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A
B R I E F H I S T O R Y
O F T H E
C O O K M A N F A M I L Y
P A G E
S I X
DECENDANTS OF
M E L B U R N C
O O K M A N
Ella Cookman
(d/o Melburn Cookman and Olive Edmonds) b. Jan 12, 1869, d. June 23, 1951,
m. Mar 27, 1890 to William Henry Sterling, b. May 12, 1868, d. Mar 10,
1952. Ella was born in the old log house on Jesse's Run, Jane Lew,
WVa, and came to Missouri with her family in 1887. After her marriage
she moved to the old Sterling homestead located nine miles west of Milan,
MO and 1/2 mile west of the Sterling School.
They lived on this farm for 53 years until their retirement in 1943.
It was a well-kept farm in "white oak country" with plenty of wood and
water--something the old pioneers looked for first--but also with brushy
hills and hollows that had to be cleared by hand. There was just
enough "bottom land" for growing feed, and all in all, must have reminded
Ella of her home in West Virginia. [J. Howard relates that Ella had
many new experiences in MO, and said she had never heard a Whippoorwill
bird sing before then, joking that its song sounded like the bird was urging
her husband to punish her.]
Ella and William raised their family on the farm and celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary there. They retired to a new home in Milan, MO,
and celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary before they passed away,
Ella in 1951 and Will in 1952. Their Children:
1: Henry Guy Sterling (s/o
Ella Cookman and William Sterling), b. May 25, 1892, d. 1970, m. 1923 to
Pearl Collett, b. Nov 27, 1892 in Charitan County,
MO (living as of 1972). Guy grew up on the home farm, attended the
local Sterling school, the Milan High School, and later the Teachers College.
He led the typical life of a farm boy in the early 1900's, was a road machinery
salesman, and was quite active in the community. He was also very
interested in purebred horses, and owned a very fine "road stallion".
Pearl attended Springfield Teachers College and Kirksville Teachers College,
and taught school before marrying Guy.
During WWI Guy served as a machine gunner with the old 35th Division in
France, returning home in 1918. Guy was very active in the American
Legion, the Rotary Club, and in his Church.
After his marriage to Pearl, they bought land near his parents and built
a nice farm of their own. They have one son, Bobby Neal Sterling
( b. 1932, m. 1961 to Laura Swearangen, b. 1936, had daughter Martha
Ellen b. 1962).
2: Claget Ralph Sterling (s/o Ella Cookman and William Sterling),
b.Jun 12, 1895, m. 1916 to Eunice Blanche Henry, b. July 19, 1890.
Claget, like his brother Guy, grew up on the farm in the Sterling community,
attended local schools, and later had his own "team and buggy" with the
rest of the boys in the early 1900's. After marrying, he and Blanche
moved to the "Prairie Farm",, located about five miles west of the home
farm in the prairie table land and out of the tree-covered oak country.
They lived there until 1923, when Blanche's health required a move to Colorado
Springs, CO. They stayed until 1925, then moved back to Milan, MO,
where they lived until 1942.
That year they moved to Detroit, MI, where Claget ran a machine shop with
his cousin Harry Reger. After selling the shop a year later, Claget
and Blanche returned to Colorado Springs. They stayed until 1961,
then moved back once more to Milan. Their son: Dale Henry
(b. 1919, m. 1942 to Billie Branstetter, b. 1920, children Cynthia Ann
Sterling, b. 1946, and Billy Bruce Sterling, b. 1952).
3: Martha Olive Blance Sterling (d/o Ella Cookman and
William Sterling) b. Feb 22, 1898, m. 1919 to J. Ray Fairley, b. April
8, 1896. Blance was also raised on the home farm, and was well-known
locally as a fine pianist and music teacher. She and Ray moved to
the "Prairie Farm" and lived there for 23 years until Blanche's parents
Ella Cookman and William Sterling retired to Milan, when Blanche and Ray
took over the old home farm where she (and her father) had been born.
Their children: William Doyle Fairley (b. 1920, m 1944 to
Doris Louise Shobe, b. 1925), Merrill Sterling Fairley (b. 1926,
m. 1954 Patty Rae Martin, b. 1927, had son Timothy Alan, b. 1958,
and daughter Tracy Lynne, b. 1961), and Amber Lou Fairley
(b. 1929, m Norman G. Smith, b. 1928, had children: George Vernon, b. 1950,
Ray William, b. 1952, Kathy Ann, b. 1955, Edward Dean, b. 1959.)
