The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1895-09-03
1T is CHAS. M. COOKE
THE GOVERNOR HAS TREATED
US TO A CLEVELAND
SURPRISE.
THE NEW SECRETARY or STATE

THE NEW SECRETARY OF STATE
On Monday Morning Bright and Early
the Governor Appointed Hon. Chas.
M. Cooke Secretary OF State--He Had
Been TeIegraphed for on the Pre-
yious Day-.This is One Case in
Which the Office Sought the Man,
Short Sketch of His Career.
All the prospects were false.
Not one of those who predicted who
would be appointed to succeed the la
mented Capt. Coke struck the hot trail.
On Monday morning early the Gov
ernor appointed Hon. Charles NJ. Cooke,
of Franklin county, and it was such
surprise that nothing else was talked of
all day.
The friends of some of the candidates
were disappointed, but there was uni
versal comment that it was a fit and
proper appointment. In Raleigh, where
Capt. Cooke has many warm friends,
the appointment was well received. The
report was, that the Governor rendered
the appointment unsolicited to Captain
Cooke, because of his well known capac
itv, and because of the sacrifices he has
made for the party, never failing to give
of his time or means whenever called
upon, whether as private citizen or a
nominee of the party.
The new Secretary of State went to
Louisburg yesterday morning, but re-
turned to Raleigh in the Afternoon, and
will to day enter upon the duties OF the
Office. 1t is not his purpose to move TO
Raleigh.
Hon. Charles Mather Cooke, of Frank
lin, is the son of Capt. Jones Cooke and
Ann Kingsbury Cooke, and was born on
March the 10th, 1914. His father was
born in Franklin county In 1856. For
many years he was chairman of the
Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions Of
Franklin county. He won his military
title III the war of 1912, and added lustre
to the distinction already attained by the
family IN the Revolutionary War. Six
brothers, the uncles of Capt. Jones
Cooke, had borne arms and served with
valor for the cause Of independence in
the war. In every relation of life he
was recognized as a strong mana man
of fidelity, courage and truth. he was
an ardent Democrat in his politics, and
believed in the patriotism of the people
and their ability to govern. His death
at the age OF Sc was the ending of life
redolent of good deeds and devoid OF
evil
Hon. C. NJ. Cookies mother was the
daughter of Darius KiDgsbury and Es-
Their Mather, the latter being lineal de
scendant of Cotton Mather, the distin-
guished Puritan divine, of Massachu.
sets. Between her and her famous pro
genitor, running up the line of her an
eestry, are the names Of men who have
figured prominently in the social, politi-
cal and literary life of America. Nota
BILE among these are Harvard Univer-
sity's two great Presidents of the Mather
name. The cross of the Southern cava
lier upon the New England Puritan, pro.
duced in the subject of our sketch many
of those striking characteristics which
have marked him as one of the first men
of his time.
The ancestry Of Mr.. Cooke is thus
given because he himself, while proud
that the blood of brainy and honest men
tkUHS through LIS FtlUS, HAS HCFcf To-
lied upon anything, except his own right
arm and his comradeship with all men, to
win success. He has not an iota of that
pride of ancestry that makes small men
think that ii and not hard work will
carry them through the world The
men from whom he sprung did not win
place in the worlds eye except by
courage and hard study. The old Puri-
tan Cotton Mather had about him that
robust adherence to duty, elevation of
thought and courage which mark Chas.
Nj. Cooke. He is a God fearing man,
and seeks to measure his life work by
the high standard of the New Testa
ment. His long service in politics has
not detracted from his Christian char
acter
Mr.. Cooke was drilled in the rudi
ments of education at Louisburg Acad-
envy, from which excellent training
school he went to Wake Forest College.
While sophomore of that institution
the war between the States broke out,
and he, as his fathers had done before
him, took mp arms in defense of bis
country. LII She winter of 1861 be en-
listed as q private in 90. /, 55,h N. @.
Regiment. Of which he was soon made
Lieutenant, and after the battle of Get
tysburg was commander of his company