Daniel Pope Cook (1794 – October 16, 1827) was a politician, lawyer and newspaper publisher from the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. An anti-slavery advocate, he was the state's first attorney general, and then congressman.

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

, is named after him.

Early life

Daniel Pope Cook was born in

Scott County, Kentucky Scott County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 57,155. Scott County is part of the Lexington–Fayette, Kentucky Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Native Amer ...

, into an impoverished branch of the prominent Pope family of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Cook moved to

Kaskaskia, Illinois Kaskaskia is a village in Randolph County, Illinois. Having been inhabited by indigenous peoples, it was settled by France as part of the Illinois Country. It was named for the Kaskaskia people. Its population peaked at about 7,000 in the 18th c ...

, in 1815 and took a job as a store clerk, but soon began to read law under the supervision of his uncle,

Nathaniel Pope Nathaniel W. Pope (January 5, 1784 – January 23, 1850) was an American government leader in the early history of the State of Illinois. He served as the Secretary of the Illinois Territory, then as a Delegate to the United States House of Repres ...

Career

Territorial governor

Ninian Edwards Ninian Edwards (March 17, 1775July 20, 1833) was a founding political figure of the State of Illinois. He served as the first and only governor of the Illinois Territory from 1809 to until the territory was dissolved in 1818. He was then one of ...

appointed young Cook the territorial Auditor of Public Accounts in 1816, so Cook moved to

Edwardsville, Illinois Edwardsville is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Illinois, and is a suburb of St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri ...

, and purchased ''The Illinois Herald'' newspaper (with Daniel Blackwell) from Matthew Duncan, renaming it '' The Western Intelligencer''. Uncle Nathaniel Pope became a delegate to the U.S. Congress from the

Illinois Territory The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809, until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. Its ca ...

, so upon the election of

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

as president, Cook moved to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

to establish his career in the nation's capitol. In 1817 Cook travelled to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to deliver dispatches and bring back

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...

, the country's representative to Great Britain, whom President Monroe appointed to serve as secretary of state. The two men became closely acquainted during the long voyage back. Shortly after Cook returned from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, tired of service as a mere dispatch-bearer, he moved back to Illinois, where he became an ardent supporter of statehood. Cook used his newspaper and new appointment as clerk to the territorial house to influence the Territorial Legislature, which unanimously passed a resolution urging statehood (and forbidding slavery) on December 10, 1817. Cook also lobbied his friends back in Washington and Virginia, and his uncle conveyed the territorial resolution to the U.S. Congress on January 16, 1818. After both the U.S. Senate and House agreed, President Monroe on April 18, 1818, signed the law authorizing Illinois to hold a convention to adopt a state constitution and elect officers. On December 3, 1818, President Monroe then signed the law admitting Illinois as the 21st state. Despite his successful advocacy of statehood, Cook was unsuccessful in his first attempt to be elected to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, losing to

John McLean John McLean (March 11, 1785 – April 4, 1861) was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice of the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts. He was often discussed for ...

by only 14 votes for the short term remaining after Illinois became a state. However, the new state's legislature appointed Cook as the first

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

of Illinois. Cook also had briefly served the territory as judge of the western circuit. Again running for Congress in 1818, Cook defeated McLean in the general election, and again in 1820 (after a debate over slavery), 1822 and 1824, thus serving as the second representative from Illinois (although the first to serve a full term). While in Congress, Cook served on the Committee on Public Lands and later on the Ways and Means Committee. He secured a grant of government lands to aid in the construction of the

Illinois and Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago Po ...

. In the 1824 election, Cook also helped defeat a proposed convention to legalize slavery in Illinois, and at year's end helped elect

as President (by one vote when the election was thrown to the House). Cook, in ill-health, campaigned little in 1826, and while he again scored more votes than McLean, the pro-slavery

Jacksonian Democrat Jacksonian democracy was a 19th-century political philosophy in the United States that expanded suffrage to most white men over the age of 21, and restructured a number of federal institutions. Originating with the seventh U.S. president, Andr ...

, Joseph Duncan, won the election. The following spring, President Adams sent Cook on a diplomatic mission to

Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, but that did not restore his health. He returned to Edwardsville, and asked to be taken back to his birthplace in Kentucky.

Family

On May 6, 1821, Cook married Julia Catherine Edwards, the daughter of his mentor Ninian Edwards (who was related by marriage to the Pope family of Kentucky). After Daniel Cook died, Julia Cook moved back to

Belleville, Illinois Belleville is a city and the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The p ...

, but only survived her husband by three years. Their son, John Cook (born 1825), remained true to the family's anti-slavery principles and became mayor of

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, in 1855, brigadier general for Union forces in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and state representative for

Sangamon County, Illinois Sangamon County is located in the center of the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, it had a population of 197,465. Its county seat and largest city is Springfield, Illinois, Springfield, the List ...

Death and legacy

Daniel Cook, who always suffered from poor health, died on October 16, 1827, at the age of 32 in Scott County, Kentucky. Four years after his death, the home county of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, was named in his honor. He was buried in Kentucky, then reburied with the Lamb family (relatives of his son's wife) in 1866 in

Oak Ridge Cemetery Oak Ridge Cemetery is an American cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. The Lincoln Tomb, where Abraham Lincoln, his wife and all but one of their children lie, is here, as are the graves of other prominent Illinois figures. Thus, it is the second-m ...

in Springfield, Illinois.Daniel Pope Cook (1794 - 1827) - Find A Grave Memorial
/ref>

References

* DeLove, Sidney L. ''Cook County and Daniel Pope Cook-their Story''. An Illinois Sesquicentennial Publication. Chicago: Independence Hall, 1968. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Daniel Pope 1794 births 1827 deaths Members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois Illinois Attorneys General Auditors of Public Accounts of the Illinois Territory 19th-century American newspaper editors American judges People from Scott County, Kentucky Illinois National Republicans 19th-century American politicians Illinois Democratic-Republicans Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives People from Kaskaskia, Illinois 19th-century American judges