County, son of the last named [born 1732 and died 1797],. 

 and the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, 

 was one of the prominent men of the State during and 

 after the Revolution. He was a member of the Commit- 

 tee of Correspondence, and afterward of the Legislature,, 

 where he was one of the active men, always a member of 

 the great committees. He was appointed Lieutenant- 

 Colonel of the Morris Militia, and was a member of the 

 Provincial Congress of 1776, which organized the State 

 by its constitution. Where important work was to be 

 done, there, like his distinguished great-grandson, we 

 find him quietly doing it. 



Doctor Cook was married on March 26th, 1846, to Mary 

 Halsey Thomas. Mrs. Cook, two sons and two daughters 

 survive. 



As a boy Doctor Cook attended the country school of 

 his native town. In 1836 he served on the survey for the 

 Morris and Essex Railroad, and then on that of the Cats- 

 kill and Canajoharie road. In December, 1838, he entered 

 the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Troy, New York, 

 and graduated thence with the degree of C. E. in 1839. 

 He there acquired, under the inspiration of the famous 

 teacher, Amos Eaton, that love for the natural sciences 

 which distinguished him, and which has borne fruit to 

 the great advantage of his native State and of a wide 

 circle of .friends and pupils — a notable instance of the 

 power and far-reaching influence of the enthusiastic and 

 magnetic teacher. After graduation, Doctor Cook was 

 employed as a tutor, then as adjunct professor, and from 

 1842 to 1846 as senior professor in the Institute. 



In 1846 he removed to Albany, where for two years he 

 was engaged in business, and from 1848 to 185 1 was Pro- 

 fessor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the 

 Albany Academy, and from 1851 to 1853 he was Principal 

 of the Academy. In 1852 he was sent to Europe by the 



