Eleutheros Cooke

Eleutheros Cooke

Eleutheros Cooke (born December 25, 1787 in Granville , Washington County , New York , †  December 27, 1864 in Sandusky , Ohio ) was an American politician . Between 1831 and 1833 he represented the state of Ohio in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Eleutheros Cooke attended public schools in his homeland. After a subsequent law degree and his admission as a lawyer, he began to work in Granville in this profession. In 1817 he moved first to Indiana and two years later to Sandusky, Ohio. In the 1820s he joined the movement against future President Andrew Jackson and became a member of the short-lived National Republican Party . He was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives in 1822, 1823, and 1825 . In 1826 he received the very first permit in the United States to start a railroad.

In the congressional election of 1830 Cooke was elected to the United States House of Representatives in Washington, DC in the 14th  constituency of Ohio , where he succeeded Mordecai Bartley on March 4, 1831 . Since he was not confirmed in 1832, he could only serve one term in Congress until March 3, 1833 . Ever since President Jackson took office in 1829, there was heated debate inside and outside of Congress about its policies. It was about the controversial enforcement of the Indian Removal Act , the conflict with the state of South Carolina , which culminated in the nullification crisis , and the banking policy of the president.

After his time in the US House of Representatives, Eleutheros Cooke practiced as a lawyer again. In 1840 he was again a member of the Ohio House of Representatives. He died in Sandusky on December 27, 1864. His son Jay Cooke (1821-1905) was later a well-known financial tycoon and railroad entrepreneur and his other son Henry (1825-1881) was between 1871 and 1873 Territorial Governor of the District of Columbia and thus practically Mayor of Washington DC.

Web links

Commons : Eleutheros Cooke  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Eleutheros Cooke in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Eleutheros Cooke in the database of Find a Grave (English)