|
Hook Genealogy
|
John Hook Genealogy
John Hook, son of James
and Margaret Hook, was born about 1718 in Prince George County,
Maryland, and died, 1762, in Lower Frederick County, Maryland. In 1748, he
married Sarah Simpson, of English ancestry, daughter of Amos Simpson.
After his father's death he and his brother James moved to what later became
Lower Frederick County, Maryland. They settled upon 150 acres of land which John
Magruder had given to his "good friend James Hook" by deed of gift dated and
recorded in Prince George County, August 26, 1740. On November 27, 1740, James,
by deed of gift, conveyed to his "loving brother John" fifty acres of this land.
(Liber Y, page 244, Upper Marlboro, Md.) The land was described as "a certain
piece of land lying near the mouth of Ketanken Creek which falls into the
Potomack River about ten miles north of Monocaccy, it being a part of land
called Ketanken Bottom laid out for 150 acres more or less."
John and his brother James were both members of the English Church and in 1742
were among the signers of the petition that succeeded in dividing Prince George
Parish and erecting a new one to he known as All Saints Parish.
After Frederick County was formed out of the western part of Prince George
County in 1748, a tract of land to be known as "The John and Sarah" was laid out
for 100 acres in Lower Frederick County. On a warrant issued July 27, 1750, this
tract was re-surveyed for John Hook and found to contain 114 acres to which was
added 274 acres. This tract of 388 acres continued to be called "The John and
Sarah," named, no doubt, for the occupants.
On January 18, 1752, a parcel of 133 acres of this land was deeded by John and
Sarah Hook to Richard Ankrum, for which the latter paid a sum of six pounds,
fourteen shillings and eight pence currency. There evidently was something wrong
in the description in this deed, because it was deeded again to Richard Ankrum
on March 8, 1753, with a slight change in description. The consideration was the
same in both deeds.
On April 4, 1754, John deeded back to his brother
James the fifty acres of land
formerly given to him by that brother, receiving for same 1,000 pounds of
tobacco, one horse, two sheep and two barrels of Indian corn. Old court records
indicate that the two brothers, about this time, were opposing witnesses in
several law suits which leads one to believe that an estrangement had grown up
between them. This seems to have been dissipated. later, however. John's son
James is said to have lived with his Uncle James after John's death in 1762
and named sons after three of his uncle's children.
There are no records to indicate that John Hook was ever a slave owner. None are
mentioned in his Will and neither of his children possessed any. His brother
James' was a large slave owner and the progenitor of a family of typical
southern gentle-men. The descendants of John, so far as records have been
searched, were soldiers on the side of the Union. The descendants of James
espoused the cause of the Confederacy. The descendants of John emigrated
westward, those of James emigrated southward into Virginia and Georgia. They
were all men of sterling character and high ideals, ancestors of whom the
present generation north or south may well be proud.
The Will of John Hook, dated May 19, 1761, reads in part as follows (Will book, Liber A, No. I, page 170, Frederick County, Maryland.) After leaving his soul to
God he gives
"to his son James Hook 135 acres of land of the plantation I now live on to him
and his heirs forever after my wife's decease, then I give to my son John Snowden
Hook 135 acres of land (interlined before signed) a part of the same
tract I now live on at the south end of the tract called
John and Sarah. I leave it to him and his heirs forever after my wife's decease.
Then I give to my wife Sarah all my movable effects to her for her to settle my
affairs and pay my debts with all I have and I leave my wife Sarah my whole and
sole executor."
Wittnesses- Abraham Sohn Signed-John Hook John
Simpson
Thomas Eldridge.
The inventory of the estate of John Hook was appraised, February 16, 1762 by
Joseph Ray and Joseph Simpson. The principal items were: 737 pounds of transfer
tobacco, one sow and eighteen shoats, nine sheep, six horses, cows, one heifer
and three yearlings, one loom and harness, two linen wheels, six barrels of
corn, one coat, jacket, breeches and hat, two beds and bedsteads, two saddles,
three plows, one pair stilliards, lumber, powder, one chest, lead and items of
furniture, casks, pots, pans and other household utensils. Arthur Charlton and
Charles Beatty for Thomas Beatty signed as creditors, James Hook and Thomas
Thrasher signed as kin and Joseph Ray and Joseph Simpson signed as appraisers.
The children of John and Sarah Hook were: