A Day with my "Internet Cousins"
From left to right: Dianne Cook Sain, Scarlett Lee Bumgarner, Roberta Cooke Schmidt, Donald Dale Cook The Ham Cook Cemetery, Cleveland Co. North Carolina May 19, 1998
Thanks to the wonderful world of the information surperhighway, ten months ago, I met my 3rd cousin, Dale. He has been a wonderful source of support for me in this family search. It has been such a blessing to have found him, now we research our family tree together! As of today, I have found about 6 cousins online, all descendants of Edward Netty Cook. In May of 1998, my father and I planned a trip back to North Carolina to finally meet some of these cousins of ours, to see some of the graves of our ancestors, and to do some actually genealogy research. It is hard to describe the wonderful feeling we had meeting our cousins for the first time. Tuesday, May 19th, we met Dianne and Scarlett for the first time, and I had met Dale and his family the day before. It was as if we have known each other for years! We spent the day traipsing around the North Carolina countryside, looking for our ancestors' graves, and getting to know our new-found internet cousins. What an exciting day we had! We went to six cemeteries that day. We started off meeting at the Ham Cook Place in Caser, NC. That is where Edward Netty Cook is buried. For more information on Edward Netty Cook and his descendants, please go to the Cooke Genealogy Page We then went to Zoar and Olive Grove Cemeteries in Cleveland County, then up to Burke County, St. Paul, Friendship and Hudson-Cook Cemeteries. Edward Cook's son, Jesse Cook and his wife Martha, are buried at the Hudson-Cook cemetery.
Hudson-Cook Cemetery, Burke County NC
Other Highlights of my NC trip
Being able to go on this trip with my Dad, made this trip so special for me. We had the best time together, lots of laughter, sometimes a few tears were shared together, it was one ot the best experiences I have ever had! He was just as excited as I was, meeting new family and finding our ancestors' graves. And he fell in tove with the huge deed books in the courthouse!
Lucy (me) and Glenski (my dad) Doing "real" research at the Burke County Courthouse
Another real highlight for me, was to actually do "real" hands-on research, in the courthouse and libraries. What an exciting thing for this California girl, who is only used to researching via the internet, phone, email, or postal system. Talk about an adrenaline rush! If I wasn't addicted before, I am now! Only, now I that I am back home, I feel very far away from my roots! I am going to have to go back, soon!
My home away from home, the Morganton Library, Burke County
Well, I hope you have enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me. This trip was so special for me, I wanted to share it with all the other researchers out there, who have found cousins of their own, or are still looking for cousins! Keep up the searching, it is well worth it! This was an experience I will never forget, and I hope each and every one of you have a similar experience in meeting your internet cousins one day.
Have you met your internet cousins? I would love to hear about it. Please email me at tps914@aol.com Please return to