Bio: Cook, Alfred (1850 - 1921)
Contact: History Buffs
Surnames: Blood, Cook
----Sources: "History of Northern Wisconsin" (1881); Harvey Cook (deceased); "Doomed By The Lake: The Lady Elgin and The Augusta" by Sharon Pisacreta, October 2011; Anonymous Family Members and local residents; Bedford inquirer. Bedford, Pa., September 14, 1860; Transcribed by Janet
Alfred Cook (1850 - 1921)
First Mayor of Unity, Wisconsin
Biography of Alfred Cook
ALFRED COOK, furniture, Unity. Born in Canada West, Oct. 4, 1854; Came to Calumet Co., Wis., with his parents to the town of Stockbridge, where they stayed; in 1865, he took a trip to Iowa; he first came Unity, Clark County, on a visit and went to Calumet County to get a wife; then located here with his brother Samuel A. (Civil War Veteran); opened general merchandise store; sold to his brother and went to Stockbridge and commenced farming, where he remained till 1880; returned to Unity, and in the Spring opened his furniture store. In 1860, his mother and eldest sister were drowned on the Lady Elgin. His father died in 1868. One of his brothers is living on the old farm. Two brothers in Minnesota. Oldest brother and youngest sister dead. In 1873, he married Miss Amanda M. Blood. They have five children-Herbert A., George S., Lewis W., Henrietta and Mabel. Mr. Cook has been in office as Supervisor. Belongs to the I. O. O. F.
Wisconsin Journal 17 Oct. 1893 - Delusions
1901 Election; Election Hearing
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Bio: Cook, Alfred (1850 - 1921)
Contact: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Cook, Vandercook
----Source: History of Marathon County Wisconsin and Representative Citizens, by Louis Marchetti, 1913.
Cook, Alfred (4 October 1850 - 1921)
Alfred Cook was born in Lloyd Town, Canada, West; October 4, 1850; came to Wisconsin with his parents in 1854, settling on a farm in Calumet county, where he attended high school in Fond du Lac. He came to Marathon County, bought land and cleared a farm, giving some attention to lumber business while the timber on that part of the county traversed by the Wisconsin Central Railroad lasted. He is still farming, devoting himself to stock raising. He has been postmaster in the village of Unity, chairman of the town board of the town of Brighton, and also supervisor of the village of Unity, which municipalities he represented in the county board of Marathon County. He is one of the pioneer settlers of the western part of the county, coming to Unity as the right of way was being cut out, and when only one little shanty stood at the site of Unity, which had been built only a few weeks before to give shelter to the workmen on the railroad. He was a Republican, but claiming to be an independent and acting independently, he was nominated by the Democrats and elected over his Republican opponent, G. E. Vandercook, whose claim of residence in the county was looked upon as a spurious one and only made for political purposes.
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Contact: History Buffs
Surnames: Blood, Cook, McGarvin, McGilvary, Spaulding
ALFRED COOK, in speaking of the early days, says: "I was born in Lloyd town, Canada, and when four years of age came to Fond du Lac County, Wis., with my parents, William and Jane (McGarvin) Cook. From there they moved to Calumet County and engaged in farming. I stayed on the farm until I was 9 years old. My mother was lost on the 'Lady Elgin' and my father died when I was 11 years of age. I worked on farms and in 1870 came to Black River Falls. There I met Mr. McGilvary and came with him to Unity and helped to build 'the mill for D. J. Spaulding. We cut out way through the timber from Loyal to what is now known as Spencer. We had four four-horse teams and carried all supplies for the camp. We erected the mill and cut the timber to cover it. From that time they logged and sawed for twenty years. After the mill got running I went to work setting the carriage, and was thus employed for three years. I was deputy sheriff on the line for seventeen or eighteen years, and during that time many tough men were in the woods, and I chased them from one camp to another before I got them."
Of Mr. Cook's early experiences, the Marathon County Register of
Jan. 30, 1914, says:
"In the winter of 1870 Cook, with forty-five others, was engaged in
denuding the virgin forests of their. White pine, he signing on
as
a driver of a four-ox team. In those days it required a man of
considerable vocabulary to drive a single-ox team, and only artists
were selected to draw a good stick over four of the ornery beasts,
who, when excited, could put a blush of shame upon any mule team
for pure cussedness.
