Squint Shot 100510

The Cook family was very prominent in the early days of Fowlerville. Jared Cook had one of the first hardware stores in the downtown area. Following is the obituary published in The Fowlerville Review for Fred Jared Cook (b. 6.11.1868-d. 4.4.1929), son of Jared L. and Sarah M. Cook.

Fred Jared Cook Died at Howell~~Fred J. Cook died at Howell Thursday afternoon, aged 61 years, after a lingering illness.

He was born at Byron June 11, 1868, and when a boy came with his parents to Fowlerville where his father engaged in the hardware business with Hugh Loughlin under the firm name of Cook & Loughlin. After graduating here he took a business course at the Detroit Commercial College and accepted a position with Bement & Sons at Lansing as a traveling salesman, in which he achieved great success.

Later the firm dissolved partnership and Mr. Cook engaged in the hardware business alone for sever years and later Fred J. Cook purchased the stock and after a time purchased the lumber yard, adding it to the hardware business, and for several years was one of the best known merchants in Livingston County, and being a large advertiser he drew customers from a circle of many miles and was successful in piling up what at that time was considered a fortune.

The allurements of the west with its big opportunities allured him and he closed out his business here and went to Washington.

He was married to Miss Jennie Miller of Howell, February 19, 1890, and as the result of this union, two children; Miller and Margaret were born. Miller is now a resident of Aberdeen, Washington,and Margaret Way, who died at the home of her parents at Howell a few weeks since.

After a few years, he returned from the west and again opened a hardware store here, but later moved the stock to Flint, where he remained for a time and later closed it out.

He was of a pleasant, genial disposition and had a remarkable faculty of making friends with all with whom he came in contact. He was interested in Fowlerville and gave generously to all enterprises.

He leaves a wife, one son, Miller, of Aberdeen, also one sister, Mrs. W.T. Swinburn, who has spent much of her time at Paris, France, but was present at the funeral.

There was a bit more information of internment in Greenwood, but the above was of the most interest. A few more anecdotal stories can be found in The Fowlerville Chronicles about Mr. Cook, but then I recently came across another tidbit of news in the local section of The Fowlerville Review, 1891, about Fred worth sharing -- Fred Cook shot a ball through the fleshy part of his hand while fooling with a loaded revolver on Sunday.