Hermon Henry Cook
Encyclopedia
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
lumber merchant and political figure. He represented Simcoe North
Simcoe North
Simcoe North is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It was established as a federal riding in 1867. Its population was 119,400 in 2006.-Demographics:Ethnic groups: 92.3% White, 5.9% Native Canadian...
in the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
as a Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
member from 1872 to 1878 and Simcoe East
Simcoe East
Simcoe East was a federal electoral district in the province of Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1882 to 1968...
from 1882 to 1891. He also represented Simcoe East in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
as a Liberal member from 1879 to 1882.
He was born in Williamsburgh Township in Dundas County
Dundas County, Ontario
Dundas County is a county in the Canadian province of Ontario.Dundas was created in 1792 by the area's first settlers: German Loyalists who had fought with Sir John Johnson in the American Revolutionary War. The settlers, descendants of the Palatine immigrants to America in 1710, had immigrated to...
Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
in 1826, the son of George Cook and Sarah Castleman, and was educated in Iroquois. He established himself as a lumber merchant in Simcoe County
Simcoe County, Ontario
Simcoe County is located in central portion of Southern Ontario. The County is situated just north of the Greater Toronto Area stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west...
and set up a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
near the current site of the town of Midland, Ontario
Midland, Ontario
Midland is a town located on Georgian Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada.Situated at the southern end of Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands, Midland is the economic centre of the region, with a 125-bed hospital and a local airport. It is the main town of the southern Georgian Bay area...
. With the completion of the Midland Railway of Canada
Midland Railway of Canada
The Midland Railway of Canada was a historical Canadian railway which ran from Port Hope, Ontario to Midland on Georgian Bay.-Early days:This railway was originally conceived as a rail link between Port Hope and Peterborough and the company was originally named The Peterborough and Port Hope...
, his timber business prospered. In 1861, he married Lydia White. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Ontario assembly in 1871. Cook resigned his seat in the provincial assembly in 1882 to run for a federal seat. He died in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
at the age of 76.
His brother James William
James William Cook
James William Cook was a lumber merchant and political figure in Canada West.He was born in Williamsburgh Township in Upper Canada in 1820. His family operated a timber business along the South Nation and Castor Rivers in the eastern part of the province. The firm's main office was situated in...
represented Dundas in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada
The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the legislature for the Province of Canada, which consisted of the former provinces of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East and later the province of Quebec, and Upper Canada, then known as Canada West and later the...
and his brother Simon
Simon S. Cook
Simon Sephrenus Cook represented Dundas in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal member from 1867 to 1874....
represented Dundas in the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
. His uncle John Cook
John Cook (Ontario politician)
John Cook was a merchant and political figure in Upper Canada and Canada West.He was born on what was later known as Crysler's Farm in Williamsburgh Township in Upper Canada in 1791; he later sold that property to John Crysler. He served with the militia during the War of 1812 and fought at the...
had earlier represented Dundas in the legislative assembly for Upper Canada.