Edmund F. Cooke
Encyclopedia
Edmund Francis Cooke was a Republican
member of the United States House of Representatives
from New York
.
Cooke was born in Prescott, Arizona
, then a small frontier town. In his infancy, the Yavapai Indians were rumored to be preparing an attack on the settlement. Fearing that he might be killed without having been baptized, his mother summoned a neighbor and the two women christened him without benefit of clergy. He moved with his parents to Alden, New York in 1887 where his grandfather lived, and it was there that he gained a first-hand knowledge of dairy farmers' problems and polished his oratorical skills by giving speeches to the corn stalks in the fields.
Cooke studied law in the office of former State Supreme Court Harold Hinman of Albany. He was admitted to the bar in 1910 and practiced law in Alden, New York. During World War I he was Secretary for the YMCA in Europe and laid plans to pursue a political career when he returned home.
He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1923 until 1928, was elected to Congress in 1928 and served from March 4, 1929 until March 3, 1933, and in 1932 ran unsuccessfully for re-election against Alfred F. Beiter. He then resumed the practice of law in Buffalo, New York and began his decades of work to improve the lot of dairy farmers in the Northeast Milk Shed.
He was Founder, and for 25 years the General Manager and Counsel for Mutual Federation of Independent Cooperatives, an organization of dairy farmers in the Northeast United States that supplies milk and other dairy products to metropolitan New York.
He married Jennie O. Swanson of Jamestown in 1908. His children include Eilene, a graduate of the University of Buffalo, John H. Cooke and Richard T. Cooke, both graduates of Washington and Lee University, Lexington Pennsylvania and the University of Buffalo Law School, all now deceased. His last child, Cynthia G. Cooke, graduated from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, and now resides in Scottsdale Arizona. He has 10 grandchildren.
Edmund Cooke became an adopted member of the Tuscarora Tribe of Indians because of his contribution to the welfare of Native Americans. He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He died in Alden, New York in 1967.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
member of the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Cooke was born in Prescott, Arizona
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
, then a small frontier town. In his infancy, the Yavapai Indians were rumored to be preparing an attack on the settlement. Fearing that he might be killed without having been baptized, his mother summoned a neighbor and the two women christened him without benefit of clergy. He moved with his parents to Alden, New York in 1887 where his grandfather lived, and it was there that he gained a first-hand knowledge of dairy farmers' problems and polished his oratorical skills by giving speeches to the corn stalks in the fields.
Cooke studied law in the office of former State Supreme Court Harold Hinman of Albany. He was admitted to the bar in 1910 and practiced law in Alden, New York. During World War I he was Secretary for the YMCA in Europe and laid plans to pursue a political career when he returned home.
He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1923 until 1928, was elected to Congress in 1928 and served from March 4, 1929 until March 3, 1933, and in 1932 ran unsuccessfully for re-election against Alfred F. Beiter. He then resumed the practice of law in Buffalo, New York and began his decades of work to improve the lot of dairy farmers in the Northeast Milk Shed.
He was Founder, and for 25 years the General Manager and Counsel for Mutual Federation of Independent Cooperatives, an organization of dairy farmers in the Northeast United States that supplies milk and other dairy products to metropolitan New York.
He married Jennie O. Swanson of Jamestown in 1908. His children include Eilene, a graduate of the University of Buffalo, John H. Cooke and Richard T. Cooke, both graduates of Washington and Lee University, Lexington Pennsylvania and the University of Buffalo Law School, all now deceased. His last child, Cynthia G. Cooke, graduated from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, and now resides in Scottsdale Arizona. He has 10 grandchildren.
Edmund Cooke became an adopted member of the Tuscarora Tribe of Indians because of his contribution to the welfare of Native Americans. He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He died in Alden, New York in 1967.