What's New
The Ancestors
Biographies
Battle of Point Pleasant
Cook Family Poem
Mary E. Lyons
Harry O. Lockman, Jr.
Henry T. Cook
Photo Albums
Letters Home
Documents
Gordon Thompson
Cousins, Etc.
Favorite Links
Guestbook
Guestbook Archives

Welcome to

West Virginia Roadbuilders

"One generation opens the road upon which another generation travels."
                                                        
                                                                                - Chinese Proverb

                                                           

WV Roadbuilders contains information about the family history of the Bailey, Clay, Cook(e), Lockman, Lyons, Sizemore, Stewart, Tabor, Thompson, and Worrell families of southern West Virginia.  I hope you enjoy your visit and that you will sign the Guestbook.

As with most internet genealogy pages, the information on this web site  should be used as clues for your own research, as not all has been proven.   Information in the reports has come from family members, other researchers, personal research and other web sites.   Please apply the same caution to any genealogy information received via e-mail - use as a clue to complete your own research and documentation.

Special thanks to Henry T. Cook, Lt. Col. USMC (Ret.) and the many other people who have contributed to the information on this web site.

It's been two years since I've updated this web site.  I apologize for the delay.  I've started redoing the genealogy reports.  I have two years worth of updating to complete, so it will be several months before they are done.  I will add each report as it is completed and list the updates on the What's New page.  I will also be adding some new pictures.  I have already added an article -  Retrieving History:  The 18th Century Mortuary - History of the Little Dutch Church, Halifax to the Documents page.  This article pertains to Leonard Lockman, but may be of interest to others.

Page Name

What It Contains

The Ancestors

Links to the Genealogy Reports

Biographies

Biographies of John Cooke, Thomas Munsey Cooke and Thomas Boyd Cook

Cook Family Poem

Written by the Poet Laureate of WV late 1930's or early 1940's

Mary E. Lyons

Poetry written by my mother under her maiden name

Harry O. Lockman

Many pictures taken by my father and an article about his hobby, model railroading

Henry T. Cook

"Musings" written my Mr. Cook

Photo Albums

Two Photo Albums, including "Unidentified" photographs

Letters Home

Letters written by Gordon Thompson to his wife during the Civil War

Documents

Copies of various vital records and pension files, including a copy of John Cooke's baptismal record and transcript of Ralph Stewart's Revolutionary War Pension file

Gordon Thompson

Picture of Gordon Thompson and the poem "CSA"

Cousin's Etc.

E-Mail addresses of other researchers

Favorite Links

Links to web sites I've found of interest or help

Guestbook Achives

Guestbook entries from 11/08/99 through 12/31/01


The most interesting information about our ancestors is contained in the details of their lives - their occupations, their military service, their thoughts contained in their letters or diaries, their fame or notoriety, and the stories about them which have been passed down through the generations.  These are the things that bring our ancestors to life. 

As you read the genealogy reports and look at the photo album, let your imagination fly:

Imagine the courage it must have taken John Cooke and Nellie Pemberton to embrace their new life in America after being shanghaied while on a boat trip on the Thames river.

Wonder if Ralph Stewart and his brothers ended up hating the Indians for killing their father, James Stuart.

What was the story behind the advertisement William Mitchell Clay placed in the Virginia Gazette, about his wife Agnes.  This same William Mitchell Clay was the first casualty of the Revolutionary War.

Experience the horror Mitchell Clay and his family must have felt after the tragic deaths of three of his children in an Indian attack.  Their story is also the story of how many people died during Colonial times.  His family settled at Clover Bottom in 1775 and thus became the first settlers of present day Mercer County, WV.

Imagine the changes Catherine Stewart Cooke must have seen during her lifetime.  Born just after the end of the American Revolution, she lived to be ninety-nine.  From saving the lives of two of her brothers to hiding the family coffee supply from Confederate raiders, I think she must have been a clever and courageous woman.

The Civil War took many of our ancestors far away from their families and homes.  Most fought for the Union, but a few fought for the Confederacy.

Gordon Thompson left his wife and five children to join the 60th Virginia Infantry.

George O. Tabor fought for the Confederacy as a member of the brigade of General Wyse.  After the war he lived in Ohio for some eight years, he then moved to Kanawha County, where he assisted in rebuilding the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. 

John D. Lyon, also, fought for the Confederacy with Company D., 23rd Battallion Virginia Infantry.

John N. Cook, the great-grandson of John Cooke and Nellie Pemberton, also fought in the Civil War as part of the 7th West Virginia Cavalry.

Peter Lockman, an immigrant from Nova Scotia, was also a member of the 7th West Virginia Cavalry.

If you know of any "stories" or details about the lives of our ancestors or have pictures of any of the ancestors, please send me an e-mail if you are willing to share them so that they can be included here. 

Details of living persons are not included.  However, if you are among those listed and do not wish to be included, please let me know and I will remove your name.

All that said, I hope you enjoy your visit!
                                                                        
            

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