Clara Cookman (d/o Melburn Cookman and Olive
Edmonds) b. Feb 13, 1871, d. Sep 19, 1968, m. Jan 27, 1893 Luther Clyde
Cheuvront. Clara was born at the home on Jesse's Run, Jane Lew, WV,
and came to MO with her family in Oct 1887 at the age of sixteen.
After she married Luther Clyde she made her home with her sister Arminta
for several years while Luther traveled for an oil company. (further
info here, and photos
here)
Luther participated in the Oklahoma Land Run when the Indian Territories
were opened for settlement. He failed to draw a claim, but later
bought one near the present town of Roosevelt, OK, where he lived in a
tent while doing his development work to the property. (see
also: History of Roosevelt, OK)
Clara joined him later and they developed several businesses--a drug store,
a bank, an insurance company, and several farms and ranches. Luther
was a State Game Warden for Oklahoma from 1925-29, and was invited to the
Pribilof Islands as a member of a wildlife conservation committee during
the first administration on President Franklin Roosevelt. [Luther
was friends of both Presidents Roosevelt, Theodore and Franklin; see History
of Roosevelt, OK, the town Luther helped to found, which was named
after Theodore Roosevelt]
Luther and Clara were quite well-known and highly respected throughout
the state of Oklahoma. They spent the rest of their lives in the
town of Roosevelt, where Luther died on May 26, 1963, at the age of 93.
He was a 32nd Degree Mason. Clara died at their home on Sept 19,
1968, at the age of 97. Luther and Clara had one son, Luther Clifton.
Luther Clifton Cheuvront (s/o Luther Clyde and Clara Cookman
Cheuvront) b. May 26, 1907, d.1988, m. 1929 Dorothy Faye Stewart (d/o Alva
T. Stewart and Belle Barnes), b. Aug 31, 1907, d. Dec. 21, 1962.
Clifton was in business with his father for many years in the hometown
of Roosevelt, and in WWII joined the SeaBees and served until his discharge
on Dec. 23, 1945.
After the war Clifton ("Chevy") and Faye moved to Oakland, CA, where he
was a purchasing agent for Key Transportation Systems. In 1958 they
moved back to Roosevelt to care for his aging parents, both of whom were
in their late 80's.
After Faye died in 1962, Clifton married Edna Mae Lee of nearby Hobart,
Ok. on Dec 28, 1968. Like his father Luther Clyde, Clifton was a
32nd Degree Mason. Clifton and Faye had one daughter, Dorothy
Ann Cheuvront ( m. 1958 to Larry Sipe; daughters Lori Dee, and Lyne
Dae)
Della Cookman (d/o Melburn Cookman and Olive
Edmonds) b. June 18, 1873, d. June 18, 1950, m. 1890 Leonidas Anthony Lieutallas
Reger, b. Aug. 13, 1868. Della was 14 years old when the Cookman
family moved to Missouri from Jane Lew, WVa. She attended the Old
Griffeth school, and in 1890 she married Leonidas "Lon" Reger. Interestingly,
it was found among the family papers that Lon's father, Saul Reger Jr.,
co-signed a mortgage note for George Cheuvront dated July 5, 1865 (George
was the father of John O. Cheuvront, husband of Dell's sister Arminta).
The note was for $100 for one year at %10 percent interest, and listed
as security 160 acres of land SE 1/4, Sec. 16, Township 63, Range 21, Sullivan
Co., MO. It also had two additional co-signers, Andrew F. Wolf, Dell's
grandfather and George Cookman's father-in-law, and Saul Reger Jr.
[J.Howard notes that "money must have been awfully tight in 1865 Missouri!"]
Dell and Lon first lived on a farm south of the Asbury Church, and in 1902
moved to the Melburn Cookman farm when he left for Oklahoma. They
lived there for one year, then moved to the Stone place--one mile north
of the Asbury Church--where they lived until 1908.
That year they moved to Milan, MO, where Lon purchased the [then] new motion
picture theatre (silent, of course), for their son Hayward to operate.
When Hayward became ill [tuberculosis again?]
in 1914 they sold the theatre and moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, but
the change of climate did Hayward no good. They returned to Milan,
where Hayward died on April 20, 1916.
After Hayward's death Lon and Dell bought another farm west of Milan and
lived there until Lon's death in 1940. Dell lived with her daughter
Genevieve in Marshalltown, Iowa until her death on June 18, 1950.
Children
of Lon and Dell Cookman Reger:
1:
Harold Clifton Reger
2: Infant
3: Genevieve
Reger
4:
John Hayward Reger
5:
Harry Leo Reger
the
family of Lon and Dell Cookman Reger, cont'd
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-from A Brief History of the Melburn Cookman
Family in America, J. Howard Cheuvront, 1972
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