John Cooke
"Fairhaven's Own Pilgrim"
(1607-1695)
John Cooke, the oldest child of Francis and Hester (Mahieu) Cooke, was baptized in Leyden, Holland, between January 1 and March 31, 1607. In July, 1620, John Cooke and his father sailed from Leyden on the Speedwell, the smaller of two ships bound for America. When the Speedwell sprung a leak and was deemed unseaworthy, the Cookes were transferred to the larger ship, Mayflower. John Cooke’s mother Hester and the other children arrived in Plymouth in 1623 on the Anne.
Also arriving on the Anne were Elizabeth Warren, the wife of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren, and her children, including Sarah. On March 28, 1634, John Cooke married Sarah Warren.
At Plymouth, Cooke represented the town to the Colony Court and was a deacon in the church, though he was later excommunicated, most likely for supporting Quaker and Baptist causes. Cooke’s break with the established church probably influenced his decision to leave Plymouth.
Cooke was one of the 36 people who purchased the Old Dartmouth territory in 1652. He moved here about ten years later, following his son-in-law Arthur Hathaway and others. Also settling here about that time was Cooke’s cousin Lt. Jonathan Delano.
Cooke’s homestead was located in the northern part of present-day Fairhaven, between Riverside Cemetery and Woodside Cemetery, with his house overlooking the Acushnet River from the crest of the hill near the intersection of Adams Street and Howland Road. Between his home and the river, he built a garrison, as a defense when relations with the Native people deteriorated in the 1670s. The site of Cooke’s garrison is marked with a plaque in a small lot on the north side of Howland Road between Main and Sycamore streets.
Cooke was one of the most prominent men during the early days of Dartmouth, which was incorporated in June, 1664. In 1667, he was authorized to perform legal duties, such as solemnizing marriages, issuing warrants and administering oaths. He was appointed twelve times as Representative to the Court at Plymouth between 1666 and 1686 and also served as a selectman nine times between 1670 and 1683, with consecutive years broken only by the abandonment of the town during the King Philip War (1675-1678).
Cooke’s already large land holdings (he owned 3 of the 34 shares) were added to by purchase or grant. In 1666, he bought “Howard’s Neck” in Acushnet from Joseph Russell. In 1668, he and son-in-law Daniel Wilcox obtained a license to operate a ferry across the Seconnet River between Portsmouth and Tiverton and Cooke purchased land there. Cooke owned West Island, which he bought from Wampanoag leader Metacomet for £10. In 1672, the town gave Cooke Popes Island, then known as Ram Island, as payment for services. He also owned property called “Freemans Meadows” in Rochester.
Cooke, having become affiliated with Baptist preacher Obadiah Holmes, is said to have been the first Baptist minister in Dartmouth. He is credited with organizing a Baptist society in what’s now Tiverton, RI, about 1680.
The first bequest in John Cooke’s will, dated November 9, 1694, is to daughter Sarah and son-in-law Arthur Hathaway—Acushnet land that Cooke had bought from John Russell “in the point at or near the Burying place in Dartmouth.” This land remained in the Hathaway family until the 1830s.
John Cooke died November 23, 1695, at the age of 88, the last male Mayflower passenger. Cooke was survived by four of his five daughters and by his wife Sarah, who was alive until at least December 7, 1696, when she presented the inventory of her husband’s estate.
DESCENDANTS OF JOHN COOKE
Since John Cooke had no sons to carry on his family name, his descendants bear the married names of his five daughters.
Sarah Cooke married Arthur Hathaway on November 20, 1652, in Plymouth. Their children were John, Sarah, Hannah, Lydia, Mary, Thomas and Jonathan.
Elizabeth Cooke became the second wife of Daniel Wilcox on November 28, 1661, in Plymouth. Wilcox’s first two children, Daniel Jr. and Samuel, are attributed to his first wife, whose name is unknown. Children attributed to Elizabeth Cooke and Daniel Wilcox are Mary, Sarah, Stephen, John, Edward, Thomas, Lydia and Susanna.
Hester Cooke married Capt. Thomas Taber ca. 1667. Their children were Thomas Jr. and Esther. Shortly after the birth of Esther, Hester died. Taber then married Mary Tomson, a daughter of John Cooke’s sister Mary, ca. 1673. Remains of the chimney wall of Thomas Taber’s house, built ca. 1678, still stand in Fairhaven.
