52 Ancestors Year 2 #52: Daniel Noyes Cookson

     Daniel Noyes Cookson is my 4th Great Grandfather and one of my resolutions this year is to find out more about him.  I have almost no documentary evidence of him.  He appears in Cutter's "New England Families Genealogical and Memorial" p. 455 as the father of Calvin Gray Cookson and his brothers and sister.  He does not appear in any US Census from 1790 to 1850 by name although I suspect he is listed in the family of  his brother or cousin at least once. The data from Cutter is that he was born in 1770 in Unity, Maine and died about 1850 in Linneus, Maine.  Actually the town of Unity didn't exist in 1770 although there were people living in Maine (then part of Massachusetts) at that time.  In Calvin Gray Cookson's enlistment record of 1839 his birthplace is given as Belmont, Maine.  There were people living there in 1770, in fact in a history of Belmont there is an anecdote from the Revolutionary War where a Cookson is mentioned by last name only. Unfortunately the early records of Belmont were destroyed in a fire. Records do show that one of the early leaders in the town was named Calvin Gray, perhaps the namesake of my 3rd Great Grandfather.

     Daniel married Lucy Gifford according to Cutter.  Per him she was his second wife but no data was available about the first wife.  I did find a marriage record dated 4 Jun 1801 for Daniel Noyes and Lucy Gifford in Whitefield, Lincoln, Maine. This was on Maine Genealogy.net and is a transcription.  There are two Daniel Noyeses in the area at the same time but they married a Rachel and a Susannah.  It seems possible that either the transcriber missed the name Cookson or the clerk omitted it.  Whitefield is not far from Unity and Belmont. However, it is 1801 and their first child was born 1811.  Perhaps there were earlier children or the transcriber transposed the date and it is actually 1810. So I will look for the original record.

     The family is living in Linneus around 1840.  Daniel, oldest son of Daniel Noyes Cookson, is listed in the 1840 Census.  His sister Lucy is there with her husband, Henry Townsend.  Calvin Gray is not listed in the Census but he enlisted in Houlton in 1839 and married in 1840.  I believe that he is listed in the family of his father-in-law, John Dow in 1840, also in Linneus.  The History of Linneus lists Daniel Noyes Cookson in the index and on the page noted it says that Daniel Cookson (no Noyes) bought land but I don't know if this is the father or son. The Aroostook Vital Records don't list his death but it likely was too early.

     So, my plan is to comb the probate and land records for all the counties where the family is noted at all and see if

I can find traces of him. Hopefully, next year I can post an update which gives the records!