Lemuel Cook

Lemuel Cook
Born	(1759-09-10)September 10, 1759 Litchfield County, Colony of Connecticut, British America
Died	May 20, 1866(1866-05-20) (aged 106) Clarendon, New York, U.S. [1]
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	Continental Army
Years of service	1775–1784
Battles/wars	American Revolutionary War Battle of Brandywine Siege of Yorktown
Other work	Farmer

Lemuel Cook (September 10, 1759 – May 20, 1866) was one of the last verifiable surviving veterans of the American Revolutionary War.

Early life and education

Cook was born in Litchfield County, Connecticut to Henry Cook and his wife Hannah Benham.

Career

Enlisting in the Continental Army at the age of sixteen, Cook fought at Brandywine and in the Virginian campaign, and was present at Charles Cornwallis' surrender. He received an honorable discharge signed by George Washington on June 12, 1784.

Later life and death

Following the war, Cook became a farmer and married Hannah Curtis. They had seven sons and three daughters.

Cook died at the age of 106 and was buried with full military and Masonic honors. He was one of seven American Revolutionary War veterans who, having survived into the age of photography, were featured in the 1864 book The Last Men of the Revolution, which gives many details of his life. He was the last survivor of 2nd Continental Light Dragoons^[2] and was one of only four Revolutionary War veterans to see the start and end of the American Civil War. At the time of his death, only three other revolutionary veterans (Samuel Downing, Daniel F. Bakeman and John Gray) were still alive.

See also

• Last surviving United States war veterans

References

• Reverend E.B. Hillard, The Last Men of the Revolution (1864), republished 1968 with additional notes by Wendell Garrett.

External links

• Lemuel Cook: Last Survivor of the Revolutionary War from a Burr/Cook genealogy page
• Burial site of Lemuel Cook at Find a Grave