John Cooke (1824–1882) was one of the principals of

Cooke Locomotive Works The Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works, located in Paterson, New Jersey, manufactured steam railroad locomotives from 1852 until it was merged with seven other manufacturers to form American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1901. History The firm wa ...

, one of the constituent companies that made up

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

in the merger of 1901. Cooke was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, but sought his fortune in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. While a teenager, he was apprenticed to Thomas Rogers (who founded the

Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works was a 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives based in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. It built more than six thousand steam locomotives for railroads around the w ...

). His

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

worked out so well for the two of them that he was promoted to shop superintendent by 1843, a position he held until 1852. When he left Rogers' employ, Cooke formed a partnership with

Charles Danforth Charles Danforth (August 1, 1815 – March 30, 1890), of Gardiner, Maine, was a justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court from January 5, 1864, to March 30, 1890. Born in Norridgewock, Maine, Danforth read law Reading law was the method use ...

. The two founded the new locomotive manufacturing company of Danforth, Cooke and Company in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Cooke Locomotive Works The Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works, located in Paterson, New Jersey, manufactured steam railroad locomotives from 1852 until it was merged with seven other manufacturers to form American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in 1901. History The firm wa ...

, became one of the constituent companies that made up the

in the merger of 1901.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, John American people in rail transportation Canadian people in rail transport American railway entrepreneurs Canadian railway entrepreneurs Locomotive builders and designers Businesspeople from Montreal 1824 births 1882 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century Canadian businesspeople Emigrants from pre-Confederation Quebec to the United States