COCKE-CATESBY
CHRONICLE
January 2004
DESCENDANT NOTE
For the Cocke-Catesby line of births and deaths, the
relationships are based on the children of Dr. William Cocke
and Elizabeth Catesby Cocke who came to the Virginia
Colony in 1710 and 1712 respectively. Most Catesby births
and deaths are based on Sasfrid de Catesby, known alive in
1086, and generally are those living outside America. Some
Catesby births are based on as yet unconnected Catesby lines.
BIRTHS
Guilford Dudley Ware III was born 6 Sep 2001 in Virginia
Beach, VA. He is the 7th great grandson of Rachel Cocke.
Anna Rose Hott was born 22 Apr 2002 in Columbus, OH.
She is the 7th great granddaughter of Catesby Cocke.
Brandon Scott Thompson was born 28 Apr 2002 in Westerville, OH. He is the 7th great grandson of Catesby Cocke.
Hannah Grace Brown was born 2 Oct 2002 in Atlanta, GA.
She is the 7th great granddaughter of Catesby Cocke.
Laurel Anne Barnes was born 12 Jan 2003 in Richmond, VA.
She is the 8th great granddaughter of Rachel Cocke.
William Winchester Gagnet was born 24 Feb 2003 in Metarie,
LA. He is the 7th great grandson of Elizabeth “Betty” Cocke.
Margaret Lee Shelburne and Catherine Page Shelburne, twins,
were born 20 Mar 2003 in Houston, TX. They are the 7 th great
granddaughters of Elizabeth “Betty” Cocke.
Kara Reagan Montgomery was born 11 Apr 2003 in Westerville, OH. She is the 7th great granddaughter of Catesby
Cocke.
Rebecca King Pope was born 21 Apr 2003 in Richmond, VA.
She is the 8th great granddaughter of Rachel Cocke.
Kelsey May Moore was born 2 May 2003 in Lapeer, MI. She
is the 8th great granddaughter of Anne “Nanny” Cocke.
Gabrielle Sue Garner was born 11 May 2003 in Saginaw, MI.
She is the 8th great granddaughter of Anne “Nanny” Cocke.
Brooke Marie Ervin was born 8 Oct 2003 in Lapeer, MI. She
is the 8th great granddaughter of Anne “Nanny” Cocke.
Caroline Elizabeth Cox was born 24 Nov 2003 in Columbia,
TN. She is the 7th great granddaughter of Catesby Cocke.
Anne Catesby Ware was born 30 Dec 2003 in Virginia Beach,
VA. She is the 7th great granddaughter of Rachel Cocke.
Kinley Marie Shelton was born 6 Jan 2004 in Birmingham,
AL. She is the 7th great granddaughter of Catesby Cocke.
Conner Catesby Lewis was born 14 Jan 2004 in Gainesville,
FL. He is the 7th great grandson of Catesby Cocke.
DEATHS
Mary Ellis Ware died 7 Sep 2002, and was buried in Rappahannock Church Cem., Dunnsville, VA. She was the 5 th great
granddaughter of Lucy Cocke.
Marshall Taylor Ware died 15 Sep 2002, in Richmond, VA.
He was married to Patricia B Coxe and was the 5th great
grandson of Lucy Cocke.
Robert Faulconer Ware, Jr. died 19 Feb 2003, in Chestertown,
VA. He was the 6th great grandson of Rachel Cocke.
Freida Laverne Cocke died 30 Mar 2003 in Florence, AL, and
was buried in Pleasant Hills United Methodist Church Cem.,
in Florence, AL. She was married to Larry Turner Fulmer and
was the 5th great granddaughter of Catesby Cocke.
Barbara Jean Cocke died 30 Apr 2003 in Safford, AZ, and was
buried in Sunset Cem., Safford, AZ. She was married to
Wesley Moore and was the 5th great granddaughter of Catesby
Cocke.
Roger ap Catesby Jones died 31 May 2003 in Selma, AL. and
was buried in Live Oak Cem., Selma, AL. He was married to
Elizabeth Beers and was the 4th great grandson of Elizabeth
“Betty” Cocke.
