Cooley/Pickett Family

COOLEY, PICKETT

Posted By: Skip Cooley (email)
Date: 10/31/2012 at 07:02:19

Cooley/Pickett Family of Van Buren County, Iowa

ASAHEL COOLEY II

(Asahel5, Jabez4, Jonathan3, Obadiah2, Benjamin1), s. Asahel I and Esther (Warriner), No. 37, b. Dec. 12, 1784, New Canaan, Albany Co., (now Canaan, Columbia Co.) N.Y.; d. Feb. 20, 1856, in Lebanon, Van Buren Co., Iowa. He m. Nov. 27, 1808 in Troy Twp., Athens Co., OH; Emily “Milly” Cowdrey, who was b. Jan. 25, 1791, d. Apr. 11, 1870 in Lebanon, dau of Jacob and Abigail “Olmsted” Cowdery. [He emigrated to Lebanon, Van Buren Co., Iowa about 1830/40 and died there, bur. in the Old Lebanon Cemetery, Lebanon, Van Buren, Iowa.]

Asahel Cooley came from Springfield or Longmeadow, Mass., by way of New Canaan, New York., to Athens County, Ohio as a young lad with his father and the rest of his family about 1797. He met and married his wife, Emily “Milly” Cowdery in Troy Twp., Athens county, Ohio on 27 Nov 1808 and owned a farm in 1837 in Athens county. Not much has been recorded about him from 1811 to 1835/40 when he removed to Van Buren Co., Iowa near Lebanon before 1850 (Ref: LDS Microfilm/fiche #967136: Van Buren County, IA, Land & Property Tax Deeds 1881-1890; Information on page 148, Jan. 3, 1846 and LDS Microfilm/Fiche: Van Buren County, IA 1838 & 1847 Census, under 1847: Cooley, Asahel - 2 in household.) He next appears in Van Buren county, Iowa in the 1850 Census with his wife, and daughter Belinda Pickett, and the children of Belinda and James Pickett. James Pickett is not listed in the household during the census, so it is not known if the residence was Asahel's or James Pickett's. Asahel would have been 66 years old at the time so I would estimate the house was James Pickett's and Asahel and Milley were living with their daughter and son-in-law in 1850 until his death in 1956.

Asahel II and Milley had a family bible with all their children's births, deaths and marriages recorded in it. My grandfather John Emerson Cooley (1870-1962 attended a family Pickett/Cooley family reunion in 1885 and remembered the Cooley/Pickett family bible referenced in the possession of Belinda Pickett, dau. of Asahel I and Milly Cowdery, and wife of James Pickett, she obtained the bible after the death of her mother Milley Cowdery/Cooley in 1870. It was in her possession according to my grandfather's family notes who attended the family reunion in 1885 in Van Buren County, Iowa .I assume the bible came into the possession of one of James and Belinda Pickett;s children and has been handed down among their descendants. James and Belinda’s children where Asahel Cooley Pickett who married Sarah Emily Friend; George James Pickett; Samuel Leroy Pickett; James McFendrie Pickett who married Elvirah Sarah Wilson and Josephine Pickett who married Thomas Bushong.

If any of the Pickett/Cooley family members of James and Belinda Pickett/Cooley know of this bible, or who has possession of it, please contact me as I would like to obtain a copy of the title pages if the Asahel I & Milly Cooley bible to include a copy of the births, deaths and marriage records of their children very much. In particular would like to obtain the bible record of the birth of George Washington Cooley, b. 4 Jul 1811, d. 17 Mar 1889. Asahel I and Milly's eldest son. GW Cooley married twice, first to Lorena Stanley and second to Lucinda Baker in Athens County, Ohio.