MCCOOK, Thomas 1828 – 1913

MCCOOK, BROWN, CHANDLER

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 4/16/2024 at 20:11:59

Source: Cresco Plain Dealer Apr. 25, 1913, P-2, C-3

An Old Pioneer Gone.
Thomas McCook was born January 16, 1828, in Garvugh, County Derry, Ireland, of Scotch-Irish parentage. He died at his home in Riceville, Iowa, April 9, 1913, in his eighty-sixth year.
He was married to Euphema Brown in 1852. They came immediately to the United States and for four years lived in Pennsylvania. In the summer of 1856 the came to Iowa, where Mr. McCook pre-empted the farm near Riceville on which he has ever since lived, only moving to town a few years ago but still living on the old farm.
In early youth Mr. McCook united with the Scotch Presbyterian church and at Philadelphia he and his wife united by letter with the Presbyterian church of that city. There was no church in Riceville for a number of years, but at the time of its organization he united with the Congregational church by profession.
To Mr. and Mrs. McCook thirteen children were born, five of them dying in infancy. The wife and mother of the family died March 5, 1908. The oldest son, Thomas, passed away February 23, 1912. The surviving children are John, of Cresco; Matthew, of Riceville; Robert D. and Nelson, of Sumner; Edward C. and James B., of Pendleton, Oregon; and Mrs. Bessie Chandler, of Spokane, Washington.
Thomas McCook was one of the band of sturdy pioneers who were ready and willing to lead the way to the frontier and suffer the hardships and privations incident to reclaiming a wilderness. But his judgment and his faith in the country he chose for a home have been vindicated and his material rewards have been generous. Thrift, which was one of his marked characteristics, coupled with industry and business integrity, has resulted in the accumulation of a good supply of this world’s goods.
For more than half a century Mr. McCook has been closely identified with the business interests of Riceville and vicinity. A farmer, his interests and undertakings have been broader than the farm. When the Riceville State Bank was organized, more than twenty years ago, he was chosen president and this position he held until his death.
Every worthy enterprise always had his sympathy and support. His charity was of the practical kind, unostentatious but always just. Its efficiency is witnessed by the many who learned to know him as a friend and when a friend in need was a friend indeed.
Thomas McCook was a fundamental democrat, his politics being with him more than mere party affiliation, his political creed more than partisan. He abhorred sham and pretense and was always averse to mere forms and meaningless ceremony. With him it was not the cloak but the man that counted.
His likes and dislikes were strong and his views definite and pronounced. Always positive in his own convictions, he was ever ready to concede to others the right to their own opinions.
He leaves a record of clean living and upright dealings that may well be emulated. By the standards that determine true manhood he has been measured and not found wanting.

Transcriber’s Note: Find a Grave shows he is buried in Riverside Cemetery.