Rebecca Starbird

Rebecca "Rebekah" Cook, daughter of John Cook and Mary Downes, was born at Dover, NH in 1693. She married first Sgt. John Drew. Sgt Drew was born in Dover in 1651. He was a cooper, a sergeant in the militia during King Phillip's war and a selectman for the town. He married first Sarah Field in abt 1675 and had several children. While married to her, he set his paramour Rebecca Cook up in another house in town and had children with her, also. He married Rebecca when he was 69 years old, following the death of his long-suffering first wife. He died about three years after that and Rebecca remarried Samuel Starbird.

Biography

from Re: info on John Drew & Rebecca Cook February 05, 2002

John DREW b. 1651 Black River, Dover, Strafford Co., NH, son of William Drew and Elizabeth MATTHEWS married 1st c1675 to Sarah FIELD. She was born c. 1650 and a daug. of Darby Field. John Drew led quite a scandalous lifestyle for the time. He was married to Sarah but kept Rebecca Cook his mistress across town in a house he bought for her. She was Waaaay younger than he, but he was having babies with her While he was married to Sarah, thus you will notice the birth dates of his children with her Before their marriage date. There is quite a lot of info on his behaviour in Dover history. John Drew b. 1651 d. Oct. 1723 at abt. age 72 yrs. old. As you can see by comparing the dates, he was Still fathering children into his 70's.

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The Chldren of John Drew and Rebecca Cook, all at Durham, Strafford, NH:[2] The first four were while he was still married to his first wife, Sarah (Field) Drew, he last three Francis, Zebulon, and Lemuel, were after his first wife's death in 1717, and the short marriage of John Drew and Rebecca (Cook) Drew on 31 Mar 1720.

1. Hannah Drew; b. 26 Feb 1708
2. John Drew; b. 18 Oct 1712, d. abt. 1812
3. Abigail Drew; b. 21 Jun 1714, d. 1783
4. Rebecca Drew; b. 24 Apr 1716, d. 1718
5. Francis Drew, b. 9 Aug 1720, d. 16 Feb 1726
6. Zebulon Drew, b. 9 Nov 1721, d. 10 Feb 1797
7. Lemuel Drew; b. 26 May 1723, d. 25 Sep 1759

After the death of her first husband she married, Samuel Starbird (1704-1761) Of Dover, NH. She died in 1734 at Dover, NH.

The children of Samuel Starbird and Rebecca "Rebekah" (Cook-Drew) Starbird:

1. Elizabeth; b. 4 Jul 1725
2. Samuel; b. 29 May 1727

The above list is probably incomplete.

in records

New Hampshire Historical Society, Annual Address. Page 280 < Archive.Org >

Many at this day believe that the scarlet letter immortalized by the genius of Hawthorne was the creature of his weird and powerful imagination. On the contrary, in New Hampshire as well as elsewhere, it was a solemn and bitter reality, as the following instances show.

At the August term of the superior court, 1719, the following sentence was passed :

At the August term of the superior court, 1719, the following sentence was passed : " It appearing to this Court that notwithstanding the frequent inhibitions & fines that have been inflicted on John Drew & Rebecca Cook for their adulterous actions that yet in contempt thereof they still proceed in open lewdness wch. is a scandale to religion & a palpable breach of his majestys laws. It is therefore ordered that the said John Drew do forthwith pay as a fine to His Majesty the sum of £20. otherwise that 20 lashes be layd on his naked back at the Carts tayle from one end of the bank to the other & that the said Rebecca Cook at the same time set in the Cart with her face to the Criminal moreover that the said Drew ware the letter A during one year on the outside of his coat in open view under the penalty of ten stripes for such defect to be inflicted on him by any of his majestys Justices of this Government & so toties quoties from time to time and that the said Drew & Rebecca Cook pay all cost & charge."

Judge Smith's Old Records 293, 294.

References

• http://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/rebecca-cook_27049859
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cook-8933 cites
• 1. https://archive.org/details/proceedingsofnew01newh/page/280/mode/2up
• 2. http://www.evelynsfamily.com/getperson.php?personID=P1324&tree=evel...
• "Genealogy of the Starbird-Starbard Family" Alfred A. Starbird, The Lane Press Inc., Burlington VT, 1943.
• Proceedings of the New Hampshire Historical Society, Publication Date: 1888, published by the New Hampshire Historical Society.