Thomas Herbert Cook, Sr.

Well, well. It looks like I have broke through a brick wall concerning Grandpa Tom. I have never really had much luck tracking information down on him, just scant census reports and names on his children's death certificates.

A few days ago, I reopened his file and was doing what I always do, and that is scrolling through the Family Search and Ancestry sites, plus Googling. Low and behold, his name appeared in some things from Jamestown, NC. I clicked on a couple of links and found out that he was one of the proprietors of Logan Manufacturing/Oakdale Cotton Mills! How exciting is that? The icing on the cake is that there is a book out there written by Mary A. Browning called, "Oakdale Cotton Mill" which goes through the history of the business from its earliest beginnings to when it officially shut its doors in the 2000s. Even better was that the author enclosed a copy of a tintype with Thomas. I was nearly in tears when I saw his face for the very first time. I could definitely tell parts of me came from this man.

If you are interested in purchasing this book, you may click here to find book sellers who carry it.

Now, on to Mary Jane Preddy Cook, his wife....