Mary Cooke married Philip Taber, brother of Capt. Thomas Taber, ca. 1668. Their children were Mary, Sarah, Lydia, Philip, Abigail, Esther, John and Bethia. Following the death of her husband ca. 1692/3, Mary married ——— Davis.
Mercy Cooke married Stephen West ca. 1683. Their children were Katharine, Sarah, Ann, Bartholomew, Amy (or Almy), Steven (or Stephen), John, Eunice and Lois. Bartholomew West lived on the old Cooke homestead during the Revolution and his house was burned by the British in September 1778. At that time, the family Bible was stolen, and today it is on display in England.
THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF JOHN COOKE
DATED: 9 November 1694 at Dartmouth.
PROVED: 8 May 1696 at Dartmouth (with memorandum 16 April 1696).
The Last will and Testament of John Cook
of the town of Dartmouth in the County of Bristoll:
I being weake of Body but of sound and Perfect memory, have Disposed of my Estate which God hath been pleased to bestow upon me in manner following: that is to say In the first place I give to my Son in-law Arthur Hathaway & his wife Sarah my Daughter all my land in the point at or Near the Burying place in Dartmouth the which I bought of John Russell to them their heires and Assignes for Ever: And also I give unto my Son in-law Stephen west and his wife Mercey my Daughter one full Third part of a whole Share of lands in the Township of Dartmouth with all my houseing and Orchards “hereunto belonging: with all the priviledges & appur=ces belonging to the same to them their heires & Assignes for ever They to possess the same after the Decease of my wife Sarah Allso I give unto Jonathan Delano. one Third part of a share of meadow Caled the ffreemens Meadow Lyeing within the Township of Rochester to him his heires & assigne for Ever: Allso I give to my Grandson Thomas Taber my little Island Caled & Known by the Name of Ram Island Lying in Cushnat River in Dartmouth with one third part of my Share of Meadow Called the ffreemens Meadow Lyeing in the Township of Rochester. to him his heires & assignee for Ever and I give to my said Grand son my Gun & sword Allso I give to my Grand Daughter Hester Perry One feather Bed & Bolster, All the Rest & Residue of Estate Goods & Chattles of what Sort or Kind so ever I Give & bequeath uto my Loveing wife Sarah to use. & Dispose of the same as she shall see good And I make my said wife Sole Executrix of this my Last will & Testament: In witness whereof I the said John Cooke have hereunto sett my hand & seale this Ninth Day of November 1694 in the presence of
Aaron Savory O his mark
John Cooke (seal) Thomas Taber
memorandum that on the 16th of Aprill 1696
Then appeared Aaron Savory & Thomas Taber both of Dartmouth, Before John Saffin Esqr Judge of Probate ot wills &ca and made Oath that they were present & did see John Cooke late of Dartmouth Decd Signe seale & publish this Instrument to be his last will & testiment and yt he was of a Disposeing mind when he so did to the best of their apprehensions
Jno Saffin John Cary Registr
Thus Entered & Engrosed may the: 8th 1696 By Jno Cary Registr
DEATH DATES & BURIAL PLACES
The death date of John Cooke, November 23, 1695, and that of his daughter Mercy (Cooke) West, November 22, 1733, are the only ones of the immediate family that are documented. There are no known burial records of any immediate members of the family.
The John Cooke Memorial in a public park on Pilgrim Avenue in Fairhaven was installed by the Fairhaven Improvement Association in 1903. There is no primary-source historical evidence to support a traditional claim that John Cooke was buried in that location. There is a strong possibility that Cooke’s former son-in-law Thomas Taber was buried in that vicinity.
SITES ASSOCIATED WITH JOHN COOKE
JOHN COOKE HOMESTEAD (1660s - 1778)
Private property (no original building remains)
265 Adams Street, Fairhaven, MA
Northeast corner Adams Street and Howland Road
After John Cooke moved here from Plymouth about 1662, his homestead was
established on the crest of the hill at the present-day intersection of Adams Street
and Howland Road. Cooke’s house was burned by Wampanoag raiders at the
beginning of the King Philip War in 1675. The house was rebuilt on the same
foundation. It was inherited by Stephen and Mercy West after the death of John
Cooke’s wife Sarah.
Cooke’s grandson Bartholomew West was in his eighties and living in the house when British troops marched through town in September 1778. West’s servant, a Wampanoag woman named Hannah Sogg, carried the old man out of the house before it was burned by the British. The enemy troops from the South Devonshire 46th Regiment of Foot stole the West family Bible, which is now displayed in Bodmin, England.
