Cook, George Bartholomew

The following data is extracted from The Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1911.

George Bartholomew Cook, who has been engaged in the operation of the ranch on which he now resides in the Wallowa valley for nearly thirty years, is one of the well known pioneers in the vicinity of Lostine. He was born in Polk County, Oregon, on the 27th of February 1862, and is the son of Thomas L. and Harriet (Jacobs) Cook. The parents came to the Willamette valley in 1854 and there the father engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1879 when together with his family he removed to Wallowa County. Here he passed away the same year, but the mother survived until 1909.

The Boyhood and early youth of George Bartholomew Cook were passed on the ranch where he was born, and in the cultivation of which he began to assist at a very early age. He was given the advantages of but a meager education, such schooling as he acquired being obtained in the Willamette valley when he was a lad of between and sixteen years. He accompanied his parents on their removal to Wallowa County in 1879 and here he filed on a homestead of one hundred and sixty acres upon attaining his majority, and has ever since devoted his energies to its cultivation. During the intervening years he has effected marvelous changes in his place, which is located two miles south of Lostine, and now owns one of the best improved and equipped ranches in the community. Mr. Cook is an industrious man of practical ideas and has applied himself intelligently to the development of his land, which has rewarded his efforts by abundant harvests of a quality to command the markets highest prices. He has prospered in both his farming and stock raising and is now one of the substantial ranchers in this section of the county.

For his wife and helpmate, Mr. Cook chose Miss Effie Hammock, a daughter of James Wesley and Sarah Hammock, their marriage being celebrated at Lostine, on the 9th of December, 1886. They have become the parents of three children, Roy, Grace and Charles.

The family attend the Christian church and fraternally he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while in politics he is a democrat. Although he has always taken an active interest in all things pertaining to the community welfare, Mr. Cook has never sought political preferment nor been an office holder. In addition to his valuable ranch he is a stockholder in the Nip & Tuck Mining Company, which claim is located in the vicinity of Lostine and gives every assurance of developing into a profitable enterprise. He has worked earnestly and persistently and his unwearied industry has been a strong factor in the prosperity that has attended his efforts and numbered him among the successful ranchmen of the county.

Although this sketch focuses mostly on G. B. Cook there is Hammack information in it and I would conclude Effie and children led a good life. You have to get through all the poetic prose these sketches produce.
Thanks to Gerald (Gary} Jaensch for providing this information.

Source: The Centennial History of Oregon 1811-1911

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