My Genealogy Hound

JACOB W. COOK (deceased) was born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1819, son of George H. and Rachel (Hoffman) Cook, latter of whom was a native of New York, and a daughter of Judge Hoffman. At the age of thirteen Jacob W. came to Pittsburgh and entered the banking-house of his brother, George A. Cook, in 1832. Upon the death of his brother he opened a book and periodical store at No. 85 Fourth avenue, but on April 10, 1845, in the great fire of that date, his place was destroyed, and he lost all. Tuesday, May 21, 1844, Mr. Cook married Elveril H. McKown, eldest daughter of Maj. Thomas McKown, and to them were born six children, as follows: E. S., residing with his mother at Mansfield, and who has held prominent positions in the borough, such as burgess, councilman and school director; Lillie R., wife of D. B. Stewart, who is connected with the Northwestern Ohio Gas company; George A., who entered the Allegheny National Bank at the age of fourteen, holding the office of cashier at the time of his death, Oct. 4, 1887: Annie W., wife of Samuel D. Culbertson, local freight agent for the Junction railroad; Jacob Wallace, and Thomas McKown, a member of the firm of Chess, Cook & Co., who married the eldest daughter of Joseph Walton, the coal-man, and is now residing in Allegheny City.

In 1847 Jacob W. Cook engaged in the banking business, being the senior partner in the firm of Cook & Harris. He continued in this firm until 1852, when the partnership was dissolved, and in that year he entered the banking-house of N. Holmes, on Market street, where he remained until Sept. 9, 1857, when he was elected cashier of the Allegheny Bank, then on Federal street, Allegheny City. He held the position of cashier until the time the bank became the Allegheny National, when he was elected its president, a position he held until his death. In 1856 Mr. Cook moved to Mansfield (in that spring the Pittsburgh & Steubenville railroad was to have been finished), and for nearly nine years he drove from Mansfield to his place of business in Pittsburgh, during which time, although his health was not good, he missed but very few days. So regular was he in his journey back and forth that people were in the habit of setting their clocks by him as he passed their doors. In 1865, in company with Robert J. Anderson and William Wood, he bought out the firm of Jones, Boyd & Co., and started the Pittsburgh Steel-works, under the firm name of Anderson, Cook & Co., at the corner of Ross and Grant streets. After the dissolution of this partnership he became a member of the firm of Chess, Cook & Co., manufacturers of nails and tacks, and was a member of that firm at the time of his death. He died at his home in Mansfield borough, Jan. 25, 1883, leaving a widow and five children.