George W. Cook

{{Short description|American politician (1851–1916)}}  {{Infobox officeholder | name = George W. Cook | image = George Washington Cook (Colorado Congressman).jpg | caption = Cook, c. 1907 | state = Colorado | district = at-large | term_start = March 4, 1903 | term_end = March 3, 1907 | occupation = Legislator, military officer, miner | predecessor = Franklin Eli Brooks | successor = Edward Thomas Taylor | birth_name = George Washington Cook | birth_date = {{Birth date|1851|11|10}} | birth_place = Bedford, Indiana | death_date = {{Death date and age|1916|12|18|1851|11|10}} | death_place = Pueblo, Colorado | resting_place = Fairmount Cemetery }}

'''George Washington Cook''' (November 10, 1851 – December 18, 1916) was a U.S. representative from Colorado.<ref name="Congress">{{CongBio|C000717}}{{Bioguide}}</ref> At eleven years of age, he ran away from home to serve during the Civil War. He was a drummer boy and then a chief regimental clerk. After the war, he completed his public school education and then attended Indiana University. His varied career included working for railroad and mining companies, and service as a mayor and a legislator. He was department commander for the Grand Army of the Republic.

==Early life== Born in Bedford, Indiana, his parents were Agnes (Dodson) and Samuel Cook. His great-grandfather, George W. Cook, served in the American Revolutionary War from North Carolina. His maternal grandfather served as a major in the War of 1812.<ref name="White">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vPEpAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA235 |title=The National cyclopaedia of American biography |last=White |first=James Terry |date=1922 |publisher=J.T. White |pages=235–236 |language=en}}</ref>

At the age of eleven Cook ran away from home to enlist during the Civil War.<ref name="Congress" />{{efn|He is also reported to have run away at age 12 in 1863.<ref name="Wash Herald" />}} His father served in the 13th Indiana Cavalry Regiment as a lieutenant and died of disease during the war<ref name="Wash Herald" /> or from wounds he received.<ref name="White" /> His only brother was a bugler in his father's regiment and died at age 15 during the war.<ref name="Wash Herald" />

==Civil War== He enlisted in the 15th Indiana Infantry Regiment, in the Union Army and served as a drummer boy<ref name="Congress" /> for a number of regiments in the Army of the Cumberland.<ref name="Wash Herald" /> He was transferred to the 155th Indiana Infantry Regiment, and served as chief regimental clerk,<ref name="Congress" />{{efn|He is also said to have served in the 145th Indiana Infantry Regiment.<ref name="White" />}} a position he assumed at age 14. He was the youngest chief regimental clerk in the Union Army.<ref name="Wash Herald">{{cite news|via=newspapers.com (clipping) |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43463549/entered_army_at_age_fourteen_george_w/ |title=Entered Army at Age Fourteen|newspaper=The Washington Herald|date=May 24, 1908|page=7 }}</ref> He was with General William Tecumseh Sherman on Sherman's March to the Sea and served until the end of the war.<ref name="Bedford obit">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43464548/obituary_for_george_detals_w_cook/ |title=Obituary for George W. Cook (Aged 65) |date=December 23, 1916 |newspaper=The Bedford Daily Mail |access-date=February 2, 2020 |pages=1}}</ref>

==Education== At the close of the Civil War, he attended the public schools, Bedford Academy, and Indiana University.<ref name="Congress" />

==Career== In 1872, he had a job for a railroad in Chicago.<ref name="White" /> He was in Chicago in 1880 when he entered the employ of the Louisville, New Albany, and Chicago Railway. Cook moved to Leadville, Colorado, in 1880 and became division superintendent of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.<ref name="Congress" /> He suspended railroad service and organized a group to save 100 miners who were trapped in the Homestake mine by a snowslide near Leadville. During another winter storm when people began to starve, he hired 1000 miners to clear the railroad tracks so that Leadville could receive food shipments.<ref name="White" /> He served as mayor of Leadville from 1885 to 1887.<ref name="Congress" />

He moved to Denver in 1888 and became general sales agent for the Colorado Fuel and Iron and became department commander of the Grand Army of the Republic for Colorado and Wyoming in 1891 and 1892. He became an independent mining operator in 1893 and became senior vice commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic in 1905 and 1906. He also organized and commanded the Cook Drum Corps of Denver.<ref name="Congress" />

=== Congress === Cook was elected as a Republican to the 60th Congress (March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1909) but was not a candidate for renomination in 1908.

== Later career and death == After leaving office, Cook returned to Colorado and resumed mining operations.<ref name="Congress" /> He lived in Denver that later part of his life, until about 1914 when his mental state declines and he was admitted into a state asylum in Pueblo, Colorado and died there<ref name="Bedford obit" /> on December 18, 1916.<ref name="Congress" />{{efn|He is also said to have died December 15, 1916.<ref name="White" />}} He was interred in Fairmount Cemetery in Denver.<ref name="Congress" />

==Personal life== He married Nina Florence, the daughter of John Boyle, a Canadian merchant.<ref name="White" /> They had one son, George Washington Cook Jr.<ref name="Bedford obit" /> who was first lieutenant of the 43rd Infantry.<ref name="White" />

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} *{{Find a Grave|11261390}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Colorado | district=AL | before=Franklin Eli Brooks | after=Edward T. Taylor | years=1907–1909}} {{s-end}} {{ColoradoUSRepresentatives}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, George Washington}} Category:1851 births Category:1916 deaths Category:People from Bedford, Indiana Category:Union army soldiers Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Colorado Category:19th-century American legislators Category:People from Leadville, Colorado Category:Grand Army of the Republic officials Category:20th-century United States representatives