This history covers the middle New River area from 1654 to 1905 with an emphasis on Mercer County, West Virginia. Mercer County was created in 1837 from Giles and Tazewell counties, Virginia, and was part of Virginia until 1863.
John Cooke was born in London in about 1752. His parents may have been John Cook and Elizabeth Gurney. He emigrated in about 1767. He married Nellie Pemberton in about 1775. They lived in Virginia and had five children. Nellie died in 1812 and John married Anne Keatley Hendrix 29 June 1813. He died in Wyoming County, West Virginia in 1832. Descendants and relatives lived mainly in West Virginia.
Ah, vacations. There's nothing like getting away from it all, taking in a change of scenery, and maybe visiting a museum. Or enjoying animal antics at a zoo. Or scaring yourself silly on a rollercoaster at an amusement park. But the unseen can linger even in these pleasant places. Join award-winning paranormal reporter Sylvia Shults for a look at the darker side of your summer vacation.
More than 100 of the best, most thrilling accounts of hauntings from the Mountain State from one of the nation's leading experts, including... • Headless ghosts and wandering soldiers at Droop Mountain • The Weeping Woman tombstone at Riverview Cemetery in Parkersburg • John Brown's restless spirit in Harpers Ferry and Charles Town • The violent ghosts at the Western State Penitentiary in Moundsville • Hauntings of the murdered Mamie Thurman • Tortured spirits of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston