History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/John P. Cook
JOHN P. COOK, one of the pioneers of Iowa, was born in Whiteside, Oneida County, New York, August 31, 1817. His education was acquired in the public schools and at an early age he began the study of law. In 1830 he went west first stopping at the frontier village of Davenport in the “Black Hawk Purchase.” He was admitted to the bar and began to practice in Tipton, Cedar County and in 1842 he was elected to the Council of the Territorial Assembly from the District composed of the counties of Cedar, Jones and Linn. He served through the term of four years, in two regular and one extra session. In 1848 he was elected to the State Senate and was one of the leading members of the Second and Third General Assemblies. Soon after the expiration of his term, Mr. Cook moved to Davenport and entered into partnership with his brother, Ebenezer, in the practice of law. Soon after he became a member of the banking firm of Cook and Sargent which established banks at Iowa City, Des Moines and Florence, Nebraska. In 1852 Mr. Cook was nominated by the Whigs of the Second District for Representative in Congress. The District then embraced the entire north half of the State and his Democratic competitor was Lincoln Clark then a member of Congress. Mr. Cook was elected by a majority of five hundred seventy-three and served but one term. When the Whig party disappeared Mr. Cook became a Democrat. He died in Davenport on the 16th of April, 1872.