Linda Nelson brought the Battern family to my attention. I was able to add a little information and perhaps readers here will know more.
There was a marriage in Culpeper County, Virginia, on 11 May 1791, between John Batten (or Battern) and Ann Cook (who might at other times be called Rhoda Ann). At that date, Madison County had not yet been formed, but perhaps the couple lived in the area that became Madison Co.
Some of the points of difficulty include: There is no Battern in the Culpeper Classes for 1781, but this is understandable if John Battern is just coming into a marriageable age in 1791. Coming closer to that time, the Battern family does not appear in the 1787 Personal Property Tax List for Culpeper Co. Then there is no Cook genealogy, recognized or unrecognized, that has an Ann Cook among the German families.
There is some reason to think that Ann Cook might have been from the Germanna Cook family. On the 12th Sunday after Trinity in 1791, a communicant at the German Lutheran Church is Anna Battern. This would be after the marriage in May, so this Anna Battern is probably the Ann Cook of the marriage license.
There are two Cook families with children old enough to marry in 1791. Basically, these are the families of Adam Cook, who married Barbara Fleshman, and of George Cook, who married, first, Mary Sarah Reiner, and, second, Anna Maria Hoffman. George's children are fairly well known from the church and estate records. In George's first family, there is only one son, Lewis, who marries in 1793. The sons in the second family are too young for consideration.
In the family of Adam Cook, the sons seem to be marrying about the 1780 time frame and later so they could hardly be the parents of Ann who marries in 1791.
It is said that the Adam Cook and George Cook were the only two sons of Michael Cook, because Michael only gave land to these two Cook men. Michael did give land to his two daughters and their husbands so his family is considered to be these four children. Of the these four families, Adam's is the least certain.
On my crib sheet for the Cook family, there is no Ann Cook. In the next note, I will look at evidence that perhaps Ann Cook does belong here, and, in particular, she belongs in the family of Adam Cook. As always, comments are invited.
(13 Sep 02)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.