Lemuel Cook (September 10, 1759 – May 20, 1866) was one of the last verifiable surviving

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

s of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Early life and education

Cook was born on September 10, 1759, in

Litchfield County, Connecticut Litchfield County is in northwestern Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 185,186. The county was named after Lichfield, in England. Litchfield County has the lowest population density of any county in Connecticut and is the ...

, to Henry Cook and his wife Hannah Benham.

Military service

Cook enlisted in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

in 1775 at the age of 16. He was assigned to the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons, and by his death he was the last surviving member. He fought at

Brandywine Brandywine may refer to: Food and drink *Brandy, a spirit produced by distilling wine *Brandywine tomato, a variety of heirloom tomato Geographic locations Canada * Brandywine Falls Provincial Park, British Columbia * Brandywine Mountain, British ...

and in the Virginian campaign, and was wounded several times. He was present at

Charles Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...

' surrender in October 1781. He received an honorable discharge signed by

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

on June 12, 1784.

Later life and death

Following the war, Cook became a farmer and married Hannah Curtis. They had seven sons and three daughters. He was an active Mason and Democrat since the party’s establishment in 1828. His church was

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

. He lived in

Plymouth, Connecticut Plymouth is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England. The population was 11,671 at the 2020 census, down from 12,243 at the 2010 census. The town of Plymouth includes the villages of Plymo ...

(then Northbury) until 1790, when he moved to Clinton, New York. In 1795 he returned to Plymouth, then moved to

Pompey, New York Pompey is a town in the southeast part of Onondaga County, New York. The population was 7,080 at the time of the 2010 census. The town was named after the Roman general and political leader Pompey by a late 18th-century clerk interested in the Clas ...

in 1805. He moved to North Bergen, New York in 1821 and finally to

Clarendon, New York Clarendon is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 3,648 at the 2010 census. The name is derived from Clarendon, Vermont. The Town of Clarendon is in the southeast part of the county. New York State Route 31A an ...

in 1832. Lemuel was one of the oldest and among the last living pensioners of the American Revolution. He died May 20, 1866, at the age of 106, having lived to see the start and the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. He was buried with full military and

Masonic Freemasonry or Masonry refers to Fraternity, fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of Stonemasonry, stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their inte ...

honors. At the time of his death, only three other revolutionary veterans (Samuel Downing,

Daniel F. Bakeman Daniel Frederick Bakeman (October 9, 1759 – April 5, 1869) was the last survivor receiving a veteran's pension for service in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Early life Bakeman claimed that he was born on October 9, 1759, in Scho ...

and John Gray) were still alive.

Photography

He was one of seven American Revolutionary War veterans who, having survived into the age of photography, were featured in the 1864 book ''

The Last Men of the Revolution ''The Last Men of the Revolution'' is a compilation of biographies written by Rev. E. B. Hillard (Elias Brewster) documenting six of some of the last living veterans of the American Revolution who were alive in 1864. The book contains six album ...

'', which gives many details of his life.

References

External links

Lemuel Cook: Last Survivor of the Revolutionary War from a Burr/Cook genealogy pageBurial site of Lemuel Cook at Find a Grave
1759 births 1866 deaths American centenarians Men centenarians Continental Army soldiers United States Army soldiers People from Litchfield County, Connecticut People from Clarendon, New York {{US-army-bio-stub