Mr. Frank Cook

Frank Cook (1870-1946)[1] was promoted in 1901 to serve as president of the First National Bank of Marengo as well as the Iowa County Loan & Savings Bank.[2]  Cook was considered an influential figure in the community, particularly in financial circles, and this may have influenced the appointment of his wife, Atlanta, to the Board of Trustees for the Marengo Public Library in 1903.[3]  Most of the bills paid for the construction of the Public Library were drawn from the account of the First National Bank.[4]

Frank Cook was born on May 29th, 1870, on a farm in Luzerne, 4 miles north of Marengo. His parents, George (1821-1906)[5] and Christiana (1830-1908)[6], née Warner, were first generation immigrants from Stuttgart, Germany, arriving in the United States in 1869.[7]  Cook’s parents had seven children.[8]  He graduated from Marengo High School in November, 1888, and went on to be employed by the Marengo Savings Bank as a clerk. Cook was married in 1900 to Atlanta, née Conard, but the two did not have children.  They did however take in many boarders over the years at their home on 790 Court Avenue.[9]  Cook was a member of the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Iowa City Elks Lodge.  The Cooks were members of the Republican Party and the Presbyterian Church.[10]

-Alecs Mickunas

[1] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600-Current [database on-line], Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.  https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/117948072/frank-s-cook

[2] James C. Dinwiddie, History of Iowa County, Iowa, and Its People, vol. 2, (Chicago, IL: S.J. Clarke Publishing, 1915).

[3] Marengo Public Library, Marengo Public Library Past to Present,  https://www.marengo.lib.ia.us/Marengo{d88251a6d044bb92acfc6562c844669d257905d2c83f008be98127c59e94a890}20Public{d88251a6d044bb92acfc6562c844669d257905d2c83f008be98127c59e94a890}20Library{d88251a6d044bb92acfc6562c844669d257905d2c83f008be98127c59e94a890}20Past{d88251a6d044bb92acfc6562c844669d257905d2c83f008be98127c59e94a890}20to{d88251a6d044bb92acfc6562c844669d257905d2c83f008be98127c59e94a890}20Present.pdf

[4] See construction documents: https://www.carnegielibrariesiowa.org/library/marengo/.

[5] Ancestry.com, U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600-Current [database on-line], Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

[6] Ibid.

[7] James C. Dinwiddie, History of Iowa County, Iowa, and Its People, vol. 2, (Chicago, IL: S.J. Clarke Publishing, 1915).

[8] Frank’s siblings included George E, Augusta (Frantz), W. L., John W., Clay C., and Anna L. (Bonner).

[9] Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1940 [database on-line], Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.

[10] James C. Dinwiddie, History of Iowa County, Iowa, and Its People, vol. 2, (Chicago, IL: S.J. Clarke Publishing, 1915).