NEVERSON AND MARGARET GREER COOK
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Three indisputable pieces of evidence attest to the life of Neverson Cook: the 1850 census, the will of Neverson Cook and the gravestone markers of Neverson and his wife, Margaret Grier Cook.
From the 1850 census, we can learn
several pieces of information.
Neverson, 66, and his wife Margaret, 63, lived in 38th
district of Hall County, Georgia.
Neither Neverson or Margaret could read or write. Both were born in South Carolina. Neverson
served in the War of 1812 in 3rd Regt. (Alston�s) S.C. Militia as a
Private. Neverson Cook owned five
slaves in 1850; three males who were ages 28, 3, and 9 months and two females
who were aged 26 and 6 years.
Margaret Greer was the daughter
of Robert Greer and Anna Isabella Kilgore of Spartanburg S.C. Margaret had a
twin brother named Joseph.
Neverson Cook�s will was probated
in Hall County, Georgia on August 4, 1856.
He named seven children in his will along with 7 members of his �negro
family.� Neverson�s daughters were
Mahaley, Mary Ann and Nancy. His sons
were Frances M., William H., James M. and Jedatha Cook. His enslaved family members were named Bart,
Susah, Mariah, Benny, Jasper, Lea and Albert.
Two of Neverson�s daughters,
Mahaley and Mary Ann, married Hardage brothers. Both of these families moved eventually to Cobb County,
Georgia. Mahaley Cook, the eldest
daughter of Neverson and Margaret, married Jesse Daniel Hardage on August 15,
1826. The two had six children.
Mary Ann Cook, born December 10,
1814, married George Washington Hardage on September 1, 1831. Washington owned land at Kennesaw
Mountain. According to Sybil McRay,
part of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was fought on the Hardage land. Washington and Mary Ann�s youngest daughter,
Miss Lucinda Hardage, �calmly proceeded
to gather beans with bullets whizzing past her head,� saying �no Yankee could
keep her from having a mess of beans for dinner.�[1]
Nancy Cook, third daughter of
Neverson and Margaret Grier Cook, married Jonathan Martin, Jr. in 1833. The two were parents of nine children.
Of the four sons of Neverson and
Margaret, Frances M. had moved to California by the time of his father�s
death. His three remaining sons all
married and remained in the area.
In 1968, Sybil McRay and Mrs.
Frank Tatum transcribed the inscriptions from the graves of Neverson and
Margaret Cook. The cemetery was part of
the Frank Tatum homeplace. McRay and
Tatum described the cemetery in detail:
Two graves built up with large rock
slabs. Several sinks where graves were
no longer in evidence. Many field
stones used for headstones. Mrs Tatum
says the cemetery is known as a large one.
There was evidence of about 15 graves.
A relative of [the] Cook family belives that only members of this family
[are] buried here. One dau. Of Neverson
Cook married a Pittman and it is believed she is probably interred in this
cemetery.[2]
From this cemetery, both Neverson and Margaret�s birth and death dates are
recorded clearly. Neverson Cook was
born May 6, 1785 and died May 7, 1855. Margaret
Grier Cook was born January 1, 1788 and died December 31, 1873.