Henry D. Cooke, Governor of the District of Columbia

Firelands Pioneer, December 1900

Henry David Cooke was the youngest son of Eleutheros Cooke and his wife, the former Martha Carswell, born in Sandusky on November 23, 1825. He was educated at Allegheny College and Transylvania University. Though he studied law in Sandusky and Philadelphia, his deeper interest was in journalism. In the mid to early 1850s he was a partner in Bill, Cooke and Company in Sandusky, the firm which published the Sandusky Register.

Henry David Cooke married Laura Humphreys of Utica, New York, in 1849; they had six sons and one daughter. The 1855 Sandusky City Directory lists his residence as 51 Columbus Avenue, the home his father had built in 1844 at the corner of Washington Row and Columbus Avenue. This building was dismantled in the 1870s, and was rebuilt brick by brick at what is now 1415 Columbus Avenue.

  

After working briefly for the Ohio State Journal, he became a partner in the banking house of his brother Jay Cooke. During the Civil War the Cooke brothers aided the United States Government by placing loans and raising funds for the Union cause. 

In February of 1871 Henry David Cooke was appointed as Governor of the District of Columbia, an office that no longer exists. He served as the Governor of the District until September 13, 1873. While serving as Governor, Cooke paid special attention to making improvements in the infrastructure of the District. He proposed the following legislation for the raising of funds for improvements to the District of Columbia on November 25, 1871.

In 1878 Cooke went to Colorado where he was engaged in mining operations. His health began to fail while in Colorado, and he returned to Washington. On February 24, 1881, he died after a lengthy illness. He was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington D.C. Several articles appeared in the February 25, 1881 issue of the Sandusky Register. A brief quote from one article described him this way:“Subsequent advancement never changed his nature, and even when holding a high rank under Government, and living in princely style, he was the same modest, unassuming and social companion he was when a boy.” 

When the Cooke House was on Washington Row

A local resident, Leroy Hinkey donated several historical photographs to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center. Because of his generosity, we can get an idea of what Sandusky looked like in days gone by. This stereographic image, created by Sandusky photographer A.C. Platt, was made in the 1870s as part of the Isles of Lake Erie series. In an enlarged view, you can see several buildings that were important to the daily lives of Sandusky residents for many years. The Cooke Block, at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street, was constructed in the 1850s. It was built by Wildman Mills, who sold it to Charles E. and George A. Cooke in 1866, and still stands today. Many local residents will recall when Holzaepfel’s was in business in the Cooke building.

The West House hotel was owned by brothers W.T. and A.K. West. It opened in 1858, in time for the Ohio State Fair, which was held in Sandusky that year. It was five stories high, and was located at the northwest corner of Columbus Avenue and Water Street. Now the State Theatre occupies the site. The old Post Office and Customs House was at the southwest corner of Columbus Avenue and West Market Street from 1857 until 1927. This location is now a parking garage. Gray Drugs was in this spot for many years.  The home of Eleutheros Cooke was built in 1843-1844, at the southwest corner of Washington Row and Columbus Avenue. (Note: Eleutheros Cooke and Geoge and Charles Cooke were not related, to the best of our knowledge.) After Eleutheros Cooke died, Sandusky attorney  Rush Sloane purchased the home. In 1878, he had the house dismantled, brick by brick, and was reassembled at what is now 1415 Columbus Avenue. Mr. Sloane gave the home to his newlywed son Thomas and his wife Sarah, who was a granddaughter of Eleutheros Cooke. Below is a picture of the Cooke home about 1890.

The original site of the Cooke house later became the location of the Sloane House hotel in 1881, followed by the Lasalle’s store in 1949; it is now occupied by Erie County governmental offices. 

Stereographic Image of Downtown Sandusky

A.C. Platt created this stereograph card between 1877 and 1888. The photographer was looking north down Columbus Avenue toward Sandusky Bay. The former residence of Eleutheros Cooke can be seen at its original location at the northwest corner of Washington Row and Columbus Avenue. (Erie County offices are now at this location, which has a present day address of 247 Columbus Avenue.) Following the death of Mrs. Eleutheros Cooke in 1878, Rush Sloane acquired the Cooke home. Rush Sloane hired Jacob Biehl to take down the Cooke house and rebuild it at 1415 Columbus Avenue, as a wedding gift to Thomas M. Sloane and Sarah Cooke.

The Customs House and Post Office were located at the southwest corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street, where a parking garage stands today. You can see the station of the United States Signal Service on top of the West House which overlooks Sandusky Bay. James R. Davies had an insurance real estate business at 222 Columbus Avenue, adjacent to the Cooke block on the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street. Many other Sandusky businesses, banks, and public halls are also pictured on this image. Leroy Hinkey donated a collection of several stereographs and photographs to the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.

Judge Thomas M. Sloane

Thomas Morrison Sloane was the son of Rush R. Sloane and his wife, the former Sarah E. Morrison, born in Sandusky on July 28, 1854. He graduated from Harvard University in 1877. After he studied law with Homer and L. H. Goodwin, he entered law school at the University and Michigan, where he received his law degree in 1880. He was associated for a time with Judge E. B. King. On June 22, 1881, Thomas M. Sloane married Sarah Maria Carswell Cooke, the daughter of Pitt Cooke, and his wife, the former Mary E. Townsend. Sarah Cooke was a granddaughter of Eleutheros Cooke, the first lawyer in Sandusky, and a niece of Jay Cooke, the Civil War financier. Mrs. Thomas M. Sloane is pictured below with sons Rush Sloane and Thomas M. Sloane, Jr. about 1893.

Judge and Mrs. Thomas M. Sloane and their family lived at the lovely home located at what is now 1415 Columbus Avenue. The home was originally built for Eleutheros Cooke in 1843-1844, and stood at the northwest corner of Columbus Avenue and Washington Row. Rush Sloane acquired the house in the late 1870’s, and he had the house taken down, and rebuilt at 1415 Columbus Avenue. It was given to Thomas and Sarah Sloane as a wedding gift. Pictured below is the Sloane’s home on Columbus Avenue, which is now known as the Cooke House.

In 1905, Thomas M. Sloane was elected Judge of Erie County Probate Court, and he was re-elected to this position twice. Judge Sloane was also very active in the civic affairs of Sandusky and Erie County. He served on City Council, the Sandusky Board of Education, the Board of Trade, Businessmen’s Association, and he was secretary-treasurer of the Good Samaritan Hospital. Mr. Sloane was instrumental in the organization of the Sunyendeand Club and was a member and past president of the Men’s Literary Club. Judge Sloane was also a leading layman in the Protestant Episcopal Church of Northern Ohio, and was Adjutant General of the Sixteenth Regiment of the Ohio National Guard for several years.

Thomas Morrison Sloane died on March 23, 1920, after a lingering illness. He was only 65 years of age at the time of his death. Funeral services were held at Grace Episcopal Church, and burial at Oakland Cemetery. Articles about the death of Judge Sloane were carried in the Sandusky Register and the Sandusky Star Journal on March 23, 1920. A tribute from the Erie County Bar Association was published in the March 28 issue of the Sandusky Register. The Register article stated that Judge Sloane was a man show life “was devoted entirely to the service of others…..He won many honors and distinctions but instead of making him boastful and proud, the noble humility with which he bore them but enhanced their value in the eyes of others upon who they were conferred.”

The tribute from the Bar Association concluded with these words: “So has passed from the ranks of our profession this whole souled, genial and pure minded member of our profession. These few words fall far short of enumerating his many excellencies, but after all his best epitaph is the love and respect his numberless friends and relatives.”