Fayette County PA Archives Biographies.....Cook, Col Edward 1741 - November 6, 1812
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Source: History of Fayette County, L H Everts and Company 1882, page 807
Author: Franklin Ellis

    Important by reason of his connection with the history of Washington
township and Fayette County, and also with that of the nation, Col Edward
Cook deserves first mention in the chronicle of Washington's early
settlement.  He was born in Chambersburg in 1741 and in 1770 made his
first journey west of  the mountains in search of lands for he was at
that time in possession of considerable means.  he brought with him a
stock of goods.  When he made his location near the present line between
Fayette and Westmoreland Counties, he built a log cabin near the present
home of his grandson, John Cook, and in one corner of it opened a small
store.  
    The country was then new and stores were not easy to reach, so that when
the opening of Cook's store became known among settlers within a radius
of many miles, they gladly gave him their patronage.  Cook kept also a
house of entertaining where such few travelers as happened that way might
find rest and refreshment.  Under the law he charged six and a half cents
for a horse's feed and twelve and a half cents for a man.  In 1772 he
began the erection of a pretentious mansion, constructing it entirely of
the limestone that was found in abundance on his land.  In 1776 he moved
his family into it and there it still stands, a substantial edifice.
After Cook's death, his son James Cook occupied the mansion as his home,
and now James Cook's son, William E Cook, lives in it.
    Edward Cook was one of the most extensive landowners in Southwestern
Pennsylvania.  He had altogether about three thousand acres, located in
Washington, Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, and occupied now in part
the farms of Joseph Brown, John B Cook, William E Cook, Mrs John Brown,
Mr Montgomery, the site of Fayette City, and numerous other tracts.
    The patent for the tract called "Mansion" was issued to Colonel Cook and
described the tract as four hundred and two acres situated in Fayette and
Westmoreland Counties, surveyed in pursuance of a warrant issued to Col
Cook, December 17, 1784.  A patent for "Mill Site" on the forks of William 
Lynn's run was issued in 1796.  
    Col Cook was a resident of the county from 1771 until his death in 1812,
and during that time achieved considerable public distinction.  He was a
member of the Provincial Congress convened in Carpenter's Hall,
Philadelphia, June 18, 1776, that drafted the first declaration of
independence presented to Congress, June 25, 1776, (see "Journal of
Congress, vol ii, p 230); was a member of the State Constitutional
Convention that convened September 28, 1776; was the first commissioner
of exchange and appointed sub-lieutenant of Westmoreland County, March 21, 1777.
    He was one of the founders of Rehoboth Church, a member of its first
session, its first representative to the Redstone Presbytery, and the
Presbytery's first representative to the General Assembly.  
    January 5, 1782, he was appointed lieutenant of Westmoreland County to
succeed Col Archibald Lochry, who had been captured and killed while on
an Indian expedition.  This office gave him command of the militia of the
County and the management of its military fiscal affairs.  It was from this
appointment that Col Cook received his military title.  He aided in fixing
the boundaries of Fayette County and was a member of the commission that
located the county seat.  
    November 21, 1786, he was appointed justice of the peace with a
jurisdiction that reached into Washington County.  April 8, 1789, he was
appointed president of the Court of Common Pleas and Quarter Session; was
associate judge of Fayette County in 1791; and from 1796 to 1798
treasurer of Westmoreland County.
    It will be seen that Colonel Cook's public record was a remarkable one
for that or any day, and it its brief chronicle tells in unmistakable
terms that he must have been very high indeed in public esteem to have
won such distinction.  He was one of the foremost men of his time in
Southwestern Pennsylvania.  His landed and other interests were extensive
and these he looked after closely despite the pressure upon his time by
his official cares.  He built a saw mill and a grist mill on Cook's Run;
laid out Freeport, afterwards Cookstown and now Fayette City; and was
largely engaged at his home farm in distilling.  
    He was conspicuous in the Whiskey Insurrection and having been prominent
in some of the meetings of the insurgents, his arrest was ordered but in
the meantime before any action could be taken he appeared November 6,
1794, before Thomas McKean, chief justice of the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania and in the presence of William Bradford, Attorney General of
the United States, voluntarily entered into recognizance to the United
States for his appearance before the justices of the Supreme Court of the
United States at the next special session of the Circuit Court held for
the district of Pennsylvania "then and there to answer such charges of
treasonable and seditious practices and such other matters of misdemeanor
as shall be alleged against him in behalf of the United Sates and that he
will not depart that court without license."  
    Having taken this bold and honorable course, he quietly awaited the
result which was simply that nothing was found against him and he was not
molested in person but some cavalrymen belonging to the army that came
out to quell the insurrection visited his home and did considerable
damage, nearly demolishing his distillery, knocking in the heads of
liquor casks and spilling a vast amount of whiskey.  
    Colonel Cook was among General Washington's personal friends and on two
occasions at least entertained Washington in the old stone mansion now
the home of William E Cook.  On one of the occasions named, Washington was
journeying that way to visit his lands in Washington County and stopped
at Col Cook's for a brief rest.  Cook was at that time engaged in
reviewing a body of militia nearby and knew nothing of the arrival of his
distinguished guest.  Word of the arrival was whispered to the men before
it reached the colonel, and when he observing the commotion learned what
was in the wind, he relaxed all discipline and set off unceremoniously for
the house.  The militiamen followed at the double-quick and hurrahing
enthusiastically for General Washington brought him to the porch and
evoked from him in reply a good natured and fatherly speech which the
soldiers cheered to the echo.
    Colonel Cook had but one son, James Cook, who married Mary Bell.  The
colonel's yearning ambition was to become a grandfather and when the news
came to him that he had a grandson, his joy knew no bounds.  In the
exuberance of his delight, he waited upon his old friend Joseph Downer,
and insisted upon his drafting a will in which all the Cook estate should
be left to the grandson, Edward Cook, and it was only by persistent
effort that Downer persuaded him from this project, and convinced him
that as there might be more grandchildren, such an act would be one of
injustice.
    Colonel Cook died in the old stone mansion, November 6, 1812, and his
remains rest in Rehoboth churchyard.  His widow survived him twenty five
years.  She died in 1837 aged upwards of ninety.  Colonel Cook's son James
Cook had a family of six sons and one daughter, The daughter, Martha
Cook, is now in West Newton.  Of the sons: Edward Cook; James Cook; Joseph
Cook; and Michael Cook are dead.  John B Cook and William E Cook occupy
portions of the homestead farm. 

Additional Comments:
Originally submitted 2000.

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