Helen Mabel Cocke died 13 Aug 2003 in Ocala, FL, and was
buried in Forrest Lawn Memorial Garden, Ocala, FL. She was
married to Cecil Herbert Edward Johnston and was the 4 th
great granddaughter of Catesby Cocke.
Robert W. Casciani died 15 Nov 2003 in Ashland, OH, and
was buried in Ashland Cem., Ashland, OH. He was married
to Martha Davies and was the 5th great grandson of Catesby
Cocke.
IN MEMORY OF
HELEN COCKE JOHNSTON
1916 - 2003
Wife, mother, genealogist, wonderful person – words will
never come close to capturing the essence of Helen. A library
of dictionaries might offer an introduction to this marvelous
lady. We known, living Cocke-Catesby descendants in some
thirty-seven U.S. states and nine other countries are indebted
for the tireless and unceasing efforts of Helen and Cecil during
their thirty-plus years of research. The majority of states east
of the Mississippi River and many in the western U.S. were
visited by these two genealogical warriors. Helen had records
and notes from courthouses and cemeteries that would make
the Library of Congress envious. Moreover, it was all in her
memory too. She could mentally trace up a few generations,
cross over, and go further up or down. Her late sister, Pauline,
said one would believe Helen had actually lived among her
ancestral cousins.
At some future point descendants will want to know how
the connections were made to link thousands of cousins in the
U.S. and nine other countries. If I can sufficiently capture the
essence of how it happened, you may want to keep this
newsletter and make copies for your descendants.
How and why did Helen do it? My own family
gatherings on occasion talked about the “great lost fortune.” It
seems that a Revolutionary Era ancestor, perhaps Capt. John
Catesby Cocke, received for his service vast land grants in the
Columbus, Ohio, area. Since these lands were then out west
in Indian Territory, it is thought that the pertinent ancestor
never bothered to record his land grants. In fact, some seventy
family members in the early 1900’s hired lawyers to seek the
proof and some sort of compensation from the federal
government, without success I might add. Helen knew about
this legal action (I have her list of names in the class action
suit) and her pursuit began in order to attempt to unravel the
mystery of the lost fortune. Since her late and beloved
husband, Cecil, was a native of Canada, they started exploring
courthouses and cemeteries of eastern states when they
traveled to and from Canada to visit Cecil’s family. During
these decades of research, Cecil devised an ingenious system
of recording data in genealogical form. I recall about three
times that he recorded everything on his manual typewriter.
When I was given a copy in the early 1990’s, some 2000
entries existed along with much history and many stories.
Genealogical software was not yet available for Cecil’s
computer (manual typewriter) which meant there was no index
of names. While Helen and Cecil were creating their
masterpiece, some other coincidences proved mighty valuable
in working the beautiful genealogical puzzle we have today.
In the September 1983 Volume 164, No. 3, National
Geographic Magazine, in an article called “Satellites that
Serve Us” there was a section on Search and Rescue, with a
photo of Commander Thomas Anthony Catesby of the
Patricia, a British lighthouse tender, illustrating ship to shore
communication being made easy. Anne Catesby JonesRivera, from Puerto Rico, spotted this and through the
National Geographic Magazine and Trinity House in London,
got a letter of inquiry through to Commander Thomas
Anthony Catesby. The Commander was very busy and asked
his just-retired father to investigate the inquiry of Anne. His
father, now deceased, and the late Robert Catesby identified
the Catesby-Jones connection with a Catesby Jones member
from the states by going to the American Embassy in London
and looking in the American phone book for a Catesby Jones
surname. The connection was made when Robert Catesby
picked the first one listed and wrote a letter to Catesby Brooke
Jones in Richmond, VA. The now retired Commander (Tony)
Catesby and wife, Andrena, arranged a wonderful reunion in
England in 2002.
Much earlier Thomas William Catesby (1878-1965) had
hired professional researchers to establish the connection of
modern Catesbys to the medieval family of the Catesby
surname. Drawing upon that research, Robert Catesby (19122001) produced a scholarly work, A History of the Catesbys
From 1086 to 1986, establishing further linkage between
English and American cousins.
