counties – Texas History Notebook

William Gordon Cooke, Namesake of Cooke County

William Gordon Cooke is considered a hero of the Texas Revolution. He was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia on March 26, 1808 to Adam G. Cooke and Martha Riddell Cooke, both of whom were Irish natives. William was the youngest of their three children. A daughter, Jane Oliver Cooke, died at sea around 1792, as the couple was on their voyage to America. Their first son James was born in Virginia and William was the youngest. James became a doctor. After completing his formal education, William moved to New Orleans where he was engaged in the drug business. There he became associated with the New Orleans Greys.

Texas Becomes a State

In an 1892 newspaper interview, historian John Henry Brown recounted certain key dates and steps which occurred in the months leading up to Texas annexation by the United States as the 28th state in the union.

Frances Cooke Lipscomb Van Zandt and Isaac Van Zandt

Although her husband Isaac Van Zandt is probably better known, Frances Cooke Lipscomb Van Zandt’s pioneer story is interesting. She was born March 4, 1816 to William Lipscomb and Ann Day Cooke Lipscomb. Isaac was born July 10, 1813 in Franklin, Tennessee to Mary Margaret Isaacs Van Zandt and Jacob Van Zandt. Isaac’s ancestry was Dutch, but both his grandfathers had participated in the Revolutionary War.

Acknowledging Frances’ 90th birthday, she and her daughter Ida gave a newspaper interview in which they provided more details about Frances’ life in the early days on the frontier of Texas. Frances was married to Isaac Van Zandt in Franklin County, Tennessee on December 18, 1833 when she was 17 and he was 20 years old and working as a merchant in the family store. Around two years later, the couple decided to make their home in Coffeeville, Mississippi along with their daughter Louisa and son Khleber. Life was good, but only for a short time until 1837 when there was a widespread economic depression, leading Isaac to close his business. Isaac studied law and was admitted to the Mississippi bar. Then in 1838, the family decided to move to the Republic of Texas and set out to make the journey by wagon. They got as far as the Louisiana-Texas border before running low on funds. Isaac and the family stopped at an abandoned garrison known as Camp Sabine, formerly a post of the United States Army, located east of the Sabine River. There they remained for the rest of that year before moving on to northeast Texas.

Rains County

Emory B. Raines (1800 – 1878) was the son of James (or John) Rains and Mary Ann Duncan Rains and was one of at least a dozen children born to the couple. Emory was born May 4, 1800 in Caney Branch, Warren County, Tennessee. In 1817, when he was a teenager, the family moved to Texas, first settling in the Nacogdoches area. When he was in his 20s, he married the former Marana Anderson. Rains was 29 years old before he learned to read. As was the norm at that time, Rains did not attend a law school, but independently studied the law and was admitted to the Texas Bar. He later became a Texas legislator, serving in Shelby and Wood counties.

Brown County

This county was named for Captain Henry Stevenson Brown. Henry was born in Madison County, Kentucky on March 8, 1793 to Caleb S. Brown and Jemima Stevenson Brown. Both of Henry’s grandfathers had served in the American Revolution. Early in his adult life, he moved to Missouri. He is said to have served in a local militia as they defended their settlements against native tribal attacks. He later served as sheriff and enlisted in the Army for the War of 1812. Around 1814, he married the former Margaret “Peggy” Kerr Jones, a widow and the sister of James R. Kerr, the namesake of Kerr County and Kerrville. The couple settled in Pike County, Missouri located north of St. Louis. There Henry engaged in trading on the Mississippi.