Frederick Cook (December 2, 1833 – February 17, 1905) was an American businessman and politician. He served as the

New York Secretary of State The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York who leads the Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York is Robert J. Rodriguez, a Democrat. Duties The secre ...

from 1886 to 1889.

Early life

Frederick Cook was born in

Bad Wildbad Bad Wildbad is a town in Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located in the government district (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Karlsruhe and in the district (''Landkreis'') of Calw. Its coordinates are 48° 45' N, 8° 33' E. About 10,1 ...

, Kingdom of Württemberg on December 2, 1833. He came to the United States in 1848, and changed his German name Friedrich Kuch to Frederick Cook. He first lived in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, and worked for his brother-in-law who was a

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

. Then he opened his own

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesal ...

shop at

Batavia, New York Batavia is a city in and the county seat of Genesee County, New York, United States. It is near the center of the county, surrounded by the Town of Batavia, which is a separate municipality. Batavia's population as of the 2020 census was 15,6 ...

. After that he became a

brakeman A brakeman is a rail transport worker whose original job was to assist the braking of a train by applying brakes on individual wagons. The earliest known use of the term to describe this occupation occurred in 1833. The advent of through brakes, ...

on the

Buffalo and Rochester Railroad The Buffalo and Rochester Railroad was a railroad company formed on December 7, 1850 by the merger of the Tonawanda Railroad and the Attica and Buffalo Railroad. The company remained in business for three years before it was merged with other comp ...

, and later a conductor on the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

a position he held for twenty years during which he became wealthy. (There is a story about this: Asked by

Cornelius Vanderbilt Cornelius Vanderbilt (May 27, 1794 – January 4, 1877), nicknamed "the Commodore", was an American business magnate who built his wealth in railroads and shipping. After working with his father's business, Vanderbilt worked his way into lead ...

how he could buy vast pieces of real estate and live expensively on $75 a week, Cook is said to have answered "Oh, I makes (sic) my money trading horses with Jockey Mason," which became something of a proverb at the time.)

Political career

In 1872, he left the railroad, and entered politics. Governor

John Thompson Hoffman John Thompson Hoffman (January 10, 1828March 24, 1888) was the 23rd governor of New York (1869–72). He was also recorder of New York City (1861–65) and the 78th mayor of New York City (1866–68). Connections to the Tweed Ring r ...

appointed him

Judge Advocate Judge-advocates are military lawyers serving in different capacities in the military justice systems of different jurisdictions. Australia The Australian Army Legal Corps (AALC) consists of Regular and Reserve commissioned officers that provi ...

of the 7th Division of the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

. In 1874, he ran for Mayor of

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

but was defeated by George G. Clarkson while otherwise the whole Democratic ticket was elected. In 1875, Governor

Samuel J. Tilden Samuel Jones Tilden (February 9, 1814 – August 4, 1886) was an American politician who served as the 25th Governor of New York and was the Democratic candidate for president in the disputed 1876 United States presidential election. Tilden was ...

appointed him Assistant

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

and Chief of Staff of the 7th Division of the National Guard. He was a delegate to the

1876 Democratic National Convention The 1876 Democratic National Convention assembled in St. Louis just nine days after the conclusion of the Republican National Convention in Cincinnati. This was the first political convention held west of the Mississippi River. St. Louis was noti ...

. He was

Secretary of State of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York who leads the New York State Department of State, Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York ...

from 1886 to 1889, elected in

1885 Events January–March * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 4 – ...

and

1887 Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

Business

In 1892, he sued the Silver Lake Ice Company, and tried to establish his claim to be the owner of the

Silver Lake Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

Wyoming County, New York Wyoming County is a county in the U.S. state of New York in the state's western area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,531. The county seat is Warsaw. The name is modified from a Lenape (Delaware) Native American word meaning "bro ...

. He was the President of the Rochester German Insurance Company, the German-American Bank of Rochester, the Rochester Driving Park Association, the Rochester Telephone Company, the Rochester Street Car Company, Vice President of the Bartholomay Brewing Company, and had interests in many other companies.

Personal life

He married Catharine Yaky in 1863. She died in 1864, and he remarried to Barbara Agne in 1865. They had one daughter. He died of

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

at his home in Rochester on February 17, 1905. He was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery.

References

Sources

His "record"
in ''NYT'' on September 26, 1885

at politicalgraveyard.com Political Graveyard
His lawsuit
in ''NYT'' on November 30, 1892
Obit
in ''NYT'' on February 18, 1905 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Frederick 1833 births 1905 deaths Secretaries of State of New York (state) German emigrants to the United States Burials at Mount Hope Cemetery (Rochester) Conductor (rail) New York (state) Democrats