Elisha Cooke, Sr.

Not to be confused with Elisha Cooke, Jr. or Elisha Cook, Jr..
Elisha Cooke, Sr
Born September 16, 1637(1637-09-16)
Died October 31, 1715(1715-10-31) (aged 78)

Elisha Cooke (September 16, 1637 – October 31, 1715) was a wealthy Massachusetts physician, politician, and businessman who was elected Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1683. He was the leader of the "popular party", a faction in the Massachusetts House that resisted encroachment by royal officials on colonial rights embodied in the Massachusetts Charter.[1] This role was taken up by his son, Elisha Cooke, Jr.

Cooke was born in Boston, the son of Richard Cook, from Gloucestershire, England, and Elizabeth.[2] He graduated from Harvard in 1657 at age 20, in a class of seven students.[3] Cook was trained and practiced as a physician, but he also became a politician. He was made freeman in 1673. He was chosen Representative to the Legislature from Boston in 1681, serving until 1683. Cooke was elected to the commission of counsellors in May 1693, however Governor William Phips refused to ratify the choice to exact revenge on Cooke's having opposed his appointment as chief magistrate.[3] In 1695 he was appointed Judge of the Superior Court taking the place of John Richards who had died. and in 1701 became Judge of Probate.

Cooke was a confidential adviser of Lord Bellomont who became Governor of Massachusetts in 1699. He lost his judicial appointments in 1702 when Joseph Dudley became Governor; Dudley getting revenge on Cooke for being a member of the Council which had committed him to prison in 1689.[2] This had occurred after the 1689 Boston revolt, which deposed Sir Edmund Andros, governor of the Dominion of New England, and other officials (including Dudley). Cooke served on the rebel council that took power after the dominion's overthrow.

Cooke married Elizabeth Leverett in June 1668, the daughter of Governor John Leverett. They had one child, Elisha Cooke Jr. who was born on 20 December 1678. Elizabeth died on 21 July 1715, and Cooke died shortly thereafter on 31 October 1715.

References

  1. ^ Chu, Jonathan M. "Cooke, Elisha". American National Biography Online, February 2000.
  2. ^ a b Sibley, John Langdon (1873). Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in Cambridge. One. Cambridge, MA: University Press: Welch, Bigelow & Co. pp. 520–525. http://books.google.com/books?id=Pjmy9JdqbT8C&pg=PA520&dq=%22elisha+cooke%22&as_brr=3&cd=2#v=onepage&q=%22elisha%20cooke%22&f=false. Retrieved 3 February 2010. 
  3. ^ a b Cushing, Luther S. (1848). The American jurist and law magazine. 4. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown. pp. 142-. http://books.google.com/books?id=oyymAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA142&dq=%22elisha+cooke%22&as_brr=3&cd=6#v=onepage&q=%22elisha%20cooke%22&f=false. Retrieved 3 February 2010.