Quincy Cook
Quincy Cook, proprietor of Ravenna Mills, Ravenna, was born April 28, 1833, in Elmore, Lamoille Co., Vt. His parents, David and Betsey (Conant) Cook, were natives of the same place, where the former died and the latter now resides. Our subject's grandfather Cook was a soldier in the war 1812, and lived to the advanced age of ninety-six. Our subject learned the trade of stone-cutter in his native place. At twenty years of age he came to Ohio, and assisted in the construction of the Marietta & Cincinnati Railroad for one year. He then worked three years in the construction of the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad. He then spent one year in Watertown, Wis., and eighteen months in Rochester, Minn., in the livery business. He then returned to Ohio and married, October 5, 1859, Miss Charlotte R. Battles, of Weatherfield, Trumbull County, and to this union have been born three children: Helea, Martha B. and Edward D. He remained two years on a farm in Trumbull County, then from 1862 till 1870 he held the position of foreman of masonry on the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad. In 1866 he purchased a farm in Ravenna Township, and there his family resided. He was Inspector of Masonry for the city of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1870, and in 1871 foreman of a force of men for E. W. Ensign, contractor on the Lake Shore Road. In 1872 Mr. Cook formed a partnership with Wanzer Holcomb, in taking contracts for various railroads and city corporations. In 1881 he built the Ravenna Mills on Main Street, and the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railroad, and he now devotes his attention principally to the management of this industry. The mill is for custom work, complete in all departments, and enjoying a very extensive patronage in the surrounding county. Mr. Cook is a life-long Republican.
From History of Portage County, Ohio, Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885