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If he's looking for DNA relatives, he should also test at 23andMe and upload to MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA. You don't know what company they might have tested with so for the best coverage, he should test/upload to all of them.
Howard, I agree with PA2UK that he should upload his Ancestry DNA to Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) in addition to My Heritage. I'm leaving a few links, one FTDNA link claims they have one of the worlds largest genetic genealogy database. I'm unsure how true that is. In years past, they had a pretty large DNA database that had users from all over the world.
In addition to FTDNA, there is a public DNA database called GEDmatch that accepts uploads of DNA from Ancestry, My Heritage, FTDNA, 23 and me and from other companies.
I normally suggest them too but I also add that both sites allow LE (law enforcement) to upload DNA from crime scenes and rape kits. At FTDNA, you are automatically opted in when you upload the DNA. You have to go into account settings by clicking on your name in the top right corner, then privacy and sharing. You will then see opt into matching and Investigative Genetic Genealogy Matching (IGGM) which you turn off. It is not complicated for most people, there are some who need extra hand holding in order to do it. FTDNA does not have an app like Ancestry, My Heritage and 23 and me has.
At GEDmatch, the last step on the upload page has opt in and opt out. I also want to note that DNA kits that are opted out could be accessed by LE if they log in using a non-LE user account, such as an account in their name. I haven't been on GEDmatch in a long time, I see that there is a notice about opted out kits being accessed. See the first link.
GEDmatch and FTDNA may be too complicated for some people. FTDNA gives us an eight digit account number that has to be saved somewhere. To log in you have to use that kit number plus your password. I also want to note that uploading for the first time, you add your name, your email addy then check male or female. They ask for male or female because they sell Y-DNA which is for males that traces the male line, so the males father, grandfather, great grandfather, etc. Females do not have Y-DNA. They also offer female line mTDNA that males and females can do. Once you upload DNA to FTDNA, you have to go to your email to confirm your FTDNA account. Once you click the link in that first email, you can then make a password which is needed to log in.
If FTDNA and GEDmatch are too complicated for Howards case, I suggest that Howard tells them to concentrate on uploading to My Heritage since they're a genealogy site like Ancestry and their DNA match database is worldwide. Link for My Heritage Upload DNA data which should be the first google result when using uploading to My Heritage as the search term.
GEDmatch’s commitment to user data privacy and security is a top priority. We recently learned that a small number of forensic genetic genealogy practitioners had circumvented GEDmatch settings in violation of our Terms of Use, enabling them to access some profiles of GEDmatch users who had not opted in to law enforcement investigations for violent crime and homicides. Further, the practitioners had advocated not to disclose this misuse to GEDmatch, trained others to use it, and doctored reports to prevent it from becoming known. The information accessed includes relationships that were otherwise not available for the law-enforcement investigations in question.
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If he's looking for DNA relatives, he should also test at 23andMe and upload to MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA. You don't know what company they might have tested with so for the best coverage, he should test/upload to all of them.
There's a tree on Ancestry that has some yearbook photos attached to Harry. I have no idea if it's the correct Harry Cook, they are from Western High School?
Harry was born in 1915.
1927-1930 from above would have been ages 12-15 and he would have been a high school senior at age 18 or 1933.
Harry's nephew thinks that the family lived in Detroit or Bad Axe, MI from 1915 up to some unknown date when they may have moved.
Bad Axe is alot further away from Detroit than Parma. Parma is the only Western High School I see in MI.
I have passed all the details posted about DNA.
As far as where they lived the death certificate for Metta gives an address from what looks to be 1931-1935. Where they lived before 1931 and after 1935 is not known.
I'm hoping the 1940 census can tell us more about 1935-1939 as Harry would have been ages 20-24 during that time and may have left home.
And the 1950 census for the years 1940-1942 (ages 25-27) before he entered the military.
I'm not sure if there were City Directories during those periods.
Last edited by howard555; 01-23-2024 at 09:49 AM..
Harry was born in 1915.
1927-1930 from above would have been ages 12-15 and he would have been a high school senior at age 18 or 1933.
Harry's nephew thinks that the family lived in Detroit or Bad Axe, MI from 1915 up to some unknown date when they may have moved.
Bad Axe is alot further away from Detroit than Parma. Parma is the only Western High School I see in MI.
