Cooke

The Gant-Cooke wedding.

 

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 29 June 1940.

Georgia Eugenia Cooke married George William Gant at Saint John A.M.E. Zion Church in 1940. Members of the wedding party from Wilson included Clara G. Cooke, Vertist Crawford, Annie E. Cooke, Jerry L. Cooke Sr., Monte Vick, Henderson Cooke, Jerry L. Cooke Jr., Randall James, Malcolm Williams, Charles James, Milton Fisher, and Edwin Cooke.

The Farmer-Cooke wedding.

Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Va.), 17 July 1943.

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  • Quentin A. Farmer

In the 1930 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: Howard Farmer, 52, wife Sarah, 51, and son Quinton, 7.

In the 1940 census of Taylors township, Wilson County: Howard Farmer, 61, wife Sarah, 61, and son Quenten, 17.

In 1942, Quentin Alston Farmer registered for the World War II draft in Wilson County. Per his registration card, he was born 16 December 1922 in Wilson; lived at Route 2, Elm City; and his contact and employer was father Howard Farmer.

On 21 June 1943, Quenton Farmer, 20, of Elm City, son of Howard and Sarah V. Farmer, married Annie Elizabeth Cooke, 22, of Wilson, daughter of J.L. and Clara R. Cooke, in Wilson. A.M.E. Zion minister William A. Hilliard performed the ceremony in the presence of J.L. Cooke, Charles James, and Carter Foster.

On 4 June 1952, Quentin A. Farmer, 29, of Wilson, son of Howard and Sarah Farmer, married Cecil Chaminade Clinton, 28, of Wilson, daughter of Willie and Lottie Clinton of Silver Spring, Maryland, in Weldon, Halifax County, N.C.

  • Annie E. Cooke

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Hadley Street, railroad mail clerk Jerry L. Cook, 43; wife Clara, 39, teacher; children Henderson, 20, Edwin D., 18, Clara G., 14, Georgia E., 12, Annie, 8, Jerry L., 6, and Eunice D., 4; sister Georgia E. Wyche, 48, teacher; and nieces Kathaline Wyche, 7, and Reba Whittington, 19.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 916 East Green Street, railway clerk J.L. Cook, 54, born Wake County; wife Clara, 48, born Craven County; children Henderson J., 30, Clara, 24, Annie, 18, Jerry, 16, and Eunice, 14; and cousin Ella Godette, 18. Henderson and young Clara were born in New Bern; the remaining children in Wilson.

The Weekses’ 25th anniversary.

Rev. A.L.E. Weeks spent years as pastor of several Missionary Baptist churches in Wilson before migrating to Elizabeth, New Jersey.

New York Age, 11 August 1928.

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  • Rev. A.L.E. Weeks — Alfred L.E. Weeks.
  • Mrs. Weeks — Annie Elizabeth Cooke Weeks.
  • J.L. Cooke — Jerry L. Cooke.
  • Mrs. J.L. Cooke — Clara Godette Cooke.
  • Marie Weeks — Annie Elizabeth Marie Weeks.
  • Maggie Crawford — Maggie Barnes Crawford.
  • Edwin Cooke — in 1940, Edwin Donald Cooke registered for the World War II draft in East Orange, Essex County, New Jersey. Per his registration card, he was born 25 December 1911 in Wilson, N.C.; lived at 255 Elmwood Avenue, East Orange; his contact was wife Natalie Rose Cooke; and he worked for Mrs. Thomas O. Sloane, 55 Montrose Avenue, South Orange.
  • Eunice Carter — Eunice Carter Fisher died 13 November 1970 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 20 November 1884 to Rufus and Nancy [Godette] Carter; was a widow; lived at 1321 East Washington Street; and was a retired laborer. Addie F. Morgan was informant.

The obituary of Annie Elizabeth Cooke Weeks.

Wilson Daily Times, 20 April 1943.

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  • A. Elizabeth Weeks — Annie Elizabeth Cooke Weeks.
  • J.L. Cooke — Jerry L. Cooke.
  • G.E. Wyche — Georgia E. Cooke Wyche. Georgia Cooke Wyche died 22 February 1970 in Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 6 January 1882 to Henderson Cooke and Mariah D. Batchelor; was a widow; was a retired teacher; and lived at 916 East Green Street. J.L. Cooke was informant. She was buried in Olive Branch cemetery, Wake Forest, North Carolina.
  • Rev. W.A. Hillard — William A. Hilliard.

A dinner party for the Community Playmakers choristers.

Wilson Daily Times, 27 October 1945.

This brief piece reveals a number of interesting tidbits:

  • There was a Community Playmakers Club.
  • It had a choral division and pianist — Jerry L. Cooke.
  • Sam Roberson was “one of Wilson’s most able caterers.” This is the first reference to an African-American caterer that I’ve come across. He is strangely elusive in census records, but is likely the 24 year-old cook living with his mother Sue Roberson, 42, and sister Nellie B. Roberson, 17, at  506 [South] Goldsboro Street in the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County. If so, in the 1920 census of Wilson: at 510 [South] Goldsboro, widow Sue Robinson, 42; children John, 23, tobacco factory worker, Sam, 19, hotel bellboy, Sudie, 16, tobacco factory worker, and Nellie, 8; and grandson Kemmie, newborn.