As we said, Cook was driving a four-ox
team, making two trips daily for logs and four trips to the
shanties for grub. It was on the last log trip for the day that he
saw his first buck, a great big fellow with lordly antlers, who
contested the right of way with his team and threw a scare into him
that made his hand tremble and his knees knock, but he was game and
put up a bluff. Throwing up his arms and making the welkin ring
with a lusty shout, he startled Mr. Buck, who gave a mighty leap,
landing in the deep snow about four feet from the road, and at the
same time the oxen bolted down the road toward the landing. As the
second team went past, Cook grasped the trusty bow of the neck yoke
and with terrific speed kept pace with the frightened animals until
the heavy load brought them to a standstill about twenty rods past
the buck. When Cook got in he took his team immediately to
the barn and had Isaac Drake put them up for him, borrowed Drake's
Zulu shotgun and started after the buck. He found him a few rods
from where he jumped from the road, threw the gun to his shoulder,
but before pulling the trigger glanced along his backward path to
see that his get-away was unobstructed, and finding everything all
right, pulled the trigger, and, 'boys,' says he, 'I believe I was
on my way before the gun went off. Continuing, be said: 'When I
returned the boys asked me if I killed the deer and were somewhat
surprised when I said I had. The next morning being Sunday, Mr.
Rud, an old experienced woodsman, offered to go out and find the
Buck and at the place where I stood he pointed to my tracks and
said, 'Deacon, who made those ' 'Well, I answered, 'I guess those
are mine.' 'Well, says he, 'I guess you were going some.' He
went over where the deer had stood and found that I had wounded
him. He followed the trail for a few rods and found the deer alive,
but wounded, and bringing his rifle to a position, shot him, while
I, with the old Zulu, loaded to the muzzle with buck shot, thought
if one shot would be a good thing, two would be better, threw the
gun to position and pulled the trigger. Now I am honest in my
conviction when I say that I don't believe that I touched the
buck.
We returned to the shanties to find that the boys had organized during our absence, choosing a captain, drivers and burden bearers, and asked to be allowed to go and bring in the game. Well, you can imagine- the sport that forty-five men would have on an expedition of that kind. Before going after the deer I had sold it to John Sterling, an early storekeeper here, for 13.50, so the men delivered it to John's store.
"It was then that Jim Denny, who had been elected captain, says to
me: 'It was a pretty hard job to bring that buck out, Deacon, so
you had better treat the boys to a case of Plantation Bitters.'
'Why sure,' says I, 'Here, John, give the boys a case of Plantation
Bitters,' which pleased the boys and they seemed to enjoy
themselves immensely but they were soon gone, and Denny informed me
that 'there hadn't been quite enough to go around,' and he thought
it would be a good thing to just give them another case. 'Well,
sure,' says I, and ordered John to set out another case, which soon
went to join the first. I noticed on the way back to the shanties
that the boys acted rather jovial they were boxing, scuffling and
singing. I thought nothing of that then but I am now convinced that
Plantation Bitters was but another name for 'Squirrel Snaps.' All
day Monday the thought that I would have eight or ten dollars left
from the purchase price of the deer cheered me on, and when evening
came I went up to Qterling's store, and patiently waited until all
the men had left. Then I approached Mr. Sterling and asked him if
we couldn't settle the deer business. 'Why sure,' says John, 'how
much do you suppose you have coming from that deer ' 'Why, six or
eight dollars,' says I. 'Why, Deacon, you owe me $1.50. Those two
cases of bitters you had were 15.00, and I charged you, just what
they cost me.' You can just imagine my feelings when I saw those
six or eight cart wheels passing by me, but I was game and stood
for the experience. It was a long time before the joke about the
bitters leaked out, but years after Denny, who had acted as
captain, related the whole story at a smoker, after lodge one
evening, and it was months before the boys quit asking me the price
of Plantation bitters."
