From Virginia Through the Southwest:Information about Melissia Cook
Melissia Cook (b. 1832, d. December 13, 1911)
 | Melissia Cook Pruitt |
Melissia Cook (daughter of John Ruben Cook, Jr. and Deborah L. Martin) was born 1832 in Wayne Co. Tennessee, and died December 13, 1911 in Leesburg, Camp Co. Texas.She married William Malone Pruitt on January 09, 1868 in Perryville, Upshur Co. Texas, son of Tillman Dixon Pruitt and Diannah Hillsman Farrar.
Notes for Melissia Cook:Melissia Cook was born in Wayne County, Tennessee in 1834, the daughter of John Ruben Cook, Jr. and Deborah L. Martin.Melissia was the fifth child, and second daughter of twelve children.Her family moved from Tennessee to Iuka, Tishomingo Co. Mississippi, and lived there for some time before moving again to east Texas.
Melissia was considered an "old maid" when she married William Malone Pruitt on January 9, 1868, at the home of her brother Alexander Cook in Perryville, Texas.She was 34 years old.William was a widower with five young children."Red Bill", as he was called because of his red hair, would laugh and tell people that he picked Melissia out at the burying ground.They loved to fish on the branch and she loved to quilt.Melissia had a dictionary she brought with her when she married, and she used it when she wrote letters.She kept it on a table by her chair at all times.Melissia became a beloved step-mother to William's children; Caroline, then 11, Tom 9, Mary 6, Bill Jr. 4, and Jesse almost 2, at the time of the marriage.
William and Melissia had one child together, a son named John Ruben Harrison Pruitt, after her father, born in April 1869.The baby was so tiny when he was born, they thought he would surely die.William's mother Diannah, then 62, took it upon herself, to wrap the baby up and lay him on a pillow in a small box and carry him across the field to her youngest son (and William's brother) Jesse Carter Farrar Pruitt's farm so they could all see the tiny little baby.
William and Melissia raised their son, "Rube", as he was called, along with his older half-siblings on the farm near Pittsburg, Texas.Rube kept a little pair of britches, that his mother Melissia had made for him, in a trunk, and they later became a treasured family keepsake.The britches were so small that only one of Rube's children was small enough to wear them.Rube had worn them until he was two years old!
When Rube was 21 years old, he said, "Pap gave me fifty dollars, a hoss and saddle and set me free."
In old age William and Melissia lived with Rube and his family.They were at his home when they died.William died first on February 5,1908, and Melissia on December 13, 1911.Both William and Melissia are buried in the Leesburg Cemetery where originally William had a headstone provided by his lodge.In 1972, two great-granddaughters, Virginia Beckham Carroll and Sheron Reid Darnell, bought and placed a Confederate States Army marker on his grave.Melissia has a small headstone with just initials and no dates.
Sources:
Virginia Beckham Carroll
The Pruett Pruitt Family by Haskell Pruett, Ph.D.
Tillman Dixon Pruitt & Diannah Hillsman Farrar Their Ancestors and Descendants, by Donna Duckworth.
Census:
1870 Upshur Co. Texas, page 139/269, Family #146. Listed as "Melissa Pruit" 35, Housekeeper, born MS.
1880 Census Camp Co. Texas E.D. 22, page 48/6, Family #45. Listed as "Melissa Pruitt" 46, House Keep, born TN NC SC.
1900 Camp Co. Texas, E.D. 16, house 221, sheet 13. Listed as "Malissa Pruett" 66, born -- 1834 TN NC VA. Married 33 years, mother of one child, one child living. Can't read or write.
More About Melissia Cook:
Burial: Leesburg Cemetery, Leesburg, Camp Co. Texas.
Grave Marker: is unreadable in Pittsburg Cemetery..
More About Melissia Cook and William Malone Pruitt:
Marriage: January 09, 1868, Perryville, Upshur Co. Texas.
Children of Melissia Cook and William Malone Pruitt are:
- +John Ruben Harrison Pruitt, b. April 06, 1869, Upshur Co. Texas, d. April 20, 1959, Pittsburg, Camp Co. Texas.