THE SHOOKS
On one of the ships that left Holland, or the Netherlands, in 1740, for America was a young Dutch immigrant named George Shook, or Shuk, who, disliking the confusion that reigned in his native land incident to the wars then going on throughout western Europe, was seeking a safer place in which to live. The ship landed at New York. George stopped for a few months in that city to visit some of his relatives, who had come over during the occupation of Manhattan by the Dutch many years before. George Shook was an enterprising young man as the Dutch people usually are. After sojourning in New York for some months, he became dissatisfied and drifted over into Pennsylvania in the latter part of 1740 and bought a tract of land on which he settled near the city of Philadelphia.
There after a few years he married, and a son, Jacob, was born in 1749 in what is now Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Some years later, George Shook moved with his family to what is now Burke County, North Carolina. There Jacob grew to manhood, and, when the Revolution came on, he enlisted in the Continental army and fought through the period of the war, proving himself to be a valiant and patriotic soldier. The part he played was mostly in North Carolina and was all the way from Moore's Creek Bridge to Guilford Court House.
After the war closed, Jacob Shook married Isabella Weitzell, and, in 1786, when.in the thirty-seventh year of his age he came to what is now Haywood County and set- tled on the Pigeon river with his family. Shortly after Jacob arrived on the Pigeon, a brother, Andrew, came and journeyed down the Pigeon and built a home in what is now Iron Duff township. The place is now (1935) owned by Lee Stevenson. Jacob Shook is credited with having built the first frame house in Haywood County. The building is still standing and owned by D. 1. L. Smathers, who lives in it (t935). The house is one of the interesting spots in the town of Clyde, and is a remarkable structure in many ways. The nails used in the building were made by hand by Jacob Shook himself. Bishop Asbury, the first of the rank to be consecrated in America, in some of his trips through Western North Carolina, held meetings in the chapel room that had been fitted up in the third story for divine services. The first church in Haywood County of the Methodist de- nomination was organized in that room, tradition asserts.
After his arrival at a spot in the lower Pigeon river valley, which later became the town of Clyde, Jacob Shook's son, David, was born, September 19, 1786. Jacob lived to the venerable age of almost a hundred years. Peter, another son, remained in Haywood County as did David, but his other children, John, Abraham, Daniel, Polly, Betsy, Jacob, Susannah, Peggie, or Margaret, and Catherine, all except Polly, moved from the county and settled in Georgia and Texas.
David Shook, son of Jacob, lived to be ninety-six years old and died July 25, 1882. In early life, he married Sarah Haynes, who was born October 29, 1789, and died March 23~ 1860. Children of this marriage were Mills, David, Jr., Wesley, Jacob, William, Nancy, Kizzie, Sarah, Louisa, and another daughter, who married into the Kinsland family.
Mills Shook, the first son of David and Sarah Haynes Shook, married into the Killian family, and two sons were born, J. Wiley, who became a man of much ability and a newspaper writer of reputation; and Max, who married Lou Caldwell, of Jonathan's Creek. David Jr., married Parthena Joyce, of Buncombe County. They reared the following children: Louisa, who married T. M. Green; Margaret, who died at an early age; Henry Clay, who married Eugenia Evans, lived in Clyde many years, and later became connected with the Treasury Department of the United States Government with headquarters in Washington City; David W., who married Sarah Reed, became a farmer, and lived in Clyde; Eliza- beth, who married Thomas Snyder; Doc Cummings, who married Mollie Evans; Lewis, who married Viena Massey; Mary Ann, who married H. C. Sinclair; John W., who married Callie Wilson, of Buncombe County; and Rufus B., who married Mollie Medford.
Jacob Shook, son of David and Sarah Haynes Shook, married Polly Snyder. Two children were reared, as fol- lows: Alma, who married Lee Bramlett, of Waynesville; and Joseph, who made his home in Asheville.
Nancy Shook married Walter Brown, of Waynesville. The names of their children are given in the story of the Brown family. Kizzie Shook, another daughter of David Shook, married William Robinson, of Buncombe County. Sarah married Peter Snyder; and Louisa, her sister, mar- ried Lewis Cunningham.
JOHN W. SHOOK, son of David Shook, Jr., and grandson of David Shook, Sr., and great grandson of the first Jacob Shook, now lives in Clyde (1935). He was educated in the Clyde High School and grew up at the home place. During the Spanish-American War, he became a sergeant in Company H, of Waynesville, and went with his outfit to Cuba, but did not get to the seat of war until after hostilities had ceased. He was with the company, however, when it marched through the streets of Havana as a part of the army of occupation. After the close of the war, he returned to Clyde where he engaged in business. He was for a time connected with the Treasury Department of the United States Government in the revenue division. Later, he was postmaster of Clyde for nine years. In 1935, he was elected mayor of the town of Clyde, a position he now holds.
Two other sons of David Shook, William and Wesley, lived quiet and uneventful lives. William moved to Buncombe County and Wesley continued his home in Clyde until his death.
Peter Shook, the fifth son of Jacob Shook, Sr., and a brother of David Shook, Sr., married Mahala Evans. Twelve children were the offspring of this union, as follows: Avaline, Taylor, Celia Caroline, Susan Elminay, John, Julia, Emily, Catherine, Nancy Angeline, Daniel, Amanda, and Jacob D. Avaline Shook married John Wesley Conley, who was born March 4, 1813. Avaline was born May 10, 1815, and died June 19, 1874. They were the parents of Captain Robert T. Conley who was in command of a company of Thomas' Legion that fired the last shot east of the Missis- sippi in a skirmish with Federal troops at Waynesville, May 6, 1865. The children of Avaline Shook Conley and John Wesley Conley were as follows: James, who was killed in the Battle of New Hope Church, June 5, 1864; Robert Taylor, who was in the last battle of the war of 1865, and died in Georgia, December 18, 1892; Eliza Caroline, who died April 30, 1915; Mahala Catherine, who married S. J. Shelton; Clarinda, who died March 15, 1890; Drucilla, who died January 1, 1921; Alice Jane, who died April 28, 1869; and Emily Angeline, who was born November 16, 1853.
