Francis Cooke
Encyclopedia
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
. This early settler is one of the twenty-six male Pilgrims known to have descendants.
Early life and family
Francis is described in Leiden Walloon churchWalloon church
A Walloon church describes any Calvinist church building in the Netherlands and its former colonies whose members originally came from the Southern Netherlands and France and whose native language is French...
marriage records dating from 1603 as a "woolcomber out of (uyt) England". However, his origins are unknown. He could have been a refugee from religious persecution elsewhere in continental Europe.
In Leiden, sometime after July 20, 1603, as Franchoys Couck, he married Hester le Mahieu, the daughter of Protestant refugees from the Walloon Flanders area. The Mahieus, from Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, had resided in Canterbury, then London, since the 1570s before moving to Leiden in 1590. Hester le Mahieu's sister was Marie le Mahieu, wife of Jan Lano, another Protestant refugee in Canterbury and then Leiden, whose son, Philippe de Lannoy
Delano family
The progenitor of the Delano family in the Americas was Philippe de Lannoy whose family name was anglicized to Delano. The 19-year-old Pilgrim of Flemish descent arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts on November 9, 1621 on the second Pilgrim ship, Fortune...
(anglicized to 'Delano') migrated on the Fortune to join his uncle Francis Cooke and his cousin Robert at Plymouth colony in 1621, having been left behind with twenty others when the Mayflower's sailing mate, the Speedwell
Speedwell (ship)
The Speedwell was a 60-ton ship, the smaller of the two ships intended to carry the Pilgrim Fathers to North America...
, foundered and returned to port in England leaving the Mayflower to sail alone. Philippe is the progenitor of the branch of the Delano family
Delano family
The progenitor of the Delano family in the Americas was Philippe de Lannoy whose family name was anglicized to Delano. The 19-year-old Pilgrim of Flemish descent arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts on November 9, 1621 on the second Pilgrim ship, Fortune...
living in America, from which Franklin Delano Roosevelt descends.
While in Leiden, Francis and Hester were members of the Walloon church. In 1606, they left Leiden briefly for Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, England, where they joined another Walloon church, returning to Leiden in 1607, possibly for religious reasons. Between 1611 and 1618, the Cookes were members of the Pilgrim Separatist congregation in Leiden. The Pilgrim church was not established in Leiden until 1609, so Francis was living there long before their arrival and must have met up with and joined them afterwards.
The Mayflower and Plymouth
In 1620, Francis, his son John, and nephew Philippe de Lannoy boarded SpeedwellSpeedwell (ship)
The Speedwell was a 60-ton ship, the smaller of the two ships intended to carry the Pilgrim Fathers to North America...
at Delftshaven. Cooke left wife Hester and their younger children behind to follow when the colony was established. The Leiden Separatists bought the ship in Holland. They then sailed it to Southampton, England to meet the Mayflower, which had been chartered by the merchant investors. In Southampton they joined with other Separatists and the additional colonists hired by the investors.
The two ships began the voyage on August 5, 1620, but the Speedwell leaked badly and had to return to Dartmouth to be refitted at great expense and time. On the second attempt, the two ships sailed about 100 leagues beyond Land's End
Land's End
Land's End is a headland and small settlement in west Cornwall, England, within the United Kingdom. It is located on the Penwith peninsula approximately eight miles west-southwest of Penzance....
in Cornwall, but the Speedwell was again found to be leaky. Both vessels returned to Plymouth where the Speedwell was sold. It would later be revealed that there was in fact nothing wrong with the ship. The crew had sabotaged it in order to escape the year long commitment of their contract.
Eleven people from the Speedwell (including Francis and John Cooke) boarded the Mayflower, leaving 20 people (including Robert Cushman and Philippe de Lannoy) to return to London while a combined company of 103 continued the voyage. For a third time, the Mayflower headed for the New World. She left Plymouth on September 6, 1620 and entered Cape Cod
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
Harbor on November 11, 1620. The Fortune eventually followed, arriving at Plymouth Colony one year later on November 9, 1621.
Arriving at what is now Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...
, on November 11 (November 21, new-style calendar), forty-one of the passengers, among them Francis Cooke, signed the Mayflower Compact
Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of Plymouth Colony. It was written by the colonists, later together known to history as the Pilgrims, who crossed the Atlantic aboard the Mayflower...
as the boat lay at anchor.
Francis was active in Plymouth civil affairs in the 1630s and 40s - committees to lay out land grants and highways, petit jury, grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
, coroner's jury. He appears on the 1643 Plymouth list of those able to bear arms. At some point in 1638 or afterward, he settled at Rocky Nook on Jones River, within the limits of Kingston, a few miles from Plymouth.
In 1651, fellow Pilgrim William Bradford
William Bradford (1590-1657)
William Bradford was an English leader of the settlers of the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts, and served as governor for over 30 years after John Carver died. His journal was published as Of Plymouth Plantation...
wrote of him: "Francis Cooke is still living, a very old man, and hath seen his children's children have children. After his wife came over with other of his children; he hath three still living by her, all married and have five children, so their increase is eight. And his son John which came over with him is married, and hath four children living." Francis Cooke died in 1663 in Plymouth
Plymouth (town), Massachusetts
Plymouth is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Plymouth holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklore and culture, and is known as "America's Hometown." Plymouth was the site of the colony founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims, passengers of the famous ship the...
.
Claimed by the Francis Cooke Society
- Notable descendants of Francis Cooke include Cephas ThompsonCephas ThompsonCephas Thompson was a successful, self-taught, early nineteenth-century portrait painter in the United States, who was born, died, and lived most of his life in Middleborough, Massachusetts....
, William Drew WashburnWilliam D. WashburnWilliam Drew Washburn was an American politician. He served in both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate as a Republican from Minnesota. Three of his seven brothers became politicians: Elihu B. Washburne, Cadwallader C. Washburn, and Israel Washburn, Jr...
, Elihu B. WashburneElihu B. WashburneElihu Benjamin Washburne was one of seven brothers who played a prominent role in the early formation of the United States Republican Party...
, Cadwallader C. WashburnCadwallader C. WashburnCadwallader Colden Washburn was an American businessman, politician, and soldier noted for founding what would later become General Mills and working in government for Wisconsin. He was born in Livermore, Maine, one of seven brothers that included Israel Washburn, Jr., Elihu B. Washburne, William D...
, Israel Washburn, Jr.Israel Washburn, Jr.Israel Washburn, Jr. was a United States political figure. Originally a member of the Whig Party, he later became a founding member of the Republican Party....
, Mrs. Anna Mary RobertsonGrandma MosesAnna Mary Robertson Moses , better known as "Grandma Moses", was a renowned American folk artist. She is often cited as an example of an individual successfully beginning a career in the arts at an advanced age. Although her family and friends called her either "Mother Moses" or "Grandma Moses,"...
("Grandma Moses"), (George) Orson WellesOrson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, Abel Head "Shanghai" Pierce (Texas cattleman who introduced the Brahman cattle breed into Texas), Actor Richard GereRichard GereRichard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
, Beach Boys BrianBrian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
, CarlCarl WilsonCarl Dean Wilson was an American rock and roll singer and guitarist, best known as a founding member, lead guitarist and sometime lead vocalist of The Beach Boys...
, and Dennis WilsonDennis WilsonDennis Carl Wilson was an American rock and roll musician best known as a founding member and the drummer of The Beach Boys. He was a member of the group from its formation until his death in 1983...
, and U.S. Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt, George Herbert Walker Bush, and George Walker Bush.
External links
- Francis Cooke at the Pilgrim Hall Museum
- Francis Cooke at MayflowerHistory.com