BIO: Henry Englehart COOK, Beaver County, PA
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES. This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches
of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Buffalo, N.Y.,
Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 99-101
_________________________________________________________________
HENRY ENGLEHART COOK, the superintendent and general manager of the Beaver
Valley Electric Light & Power Co., of Beaver Falls, Pa., a highly esteemed
citizen and ex-sheriff of Beaver county, was born in Bridgewater, Pa., July
31, 1843, and is a son of Henry and Margaret (Reiter) Cook.
Henry Cook was born in Weingarten, Germany, January 15, 1807. He was joined
in marriage, in March, 1831, with Margaret Reiter, who was also born at the
same place. Mrs. Cook is a daughter of Ferdinand and Margaret (Hurst) Reiter,
and is still living at Beaver, Pa., enjoying the best of health. Much,
valuable information, data, etc., for this sketch were generously and
cheerfully furnished by her, and were obtained from a Bible she carried to
school when a child, being inscribed on the pages reserved for family
records, in a well written German hand. She was born August 13, 1810.
Henry Cook had a brother in Johnstown, Pa., who persuaded him to come to
America. With his wife and three eldest sons, he started from the old country
in June, 1838, taking passage on a sailing vessel; meeting with much bad
weather, they did not arrive at New York until the following September. After
landing, they proceeded by wagon and stage to Philadelphia, Pa., thence by
canal to Harrisburg and Johnstown. Arriving there, they learned of a great
boom in the Beaver Valley, where a canal was in operation and villages were
built. They left Johnstown for Pittsburg, and traveled in wagons to Monaca,
Beaver county, which was then called Phillipsburg. At that place, Mr. Cook
followed the trade of a stone mason for some time, removing later to
Bridgewater, and still later settling in Beaver, Pa., where he built a fine
residence on Fourth street, now owned by his widow. While working upon this
residence, he was taken ill with cholera, caused by drinking cold
100 BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES
water, while overheated from work. This illness terminated in death July 14,
1845. He was a man who possessed a strong constitution and was unfortunately
cut off in the very prime of life, and did not live to enjoy what he had
planned, a haven of earthly rest.
Mr. Cook built much of the masonry of his day, in and around Beaver. He
also built the reservoir now standing back of Henry E. Cook's residence. He
was born and christened with the name of Koch, as the family formerly spelled
their name. Upon getting his naturalization papers made out, he was asked his
name, and omitted to tell the authorities how it should he spelled. Upon the
completion of the papers, he accepted them, supposing them to be correct.
Later, upon discovering the mistake, he thought it would make no material
difference and did not have them changed; this course he afterward regretted
very much as, by voting under the name of Cook, he soon became known by that
name, until the family finally adopted that method of spelling it. He built
his home on Fourth street in 1844, and there his death occurred. His good
wife was left to rear and educate the family, which she did as few mothers
have done, - devoting her whole life to that task. She is now esteemed by all
and revered by her children, whose names are as follows: Jacob Frederick, born
in Germany, January 19, 1832, died February 14, 1847, and lies buried in the
Lutheran burial ground of Pittsburg; John Francis, who was born in Germany,
February 23, 1834, and died October 18, 1855; Christian Frederick, who was
born in Germany, January 10, 1838, and was killed May 12, 1864, in the battle
of the Wilderness, being a member of Company F, 140th Reg., Pa. Vol. Inf.;
Christine Louise, born August TO, 1841, who became the wife of D. M. Miller
of Beaver, and is the mother of five children; and Henry Englehart, the
subject of these lines.
Henry Englehart Cook attended the public schools, and with a careful
mother's training grew to be a boy who was respected and trusted by all who
knew him. At the age of thirteen years (in 1856), he was appointed under
James Buchanan, to carry mail on horseback from Beaver to New Lisbon, Ohio;
this duty occupied two clays every week, in all kinds of weather, and
involved a trip of 28 miles. In addition to this, he carried the mail, four
days each week, from Beaver to Rochester, Pennsylvania. In accomplishing this
task he never failed, and his reliability and punctual habits won him a
reputation which determined his future. At the age of eighteen years, he
enlisted in the Union Army, October 9, 1861, on the first call for
volunteers. He was a private in Company F, 101st Reg., Pa. Vol. Inf., and
served three years. In the battle of Plymouth, N. C., he was taken prisoner
and confined in the Andersonville prison, in Georgia, being removed thence to
Charleston, and then to Florence, S. C., where he was exchanged December 13,
1864. Returning to parole camp at Annapolis, Md., he was granted a thirty
days' furlough on account of his poor health, and went home to recuperate,
and relieve an anxious mother's fears. He
BEAVER COUNTY 101
went back to his regiment and received an honorable discharge March 18, 1865,
although his papers bore date of December, 1864.
On the termination of the war, Mr. Cook returned to his home, and, after
following the carpenter trade for a short time, he became interested in the
lightning-rod business. Subsequently he was elected constable of Beaver,
serving three consecutive years, until 1881, when he was elected sheriff by
the Democratic party by over two hundred majority. He served three years as
sheriff, during which the great riot at Beaver Falls took place, in which
some twenty rioters were placed in his custody, four of whom were convicted,
- sentence being suspended. At the close of his term, Mr. Cook was appointed
deputy revenue collector of the twenty-third district of Pennsylvania,
serving four years and three months. He then became superintendent and
manager of the Beaver Valley Electric Light & Power Co., of Beaver Falls,
which position he is still filling in an eminently satisfactory manner. In
1873, he purchased about one acre of land on Fifth street, and built a fine
residence thereon, grading the lawns surrounding it, and setting out an
abundance of small fruit and shade trees. In addition to this he rebuilt his
mother's residence, adding another story; he also owns a fine tenement house
on Fourth street, built by his uncle, Jacob, in 1844. His possessions include
a number of choice building lots, he having purchased, in 1890, a tract of
land 120 by 300 feet. This tract is known as the Mark estate, and is situated
on Beaver street. Mr. Cook divided a portion of it into five fine lots, one of
which he sold to each of the following persons: E. J. Allison, James Reed,
Lewis Reed, and the purchaser of the premises where J. I. Martin now lives.
These are among the best residents of Beaver.
The subject of this writing has been twice married. His first wife was
Sarah K. Sheldrake, a daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth (Shoemaker) Sheldrake.
She was born in 1845, and passed to her final rest, leaving five children,
namely: Frederick H., a contractor and carpenter of Beaver; Carrie Louise,
still unmarried; Charles O., an electrician of Beaver Falls, who married
Ollie Miller, and had two children, Lloyd and Henry; Henry W., a carpenter;
and Mary E., also enjoying single blessedness.
Mr. Cook contracted a second matrimonial alliance, this time with Mary E.
Matheny, a daughter of John and Caroline (Shoemaker) Matheny. No issue
resulted from this union. The family worship with the Presbyterians, and
contribute liberally toward the support of that denomination. Mr. Cook's
portrait accompanies this sketch.