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File contributed to the Fulton County ILGenWeb Project
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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Fulton County
Munsell Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908

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The Biography of Milton M. COOK 

Transcribed exactly according to the original complete text by Anne Marie Willis. 

[Surnames: COOK, ROBINSON, SPENCE] 

[starting on page 838] 

    
COOK, Milton M.--A man of high intellectual attainments and of practical ability, Milton M. Cook, the present Superintendent of Schools of Fulton County and President of the Lewistown City Improvement Association, is a native of Fairview, Fulton County, born on the 9th of November, 1855, the son of Joseph and Mary Ann (Robinson) Cook. The subject of this sketch was educated in the public school of his native place and at Hedding College, Abingdon, Ill., and before being elected to the head of the county school system was a successful teacher, for fifteen years of that period serving as Principal of the Fairview school. His popularity as a Republican and as a man, and the value placed upon his services as an educator, are demonstrated by his prominent official record. 
    
Mr. Cook has been nominated five times for the office of County Superintendent of Schools--once on the first ballot with two opponents, and four times by acclamation--and four times has been elected by handsome majorities, and now, as an incumbent of the position in his fourth term, is acknowledged to be one of the leading educators of the State. He is also a Director of the Illinois State Teachers' Association, a member of the Executive Committee of the Illinois Association of County Superintendents, and of the Central Illinois Teachers' Association, and Vice-President of the Military Tract Educational Association. Mr. Cook is a leader not only in the field of his profession, but his familiarity with the conditions and needs of Lewistown, with his natural initiative force, has brought him into prominence as an enterprising and pushing man of affairs, and as President of the City Improvement Association he has been one of the strongest factors in this section of the county identified with the general advancement of the public inter- [page 839] ests. His influence is also pronounced in connection with the secret and benevolent orders, as he has been a presiding officer in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, Knights of Pythias and Court of Honor. 
    
On December 1, 1884, Mr. Cook was united in marriage to Miss Flora Spence, the ceremony being performed at the home of the bride's parents at Lewistown. Mrs. Cook is a lady of rare intelligence and grace of character, and their marital happiness has been clouded only by the death of their children.