Monday Is for Mothers: Lydia Cook (1686 - After 1747)

As we see from her birth record in Mendon, Massachusetts, this maternal sixth great grandmother was named for her mother Ledia (White) Cook. Her father Samuel is described in later records as a husbandman so we can assume that his main occupation was farming.

[Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook).]

In about 1706 Lidia married Daniel Darling, a blacksmith, who was also an inhabitant of Mendon and the couple began their family which grew to include eight children that we know of. My direct ancestor is their second son Samuel* who was born in 1714/5.

[Source: familysearch.org; Massachusetts, Town Clerk...Towns Records, 1579-2001 Worcester Mendon Births, marriages, deaths 1643-1835]

In the winter of 1745/6 63-year-old Daniel "being sick and weak in body, but of sound and disposing mind memory and judgment, Thanks be given unto God therefor" made his last Will and Testament in which, after giving the customary attention to his earthly body  and soul, and directing that his just debts be paid with money from the sale of his "creatures,", provided for his widow's maintenance first.

["Massachusetts, Worcester County, Probate Files, 1731-1925," images, FamilySearch ( https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-42449-24426-30?cc=2102083&wc=9BXJ-DP8:1055512501,1073167801 : accessed 31 December 2014), Worcester - Case no 15386-15470, Darling, Alpheus-Darling, Simeon, 1731-1881 - image 180 of 1094; Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Boston.]

Daniel's will also stated that upon his widow's death or re-marriage how he desired all the property left for her use was to be divided among his children.

["Massachusetts, Worcester County, Probate Files, 1731-1925," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-42449-24267-55?cc=2102083&wc=9BXJ-DP8:1055512501,1073167801 : accessed 6 July 2015), Worcester > Case no 15386-15470, Darling, Alpheus-Darling, Simeon, 1731-1881 > image 180 of 1094; Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Boston.]

None of the surviving probate records have Lydia's signature (or mark) on them. She's first on the list of heirs to be notified and some of the other people listed have signed that paper but she didn't so we don't know if she was literate or not.

["Massachusetts, Worcester County, Probate Files, 1731-1925," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-42449-24921-52?cc=2102083&wc=9BXJ-DP8:1055512501,1073167801 : accessed 7 July 2015), Worcester > Case no 15386-15470, Darling, Alpheus-Darling, Simeon, 1731-1881 > image 192 of 1094; Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Boston.]

In an accounting to the probate court made by her oldest son Daniel, as executor, there's mention of money paid to her from the estate for "Mourning Cloths"** and the cost of hay for the "creatures" she received as part of her widow's share.

["Massachusetts, Worcester County, Probate Files, 1731-1925," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-42449-24255-25?cc=2102083&wc=9BXJ-DP8:1055512501,1073167801 : accessed 7 July 2015), Worcester > Case no 15386-15470, Darling, Alpheus-Darling, Simeon, 1731-1881 > image 190 of 1094; Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Boston.]

History is silent about Lydia Cook Darling after these documents. We don't know how long she survived her husband or where she's buried. Perhaps she lies next to David in the Old Cemetery in Millville, Worcester County, Massachusetts, the same place his parents are buried.

*Samuel's great granddaughter Mercy Ann Darling married Abner Webb in 1856. My maternal grandmother Anna Delilah Webb Slater was the child of their son Jesse David Webb.
**The sum for the widow's mourning clothes is 14 pounds which seems like a large amount for the time. I don't know enough about probate customs to know whether this amount was for Lydia's clothes only or covered those of other members of the family.

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