The Silberstein-Cook is a collection of biographical information of veterans residing or who once resided in Yolo County. The veterans vary in service from the Indian Wars to the Korean War. The documents consist of written records by Silberstein and newspaper article copies from the Woodland Democrat, Sacramento Bee, and the PG&E Progress. Other topics in the collection are the Grand Army of the Republic of the Civil War, information on military conflicts since the Indian Wars (1850s) to the Korean War (1950s), Freemasonry in the United States, national and local history, and the Yolo County Fire Department. Location: A59.4-A59.6

August G. Silberstein was born in Brighton, near Sacramento, on December 6, 1876. His family moved to Yolo County in the early 1880s. In 1906, after his honorable discharge from the Navy, Silberstein received a position as night watchman. Two years later, he became the chief of the Woodland Fire Department. Through hard work, Silberstein moved his way up to City Water Superintendent of Woodland. A veteran of the Spanish American War in 1898, Silberstein also served in the Philippine insurrection and Boxer Rebellion in 1900. After an honorable discharge in 1900, Silberstein was asked to take over the duties of William Hudson, a civil war veteran who was responsible with overseeing that war department headstones were placed on veteran graves. Silberstein felt that it was his duty to purchase the headstones for the graves of war heroes. Every Memorial Day, Silberstein visited the grave sites of veterans and places small U.S. flags on the gravestones. In 1950, Silberstein handed over his duties to retiring commander of the Yolo Post 77 American Legion, Homer Cook. Silberstein was also a member of the Woodland Masonic Lodge and Zamora Odd Fellows. He was a member of the Kenzie Camp in Woodland. August G. Silberstein died on October 29, 1952.

10 boxes

Copyright Unknown and has not been assigned to the Yolo County Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Yolo County Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Collection is open for research.