Nothing remains of the original homestead. A short distance to the west on Howland Road the Site of John Cooke’s Garrison is marked in a tiny park.
JOHN COOKE GARRISON (ca. 1675)
52 Howland Road, Fairhaven, MA
In a small public park on the north side of Howland Road near Sycamore Street, a bronze plaque on a boulder marks the location where a garrison belonging to John Cooke stood in the 1670s.
In July of 1675, at the beginning of the King Philip War, the town was raided by members of the Wampanoag tribe who were followers of the late Chief Massasoit’s son Philip. Cooke’s garrison became a refuge for local settlers. The children of Jacob and Susannah (Pope) Mitchell fled from their home and made it safely to the garrison. Their parents and Susannah’s brother John Pope were not so lucky and were killed by Native people.
Walls from the garrison remained visible into the late 1850s according to historian Daniel Ricketson. An excavation of the site around that time yielded arrowheads, spoons, cooking utensils and other artifacts which were eventually donated to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society. John H. Howland donated the garrison lot to the Town of Fairhaven in 1903. The marker was installed by the Fairhaven Improvement Association in 1908.
The wording of the plaque has two minor errors. Cooke was the last male passenger of the Mayflower, but another original Pilgrim, Mary Allerton Cushman, was still alive after Cooke’s death. And there were other men living and paying taxes here before Cooke’s arrival; he is most likely not Fairhaven’s first white settler.
CAPTAIN THOMAS TABER CHIMNEY WALL (ca. 1678)
Adjacent to Joseph Bates Home
191 Main Street, Fairhaven, MA
At the time Capt. Thomas Taber settled here, he was married to John Cooke’s daughter Hester. When the town was abandoned in 1675 during the King Philip War, Taber had already married a second time, to Mary Tomson, following the death of Hester. After the settlers returned from the safety of Plymouth when the war was concluded, Taber built a type of house known as a stone-ender, approximately 16 feet by 20 feet, one entire wall being made up of a huge stone fireplace and chimney. The fireplace itself was 10 feet wide.
COOKE MEMORIAL PARK (1903)
2 Pilgrim Avenue, Fairhaven, MA
John Cooke arrived in America at the age of 14 in the year 1620 with his father Francis aboard the Mayflower. In 1652, Cooke was among the 36 Plymouth colonists who purchased Dartmouth Township from Wampanoag leader Massasoit and his son Wamsutta. Cooke was the only one of the original Pilgrims to actually move to the town, building a home and a garrison near Howland Road.
A painting made in the 1850s depicts the whole house, which was intact at that time, occupied by a woman known as Black Annis Sharper. The chimney wall was about 16 feet wide.
Photos from the late 1800s show the chimney still standing to its full height. Today, the wall is just about ten feet tall, but some of the structure of the fireplace remains on its north side. It is located off Main Street next to the Joseph Bates Boyhood Home. The wall itself sits on property of the Town of Fairhaven. It is under the jurisdiction of the Fairhaven Historical Commission. It may be viewed by visiting the Bates Home property, owned by the Adventist Heritage Ministry.
A Baptist preacher, Cooke represented the area at Plymouth Court for six years and performed a number of legal duties, making him an important figure of his day. He was one of the town’s Selectmen in 1675 when Massasoit’s son King Philip attacked and burned much of old Dartmouth.
Cooke had five daughters whose families—Hathaway, Taber, West and Wilcox—were among the most prominent in the region. At the time of Cooke’s death in 1695, he was the last surviving male passenger of the Mayflower.
In an 1888 lecture to the Fairhaven Improvement Association, Franklin B. Dexter, a Taber family descendant, suggested that John Cooke’s remains had been laid to rest on this property. There is no record of anyone making such a claim prior to 1888, almost two centuries after the Pilgrim’s death. A boulder with a bronze plaque was installed in the park by the Fairhaven Improvement Association in 1903.
While this park is part of an area that had been referred to as a burial ground from the 1760s into the 1800s, no primary source records indicate who was buried there. There is some evidence that suggests Cooke was more likely buried on Hathaway property in what is now Acushnet. His actual burial place is unknown.
All historical information on this page was researched and written by Christopher Richard, who served as Fairhaven’s Tourism Director from 1996 to 2024.