Warren County NJ Archives Biographies.....Joseph Swift COOK, 1830 - 1903
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 November 8, 2008, 5:29 pm

Author: Mary Depue Ogden, Editor  (1917)

COOK, Joseph Swift,
Old-School Physician.

  About 1640, Ellis Cook settled at Southampton, Long Island, New York, and
there three succeeding generations of his descendants resided, through whom
Joseph Swift Cook traced his lineage. The line of descent is through Abiel Cook,
son of the founder, Abiel (2) Cook, his grandson, and Ellis Cook, his
great-grandson, who first settled in Morris county, New Jersey, in Hanover
township. This Ellis Cook was the father of Colonel James Cook, who moved from
Hanover to Succasunna, Morris county, and there lived for many years. Colonel
James Cook married Ruth Pierson, who died in l795. They were the parents of Dr.
Silas C. Cook, father of Joseph Swift Cook.

  Dr. Silas C. Cook was born December 25, 1791, died in 1873. He was four years
of age when his mother died and after his father's second marriage, he was
adopted by Mrs. Judge Condit, of Morris-town, New Jersey, by whom he was
carefully reared. He was educated in the public schools and in the town academy,
obtaining a good English education. He chose the profession of medicine and
prepared therefore under the guidance of Dr. Lewis Condit, one of the leading
physicians of Morris county. In addition to his study under Dr. Condit, he
attended the courses of medical lectures at the University of Pennsylvania
during the winters of 1812 and 1813. On September 13, 1813, he was licensed to
practice by the New Jersey State Board of Examiners, and at once began practice
at Hughesville, Warren county. He there formed a partnership with old Dr.
Hughes, one of the early practitioners of Warren county, and continued with him
one year. He then located at Stewartsville, New Jersey, remaining there until
1828, when he moved to Hackettstown, New Jersey, there conducting a successful
practice until 1842. From 1842 until 1857, he was located at Easton,
Pennsylvania, there being rated as one of Easton's most skillful and successful
physicians. In 1857 he returned to Hackettstown, New Jersey, and continued in
practice until his death in 1873. He was the perfect type of the old school
country doctor, bluff, frank and outspoken, devoted to his profession,
everybody's friend and everybody's confidant. It is hard to realize in this day
just what the country doctor meant to the community in those days. He covered a
wide extent of territory which he rode on horseback. There were no drug stores,
which meant he must carry his medicines, there were no specialists, which
demanded that he be physician, surgeon, oculist and den>-tist, prepared to set
or amputate a limb, pull a tooth and treat every form of disease. There were few
ministers in the early days and often it was the lot of the doctor to read the
last prayer and utter the last words over a departed one. The young came to him
for advice and the old looked to him for the work of comfort and hope to cheer
them in their closing days. Long and wearisome rides were his portion,
tempestuous weather must not delay him and often on a return from a night's work
he must at once respond to an urgent call as far in another direction.

The matter of keeping his books was one of haphazard and payment for services
quite as much so. He was rich only in the love of his people and his estate was
usually a great many thousand dollars worth of bills receivable. These were all
experiences of Dr. Cook's earlier years of practice, but in the later years he
confined himself to town work. He was an elder of the Presbyterian church, and
took a deep interest in the moral welfare of the communities in which he
labored. He was one of the few early Whigs in Hackettstown and in later years
affiliated with the Republican party.

  Dr. Cook married, in 1816, Mary, daughter of James Hyndshaw, of Stewartsville,
New Jersey, her father at one time sheriff of Sussex county, New Jersey. He was
of Scotch descent, served in the Revolutionary War, was taken prisoner and
nearly died of starvation. After the war he came to Greenwich township,
purchased four hundred acres of land, which upon his death was divided among his
four children, each of whom received a farm. Mrs. Cook died in 1872, the devoted
mother of many children, several of whom were taken from her in childhood. Those
who grew to mature years were: James H., a merchant of Easton, Pennsylvania, who
died in 1880; Dr. Lewis S., who practiced his profession in Hackettstown until
his death in 1874; Silas C., a lawyer of Easton, Pennsylvania, who died in 1864;
Dr. John S., a physician of Hackettstown until his death, and Joseph Swift, to
whose memory this sketch is dedicated.

