Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/387

 COOKE

COOKE

tas (1885); and The Maurice Mystery (1885). He died at *' The Briars," near Boyce, Clark county, Va., Sept. 27, 1886.

COOKE, John Rogers, jurist, was born in St. Oeorge, Bermuda, in 1788; son of Dr. Stephen and Catherine (Esten) Cooke. He attended William and Mary college, Va., 1806-09, and the College of New Jersey, 1810-11. He then studied law and j^ractised at the Virginia bar for forty- five years. He served in the defence of the coast in 1812 and was a member of the Virginia house of delegates, 1812-14. With John Marshall, James Madison, John Randolph and Benjamin W. Lee, he was a delegate to the reform con- vention of 1829-30, which framed the state con- stitution. He was married to Maria, daughter of Philip Pendleton of Berkeley county. Their three sons, Philip, Henrj-, and Edward St. George, became honored citizens of Virginia. He died in Richmond, Va., Dec. 10, 1854.

COOKE, John Rogers, soldier, was born at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Mo., June 9, 1833; son of Lieut. Philip St. George Cooke, U.S.A. He was graduated at the University of Missouri in 1849; studied French and German with Dr. Miller, and civil engineering at Harvard, taking his C.E. degree in 1854. He was then engaged in the construction of the Iron Mountain railway an Missouri. He held a commission as 2d lieu- tenant in the 8th U.S. infantry, 1854-61,

when lie resigned from the army and entered the Confed- erate service. After the first battle of Manassas he raised a company of light ar- tillery in the depart- ment of North Caro- lina. At the battle of Sharps burg, Md., he commanded the 27th N.C. regiment and Qsd^ff.Ti^nn^ n^-'i^e an heroic de- ^ ' fence of his position

in Gen. A. P. Hill's line, wliich is historic, — eighteen out of twenty regimental officers of his brigade being killed or wounded. His action gained for him promotion to the rank of briga- dier-general " for gallantry on the field of bat- tle. ' ' In the engagement his brigade charged a Federal division commanded by his father. He ■was wounded at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Bristoe Station, Spottsylvania Court House, and Mary's Hill. General Lee designated him as ^^ the brigadier" and his command as '^ the brigade " of the Confederate army. He was recommended for promotion as major-general by

Lee, but before the senate could act on the matter Richmond was evacuated. At the close of the war he engaged in commercial pursuits in Richmond, Va. He was married, Jan. 5, 1864, to Nannie Gordon, daughter of Dr. William Fairlee Patten. He was a member of the board of directors of the Richmond chamber of com- merce and commander of the Lee camp. Confed- erate veterans. Immediately after the close of the war he was reconciled with his father and family from whom he was estranged on espous- ing the Confederate cause. He died in Rich- mond. Va., April 10, 1891.

COOKE, Joseph Piatt, delegate, was born in Danbury, Conn., Jan. 4, 1730; son of the Rev. Samuel (Yale, 1705) and Elizabeth (Piatt) Cooke; and grandson of Thomas and Sarah (Mason) Cooke, and of Joseph Piatt. He was graduated from Yale in 1750 and settled in his native town, where he became a wealthy and influential citizen. He represented Danbury in about thirty sessions of the general assembly between the years 1763 and 1783, and from 1784 to 1803 he served as a member of the governor's council. In 1771 he was appointed colonel of the 16th regiment of militia and accompanied General Wolcott's force to New York in 1776. He en- gaged in the effort to repulse the British in their raid on Danbury in April, 1777, and on the death of General AVooster the command of the retreat devolved upon him. He was also probably in Putnam's force on the Hudson during the cam- paign against Burgoyne, but resigned his colo- nelcy early in 1778. He was a member of the council of safety in 1778; judge of probate for the Danbury district, 1776-1813, and a delegate to the Continental congress, 1784-88. He was married, Nov. 22, 1759, to Sarah, daugliter of Capt. Daniel and Sarah (Hickok) Benedict. He died in Danbury, Conn., Feb. 3, 1816.

COOKE, Josiah Parsons, chemist, was born in Boston, Mass., Oct. 12, 1827; son of Josiah Parsons Cooke. He prepared for college at the Boston Latin school and was graduated at Har- vard in 1848. He was tutor in the college, 1849- 50: Erving professor of chemistry and mineral- ogy, 1850-94; founder of the chemical laboratory and its director, 1879-94. He was the first col- lege instructor in America to use the laboratory in the undergraduate course and his success ren- dered the inductive method expedient both in the college and the preparatory school. He delivered lectures in Boston, Brooklyn, Lowell, Washington, Worcester and Baltimore, besides publishing numerous contributions to chemical science. His investigation on the atomic weight of antimony, made in 1880, was an example of chemical work unique in an American laboratory and its results were accepted by the best chemists