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Perry E. Cook
PERRY E. COOK has for more than twenty years been one of
the principal carpenter contractors and builders of Topeka.
His work and skill have been particularly exemplified in
some of the finer residences of the city, and a large
clientage have always felt a peculiar degree of assurance
when any contract was entrusted to the firm of Cook & Son.
The firm has also handled a great deal of the better class
of repair and remodeling contracts.
A resident of Kansas for thirty years, Perry E. Cook was
born in Boone County, Indiana, December 12, 1859, a son of
Oscar and Charity (Wiley) Cook. His father, who was a native
of Cayuga County, New York, was a farmer. After living for
many years in Boone County, Indiana, he moved to Appanoose
County, Iowa, in October, 1877, but after three years
returned to Indiana and established his home in Hendricks
County where he lived until his death on March 1, 1912. He
was a republican, and a member of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows. His wife, who was born in Russellville,
Kentucky, died in Indianapolis in August, 1915. She was a
member of the Christian Church.
Reared on a farm, Perry E. Cook acquired his knowledge of
books and literary learning through the district schools of
Boone County, Indiana, and the grade schools of Royalton,
Indiana. With an inclination for the handling of tools, he
early turned his attention to the trade of carpenter and
followed it as a master workman in various places in Iowa
for seven years. In June, 1886, just thirty years ago, Mr.
Cook arrived in Topeka, and worked at his trade as a
journeyman until October, 1889. He then entered the Santa Fe
Railway shops, where he remained about five years, and from
that took up the business of contracting, the business he
has followed ever since. His offices since 1906 has been at
110 West Sixth Avenue, and prior to that time they were at
117 West Fifth Street.
Mr. Cook owns a substantial home at 911 Highland Avenue,
where he has resided for twelve years. He is a member of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and in politics an
independent republican. He has a fine family, and some of
his sons are now associated with him in business. On
December 25, 1884, at Marshalltown, Iowa, he married Aranda
Conger, who was born in Peoria County, Illinois, October 31,
1861. When she was about nine years of age her parents, W.
P. and Mary Hann Conger, who were natives respectively of
Virginia and Illinois, moved from Peoria County to
Marshalltown, Iowa, where the father still resides. He has
always been a farmer, and is a veteran of the Union army
during the Civil war. He is a republican and his wife a
Methodist. Mr. and Mrs. Cook's four children were all born
in Topeka: Wilbur O., a carpenter and associated with his
father; Blanche M., wife of R. A. Showers, a carpenter;
Perry E., now deceased; and Herbert W., who is in the
insurance business.
Source Citation:
Boone County Biographies [database online] Boone County
INGenWeb. 2007. <http://www.rootsweb.com/~inboone>
Original data: Connelley, William E., "A Standard History
of Kansas and Kansans." Lewis Publishing Co., 1919.
[online data] The KSGenWeb Project,
<http://skyways.lib.ks.us/genweb/index.html>
Submitted by:
T. Stover - October 27, 2007
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