Biographical Sketch of

George Roswell Cook

Transcribed by Robert Schieber

Source: Memorial and Biographical Record and Illustrated Compendium of Biography of Citizens of Columbia, 
Sauk and Adams Counties, Wisconsin, published 1901 by G. A. Ogle & Co., Chicago, 1901, Pages 682 - 683


George Roswell Cook, a progressive farmer of Dell Prairie township, has been a resident of Adams county many 
years, and is well known and highly respected.  He was born in Steuben county, New York, April 30, 1855, and 
was the son of Orange and Rosella (Donaldson) Cook.

Orange Cook was a farmer by occupation and resided in the eastern states for a number of years, and the family 
moved to Springville township, Adams county, in 1861.  The father died in Steuben county, New York, about 1865, 
and the mother resided on the homestead in Adams county until her death, May 19, 1869.  She was laid to rest 
in Olin cemetery.

Our subject received a liberal education, having attended the district school and the high school at Kilbourn, 
and spent one year in Canisteo Academy, Steuben county, New York.  At the age of twenty-five years he returned 
to Marathon and Lincoln counties, Wisconsin, where he engaged in the lumbering business for about four years.  
He then went to Springville township, Adams county, where he owned land which he had purchased when seventeen 
years of age, and resided on the farm and added various improvements.  He disposed of his land in Springville 
township, in 1890, and located on his farm in Section 8, in Dell Prairie township, which he has improved until 
it is now one of the best cultivated in the vicinity.  He is a most progressive farmer and was one of the first 
to advocate dairying in Adams county.  He has met with success in that line, and his estate is kept in the best 
condition, and good, residence, barn and outbuildings mark his financial success and care.  One hundred and 
twenty-five acres of land are under cultivation and he has about twenty head of Milk Cows, and in that branch 
alone is gaining a comfortable competence.  He raises stock, and all grain he raises is used to feed the stock 
on the farm.

Mr. Cook was married, March 25, 1885, to Emma Brandenburg, daughter of Christian Brandenburg, who located in 
Quincy, Adams county, a number of years ago, and was one of the early settlers of that region.  Mr. and Mrs. 
Cook are the parents of five children, all of whom are at home, as follows;  Carl, born September 7, 1886; 
Grace, born November 2, 1887; Effie, born July 3, 1890; Earl, born November 21, 1893; and Bessie, born December 
21, 1895.

Mr. Cook has been called to fill various township offices of trust, including chairman of the town board, 
township clerk, and justice of the peace.  He is a Republican, and interested in the welfare of his party and 
country, but does not take an active part in political affairs.  He is first vice-president of the Adams County 
Agricultural Association, and the society is at presentation in a flourishing condition, and Adams county is 
fast coming to the front as a thriving agricultural district.  To such men as Mr. Cook the county owes a debt 
of gratitude for the part they have taken in the upbuilding of the better interests of the vicinity, and the 
active interests of the vicinity, and the active interest displayed in all matters of local importance.


Transcribed by Robert Schieber






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