 

Studio shots, no. 185: Clara R. Cooke.

Sixth-grade teacher Clara Rosetta Godette Cooke (1891-1952). The Trojan yearbook, C.H Darden High School, 1949.

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In the 1900 census of Township #5, Craven County, N.C.: farmer Jessie Godette, 32; wife Liza, 29; children Martha A., 13, Matilda, 11, Clara R., 8, Beauler, 7, Eather, 5, Walter A., 2, and Eunice, 8 months; cousin Blanger Godette, 16; and boarder William Fenner, 22.

On 21 May 1908, Jerry L. Cook, 21, of Wake Forest, N.C., married Clara R. Godett, 17, of New Bern, in New Bern, Craven County, N.C. Rev. A.L.E. Weeks, Missionary Baptist minister, performed the ceremony. 

In the 1910 census of Township #8, Craven County, North Carolina: at 5 Randolph Street, printing office mail dispatch employee Jerry L. Cooke, 23; wife Clara R., 19; son Henderson J., newborn; and widowed lodger Fanny Tull, 52, cook.

In the 1920 census of New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina: government mail clerk J.L. Cook, 33; wife Clara R., 29; and children Henderson, 9, Edwin, 8, Clara, 4, and Georgia, 2.

In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Hadley Street, railroad mail clerk Jerry L. Cook, 43; wife Clara, 39, teacher; children Henderson, 20, Edwin D., 18, Clara G., 14, Georgia E., 12, Annie, 8, Jerry L., 6, and Eunice D., 4; sister Georgia E. Wyche, 48, teacher; and nieces Kathaline Wyche, 7, and Reba Whittington, 19.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 916 East Green Street, railway clerk J.L. Cook, 54, born Wake County; wife Clara, 48, born Craven County; children Henderson J., 30, Clara, 24, Annie, 18, Jerry, 16, and Eunice, 14; and cousin Ella Godette, 18. Henderson and young Clara were born in New Bern; the remaining children in Wilson.

Clara Godette Cook died 31 January 1952 at her home at 916 East Green Street, Wilson. Per her death certificate, she was born 18 April 1891 in Craven County, North Carolina, to Jesse P. Godette and Eliza Ann Fenner; was married; and worked as a teacher. Clara Cook Bailey, 916 East Green Street, was informant.

The mattress answered the problem perfectly.

Wilson Daily Times, 5 July 1952.

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Jerry L. Cooke‘s open letter to Heilig-Meyers furniture company offers an unusual glimpse of private life. Cooke wrote of his health, his medical treatment, his work history, and his consumer preferences. Born in 1886 in New Bern, N.C., Cooke lived in Wilson from about 1920 to his death in 1976. Though this letter was published a few years outside the period of Black Wide-Awake’s focus, I post it for its unique insight.

Hall of Famer Annie Cooke Dickens.

On the occasion of her induction into the Shaw University Athletic Hall of Fame, Annie Cooke Dickens shared memories of her school days in Wilson and beyond.

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  • Dickens credited John M. “Bing” Miller, her high school basketball coach, and Marian Miller, the girls’ basketball chaperone, as her “foundation.”
  • Dickens played guard on Shaw’s women’s basketball team from 1938 to 1942.
  • The Darden basketball team played games in Banner Warehouse, and Marian Miller brought a small oil heater to warm the space.
  • For road games, the team road in a truck with a bench strapped to the body. They played most games on dirt courts.

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Wilson Daily Times, 14 December 1993.

  • “Extremely poor family” seems an exaggeration, as Dickens’ father was a railroad clerk, and the family owned a two-story house across from Darden High School.
  • Dickens was a cheerleader for three years and was crowned Miss Shaw as a junior and senior.
  • She was a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and several student organizations.
  • Dickens’ first teaching position was at Yelverton School near Saratoga, then Lofton School, where she was principal. These schools had no electricity, running water, or indoor toilets. She also taught in Greensboro and at Speight School.
  • She worked in school administration for 21 years before retiring.
  • Her husband James Dickens was a teacher at Fike High School. Both retired in 1983.
  • She engaged in volunteer work after retirement.

Women’s basketball team, Shaw University Journal (1939).

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In the 1930 census of Wilson, Wilson County: on Hadley Street, railroad mail clerk Jerry L. Cook, 43; wife Clara, 39, teacher; children Henderson, 20, Edwin D., 18, Clara G., 14, Georgia E., 12, Annie, 8, Jerry L., 6, and Eunice D., 4; sister Georgia E. Wyche, 48, teacher; and nieces Kathaline Wyche, 7, and Reba Whittington, 19.

In the 1940 census of Wilson, Wilson County: at 916 East Green Street, railway clerk J.L. Cook, 54, born Wake County; wife Clara, 48, born Craven County; children Henderson J., 30, Clara, 24, Annie, 18, Jerry, 16, and Eunice, 14; and cousin Ella Godette, 18. Henderson and young Clara were born in New Bern; the remaining children in Wilson.