of Land Lot 20 that he had purchased from John J. Earnest. Cook held Land Lot 20 in its entirety for five years. On January 15, 1825 Cook sold Land Lot 20 to Bershababa (also Bersheba) Jones (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book N:76). Apparently the property made its way back into the possession of the Cook family. Samuel Cook died in 1828. His will stipulated that, "...at the time Samuel T. Cook becomes of age this said house and land where I now live shall be equally divided by lot sale or other ways between him and George W. Cook..." (Probate Court, Jones County, Will Book C:171). Land Lot 20 was auctioned on the first Tuesday in December, 1845, in keeping with the decree of Samuel Cook's last will! and testament. Samuel's son, Samuel T. Cook was the highest bidder and succeeded in purchasing 350 acres "...adjoining lands of Peter Clower, Wiley Patterson, Frances Gibson and others, it being the place whereon the said Samuel Cook died, said lands having been turned over to Stephen Clower, guardian for Samuel T. and George W. Cook" at a bid of $2,200 (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book Book R:70). Samuel T. Cook sold parts of Land Lot 20 three times in the next three years. On November 10, 1847 he sold the following four acres to Charles Hutchings for $46.25: ...all that tract...commencing at the public road immediately opposite the corner of Mrs. Elizabeth Lowther's garden where it comes with Mrs. Mary George's land and leaving said road at a right angle and running a straight line to a corner opposite the eastern corner of Wiley B. Pope's lot thence in a straight line to the said eastern corner of Wiley B. Pope's lot, thence along the line dividing said Pope's lot from said Cook's land to the corner of said Pope's lot, adjoining Joseph Winship's stable lot, thence along the line dividing said Windship's said lot from said Cook's land to the corner of said Hutching's stable lot, thence along the line dividing said Hutching's stable lot from said Cook's land until it strikes said public road, thence a straight line to the beginning corner, containing four acres and nine sixteenths of an acres...(Superior Court,Jones County, Deed Book R:172). In September of 1848 Samuel T. sold Willie Patterson 200 acres "...adjoining lands of Peter Clower, Wiley Patterson, Elizabeth Hart, Jonathan Watson, Silvanus Hitch, and Elizabeth George and others-it being the place where Samuel Cook died and place where Samuel T. Cook now resides..." (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book R:231). Patterson purchased the property for $1,200. In December of the same year Samuel T. sold 150 acres to Elizabeth Lowther for $1,200. This parcel consisted of "...all the lands owned by the said Samuel T. Cook near Clinton and not sold and conveyed to the said Wilie Patterson containing one hundred and fifty acres more or less" (Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book R:335). The chain of title fades at this point, resuming with a transaction in 1860, when Eliza Cox's husband and guardian, T.I. (J?) Cox sold her property to Radford Turner. This property included land in addition to Land Lot 20. Cox sold Turner 250 acres "...adjoining lands ! of Elizabeth Lowther, Elizabeth Hart, Peter L. Clower, Martha Seabrook, number not known, but known as the place whereon one Samuel Cook died and upon which said Eliza Cox now resides. It also adjoins the town of Clinton..."(Superior Court, Jones County, Deed Book S:396). Turner's will was probated on December 2, 1889. Part of it gave 275 acres jointly to all four of his children (Mary Malinda Turner Green, Mattie Lowe Turner, Nettie Turner, and Radford Turner), including Land Lot 20 and "...all that tract or parcel of land lying on the outskirts of the Town of Clinton known as the Cox Place..." (Probate Court, Jones County, Will Book E:247). (See the attorney's chain of title for post 1896 deeds). ======================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. 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