Charles Cook (November 20, 1800

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

, Otsego County, New York - October 16, 1866

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Cayuga County, New York Cayuga County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 76,248. Its county seat and largest city is Auburn. The county was named for the Cayuga people, one of the Indian tribes in the Iroquois Conf ...

) was an American politician from New York.

Life

His father was killed during the War of 1812, and a few years later he left home to find work. He became a clerk in a store in Herkimer, New York, then went to Utica, New York and learned how to build canals. From 1823 on, he took part in the construction of the

Delaware and Hudson Canal The Delaware and Hudson Canal was the first venture of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, which would later build the Delaware and Hudson Railway. Between 1828 and 1899, the canal's barges carried anthracite coal from the mines of northeaster ...

. In 1829, in company with his brothers Hiram and Elbert, he engaged in the construction of the Chemung Canal, and settled at Havana, NY,The Village of Havana changed its name to Montour Falls in 1890. which was incorporated as a village in 1836. Cook bought large tracts of land and invested in improvements. In

1846 Events January–March * January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. * January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway' ...

, he ran on the Whig ticket for Canal Commissioner, but was defeated. In

1847 Events January–March * January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government. * January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California. * January 16 – John C. Frémont ...

, he was one of the first three Canal Commissioners elected under the New York State Constitution of 1846, and drew the one-year term. He was re-elected to a full three-year term in

1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...

, remaining in office from 1848 to 1851. In 1854, he finally succeeded in his effort to create Schuyler County, New York with Havana, NY, as the county seat. After only seven years the county seat was moved to Watkins against Cook's fierce opposition. He was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(27th District) in

1862 Events January–March * January 1 – The United Kingdom annexes Lagos Island, in modern-day Nigeria. * January 6 – French intervention in Mexico: French, Spanish and British forces arrive in Veracruz, Mexico. * January ...

and

1863 Events January–March * January 1 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation during the third year of the American Civil War, making the abolition of slavery in the Confederate states an official war goal. It proclaims t ...

. He was one of the owners of the Blossburg Coal Company, in

Blossburg, Pennsylvania Blossburg is a borough in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,536 at the 2020 census. History In 1792, a party of immigrants who were building the Williamson Road from Williamsport, in Lycoming County, to Painted Post ...

. He took part in the construction of the Erie Railway from

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 cens ...

which was used for the shipping of the coal. He founded Cook Academy at Havana, NY, a boarding high school which closed after World War II. The building houses now the New York Academy of Fire Sciences. He never married. The estate was inherited by his brother Elbert.

Notes

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (page 42; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
''The New-York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough, Stephen C. Hutchins & Edgar Albert Werner (pages 406 and 443; Weed, Parsons and Co., Albany NY, 1867)

Bust unveiled, with bio, in NYT on November 21, 1886

''Charles Cook - The Father of Schuyler County'' by Barbara H. Bell in ''The Crooked Lake Review'' (April 1995) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Charles 1800 births 1866 deaths People from Springfield, New York Erie Canal Commissioners People from Montour Falls, New York New York (state) state senators 19th-century American politicians