Pinellas County FlArchives Biographies.....COOK, ANDREW K. April 23, 1852 - 
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Author: The History of Florida:  Past & Present, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1923,  Vol. III pg.4

     COOK, ANDREW K., one of the dignified practitioners at the bar of Saint 
Petersburg, has in him that rare combination of qualities that approach quite 
the ideal in his profession and insure success.  He has a keen, alert and 
vigorous mind, broad and comprehensive in its grasp, yet masterful and careful 
of detail; and with sure precision he goes straight to the heart of the 
proposition submitted to him, and seldom does he err in his judgment.  He has 
always been a close student and tireless worker, keeping abreast of the 
rapidly moving and ever-widening current of the law, and not a little has 
aided in the true development and proper application of the eternal legal 
principals, to the changed and changing conditions of society with its 
concomitant, manifold complexities and perplexities.  His own clear ideas, 
accurate judgment and logical deductions are in argument highly supplemented 
and enforced by his wide experience and vast store of knowledge.  He never 
advises a client until he is sure of the law, and the so-called “tricks” of 
the lawyer are unknown to him or of him, but once his services are enlisted in 
behalf of a client his great powers of mind, coupled with his wide knowledge 
of the law and experience in its practice, and his strong personality are 
applied to his client’s cause with all the vigor and earnestness, diligence 
and devotion in his power.
     Born at Williamsburg, Kentucky, April 23, 1852, ANDREW K. COOK is a son 
of WILLIAM S. and MARGARET C. COOK.  After attending the common schools he 
matriculated in the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Lexington, 
Kentucky, but did not remain to graduate.  For forty-eight months he was 
engaged in teaching school, and during that time began to read law, for from 
boyhood he had cherished the ambition to enter the legal profession.  Leaving 
the educational field for four years thereafter, he served as deputy circuit 
and county court clerk, and then, in April, 1875, he was admitted to practice 
at Booneville, Kentucky.  In 1879 he entered upon an active practice of the 
law at London, Kentucky, where he continued until 1883, and then moved to 
Kansas and continued his legal work in that state until 1889, when he returned 
to Kentucky, located at Pineville, Bell County, and practiced his profession 
until 1910.  In the last named year he came to Saint Petersburg, and here he 
is still practicing law, and has firmly established himself in the confidence 
of the public.
     On December 15, 1874, Mr. COOK married at Barboursville, Kentucky, LAURA 
DISHMAN, a daughter of JOHN DISHMAN.  In hearty accord with the principles of 
the great emancipator, Mr. COOK was a Lincoln-republican, but after Grover 
Cleveland became a presidential candidate Mr. COOK felt himself more in accord 
with his ideas, and consequently gave that great statesman his support, and 
continues a Cleveland-democrat.
	It is impossible to determine the full strength of any man’s influence 
on his community, but a fair estimate of it can be gathered from the weight 
his opinion has with his associates, and the extent to which his advice is 
asked and followed.  Judged by this standard Mr. COOK is one of the forceful 
factors in his community.  He has always been in favor of lines of progressive 
development in keeping with those higher ideals toward which the loyal, public-
spirited and patriotic citizen is always striving.  Whether through political 
or other lines, his labors have always been exerted with the interest of the 
city at heart.  He has always been deeply interested in local governmental 
affairs, and has particularly given of his thought and time to a study of all 
matters pertaining to the welfare, representation and public service of his 
home ward and division, and has been active in the work of both the great 
parties with which he has, at different times, aligned himself.



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