Meanwhile, Helen and Cecil were on yet another
genealogy trip through Virginia in the early 1990’s. When
they stopped at a convenience store, Helen went inside.
Outside Helen Ware happened to be there since her husband,
Joe, was a Texaco wholesaler in Dunnsville, VA, and the
company owned and operated several convenience stores in
the area, this one at Tappahannock. Being a native of Ocala,
Florida, Helen Ware saw the Marion County, Florida, license
plate and went over to inquire if she might possibly know the
car’s occupants. Helen Ware asked what they were doing in
the area and Cecil said they were going to the local library to
search for ancestral information. When Cecil revealed that
they were looking for Catesby cousins, Helen Ware revealed
that she married one. The four went to lunch together, then to
the Ware home where Joe Ware provided much information to
Helen and Cecil. This additional coincidence had led to a
treasure chest of more cousins’ names and information.
In fact, the English Catesbys had their first reunion in 1987
with a few American cousins attending. Those were Frances
Jones Brooks; Dr. Richard L. Riley and wife Mary Catesby
Riley along with their oldest daughter, Mary Lousia Riley;
Anne Catesby Jones-Rivera with her son Carlos and daughter
Alicia; Catesby P. Jones and wife, Sylvia; Catesby Brooke
Jones; and Jean Roy Riely. Having made the EnglishAmerican connection, it was decided to have another reunion
in 1992, now involving more American cousins. In attendance
then were some fifty American descendants of Dr. William
Cocke and Elizabeth Catesby Cocke. (Dr. Cocke came to the
Virginia Colony in 1710 as personal physician to Governor
Spotswood. Elizabeth came in 1712 and Dr. Cocke later
served as Secretary of State for the colony). Some of those
1992 attendees were Helen Ware, Lila Palmer, and Joe Cocke,
later to be very instrumental in starting the American CockeCatesby Reunions. (Yes, in England we have Catesby-Cocke
Reunions as some of you know). The then limited list of
American cousins in the Richmond, VA, area decided to have
a reunion on this side of the pond and invite English cousins.
Among the planners were Catesby B. Jones, Catesby P. and
Sylvia Jones, Catesby G., Jr. and Spotswood Jones, Joseph
and Helen Ware, William F. and Nancy Smith, Lila Palmer,
and Joseph B. and Mary Lynn Cocke. Since Dr. Cocke and
Elizabeth lived in Williamsburg, it was decided to have the
first American Cocke-Catesby Reunion there in 1995. Other
reunions have now followed in 1997 and 2002 in England, and
in 2000 in Williamsburg. (The next reunion is to be held in
Frankfort, KY, September 1-3, 2005).
Hopefully, the prior paragraphs have given you insight as
to how we have evolved into such a huge genealogical family.
From the 2000 or so names and data I received a decade ago
from Helen, along with the earlier work of Thomas and Robert
Catesby, we now have 8000 or so names, data, and history.
Helen and Cecil spent decades on the road and I have spent a
few years on the computer and internet compiling data and
publishing two editions of The Cocke-Catesby Family History
1086 to 2000. There some 700 addresses in our mailing list.
Helen’s work still is producing new results. When her son,
Steve, sent boxes of her research to me recently, I soon
discovered items which don’t go into a genealogy. Postmarks
on old letters she received and the information therein have
already led me via the internet to some newly-found cousins in
Ohio, among the dozens already known to be living there. My
life’s horizons have been broadened infinitely by the work of
this great lady, Helen Mabel Cocke Johnston. I hope to see
her again.
SEND IN YOUR DATA
No doubt dozens of babies have been born and many
family members have died which are not recorded here. I
need you to send me information for inclusion in the
genealogy and newsletter. For the next edition perhaps in
2005 of the Cocke-Catesby Family History all future data
needs to be included. Send data for births, marriages, deaths,
burials, etc. or inquire at: JOEROB@USIT.NET or mail to
the address on the cover of the newsletter.
