Payne Gap Cemetery Directory

Mattie L. “Nellie” [Carswell] Cook (1878-1963)

Names Detail

First Name

Middle Name

Nick Name/Preferred Name

Maiden Name

Last Name

Birth and Death

Birth Date

Death Date

Age at Death

Cemetery Location and Disposition

Cemetery Location

Disposition Type

Epitaph

Relationships to Others at the Cemetery

• Daughter of William Thomas “W.T. or Uncle Billy” Carswell (1846-1912)
• Daughter of Lydia C. [Baker] Carswell (1845-1917)
• Sister of Walter Byrd Carswell (1882-1965)
• Wife of John Wister “Wis” Cook (1876-1906)
• Mother of Mittee Cook (1904-1905)
• Mother of Doran Wister Cook (1905-1938)

External Links

• Find A Grave

Notes

Mattie was born in Edna, Texas, on November 5, 1878. After Mattie’s first husband, “Wis,” died at age twenty-nine in 1906, she married E.A. (Albert) Clayton (1859-1924) sometime before 1920. The family, which included Doran, were living in Eastland, Texas, according to the 1920 census. E.A. Clayton died on October 6, 1924, in Ranger, Texas.¹ Her headstone lists “Cook” as her last name—referencing her first husband, John “Wis” Cook—and it’s not clear why it does not acknowledge her last marriage to E.A. Clayton. The 1930 census reports that she was widowed and living with her son, Doran W. Cook, in Dallas. She passed away there from pneumonia on June 14, 1963.

From the Four Fs of Moline, Texas, in the essay about the Carswell family written by Cleo Carswell:

Mattie Carswell, William T.‘s daughter, at one time taught school at Payne Gap. Having finished school, she was qualified to teach. She drove a horse and buggy, furnished by her father, from home to the school. The road from Star then turned toward Payne Gap at Bennett Creek and went through Pigfoot, the Patterson place, by the Blumke gin, and on to Payne Gap.

Mattie married Wiss [Wis] Cook, son of Jackie Cook of Moline. This couple lived on farms and ranches near Moline. Their children were Dorris [(born 1898)], Mona [Laura [Cook] Newland (1899-1979)], and Doran, and two infants who died. Wiss died quite young, then Mattie moved to Moline. She served as postmistress and boarded school teachers. At this time Mattie’s mother was also widowed, and she helped with her children and her work. After her mother’s death, Mattie married Mr. Trussell, who had a store in Moline. A few years later he died, and Mattie moved her family to Dallas. Doran, a barber, died in 1938, and Mona died in 1979. Other members of the family still live in the Dallas area. Wiss [Wis] Cook and Mattie are buried in Payne Gap Cemetery.

Attached death certificate says birth date is November 5, 1879, and monument says 1878.

Images and Documents