The Cook Family Tree is still a bit sparse here. The factual information that I have been able to positively connect
with documentation has been few and far between. This is because of two reasons. First, as most of the Cook descendants
seem to have been women (as I will show later on this page), their names have changed over the years and are now hard to
find. Secondly, our immediate Cook ancestors are from Canada, whose government has not made certain information
available due to strict privacy laws. There are ways to get microfiche copies on giant reels of census records, but for
the whole of Ontario in 1900. So until I go there or can get the reels, it will be a slow process.
The oldest information I have been able to obtain dates from the early 1900s. This would be the "Cook and
Greatwood Wedding Announcement" for Ivy's parents, Charles Cook
and Helen Greatwood.
This is the actual newspaper announcement from The Toronto Star Newspaper (the only newsaper in existence there at the time).
Unfortunately, it has been removed from its original page and there is no date or more specific information.
Here we have photos of Charles Cook and wife Helen Greatwood. The photo on the left is Charles' driver's license from 1917 at the age of about 16 (est. birth 1891). The photo on the right is Helen in 1954, just two years before she died.
Though there was no Clinton Street "Parsonage" (where the priests dwell) listed in the online book, I did find that the Clinton Street Church was established in 1884 by the Reverend McTavish, followed by Reverend T.E. Bartley, and then our own J.J. Ferguson. When Ferguson took over, the book states the "chapel [had] been in use only 7 years". It also reports that Ferguson was the founder of a new church in 1891: "The Reverend J.J. Ferguson was the first pastor of the new church. He was a scholarly preacher and a devoted Servant of God. Having spent a term of three years, partly in the old building and partly in the new, he was duly succeeded by the Reverend Peter Addison..." (p. 253)
Thus, my math and the fact that Reverend J.J. Ferguson only preached on Clinton Street a short time, I think that Charles Cook and Helen Greatwood were wed sometime after Rev. Ferguson stopped preaching. Charles being born around 1891, and his first daughter being born in 1911, it was probably more accurately around 1909 or 1910. If only I could get the church records...
In 1925, the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregational Churches became the United Church of Canada. In 1940, Victoria University got involved and volunteered to house all the historical records and documents from the different churches. In 1953, there was an archivist appointed which established the "Central Archives of the United Church".
The archives are searchable online, but only to get the "interlibrary loan" information of the entire reel the official marriage record should be on. BUT, sorry to have to but here, I haven't gotten the reel yet so check back and eventually I will.
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So Charles Cook was an electrician of sorts by trade -what exactly he did I am still researching. Power companies were all privately operated
in the mid 1800s and thus very expensive. "Gas, Light, and Water Company" was the main provider in Toronto at that time,
and after only six years of service, customers called a meeting regarding the poor supply and quality of service,
as well as the inflated costs of electricity. The meeting ended with a plan to form a mutual ownership
company aptly named, "Consumers' Gas Company". Within six months, shares had been sold, a committee elected, directors
appointed, and Montreal announced that a special act of parliament of the Province of Canada allowed the consumers
to incorporate "Gas, Light, & Water Company". Thus, "Consumers' Gas Company" was born on 23 March, 1848. 157 years later,
they are still there at 19 Toronto Street, though they are 85% owned by Enbridge, today's leader in Canada'a electrical
market.
Since the electric industry in Canada has changed hands many times, and not all records kept through they years,
if at all, it seems impossible to get any concrete information from them about past employees. There are several
laws around the world regarding privacy of information, and Canada is known to stick to the book in the face of
genealogical inquiries. But never fear, the search continues!
Charles apparently traveled a lot for his work and wrote many letters to his wife Helen (AKA Nellie) at home with their daughter
Ivy, AKA "Betsie".
Here we have a letter from one of those trips.
Note the signature Charles uses to close the letter:
H.B.C.C. It stands for, "Honey Buns Charles Cook".
Helen "Nellie" Elizabeth Louise Greatwood was originally born in Liverpool, England (yet again per family story) and the daughter of a seaman. Her mother was a Spaniard, presumably with the maiden name of Louise. It was common practice for Spanish women to keep their maiden names, like how today we hyphenate them (ie. Lesli Planting-Miller). They also would pass them to their children to keep the family connection alive. This is why Helen's name is really so long (at first!) She is also supposed to have had one sister who she almost never saw. Helen would stay with her maternal grandmother in Spain for long periods of time while father was out at sea.
It is unclear what exactly happened to her mother, but Helens' sister would spend those lengths of time with her paternal grandparents. This sometimes went for a few months or spans of a few years, which is why Helen learned to be a furier. Grandmother Louise was a tailor and seamstress, and it is said that Helen would sit on the stoop of the shop and pull or snip the small pills that form on fabric, usually sweaters of wool. At some point, Helen immigrated to Canada, presumably with her father and sister,(is that who she is visiting with in the letter?) but it is really unknown. There she met and wed Charles Cook.
Charles and Helen began their family in 1913, with their daughter, Ivy Rose Helen, on 28 July.
Ivy was soon followed by a sister, Francis Cook, and the Cook family lived at 4 Melville Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
This photo of all the girls has young "Franny" in the front and center, with big sister Ivy on the left. It is assumed at this point that the other
girls are Cook cousins, but no names are known as of yet. 
All was well with the Cooks until Wednesday, 6 May, 1931. Charles Cook had a heart attack and died at home. The Toronto
Star Newspaper Obituaries read:-Toronto Star Newspaper, Thursday, 7 May,, 1931
Here are current day photos of both the Cook Family Home and Charles' gravestone at Prospect Cemetery. Thank you again Frank! raogk.com
***Please note that Helen is reported by Prospect Cemetery records to have been buried next to Charles, however her headstone was not found. Please check back to see if that has changed.***
Helen remarried after Charles died. Twice actually. The first was to a man named George T. Read. They wed within the next three years because Mr. Read gave the bride away when Ivy got married in 1934. Ivy had met a man through her uncle that owned a mortuary, Joseph F. Black. Though she was unsure about it, he had money and her mother encouraged the union. So Ivy Rose Helen Cook became Mrs. Ivy Black at St. Peter's Cathedral on Saturday, 28 April, 1934.
Page 24 of that evening's edition of The Toronto Star read:
Ivy's sister, Franny, met a man named Ken Candy of British Columbia, Canada. The couple is survived today by a son and two grandaughters, also in Canada.
No information has yet been uncovered regarding A.E. Cook, Dolly Cook, or other names mentioned above.
For more on Joseph and Ivy Black, Click here to go to The Black Family Tree
For more information on Ken and Francis Candy, Click here to visit the Candy Family Tree