Cooke, Henry David, 1825-1881

Brother of banker Jay Cooke; first governor of Washington, D.C., 1871-1873.

Henry David Cooke, American businessman, journalist, and politician. In 1846 he accompanied William G. Moorhead, his brother-in-law, consul and naval agent to Valparaiso. He then moved to California, where he was engaged in trade on the Pacific coast. In 1849 he married Laura S. Humphreys. Having lost his fortune, he returned to Ohio, his home state and, with the help of his brother Jay Cooke, became editor and owner of Sandusky Register and the Ohio State Journal. He was active in the state and national politics, supporting Salmon P. Chase and John Sherman. In 1861 became a partner in the house of Jay Cooke & Co. and was involved in raising money for the war effort. In 1871, he also acted as an intermediary for his brother in his interest in Cyrus W. Field's plan for a Pacific cable. A close friend of U. S. Grant, he was appointed the first governor of the District of Columbia, but resigned in 1873. For the last twenty years of his life he lived in Georgetown where he was noted for his charity works.

Henry David Cooke was born in Sandusky, Ohio, on Nov. 23, 1825. His father, Eleutheros Cooke, was a lawyer who served in the Ohio state legislature and in the United States Congress during the 1831/33 session. Henry also studied law, receiving his degree from the Transylvania University in Kentucky in 1844. Circa 1846, he went to Valparaiso, Chile, as an attache to the American consul there -- William G. Moorhead, who was married to Henry's sister, Sarah. During the next few years, Henry was often resident in California, pursuing business interests within the emerging economy there.

He was not a successful businessman, however, and soon returned to Ohio where he turned to journalism, becoming a part owner in the 'Sandusky register' and the 'Columbus state journal'. In the 1860s he moved to Washington, D.C., where he became a partner in his brother Jay's financial firm and was actively involved in the diplomatic/social life of the capital, particularly during the administration of U. S. Grant. He died in Georgetown on Feb. 29, 1881.