Mary Cooke

Mary A. Cooke, the wife of Sandusky businessman Charles E. Cooke, was an early member of the Board of Trustees of the Sandusky Library Association. She was on the Board in 1870 when the Library Association of Sandusky was founded, and when it was incorporated on November 5, 1895. 

Mrs. Cooke was born Mary Augusta Turney. She married Charles E. Cooke on May 31, 1860. Besides serving on the Library Board, Mrs. Cooke was also very active in the Martha Pitkin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She traced her roots back to Noah Hoyt, an ancestor who served as a private with the Connecticut militia during the time of the American Revolution. 

On December 16, 1900, the local D.A.R. celebrated the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party at Mrs. Cooke's home, at the southeast corner of Wayne and Jefferson Streets. Between the parlors of the Cooke home, was displayed the log cabin silk banner which was created by Sandusky women, to welcome William Henry Harrison to Sandusky in 1840. This banner is now in the historical collections of the Follett House Museum.

  

The people at the celebration wore colonial costumes. Colonial era refreshments were served, and a quartet led by Mrs. J.W. Andrews sang patriotic songs, to the accompaniment of Mrs. Frank Sloane on the piano. A summary of the celebration of the Boston Tea Party in Sandusky was featured in volume 18 of the Daughters of the American Revolution magazine. 

Mary Augusta Turney Cooke died at her Wayne Street home in Sandusky on May 4, 1917, after a lengthy illness. Rev. E.G. Mapes officiated at the funeral services, and burial was at Oakland Cemetery. Mrs. Cooke was survived by her daughter, two sisters and grandchildren.