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Jane Cook formerly
McGarvy
Born about 1814 in Pennsylvania, United Statesmap
Daughter of John Mc Garvey and Elizabeth Eaken
Sister of Mary (McGarvy) Watson, Elizabeth (McGarvy) Watson and Isarael McGarvy
Wife of William Palmer Cook — married 28 Mar 1832 in Home District, Algoma,
Ontario, Canadamap
DESCENDANTS descendants
Mother of William Charles Cook, Elizabeth Ann Cook, Mary Catharine (Cook) Healy,
Loretta (Cook) Elliott, Watson Henry Cook, Jacob Harrison Cook, Sarah Jane
(Cook) Drake, James Milton Cook, Samuel Andrew Cook, Albert Cook, Alfred Cook
and Henrietta A. Cook
Jane Cook formerly McGarvy
Born about 1814 in Pennsylvania, United Statesmap
Daughter of John Mc Garvey and Elizabeth Eaken
Sister of Mary (McGarvy) Watson, Elizabeth (McGarvy) Watson and Isarael McGarvy
Wife of William Palmer Cook — married 28 Mar 1832 in Home District, Algoma,
Ontario, Canadamap
DESCENDANTS descendants
Mother of William Charles Cook, Elizabeth Ann Cook, Mary Catharine (Cook) Healy,
Loretta (Cook) Elliott, Watson Henry Cook, Jacob Harrison Cook, Sarah Jane
(Cook) Drake, James Milton Cook, Samuel Andrew Cook, Albert Cook, Alfred Cook
and Henrietta A. Cook
Born 4 Oct 1850 in
Lloydtown, York, Ontario, Canadamap
ANCESTORS ancestors
Son of William Palmer Cook and Jane (McGarvy) Cook
Brother of William Charles Cook, Elizabeth Ann Cook, Mary Catharine (Cook)
Healy, Watson Henry Cook, Loretta (Cook) Elliott, Jacob Harrison Cook, Sarah
Jane (Cook) Drake, James Milton Cook, Samuel Andrew Cook, Alfred Cook and
Henrietta A. Cook
Husband of Amanda Melinda (Blood) Cook — married 14 Aug 1873 in Stockbridge,
Calumet, Wisconsin, United Statesmap
************************************************************************
Doomed By The Lake: The Lady Elgin and The Augusta
---Sharon Pisacreta, October 2011
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Lady Elgin at Dock September 7, 1860
A maritime superstition claims that any ship ending
with the letter ‘A’ brings bad luck. The 19th century schooner Augusta would
certainly seem to bear that out. Her sailing career was filled with so much
misfortune that she was eventually renamed, although sailors also regard
changing the name of a ship as bad luck. But how then to account for the doomed
history of the Lady Elgin? Her lake travels were as ill starred as the Augusta,
and it seems tragically fitting that these two doomed ships were fated to meet
in the stormy waters of Lake Michigan on September 8, 1860.
Lady Elgin was a sidewheel steamer built in New York in 1851. Because her
boilers and engine once powered a slave trading ship called Cleopatra, many
believed she was a cursed ship from the moment of her launching. In 1854, Lady
Elgin hit an uncharted reef off Manitowoc, Wisconsin while carrying hundreds of
passengers. The following year, problems with the ship’s machinery led to her
being towed to Chicago. Two years later, a fire caused severe damage to many of
the ship’s staterooms and most of the hurricane deck. In 1858, she once again
hit a reef, this time near Copper Harbor, Michigan. And she had to be towed
twice in 1859 due to broken ship parts.
On September 7, 1860 however the atmosphere aboard the refurbished Lady Elgin
was festive. On board were 350 passengers, and 35 crew members bound for
Milwaukee. Sometime between 10 and 11pm, the ship departed Chicago where most of
her passengers had listened earlier that day to a presidential campaign speech
by Stephen A. Douglas. As the ship steamed against heavy northeast winds, a
German brass band entertained everyone on board. By 2:30 in the morning on
September 8, they were approximately 16 miles north of Chicago. Many passengers
were asleep in their staterooms, although accounts say that some were still
dancing to the band.
Outside however the sailors had to contend with heavy thunderstorms, gale force
winds, and the sudden appearance of a small schooner called the Augusta.
Although the Lady Elgin was brightly lit, the Augusta was dark, making her
difficult to see at night in a squall. And due to the heavy winds, her speed was
eleven knots per hour. A coroner’s inquest later revealed that the Augusta’s
second mate had seen the lights of the passenger steamer thirty minutes before
the accident, but no attempt to correct course was taken for another twenty
minutes.