  Dr. Joseph Swift Cook was born at Hackettstown, New Jersey, March 26, 1830,
died July 4, 1903. His early education was obtained at the Model School
connected with Lafayette College, Easton, after which he entered the college
proper, remaining during the years 1847-48. He chose the profession of law and
for eighteen months pursued legal study in Easton. In January, 1852, he entered
Union College, Schenectady, New York, whence he was graduated in 1853, with
honors, becoming a member of the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity. He did not continue
legal study, but after his graduation from Union College he began the study of
medicine under the preceptorship of his honored father, Dr. Silas C. Cook, then
practicing in Easton. Later he entered the medical department of the University
of Pennsylvania, whence he was graduated M. D. in March, 1856. During the
following year he was engaged in hospital work in Philadelphia, as resident
surgeon at St. Joseph's Hospital, and in practice at Easton as his father's
assistant. In the spring of 1857 he entered into a partnership with his brother,
Dr. John S. Cook, then practicing at Hackettstown, and continued that
association for two years. In 1859 he located at Washington, Warren county, New
Jersey, where he continued a successful practice until his death at the age of
seventy-three years. Dr. Cook's private practice from graduation until death was
only interrupted by his service as surgeon in the Union army during the Civil
War. In September, 1862, he was appointed and commissioned first assistant
surgeon of the Thirty-first Regiment New Jersey Volunteer Infantry by Governor
Charles S. Olden. After a few months service he was taken with typhoid fever,
and after his recovery private business was so pressing that he resigned his
commission. In 1865 Lafayette College conferred upon him the honorary degree
Master of Arts, and on September 11, 1877, he was elected a fellow of The
American Academy of Medicine. He was also a member of the county and state
medical associations.

  As a physician and surgeon, Dr. Cook ranked very high and was much sought for
in consultation. Among the people with whom he lived and moved for over forty
years he was held in the highest esteem, not more for his skill in ministering
to their physical needs than for his admirable social qualities. Warm hearted,
sympathetic and public spirited, he responded to every private or public demand
made upon him, while his professional skill was freely given to those from whom
no payment could be expected. Few men occupied so busily as he who had so many
warm friends nor was there ever a man more loyal to his friends.

  Dr. Cook married, November 4, 1857, Carrie H. Hunt, daughter of Rev. H. W.
Hunt, of Schooley's Mountain. Children: Dr. Frank M. Cook, now a practicing
physician of Hackettstown, New Jersey; Fannie H., married William S.
Ritten-house; Laura W., a graduate physician, married Augustus P. Hann, who died
December 11, 1887. Laura W. (Cook) Hann obtained her professional education at
The Woman's Medical College, Baltimore, Maryland, whence she was graduated M.
D., class of 1892. She received her literary education at Centenary Institute,
Hackettstown, New Jersey, graduating in class of 1882 with degree of M. E. L.
She engaged in active practice for a few years but is now retired.

  Carrie H. (Hunt) Cook descended from Thomas Hunt, who married Ciceley Pasley
and came to America in 1652. They were members of the Church of England of the
strictest and highest sect. Their son, Thomas (2) Hunt, married Elizabeth
Jes-sup and lived at West Farms, New York. Their son, Thomas (3) Hunt, born
1663, also resided at West Farms. He married Elizabeth Gardiner, of the Lord
Gardiner family of England. Their son, Augustine Hunt, born 1716, married Lydia
Holloway, born in Massachusetts of Welsh descent. Their son, Holloway Whitfield
Hunt, born April 9, 1769, was a graduate of Nassau Hall, Princeton, class of 1794.

He became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, later transferred his
allegiance to the Presbyterian church and served the congregation at Sparta, New
Jersey, as pastor for seven years, and the churches at Bethlehem and Alexandria
for forty years and also was settled over the church at Kingwood. He married a
Miss Willis, a cousin of the poet, N. P. Willis. Their son, Holloway Whitfield
(2) Hunt, born at Sparta, New Jersey, in 1799, was an active minister of the
Presbyterian church from early manhood until near the close of his life, which
ended at the age of sixty-nine. His first and only charge was the church at
Pleasant Grove, New Jersey. He was a graduate of Princeton, and during his
clerical life tutored many young men who wished to enter college. He married
Amanda, daughter of Lawrence and Mary Hann. Their daughter, Carrie H. Hunt,
married Dr. Joseph Swift Cook. Their daughter, Dr. Laura W. Cook, married
Augustus P. Hann. Their son, Philip H. Hann, is a resident of Washington, New
Jersey.

  The Hunt family crest is: "A lion's head erased per pale, argent and sable
collared gules, lined and ringed or." They were large owners of land on Long
Island and in 1686 possessd all of that section now known as Hunters Point.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

MEMORIAL CYCLOPEDIA OF NEW JERSEY

UNDER THE EDITORIAL SUPERVISION OF MARY DEPUE OGDEN

VOLUME III
MEMORIAL HISTORY COMPANY NEWARK,  NEW JERSEY
1917


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