San Jacinto Museum of History
Albert and Ethel Herzstein Library
Manuscript Collections
Finding Aid
DR. JAMES P. COOKE PAPERS
1868 - 1891 (Bulk: 1880 - 1889)
Manuscript Collection: MC003
Size: 50 items
Boxes: n/a
OCLC No: 45880927
Acquisition: John and Henry Ager, 1942
Restrictions on Access: None
Terms Governing Use: Open for research by appointment.
Processed by: Sarah Canby Jackson, 2000
Publication Rights: Copyright has not been assigned to the San Jacinto Museum of History. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Library Director. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Jacinto Museum of History 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.
Citation: [Identification of Item], Dr. James P. Cooke Papers, MC003, San Jacinto Museum of History, Houston, Texas.
Creator Sketch:
Born in Maryland in 1836, James P. Cooke moved to Liberty, Texas, in 1860 to set up practice as a physician. In 1861 he enlisted in Company F of the 5th Texas Regiment, a part of General John Bell Hood’s Texas Brigade. After the conclusion of the Civil War, Cooke returned to Liberty to resume his practice. He married Lucretia Skinner who died in 1875, and several years later, Elizabeth (Sallie) Perryman who died in 1885, three weeks after the birth of their only child.
Well respected and beloved in the community, Cooke actively participated in church and fraternal organizations. He was a member of the Methodist Church, the Masons, and the Knights and Ladies of Honor, and held positions of trust in those organizations. During the 1880s, Cooke invested in mining stock in both the Galveston Ruby Mining Company and the Green River Mines. A landowner in both Liberty and Jefferson Counties in East Texas, Cooke’s interest in land deals eventually led to his death. On January 27, 1892, fellow physician, Dr. J. O. Furlow, murdered Cooke in Bernard Riviere’s saloon, apparently over a dispute concerning a real estate transaction. Cooke left a seven-year old daughter.
Bibliography:
Partlow, Miriam. Liberty, Liberty County, and the Atascosito District. Austin: Jenkins Publishing, 1974.
"The Deadly Dirk! Dr. Jas. P. Cooke is Dead!" The Liberty Vindicator, 29 January 1892.
"Dr. Cooke’s Funeral." The Liberty Vindicator, 5 February 1892.
"Furlow Goes Scott Free." The Liberty Vindicator, 2 September 1892.
Other archival resources:
The Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center, P. O. Box 310, Liberty, Texas 77575 936-336-8821.
Scope and Content Note:
Financial documents in the form of a small number of IOUs, tax receipts, receipts for payment of organization dues, the payment of life insurance policies, and mining stock purchases comprise the bulk of the Dr. James P. Cooke Papers. They briefly document the financial interests of a physician in Liberty, Texas, from 1868 to 1891. Within this small collection of fifty items is the "Key to the Password" of the Knights of Honor for the second half of 1880. Two certificates contain artifactual interest.
DR. JAMES P. COOKE PAPERS, 1868 - 1891 (Bulk: 1880 - 1889