Western International High School appears to be at the same location it was historically, at 1500 Scotten St, which is about 4 miles from the residence address on Metta's death certificate (the residence address does not appear to be the hospital she was staying at either, so it's probably the family home which means in 1935 they lived not far from Western High School).
The index for the 1931 yearbook says this Harry Cook was born about 1914 or 1915 and was a senior at age 16-17. Not everyone was 18 when they graduated, especially historically. This article talks about how the median age of graduation in 1935 was 17: https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/h...5054/w4762.pdf
That's a median, meaning probably some were 16, some were 17, some were 18. I'm guessing there were less restrictions on what exact age kids started and therefore finished school in the past.
Harry was born in June so he may have turned 17 just after graduating in 1931, which would explain why the index estimates his age/birth as 16-17 and 1914-1915.
So I would not dismiss the yearbooks, there's a very good chance this is him.
This helps confirm John Cook's marriage to Dorothy:
1937 Detroit City Directory, page 470
Cook, John (Dorothy) diemkr h9333 Peter Hunt Ave
His occupation of die maker is consistent with his 1915 marriage to Metta, and his WWI draft registration. The name Dorothy in parentheses means Dorothy was his wife. I did not find him in the directory between 1930 and 1936, I believe because he had been fraudulently married to Dorothy for that duration while Metta was in the hospital, and possibly wanted to avoid drawing attention to himself and being recorded because of that.
This helps confirm John Cook's marriage to Dorothy:
1937 Detroit City Directory, page 470
Cook, John (Dorothy) diemkr h9333 Peter Hunt Ave
His occupation of die maker is consistent with his 1915 marriage to Metta, and his WWI draft registration. The name Dorothy in parentheses means Dorothy was his wife. I did not find him in the directory between 1930 and 1936, I believe because he had been fraudulently married to Dorothy for that duration while Metta was in the hospital, and possibly wanted to avoid drawing attention to himself and being recorded because of that.
Thanks.
We are still hopeful to find an obituary for Harry's father and now try to find one for his second wife Dorothy.
Who know which friends or family member Harry may have kept in touch with before he died in Dec. 1944.
Did Harry show up at an address other than the home?
Harry's birthdate was seen on FindaGrave as June 9, 1915. The 1920 census showed age 4 6/12 = 4.5 years. Hopefully the data collector came in Jan. 1920 such that his age might be greater than 5 by June 1920 to lead to that school photo.
I searched newspapers.com for Detroit, then Michigan, papers but got nothing for Harry, John or Meta (Metta). Meta is Nata in the 1920 census on Ancestry. The 1930 census shows Harry (15) and Ellis (12), probably Ernest, Cook living with a Herz family on Euclid in Detroit and John is living in what looks like a rooming house on Forest in Detroit. A tree shows John dying 24 Nov 1957, but no source except another tree with no source.
Also, Info on Harry:
Name Cook
Birth Date 9 Jun 1915
Birth Place Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Ethnicity American
Gender Male
Race White
Father John Cook
Mother Matie Malinoff
There are several Ancestry references for Harry at Western High. In 1940, Harry is living with a Walter English family on Fordham in Detroit and identifies as a cousin of Walter.
I searched newspapers.com for Detroit, then Michigan, papers but got nothing for Harry, John or Meta (Metta). Meta is Nata in the 1920 census on Ancestry. The 1930 census shows Harry (15) and Ellis (12), probably Ernest, Cook living with a Herz family on Euclid in Detroit and John is living in what looks like a rooming house on Forest in Detroit. A tree shows John dying 24 Nov 1957, but no source except another tree with no source.
Also, Info on Harry:
Name Cook
Birth Date 9 Jun 1915
Birth Place Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Ethnicity American
Gender Male
Race White
Father John Cook
Mother Matie Malinoff
There are several Ancestry references for Harry at Western High. In 1940, Harry is living with a Walter English family on Fordham in Detroit and identifies as a cousin of Walter.
From the May 24 2002 Detroit Free Press:
Thanks for that help!
There was a 3rd child born around 1920 (Esther) as she does show up in her brother Ernest obituary. And we do have her obituary and different reasons why she did not show on the 1930 census.
We are still hopeful to find an obituary for Harry's father and now try to find one for his second wife Dorothy.
