Surname	Shook
Given Name	Jefferson
Gender	Male
Born	20-MAY-1820 in Madison County, Missouri
Died	20-DEC-1872 in Cherokee County, Texas
Buried	Cedar Hill Cemetery, Rusk, Cherokee County, Texas
Father	Jacob SHOOK (1771-1780 - bef. 07-JAN-1858)
Mother	Elizabeth UNKNOWN (1785 - 1835 AR)

Family Line

Jefferson Shook-> Jacob Shook (f)-> Johanne Jacob Shook (gf)-> Johanne Hans George Shook (Schuck) (g-gf)-> Johannes Shook (Schuck) (gg-gf).

Marriage

Mary A. SMITH; born: 21-DEC-1829 in Tennessee; died: 29-AUG-1899 in Cherokee County, Texas; buried: Cedar Hill Cemetery, Rusk, Cherokee County, Texas.

Children

• Andrew S. SHOOK; born: ~1847 in Texas
• Elizabeth M. SHOOK; born: ~1848 in Texas
• Lurena W. SHOOK; born: ~1850 in Texas
• Jefferson Early SHOOK, Sr. (24-AUG-1854 TX - 08-MAR-1919 TX)
• Theophilus A. SHOOK; born: ~1857 in Texas
• Mary J. SHOOK; born: ~1859 in Texas
• Rebecca Catherine "Katie" SHOOK (27-DEC-1866 TX - 10-JAN-1948 CA)

Notes

Jefferson SHOOK (Jacob) was born in 1820 in Madison County, Missouri Territory. He died in 1872 in Cherokee County, Texas.

Jefferson Shook was named as a son in Jacob Shook's will and he was bequeathed 1/5th of Jacob's estate. He is mentioned in the biographical sketch of Daniel Shook in "A History Of Fannin County" as a son of Jacob, as a brother of Daniel and Nathan, and as a preacher in Clarksville, Dallas, Paris, and Bonham. He is mentioned in the biographical sketch of Nathan Shook in "Montgomery County Texas History" as a brother of Daniel, Nathan and Jacob, and as a Methodist preacher. It is stated in "Pastors of the DeKalb United Methodist Church" that he was a Pastor there in 1841/42 and again in 1843/44. He lived in Liberty County, Texas in 1850. The following article from the "Handbook of Texas Online" states that he settled in Cherokee County in the 1850's: "Shook's Bluff was an early port on the east bank of the Neches River in southern Cherokee County. The community, on a small bluff overlooking the river, was named for Jefferson Shook, a native of Missouri who settled there in the 1850s and opened a mercantile establishment. Before the arrival of the railroad, Shook's Bluff was the northernmost port on the Neches and was a shipping point for area plantations. Steamboats made annual trips when the river was at flood stage, bringing supplies and carrying cotton and other produce to market. A post office opened at Shook's Bluff in 1858, and at its height just after the Civil War, the settlement had a store, a saloon, a school, a cotton gin, and a Masonic lodge. The community began to decline in the 1870s with the arrival of the railroads. The post office was closed in 1876, and by the 1880s most of the residents had moved away. A school continued to serve the community until the time of World War II, when it was consolidated with the Wells school. In the early 1990s only a few scattered houses remained in the area."

The following biographical information was extracted from the Jefferson Shook Family biographical sketch submitted to "Cherokee County History" by A. Ruth Fitts: "Jefferson Shook (1820-1872) native of Missouri, came to the Republic of Texas Cherokee Nation (Cherokee County) just three years after the Cherokee Indians were defeated by the Republic of Texas Army and banished to a reservation in Oklahoma. Gen. Thomas J. Rusk, Col. Ed Burleson, and 300 Republic of Texas Army regular troops defeated the Cherokee Indians led by Chief Bowles [sic] in retaliation for the massacre of' the Killougli and related families at Larissa. The Rev. Jefferson Shook, a newly ordained circuit-riding minister of the Methodist Church, and his bride, the former Mary Smith, were the first of the family to arrive in what later became Cherokee County. In 1843 the minister became an appointee of the East Texas Methodist Annual Conference, forerunner of today's Texas Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. In his ministry he served DeKalb, Maintain Mission, Clarksville, Paris, [New] Boston, Jefferson, Crockett, Liberty, Woodville, Melrose, and Rusk Methodist Churches and circuits, the latter in 1866. His letters to his wife share much of the trials and tribulations he experienced. The Rev. Mr. Shook operated a ferry at what is known as Shook's Bluff. He wrote interesting letters about his experiences there. It is recorded that at one time he owned The Texas Observer newspaper, known today as The Cherokeean, in Rusk. He studied law and became an attorney-at-law in Rusk, where he served also as a judge. His portrait hangs in the courthouse along with one of his son, Jefferson Early Shook, also an attorney and judge ..."

Jefferson is perhaps the J. H. Shook who first came to Texas in December 1840 and received a third class headright of 320 acres of land in Wharton County. The land became unconditionally his on April 12, 1847. (1840 Citizens of Texas, Vol. 1 Land Grants.) He was the original owner of land in Cherokee County. This land is described in Abstract 819 on file at the county courthouse and at the Texas General land Office in Austin.

Jefferson married Mary A. SMITH. Mary was born in 1829/1830 in Tennessee.