just hit a wall, maybe y'all can help

[lazarus]

I have ancestor named William Cooke who was born about 1637 in Pennsylvania or Delaware. Odds are he was one of the Quakers in that region. I don't know where to look to find parents for him, but surely there are records of the early colonists somewhere?

Thanks.

[CBHagman]

1. I have no experience in Colonial-era research...

...but you could do worse than check the links at this blog at the Family Tree Magazine website. I've been using the Library of Congress's Chronicling America site (The link in the blog) to search newspapers. See if you have any luck there.

http://blog.familytreemagazine.com/nowwhat/CategoryView,category,immigration.aspx

Oh, what the heck. Here's the Chronicling America site:

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

I see we're talking papers from about 1690, so this may be hard going, but it couldn't hurt to have another resource.

Then there's always the LDS and their Family History Centers. Online research can be done with this FamilySearch basic search form. Be warned: You will get a lot of multiple entries of the same information, and of course you'll need some sort of distinguishing information for your ancestor to narrow things down.

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp

I have always heard that Quakers kept utterly meticulous records, so if your ancestor is a Quaker, you may well be luckier than the rest of us!

Check with local genealogical or historical societies, including online.

I have no idea if this is legit or not, but here's a Colonial site:

http://colonialancestors.com/pa/pennsylvania.htm

And for good measure, the USGenWeb Project:

http://usgenweb.org/

Best of luck.

[lazarus]

2. thanks!

family search didn't have anything when I checked there. I'll try these other resources and let you know if anything turns up.

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. Pennsylvania wasn't Pennsylvania in 1637.

And the Quakers as such didn't exist until several decades later, either. In 1637 much of the area was colonised by the Dutch and the area around the Delaware River was claimed by both the Netherlands and England. It's more likely to be Delaware of the two (although I would say Maryland is also going to be a possibility, probably).

[lazarus]

4. yep, it was Delaware

Very confusing, the way these states shifted over time. I have a possible lead on a father who lived in Delaware, but I don't put much stock in it right now.

I got confused on the Quaker thing, because a couple of my ancestors did come over either with Penn or immediately afterwards. When I saw Pennsylvania as a possible region an hour later on this guy, my mind did the natural connection.