Los Angeles County
Biographies
CLARENCE
WEINY COOK
COOK,
CLARENCE WEINY, Physician and Surgeon, Los Angeles,
California, was born at Bloomfield, Iowa,
August 6, 1875. He is the son of William Henry Cook and Frances Virginia (Hurd) Cook.
Dr.
Cook is descended from a family notable in the history of the Middle West, his
grandfather, Captain Norman W. Cook, of Company D, Third Iowa Cavalry, having
rendered valiant services for the Union during
the Civil War. He was at the battle of Pea Ridge when the Confederates, led by
General McIntosh, charged the Federal lines March 7, 1862, and were defeated,
their commander being shot from his horse. Dr. Cook’s father is still in active
business and has been for about fifty years. He was in the banking and
merchandise business at Bloomfield
for about twenty-five years, in the store which had been conducted by some
member of the Cook family for nearly one hundred years. Removing to California about twenty-five years ago, Mr. Cook located
at Monrovia, but remained there only about five
years and then moved to Los Angeles,
where he has been in the banking and brokerage business for twenty years.
Dr.
Cook attended the Grammar schools at Bloomfield,
Iowa, until the family moved to Monrovia and he finished
his preliminary education in the schools at that place, graduating from High
School in 1892. His professional training he received in the Medical Department
of the University of Southern California, now the Medical Department of
the University of
California, after a break
of twelve years.
He
had been born with the ambition to be a physician and surgeon and after several
years in business determined, in 1904, to take up the study of medicine. He was
graduated in the class of 1908. During his time at college he was prosector under Dr. Clare W. Murphy, one of the most expert
anatomists known on the Pacific
Coast.
When
Dr. Cook first left school in Monrovia in 1892,
the family moved to Los Angeles,
and the father backed his two sons in business. They were together for a time,
but ultimately gave it up and Doctor Cook spent his time in travel. In 1897 he
engaged in the building business in Los
Angeles and remained in it for about three years,
during which time he constructed numerous homes in the fashionable residence
districts of the city.
In
1900 he retired from business temporarily and made a tour of the Eastern
portion of the United States,
spending some time in Boston,
Massachusetts. His vacation
lasted for about two years and then he was seized with the desire to return to
business. Consequently, in 1902, he resumed his building operations in Los Angeles. He was thus
engaged only a few months, when he went into the outdoor advertising business,
his territory covering a larger part of the Southwestern portion of the United States, especially that section traversed
by the Southern Pacific and the El
Paso and Southwestern railroads.
In
addition to his advertising business, Dr. Cook was lessee of the Opera House in
Bisbee, Arizona,
but he finally sold out his advertising and theatrical interests and returned
to Los Angeles,
where he re-entered the building field for a short time.
In was then that Dr. Cook’s life ambition called. He had been associated with Dr. Edward J. Cook, no
relation, by the way, and from him had gained considerable knowledge of
medicine, so that when he entered the university he was well equipped.
After
being in school six months Dr. Cook became Acting Assistant, Police Surgeon in
the City of Los Angeles,
serving as such during his entire career in college and for six months after
graduation, an experience which broadened him immeasurably. He opened offices
for the practice of his profession immediately after graduation and has
maintained a general practice down to date, being regarded at the present time
as one of the leading physicians of the city. In addition to his regular work,
Dr. Cook has done numerous other works which have brought him into favorable
notice.
For
instance, in 1906, while he was in the midst of his college career, San Francisco was
devastated by earthquake and fire. The doctor, with a companion, immediately
organized a volunteer corps for service in the stricken city. They recruited
forty trained nurses and the United States Government, through the influence of
United States Senator Frank P. Flint, of California,
having placed a special steamer at their disposal,
they hurried to the Bay City.
Immediately upon arrival they procured the building of the Woman’s Advance
Club, located at Golden Gate and Octavia
streets, and opened a hospital, which was designated as the Hearst Relief
Hospital No. 1, because William Randolph Hearst agreed to pay all expenses of
the place.
Dr.
Cook and his aides worked incessantly for fifteen days, administering to sick
and injured, and during that time handled two thousand cases, in addition to
providing clothing, food, etc., to victims of the disaster. Their services were
given as long as needed, but at the end of fifteen days the regular hospitals
were able to take care of the victims and Dr. Cook closed his relief station.
A
notable case in the career of Dr. Cook, and one which holds a conspicuous place
in the annals of Los Angeles
medical practice, came to him on November 19, 1910,
when F. L. Coe, a motorcycle officer of the Los Angeles Police Department, was
injured. Coe had been pursuing a speed law violator and was riding at the rate
of seventy-two miles an hour, when his motorcycle skidded and he was thrown
head first against a telegraph pole. The man sustained what is known as a
comminuted fracture, his skull being reduced to fragments, his nose broken and
both jaw bones splintered. Dr. Cook was called in attendance and performed one
of the most delicate surgical operations recorded. His patient was in the
hospital for sixteen weeks, closely watched by the physician, and at the end of
that time he was released, as sound mentally and physically as ever he had been
in his life, and with nothing to show for his terrible accident except a slight
scar where stitches had been. This case attracted the attention of professional
and lay public alike and won for Dr. Cook an enduring fame.
Dr.
Cook’s only interests are those connected with his profession. He belongs to
various professional organizations, these including the Los Angeles County
Medical Society, California State Medical Society and the American Medical
Association. He is also a member of the Nu Sigma Nu and Pheta
(sic) Nu Epsilon fraternities.
He
is an enthusiastic motorist and hunter, being a member of the Southern
California Automobile Club, West Shore Gun Club and the Los Angeles Athletic
Club. He is a member of Westlake Lodge No. 392, F. & A. M.
Transcribed
9-12-11 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 787,
International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles,
Boston, Atlanta. 1913.
© 2011 Marilyn R. Pankey.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPIES
GOLDEN NUGGET INDEX