View source for Esther/Hester Mahieu (mtDNA)

==status summary==
As of 30 Aug 2017
* Page created for Esther/Hester (Mahieu) Cooke
* recruitment of individuals who are mtDNA descendants of Esther/Hester (Mahieu) Cooke. Folks who are direct mtDNA descendants of Esther are encouraged to contact Raymond T. Wing (email wing_genealogist AT yahoo DOT com)

==Background==
===Biography===
Esther/Hester was the daughter of Jacques and Jeanne (Unknown) Mercier/le Mercier. The family were originally French Walloons from the Lille, Flanders (now part of Normandy France).<ref> Edward Winslow, "Hypocrasie Unmasked" version available online at: https://archive.org/details/hypocrisieunmask00wins</ref> The family moved from Lille to Canterbury, Kent, England. Whether they moved before or after Esther/Hester was born is unknown.  They later moved to Leiden, Holland shortly before Esther/Hester's marriage.<ref> Her marriage record called Esther of Canterbury</ref> She was married to Francis Cooke at the French Reformed Church in Leiden. Their marriage banns were read in Church on three successive weeks, with the last reading taking place on 20 Jul 1603. The couple were either married that day, or shortly thereafter.

It is said the Cooke family went to Norwich, Norfolkshire, England in 1606 <ref> http://mayflowerhistory.com/cooke-francis/ </ref> but were back at Leiden in early 1607 <ref> ibid. </ref> Francis Cooke, and his eldest surviving son, John, emigrated to the New World aboard the Mayflower in 1620. Esther/Hester and the rest of the children stayed behind, but came over in 1623 in either the Ann or Little James. The Cookes spent the rest of their life at Plymouth Colony. Francis' simple will gave his entire estate to his wife with no provisions regarding how the estate was to be divided after her death. On 8 Jun 1666 the widow and children wrote out an agreement to divide the land at Rocky Nook (now Kingston) into five shares, with the eldest son, John receiving two shares, and the other children receiving one share apiece.<Anderson, The Great Migration Begins I:469, citing PCLR 3:73> This is the last known record of Esther. It is presumed she was deceased before her younger son wrote his will in Dec 1675.

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===mtDNA Descendants===

Esther/Hester and Francis had seven children: one infant (sex unknown), a daughter Elizabeth who died young, two sons, and daughters Jane, Hester & Mary

Second Generation:

Jane (b1613-b1650/1) married Experience Mitchell aft May 1627 in Plymouth. They had one son & two daughters, Elizabeth (c1628-c1684) and Mary (c1632-1699)

Hester (b1620-c1672) married Richard Wright 21 Nov 1644 Plymouth. They had four sons & two daughters, Esther (c1649-1717) and Mary (birth, death and whether married is unknown)

Mary (b1627-1714/5) married (Lieut) John T(h)omson 26 Dec 1645 Bridgewater. They had six sons & six daughters. Mary (c1651-1734), Esther (1652-c1706), Sarah (1657-1730, never married), Mercy (c1671-1756, never married), Elizabeth (1653/4-1716/7, married Thomas Swift and is said to only have had one son) and Lydia (1659-1741/2 married James Soule. While they had three daughters, two never married and the third had no granddaughters so no mtDNA line).