Who know which friends or family member Harry may have kept in touch with before he died in Dec. 1944.
Did Harry show up at an address other than the home?
Harry's birthdate was seen on FindaGrave as June 9, 1915. The 1920 census showed age 4 6/12 = 4.5 years. Hopefully the data collector came in Jan. 1920 such that his age might be greater than 5 by June 1920 to lead to that school photo.
I don't see Harry at the same address in 1937. The 1938 and 1940 directories appears to just be a business directory and in 1939, it's difficult to identify John - there's two John Cooks with a Dorothy, one doesn't have an occupation but is at Harper av, and the other is a maintenanceman (John B Cook) at Beatrice av. Maintenanceman doesn't really fit with John's previous occupations and he never used the middle initial B so I suspect that's not him, but that doesn't mean he's the other one. Keeping in mind he and Dorothy divorced, we don't know when they separated and therefore he could be one of the John Cooks without a wife listed. There are none at the same address as 1937 and of course it wasn't required that everyone be included in directory so without an occupation to confirm it's him, I'd be cautious. I don't find a Harry Cook at any of the addresses where there's a John Cook. By 1941, the John and Dorothy without an occupation are gone. There's a few Harrys but without more info, it's difficult to confirm if any are him. I also don't see an Ernest Cook with Evelyn.
The directory then jumps to 1947 which is incomplete (just some ads) and then again to 1953.
Howard, The 1930 census shows Harry (15) and Ellis (12), probably Ernest, Cook living with a Herz family on Euclid in Detroit and John is living in what looks like a rooming house on Forest in Detroit. A tree shows John dying 24 Nov 1957, but no source except another tree with no source.
There are several Ancestry references for Harry at Western High. In 1940, Harry is living with a Walter English family on Fordham in Detroit and identifies as a cousin of Walter.
It's interesting that the 1930 census is missing 10 year old Esther. And what situation caused the kids to be in the Herz household. Their mothers medical issues seem to have gotten worse a couple years after in 1931.
As well as what links Harry as a cousin of Walter English.
------------
I've done no searching for brothers and sister's of Harry's parents. All names could be the tiny clue that opens a door to who Harry kept in touch with once he left for the Navy.
----------------
Harry's sister's name was Esther and Harry's nephew has John's date of death to be 5/10/51. I'm asking about the source of that.
The obituary for both Esther and Ernest don't mention Harry so how close the family members were to each other is questioned. Locating people who lived near Harry or with him (as with the Herz family or the Walter English family) could yield people who Harry may have kept in contact with.
Who knows he may have sent a photo of himself and his wife and kids to any of these persons. (friends, neighbors, household members, military buddies)
Last edited by howard555; 01-24-2024 at 01:01 PM..
The obit was the typical kind found in Detroit papers. Don't recall if those were placed there by funeral homes or by individuals. Could be that whoever placed the obit wasn't even even aware of Harry or his death 60 years earlier.
There's a Vanassche mentioned as Ernest's daughter. The tree I referenced in my prior post is labelled Vanassche Family Tree, and done by Ernest's granddaughter (name not mentioned).
That tree notes this:
John Cook
Birth 11 09 1846 • Parish of Kings Norton, Worcester, Worcestershire, England
Death 11 24 1957 • Michigan
Census ages, though, track with a birth year of 1887-1889. Not sure where 1846 comes from.
That tree also notes this for Meta:
Birth 5 AUG 1886 • Bad Axe, Huron, Michigan, USA
Death 24 APR 1935
Burial Location: Burial at Hebrew Memorial Park, Section B, Grave 0279
Hebrew Memorial Park 26640 Greenfield Rd. Oak Park, MI 48237 248-543-1622
and for her parents: Louis Malinoff 1856–1925
Birth ABT 1856 • Pattowa Russia
Death 14 NOVEMBER 1925 • Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, USA
Burial Location: Burial at Machpelah Cemetery, Section D Lot 32, Grave 80A
Machpelah Cemetery 21701 Woodward Ave Ferndale, MI 48220
Esther Malinoff 1859–1918
Birth ABT 1859 • Russia
Death 25 JUL 1918 • Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, USA
Burial Location: Burial at Machpelah Cemetery Section I, Lot 21, Grave 395
Machpelah Cemetery 21701 Woodward Ave. Ferndale, MI 48220
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