Elijah Fox Cook

Elijah Fox Cook (December 3, 1805 – October 8, 1886) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. He served in the state senates of Michigan (1838–1840) and Wisconsin (1857–1859), and was the 3rd Mayor of Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

E. Fox Cook
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 1st district
In office
January 5, 1857 – January 3, 1859
Preceded byDavid Taylor
Succeeded byRobert H. Hotchkiss
3rd Mayor of Sheboygan, Wisconsin
In office
April 1855 – April 1858
Preceded byF. R. Townsend
Succeeded byWilliam N. Shafter
District Attorney of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin
In office
January 1849 – January 1853
Preceded byWilliam R. Gorsline
Succeeded byEdward Elwell
Member of the Michigan Senate
from the 5th district
In office
January 1, 1838 – January 6, 1840
Personal details
Born(1805-12-03)December 3, 1805
Palatine, New York, U.S.
DiedOctober 8, 1886(1886-10-08) (aged 80)
La Crosse, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting placeOak Grove Cemetery, La Crosse, Wisconsin
Political partyDemocratic

Biography

Born in Palatine, New York, Cook moved to Oakland County, Michigan Territory, in 1831. He was admitted to the Michigan bar and practiced law in Farmington, and Pontiac. He served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1835 which drafted the first Constitution of Michigan. He went on to serve in the Michigan State Senate during the 1838 and 1839 sessions of the legislature.[1]

In 1847, Cook moved to Sheboygan, Wisconsin Territory, and practiced law. Just after Wisconsin achieved statehood, he was elected to two consecutive terms as district attorney of Sheboygan County, serving from 1849 through 1853.[2]: 106  During these years, he also promoted the Cascade & Lake Michigan Railroad Company, which planned to build a line from Sheboygan to the more inland village of Cascade.[2]: 137 

In 1855, he was elected Mayor of Sheboygan, serving until his defeat in the 1858 election.[3] Concurrent to his mayoral term, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate for the 1857 and 1858 sessions, defeating incumbent Republican David Taylor.

Subsequent to his Senate term, Cook moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he practiced law for a few years. In 1862, he moved to Milwaukee. In March 1867, he slipped and broke his leg on a patch of icy sidewalk near his office, sustaining an injury that would leave him dependent on crutches for the rest of his life. He sued the city of Milwaukee for damages. Though he was initially successful in the circuit court, the city appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and had the earlier decision vacated.[4] Cook tried again, resulting in a similar outcome.[5] Years later, Cook broke his leg again at the same place in Milwaukee, resulting in a paralysis of one side of his body that resulted in his retirement from his legal career.[6][7]

After his retirement, he returned to La Crosse, where his daughter still resided. He died at his home in La Crosse in October 1886, at age 80.[7]

References
  1. Bours, Allan L., ed. (1877). Manual for the use of the Twenty-Ninth Legislature of the State of Michigan (Report). Lansing, Michigan: State of Michigan. pp. 553–555. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  2. Zillier, Carl (1912). History of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, Past and Present. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co. pp. 106, 137, 227. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  3. "Town Elections". The Daily Milwaukee News. April 5, 1855. p. 2. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  4. Cook v. City of Milwaukee, 24 Wis. 270 (Wisconsin Supreme Court June 1869).
  5. Cook v. City of Milwaukee, 27 Wis. 191 (Wisconsin Supreme Court June 1870).
  6. "Memoirs". Report of the Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin State Bar Association (Report). Taylor and Gleason, Book and Job Printers. 1901. p. 225. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  7. "Departed Pioneers". Wisconsin State Journal. October 9, 1886. p. 1. Retrieved April 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.