COOK, Daniel Pope, lawyer, b. in Scott county, Ky., in 1795; d. in Kentucky, 16 Oct., 1827. He received a classical education, studied law. was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Kaskaskia, Ill., in 1815. He was editor of the " Illinois Intelligencer," the only newspaper printed in the territory in 1816, and afterward settled in Edwardsville. He was the first attorney-general of Illinois, subsequently judge of the circuit court in the western circuit, and a representative in congress from 6 Dec, 1819, till 3 March, 1827. He married a daughter of Gov. Ninian Edwards, and took a prominent part in Illinois politics, exerting a powerful influence to prevent the introduction of slavery during the contest on that question in 1823-'4. In his canvass for congress at the first election after the admission of the state, when he was defeated by John McLean — who like himself, was remarkably eloquent — the custom of stump-speaking was first introduced in Illinois. He won the next election against the same competitor, and was three times re-elected. In his last term he was acting chairman of the committee of ways and means, though suffering from consumption. After a trip to Cuba, he returned to his residence in Edwardsville, and then went back to his early home in Kentucky, where he died. Out of respect for his great ability and services to the state, the legislature, four years after his death, gave his name to Cook county. See " The Edwards Papers," edited by Elihu B. Washburne (Chicago, 1884). — His son and only child, John, soldier, b. in Belleville, Ill., 13 June, 1825, was left an orphan and the possessor of a fortune at an early age, was educated by his grandfather. Gov. Edwards, and after his death by a clergyman, and entered college at Jacksonville, Ill., but was not graduated, on account of the failure of his sight. He engaged in mercantile business in St. Louis, Mo., in 1846 entered the dry-goods business with his uncle in Springfield, Ill., and afterward became a dealer in real estate. In 1855 he was made mayor of Springfield, the following year sheriff of Sangamon county, and later quarter-master general of the state. At the beginning of the civil war in 1861 he commanded the first regiment raised in Illinois. For gallantry at the capture of Fort Donelson, where he commanded a brigade, he was made a brigadier-general on 21 March, 1862. In 1864 he commanded the district of Illinois, with headquarters at Springfield. He was mustered out on 24 Aug., 1865, with the rank of major-general by brevet. In 1868 he was elected to the Illinois legislature."
COOK, George Hammell, geologist, b. in Hanover, Morris co., N. J., 5 Jan., 1818; d. in New Brunswick, N. J., 22 Sept., 1889. He was graduated at Rensselaer polytechnic institute, Troy, N. Y., in the class of 1839, and from 1842 till 1846 he was senior professor in that institution. In 1853 he became professor of chemistry and the natural sciences at Rutgers. His chair became in
1867 that of chemistry, natural history, and agriculture, and in 1878 its title was again changed to that of analytical chemistry, geology, and agriculture. In 1880 he became simply professor of geology and agriculture. Prof. Cook was elected vice-president of the college in 1864, and during the same year was appointed state geologist of
New Jersey. In 1880 he was appointed director of the New Jersey agricultural experiment station, of which he published annual reports. He was a member of several scientific societies and a fellow of the American association for the advancement of science. Besides papers contributed to scientific journals, he published annual reports as state geologist from 1863 to 1885, and was the author of "Geology of New Jersey" (Newark, 1868).
COOK, Henry F., soldier, killed in battle at Bristow Station, Va., 14 Oct., 1863. He was a native of Mississippi, served as first lieutenant in the Mexican war, with Jefferson Davis's regiment of Mississippi volunteers, distinguished himself in the battle of Monterey, where he was wounded, and commanded a company in the battle of Buena Vista. At the beginning of the civil war he joined the Confederate army, and rose by successive steps until he was made a brigadier-general in 1863.
COOK, Mrs. Hosea and Mrs. Jesse, pioneers. Of their early life nothing authentic is known. In 1792 they, with their husbands, were occupying
two log cabins in the Innis settlement near Frankfort, Ky. In April of that year a band of Indians made an attack on the settlement, and at
the first onslaught killed one and mortally wounded the other of the husbands. The wounded man
crawled to the cabin, where he gave directions for
barricading, and then breathed his last. The widows, with three children crying at their skirts, prepared to defend themselves to the utmost. There
was a rifle, but there were no bullets. A musket-ball was finally discovered, but it was too large
for the bore. In her frenzy it was bitten in two
pieces by one of the women. The Indians began
with their tomahawks to cut through the door,
and, in English, demanded instant surrender.
Through a narrow aperture in the logs one of the
women fired the rifle, and one of the chiefs fell
dead. The infuriated savages swarmed on the
roof and set fire in several places, but from the
loft underneath the roof the flames were extinguished as fast as they burned through, until the
water was exhausted, when the women used some
eggs, which were broken and spread over the burning roof. They also used the bloody clothing of
the man that lay dead below to check the flames.
As a result of their intrepidity, the raid was unsuccessful, and the savages sullenly retired.
COOK, James, navigator, b. in Marton, Yorkshire, England, 28 Oct., 1728; killed in the Sandwich islands, 14 Feb., 1779. His father was an
agricultural laborer and farm bailiff, and, owing to
his poverty, the education of the son was limited.
In his thirteenth year the future navigator was
apprenticed to a haberdasher in Staiths, a little fishing town near Whitby. His father dying,
and the lad quarrelling with his master, his indentures were given up, when he engaged himself
as cabin-boy in a coasting vessel, and afterward
became master of a sloop. In 1755 he shipped in
the " Eagle," of the royal navy, and was speedily
promoted to the quarter-deck. Having been
master successively of the sloops "Grampus "and
" Garland," in 1759 he had his master's rank confirmed by the admiralty, and was appointed to the
" Mercury," a frigate "belonging to the squadron
sent out to co-operate with Gen. Wolfe at Quebec.
Cook piloted the boats of the squadron to the at-
tack of Montmorency, and conducted the debarkation of the troops for the assault on the heights of
Abraham. He was employed to take hydrographic
surveys of the St. Lawrence between Orleans and
the north shore, as well as the survey of the most
dangerous parts of the river below Quebec, and
performed the task in the very face of the French
encampment, afterward publishing a chart of the
river and channels from Quebec to the sea. Being
promoted to the flag-ship " Northumberland," he
made use of his leisure to study mathematics and
astronomy. In 1762 he was present at the re-