COST OF WEBSITE & NEWSLETTER
In addition to mailing about 500 newsletters, I email about
260 of you who get the newsletter off the website. If you
receive this newsletter via postal mail but could be saving us
money by getting the newsletter via the website, please let me
know so I don’t mail one to you. You can see the newsletter
at: www.cocke-catesby.com
and save us money while
learning about family history. If you have not contributed
earlier, please consider sending at least $5.00 to our treasurer:
Lisa Browning / 524 Alliance Dr. / Mt. Sterling, KY 40353.
My TIME in gathering information, printing, and mailing is
FREE.
married the widow Battaille, who also died without issue.
Thirdly, he married Anne “Nanny” Cocke 2 Sep 1732 and
they had five children. Anne was the daughter of Dr. and Mrs.
William Cocke. 537 descendants of William and Anne are
identified in the Cocke-Catesby Family History 1086 to 2000,
with all copies of the second edition being sold.
REUNION IN 2005, FRANKFORT, KY
WARING-LINE COUSIN RECEIVES
NATIONAL RECOGNITION
The 2005 Cocke-Catesby Reunion will be held in
Frankfort, KY. Registration at our Headquarters in the
Holiday Inn is to be on Thursday, September 1, and activities
will officially end on Saturday evening, September 3. The
committee has chosen to hold the reunion during the Labor
Day weekend to allow more travel and touring time. Since
that will be an American school holiday weekend, we look
forward to having many of our younger cousins enjoy the
reunion experience. Younger cousins among our English
relatives are also most welcome (along with their parents).
Frankfort is the State Capitol of the Commonwealth of
Kentucky, and is located some twenty miles west of Lexington
on the banks of the Kentucky River. The city is rich in history
and beauty with many lovely buildings and homes of early
architectural significance.
The new Kentucky History
Museum, also a beautiful state-of-the-art genealogical research
center, is located within walking distance of our headquarters.
There will be opportunities to visit some of Kentucky’s
famous horse farms, Bourbon distilleries, and other sites of
historical interest in and around central Kentucky. Detailed
information will be forthcoming at a later date. Please mark
your calendars and plan to attend the Cocke-Catesby Reunion
of 2005. The next newsletter will contain forms needed to
complete for the reunion registration process.
COMPUTER CHAT
Occasionally someone calls, emails, or writes to acquire the
name of the website. When online with your browser type
www.cocke-catesby.com and click on GO or SEARCH or
RETURN.
When the site appears, please find the
FAVORITES button at the top and click it. Add our website
name to your FAVORITES list. And……with 260 or so of
you in my email list, I get more than my share of virus-laden
attachments from some of your machines. Please check your
computers for viruses and install new software if necessary.
ASK YOUR FAMILY
There are several invalid postal and email addresses in my
list. Postal and email were returned from the last mailing of
the newsletter. Please contact extended family members to
determine if they have received this newsletter. You may
email me current postal and email addresses at least for head
of household.
MAJOR WILLIAM WOODFORD
16?? - 1755
Major Woodford appeared in the colonies in the early
1700’s as a merchant, having fought with the Duke of
Marlboro at Bleinheim. He first married a Mrs. Whittaker
who came with him and they settled in Caroline Co., VA, their
home being called “Windsor.” She died without issue and he
Kathy Waltermire of Colonial Beach, Virginia, has been
developing a later-in-life art career, following thirty years with
the Department of Defense. Kathy works in pastel, doing still
life, portrait, and dog portrait pieces. As a long time Scottish
Terrier lover, Scotties are a favorite subject, and she sells note
cards and matted reproductions of her drawings. Last fall, a
Scottie fancier in the northwest part of the country noticed
Kathy’s work. As a result, she was mentioned as a
contemporary artist of note in an historic review of Scottish
Terrier art. The article appeared in The Bagpiper, the journal
of the Scottish Terrier Club of America. Kathy was honored
and thrilled to be included with such illustrious artists as
Morgan Dennis, Lucy Dawson and Marion Needham Krup.
Go to: www.mcvanscotties.com/scotart.html to read the
complete article. If you wish to contact Kathy, her email
address is artbykw@msn.com. Or write her at:
Kathy Waltermire
Portraits and Pastels
P. O. Box 540
Colonial Beach, VA 22443
Also at the Artists' Undertaking Gallery
309 Mill St., Occoquan, VA 703-494-0584