San
Joaquin County
Biographies
WILLIAM F. COOK
Numbered among the prominent and
influential farmers and honored pioneers of San Joaquin County is William F.
Cook who resides on the homestead that was his birthplace. He has watched the development of San Joaquin
County through a long period, noting with interest the changes that have been
wrought as its natural resources have been developed and the work of
improvement and civilization has been carried forward. He was born on the Cook ranch June 4, 1855,
and is of German lineage. His parents,
Frederick and Caroline Cook, were born in Germany and soon after their marriage
they came to America and settled in Illinois where their first daughter was
born. They left Illinois and started for
California with ox teams across the plains and arrived at Hangtown in 1849 so
named because of the justice administered there at an early day, and for a time
was engaged in mining for gold; later he removed to San Joaquin County and
established his home near Atlanta and soon acquired three quarter sections of
land, one a homestead, one a preemption and one tree claim. The first house built was a cabin made of
timber cut by his own hand and where the family lived and reared their nine
children: Emma, William F. of this
sketch, Lewis P., Charles, Edward, Adolph, Caroline, Eliza and Lillie. William F. Cook was reared to manhood upon
his father’s farm in San Joaquin County and has always possessed the
progressive spirit of the west, the spirit that has led to the rapid and
substantial advancement of the states along the Pacific Coast. He was educated in the district schools in his
home neighborhood, enjoying no better privileges than most lads of the period,
but he determined to win success, and as the result of his energy he is now the
owner of 160 acres where he has farmed for the past twenty-five years. The principal crop is grain and everything
about the place is kept in good condition, and the neat and thrifty appearance
of the farm indicates to the passerby the supervision of a progressive owner.
The marriage of Mr. Cook united him
with Miss Eliza Pope, born in Oakland, California, and they have two daughters,
Myrtle, the wife of Henry Pratt, has three children, Gene, Margaret and
William; Alice, Mrs. William Alsa, resides in the
Cook home place. For several terms, Mr.
Cook served as school trustee at Atlanta and was formerly a member of the
Democratic Central Committee of San Joaquin County. Mr. and Mrs. Cook are well and favorably
known in San Joaquin County where his business capacity has won the admiration
of his fellow-citizens, while his strong personal traits of character have
gained him their friendly regard.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Page
800. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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