Henry David Cooke papers, 1838-1956, bulk 1846-1881

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Creators:
Cooke, Henry David, 1825-1881
Abstract:
Letters and documents related to the life and career of the American journalist, businessman, and politician Henry David Cooke.
Extent:
3.91 Linear Feet (2 boxes, 1 expansion folder, 1 oversize folder)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Henry David Cooke papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

A collection containing 169 items; mssHM 47644-47748: Personal and professional correspondence of Henry D. Cooke. Included are the correspondence, deeds, bonds, agreements, contracts, accounts, and other financial and business records. The correspondence with Laura S. Humphreys Cooke and John Sherman constitute two larger groups of letters. Other correspondents include James Gillespie Blaine, Salmon Portland Chase, Jay Cooke, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Julia Dent Grant. The letters cover Cooke's travels in Panama and Chile, life in California (including news of the gold discovery), his political activities, business interests, and family matters. Also included are: a political cartoon entitled "The exhausted receiver," by J.P. Davis and S. Peer, Cyrus West Field's proposal on "the establishment of a submarine telegraph communication between the West coast of America and the eastern shores of Russia, China, etc." addressed to Alexander II, Emperor of Russia, and a contract and specifications for an organ for St. John Episcopal Church in Georgetown (1870) commissioned by Cooke to Henry Erben. The ephemera contains visiting cards, invitations, receipts, tax forms, stock certificates, etc. There is also the 1956 correspondence of his grandson Henry Dave Cook with Leslie Edgar Bliss, the Librarian of the Huntington Library, regarding possible acquisition of Henry D. Cooke's papers.

MssHM 83873: This diary belonging to Henry D. Cooke, documents his trip to Europe in the spring and summer of 1864, including a fundraising effort to finance the public debt of the United States. In 1937, Cooke's granddaughter, Eleanor Cooke Pearson, took the same diary to describe a trip from San Pedro, California to Europe. Includes transcriptions of the diary. MssHM 83874: This printed form signed by President Ulysses S. Grant, appoints Henry D. Cooke as Governor of District of Columbia in 1871. Printed form filled in; with seal.

Biographical / historical:

Henry David Cooke (1825-1881) American businessman, journalist, and politician. In 1846 he accompanied William G. Moorhead, his brother-in-law, consul and naval agent to Valparaiso. He then moved to California, where he was engaged in trade on the Pacific coast. In 1849 he married Laura S. Humphreys. Having lost his fortune, he returned to Ohio, his home state and, with the help of his brother Jay Cooke, became editor and owner of Sandusky Register and the Ohio State Journal. He was active in the state and national politics, supporting Salmon P. Chase and John Sherman. In 1861 became a partner in the house of Jay Cooke and Co. and was involved in raising money for the war effort. In 1871, he also acted as an intermediary for his brother in his interest in Cyrus W. Field's plan for a Pacific cable. A close friend of U.S. Grant, he was appointed the first governor of the District of Columbia, but resigned in 1873. For the last twenty years of his life he lived in Georgetown where he was noted for his charity works.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Mrs. Henry Dave Cooke, 1980 (mssHM 47644-47748); Gift of Barrie Cooke Folsom and Henry D. Cooke, Jr., February 2018 (mssHM 83873-83874).
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Staff, circa 1980 and 2018. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the finding aid derived from legacy in-house summary report. In 2022, Melissa Haley enhanced description of the presidential material present in the collection as part of the American Presidential Papers Project.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by author.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Henry David Cooke papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Website