From the Files of Marguerite Cook Clark: Lucy Smith Lawson Wimberly

Written on the note attached: My grandmother Wimberly's cap - Josie Cook.

This cap was found in a trunk containing notes, photos, and more preserved by generations of women - most recently the daughters of Marguerite Cook Clark. 

Josie Cook was the biological daughter of Sarah Margaret Wimberly and Joseph B. Bryan and the adopted daughter of their siblings, Alice Mary Wimberly and James Bryan. Josie's Grandmother Wimberly was Lucy Smith Lawson Wimberly, mother of nine children including Sarah Margaret and Alice Mary. Other children were John Lawson Wimberly, Charles Perry Wimberly, Frances Louisa Wimberly, Hugh Andrew Wimberly, Thomas Henry Wimberly, Roger Lawson Wimberly, and Martha Elizabeth Wimberly. 

Lucy Smith Lawson, born on November 23, 1806* in Georgia, was the daughter of Roger Lawson and Lucy Parrotte.  She married William Wimberly in Twiggs County, Georgia on June 20, 1825. In 1837, she traveled from Twiggs County to Northwest Louisiana and settled in the area later known as Bienville Parish. Lucy wrote the following letter to her sister soon after moving to Louisiana. 

Lucy's siblings were John, Hugh, Andrew, Roger, Alice, Martha,
Elizabeth, and Mary. John, Andrew, and Roger settled in Northwest
Louisiana. Hugh lived in Canton, Mississippi. Her sisters moved to
Louisiana as well. Elizabeth died soon after settling in Louisiana.
Martha married Anderson Caldwell, Allice married twice and is buried
in the Wimberly Cemetery and Mary married a Mr. Harris and lived near
Homer, Louisiana. 

Marguerite Cook Clark had a transcription of the letter as well as a copy of the original in her files. The original, said to be in Josie Bryan Cook's scrapbook, has not been located. A transcription of this letter can also be found on page 100 of the Wimberly Family History compiled by Vera Meek Wimberly in 1979.

Lucy Smith Lawson Wimberly died on October 16, 1844 and is said to be the first person buried in the Wimberly Cemetery. 

* Birthdates vary among sources. 

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Diana

© 2019

Sources

Family photographs and documents from the collection of Marguerite Cook Clark. Accessed April 28, 2014, September 14, 2014, and November 9 to 11, 2016. Used with permission.

Wimberly, Vera. Wimberly Family History: Ancestors, Relatives, and Descendants of William Wimberly, Pioneer from Georgia to Louisiana, 1837. Houston, Tex.: D. Armstrong, 1979. Print.