Daniel Pope Cook
| Daniel Pope Cook | |
|---|---|
| Auditor of Public Accounts of Illinois Territory | |
|
In office 1816-1817 |
|
| Preceded by | H.H. Maxwell |
| Succeeded by | Robert Blackwell |
| Illinois Attorney General | |
|
In office 1819 |
|
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | William Mears |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's at-large congressional district | |
|
In office March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1827 |
|
| Preceded by | John McLean |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Duncan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1794 Scott County, Kentucky |
| Died | October 16, 1827 Scott County, Kentucky |
| Political party |
Democratic-Republican (until 1826) |
| Spouse(s) | Julia Catherine Edwards |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer, Newspaper publisher |
| Religion | Christian |
Democratic-Republican (until 1826)
Daniel Pope Cook (1794 – October 16, 1827) was a politician, lawyer and newspaper publisher from the U.S. state of Illinois. An anti-slavery advocate, he was the state's first Attorney General, and then congressman. Cook County, Illinois is named after him.
Daniel Pope Cook was born in Scott County, Kentucky into an impoverished branch of the prominent Pope family of Kentucky and Virginia. Cook moved to Kaskaskia, Illinois in 1815 and took a job as a store clerk, but soon began to read law under the supervision of his uncle, Nathaniel Pope.
Territorial governor Ninian Edwards appointed young Cook the territorial Auditor of Public Accounts in 1816, so Cook moved to Edwardsville, Illinois as well as purchased The Illinois Herald newspaper (with Daniel Blackwell) from Matthew Duncan, renaming it The Western Intelligencer. Uncle Nathaniel Pope became a delegate to the U.S. Congress from the Illinois Territory, so upon the election of James Monroe as president, Cook moved to Washington, D.C. to establish his career in the nation's capitol. In 1817 Cook travelled to London to deliver dispatches and bring back John Quincy Adams, the country's representative to Great Britain, whom President Monroe appointed to serve as Secretary of State. The two men became closely acquainted during the long voyage back.
Shortly after Cook returned from England, tired of service as a mere dispatch-bearer, Cook moved back to Illinois, where he became an ardent supporter of statehood. Cook used his newspaper and new appointment as clerk to the territorial house to influence the Territorial Legislature, which unanimously passed a resolution urging statehood (and forbidding slavery) on December 10, 1817. Cook also lobbied his friends back in Washington and Virginia, and his uncle conveyed the territorial resolution to the U.S. Congress on January 16, 1818. After both the U.S. Senate and House agreed, President Monroe on April 18, 1818 signed the law authorizing Illinois to hold a convention to adopt a state constitution and elect officers. On December 3, 1818, President Monroe than signed the law admitting Illinois as the 21st state. Despite his successful advocacy of statehood, Cook was unsuccessful in his first attempt to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, losing to John McLean by only 14 votes for the short term remaining after Illinois became a state. However, the new state's legislature appointed Cook as the first Attorney General of Illinois. Cook also had briefly served the territory as judge of the western circuit.
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Wikipedia