Sylvanus G. Cook
A man who enjoys a wide acquaintance throughout Wayne county, especially East Union township, of which he is a native, and who has won a reputation for judicious dealing in all things, who is now enjoying the peaceful retirement of his twilight of life, is Sylvanus G. Cook, whose birth occurred April 22, 1842, and who has lived in this county all his life, making his home on the old farm in East Union township until 1907, when he moved to Orrville. His father was Robert Cook, who was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, December 3, 1803, who came to Ohio in the pioneer days, located in sugar Creek township, Wayne county, in 1816, when that section was still a comparative wilderness. He secured land and developed it, becoming an extensive farmer. He married Jennie D. Cummings, of Crawford county, Ohio, in 1831. She was born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, and her death occurred in February, 1899. To Robert Cook and wife seven children were born, among whom the following are living: Rebecca McCullough, of Orrivlle; Liza Jane Sharp, living near Apple Creek, East Union township; Nancy Bonewitz, of Wooster; Samuel, of Shelby, Ohio, and Sylvnus G., of this review. The Cook family is of good Irish stock. The maternal grandmother of Sylvanus G. was Mary (McWilliam) Cook, who came from county Tyrone, Ireland, reaching America when nine years of age, and settled in Butler county, Pennsylvania, with her sister. Grandfather Samuel Cook was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, January 4, 1781, and he migrated to Wayne county, Ohio, in 1816; the following year he moved to a farm in Sugar Creek township. In the summer of 1816 he taught the first school ever taught in Sugar Creek township. Prior to his coming here he was married to Elizabeth McWilliams, of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and they became the parents of the following children: Sylvanus born February 28, 1802; Robert, father of the subject of this sketch was born December 3, 1803; Asa, born December 23, 1805; James, born March 9, 1808; Christena, born June 16, 1810; Mary, born October 26, 1812; Amiel, born August 29, 1815; Jemima, born April 3, 1818; John, born April 30, 1820; Jesse born May 26, 1822; Josiah, born July 20, 1824. Samuel Cook was in many respects a remarkable man, one of marked influence and usefulness. He was a member of the Presbyterian church of Dalton, Sugar Creek township, and he was one of the earliest of the public educators and religious workers in the county. He reared a large and intelligent family, giving them all a good start in life and an education such as he could in those early days, and his grandchildren, of whom there are many, seem to be worthy of their pioneer ancestors, taking a delight in maintaining the honorable name that the family has always borne.
Sylvanus G. Cook, as already intimated, has spent the major party of his life engaged in agricultural pursuits, having learned the "ins and outs" of husbandry in his youth during the summer months, and in the winter time he attended the district schools, receiving a fairly good education. The old home farm is located four miles south of Orrville in one the most highly favored sections of the Buckeye state. He has always been regarded as a very progressive and skillful farmer, so managing his affairs as to gain the greatest results, keeping the place in a high state of cultivation and efficiency, having reaped bounteous harvests during a long stretch of years and laid by a competency so that now in his old age he finds himself surrounded by plenty and has a modern and comfortable home.
Mr. Cook was married in 1873 to Lovis Tasker, who was born in Paint township, this county, the daughter of James and Rebecca (Bales) Tasker, a well-known family of that locality. To Mr. and Mrs. Cook the following children have been born; Jennie, wife of D. E. Eymon, of Orrville; Mary, the wife of Fred Bower, who is living on Mr. Cook's farm; Frank, who is fifteen years of age, is living at home; two children are deceased, Jimmie having died twenty-two years ago, and Glen who died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Cook belong to the Presbyterian church at Orrville, and they take a delight in the work of the same. The former has served as school director in East Union township. He is a Bryan Democrat, and personally he is a man whom it is a delight to meet, being a good conversationalist, jolly, good natured and a man of high principles.
From The History of Wayne County, Ohio, B. E. Bowen & Co., Indianapolis, 1910