When the Augusta finally took action, it was inexplicable and deadly. The vessel
should have tried to pass Lady Elgin on her port side as was customary in such
situations; instead it moved to her starboard. The Augusta hit Lady Elgin
straight on, causing a great hole in the side of the ship. The collision ripped
through the cabin, the hull and the guards. The powerful impact also sheared off
the wheel. Almost immediately, the two ships separated.
Etching of collision: Chicago Historical Society (Ralph Roberts Collection)
It is
likely that the gale winds simply swept the Augusta off into the night before
anyone was aware of the gravity of the situation. Indeed Captain Malott of the
Augusta initially thought that his ship had sustained far more damage than the
larger Lady Elgin. And given the pounding rain, crashing waves and darkness,
visibility was negligible. What is certain is that the Augusta quickly sailed
off, leaving the Lady Elgin critically damaged.
Within minutes of the impact, the Lady Elgin began to list. A surviving crew
member wrote that right after the collision, he walked past the cabins where he
“saw the ladies, pale, motionless, and silent. There was no cry, no shriek on
board – no sound of any kind but that of the escaping steam and surging waters.”
Because Captain Wilson knew that his ship was only about nine miles from
Winnetka, Illinois, he encouraged passengers to hold onto the 5-foot long wooden
life preserver floats that were distributed. But as the ship began to roll - and
lightning illuminated a lake strewn with wreckage - many simply threw themselves
overboard in terror. The Lady Elgin sank in thirty minutes.
There had been time to only lower two boats; 18 survivors reached shore in them.
Fourteen made it to safety on a raft, and another 60 lived by floating on bits
of wreckage. The drummer of the brass band survived by floating in his bass
drum. Sadly, many who made it close to shore were then killed by the pounding
surf and deadly undertow. Even Captain Wilson lost his life. He and forty other
people spent hours drifting towards land as they clung to wreckage from the
hurricane deck. So terrible were the conditions that by the time land was in
sight, only eight remained alive. As they neared landfall, Captain Wilson tried
to rescue a woman drowning in the breakers, but both of them died during the
attempt.
Woodcut engraving from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
Out of 385 men, women and children officially on board, only 98 survived. It has
been speculated that up to 700 passengers may have actually been on the ship.
Bodies washed up along Lake Michigan for the next three months. Those that could
not be identified were buried in a mass grave in Winnetka; other bodies were
transported back to Milwaukee. Indeed the sinking of the Lady Elgin has been
called “one of the greatest marine horrors on record.” And there has been no
other accident on the open water of the Great Lakes that has taken so many
lives. Small wonder that the Lady Elgin is regarded as "the Titanic of the Great
Lakes."
Meanwhile the Augusta delivered her load of lumber to Chicago, unaware of the
disaster out on the lake. The Augusta’s young captain, who turned twenty-seven
on the day of the accident, was subsequently arrested, but a trial acquitted him
of negligence. He had only recently taken command of the Augusta, and had not
yet learned that the ship was difficult to steer when carrying cargo. Instead a
coroner’s jury found his second mate grossly incompetent for not informing the
captain when he first sighted the other ship. If any good resulted from this
maritime tragedy, it was the ruling four years later that all sailing vessels
had to carry running lights.
Engraving of a photo taken of the Augusta a few days after the collision
---S. Alschuler, Chicago
It is
likely that the gale winds simply swept the Augusta off into the night before
anyone was aware of the gravity of the situation. Indeed Captain Malott of the
Augusta initially thought that his ship had sustained far more damage than the
larger Lady Elgin. And given the pounding rain, crashing waves and darkness,
visibility was negligible. What is certain is that the Augusta quickly sailed
off, leaving the Lady Elgin critically damaged.
Within minutes of the impact, the Lady Elgin began to list. A surviving crew
member wrote that right after the collision, he walked past the cabins where he
“saw the ladies, pale, motionless, and silent. There was no cry, no shriek on
board – no sound of any kind but that of the escaping steam and surging waters.”
Because Captain Wilson knew that his ship was only about nine miles from
Winnetka, Illinois, he encouraged passengers to hold onto the 5-foot long wooden
life preserver floats that were distributed. But as the ship began to roll - and
lightning illuminated a lake strewn with wreckage - many simply threw themselves
overboard in terror. The Lady Elgin sank in thirty minutes.
There had been time to only lower two boats; 18 survivors reached shore in them.
Fourteen made it to safety on a raft, and another 60 lived by floating on bits
of wreckage. The drummer of the brass band survived by floating in his bass
drum. Sadly, many who made it close to shore were then killed by the pounding
surf and deadly undertow. Even Captain Wilson lost his life. He and forty other
people spent hours drifting towards land as they clung to wreckage from the
hurricane deck. So terrible were the conditions that by the time land was in
sight, only eight remained alive. As they neared landfall, Captain Wilson tried
to rescue a woman drowning in the breakers, but both of them died during the
attempt.
Captain John Wilson of the Lady Elgin
Woodcut engraving from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
Out of 385 men, women and children officially on board, only 98 survived. It has
been speculated that up to 700 passengers may have actually been on the ship.
Bodies washed up along Lake Michigan for the next three months. Those that could
not be identified were buried in a mass grave in Winnetka; other bodies were
transported back to Milwaukee. Indeed the sinking of the Lady Elgin has been
called “one of the greatest marine horrors on record.” And there has been no
other accident on the open water of the Great Lakes that has taken so many
lives. Small wonder that the Lady Elgin is regarded as "the Titanic of the Great
Lakes."
Meanwhile the Augusta delivered her load of lumber to Chicago, unaware of the
disaster out on the lake. The Augusta’s young captain, who turned twenty-seven
on the day of the accident, was subsequently arrested, but a trial acquitted him
of negligence. He had only recently taken command of the Augusta, and had not
yet learned that the ship was difficult to steer when carrying cargo. Instead a
coroner’s jury found his second mate grossly incompetent for not informing the
captain when he first sighted the other ship. If any good resulted from this
maritime tragedy, it was the ruling four years later that all sailing vessels
had to carry running lights.
Engraving of a photo taken of the Augusta a few days after the collision
photo: S. Alschuler, Chicago
Long rumored to be a bad luck vessel, the Augusta was now seen as cursed, or
what sailors term a “hoodoo” or “black cat” ship. After spending the winter in
dry dock in Detroit, the Augusta set sail the following spring under a different
name: the Colonel Cook. But perhaps more attention should have been paid to the
superstition about not giving a ship the name of a vessel that has been lost to
the lake. Three years earlier, a schooner called Colonel Cook had departed from
Detroit bound for England. It never arrived, wrecking en route in the St
Lawrence River.
As for the newly rechristened Augusta, her owners also ordered her to be painted
black. But a name change and a new paint job weren’t enough to conceal her past.
When she arrived in Milwaukee with a cargo of lumber, word quickly spread that
the ship that had killed so many Milwaukee citizens nine months earlier was now
in the harbor. The former Augusta had to rapidly set sail before an outraged mob
set fire to her.
Shortly after this incident, she was sent east where she sailed for several
years along the Atlantic coast. Eventually however the Colonel Cook returned to
the Great Lakes. But due to her reputation as a cursed ship, it was always
difficult to hire a crew. It seemed that every sailor knew how many people had
died when the Augusta ripped open the Lady Elgin. Those men who did sign on as
crew members told tales of seeing strange lights on the night deck, or hearing
scratching sounds on the wood planking – as though people were trying to claw
their way to safety.
Finally on September 23, 1894, the Colonel Cook became stranded on a Lake Erie
shoal, breaking apart near Euclid, Ohio. All of the crew survived. But when the
former Augusta went down, it seemed to many that justice had finally been
delivered by the lake itself.
Darius Nelson Malott, captain of the Augusta on the night of the collision, did
not escape the curse either. In 1864, he was hired to captain the Great Lakes
vessel Mojave. A few months later, the Mojave sank in Lake Michigan with all
hands onboard – including Malott. Not only did the ship disappear close to the
spot where the Lady Elgin went down, it sank on September 8, 1864. It was
Captain Malott's 31st birthday -- and the fourth anniversary of the Lady Elgin
disaster.---Sharon Pisacreta, October 2011
Birdseye View of Chicago Port
Lady Elgin at the bottom far right
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