George Theodore Cook, Sr. was born 1821 in North Carolina and for a time was a merchant; and for many years ran Cooke's Hotel in downtown Raleigh, after the Civil War.
During the war,George was the Raleigh Postmaster which ran under during Confederacy. Handling mail during the war was a challenge at best. The Postmasters at large offices like Raleigh had numerous duties beyond the mail, and George Cooke had to coordinate the seven mail routes coming into Raleigh with the North Carolina and the Raleigh and Gaston railroad. This was no easy task as troop transport often upset the postal schedules. Cooke also had to oversee several railroad route agents and a messenger service which carried the mail from the train depot to the post office. Most mail cars had no heat and the War Department would quite frequently use the mail cars to ship dead soldiers home. No wonder complaints were the norm for route agents. By the end of the war almost everything was in short supply. Letters were reused, envelopes were turned inside out and reused. Paper was in short supply. It was not uncommon to see a letter written in one direction turned sideways and written in the other direction to conserve paper. By the end of the war more mail was being carried outside the system, by soldiers going and coming, than was being carried by the system.
George married Mary Van Dalen Lindeman of Wake County on October 28, 1846 when he was 25 years old, and she just 18. They would be parents of 4 known surviving children:
* Martha Elizabeth Cooke STRONACH (1848-1908)
* George Theodore Cooke, Jr. (1849-1851)
* Mary Augustine Cooke STRONACH (1851-1913)
* Annie Pulliam Cooke WAINWRIGHT
George T. Cooke Sr. died in 1884 at age 63. His wife of 38 years survived him 16 years, passing in 1900 at age 72.
Two of his daughters married sons of William Stronach, Scottish stone cutter who helped build the capitol building in Raleigh.
During the war,George was the Raleigh Postmaster which ran under during Confederacy. Handling mail during the war was a challenge at best. The Postmasters at large offices like Raleigh had numerous duties beyond the mail, and George Cooke had to coordinate the seven mail routes coming into Raleigh with the North Carolina and the Raleigh and Gaston railroad. This was no easy task as troop transport often upset the postal schedules. Cooke also had to oversee several railroad route agents and a messenger service which carried the mail from the train depot to the post office. Most mail cars had no heat and the War Department would quite frequently use the mail cars to ship dead soldiers home. No wonder complaints were the norm for route agents. By the end of the war almost everything was in short supply. Letters were reused, envelopes were turned inside out and reused. Paper was in short supply. It was not uncommon to see a letter written in one direction turned sideways and written in the other direction to conserve paper. By the end of the war more mail was being carried outside the system, by soldiers going and coming, than was being carried by the system.
George married Mary Van Dalen Lindeman of Wake County on October 28, 1846 when he was 25 years old, and she just 18. They would be parents of 4 known surviving children:
* Martha Elizabeth Cooke STRONACH (1848-1908)
* George Theodore Cooke, Jr. (1849-1851)
* Mary Augustine Cooke STRONACH (1851-1913)
* Annie Pulliam Cooke WAINWRIGHT
George T. Cooke Sr. died in 1884 at age 63. His wife of 38 years survived him 16 years, passing in 1900 at age 72.
Two of his daughters married sons of William Stronach, Scottish stone cutter who helped build the capitol building in Raleigh.
George Theodore Cook, Sr. was born 1821 in North Carolina and for a time was a merchant; and for many years ran Cooke's Hotel in downtown Raleigh, after the Civil War.
During the war,George was the Raleigh Postmaster which ran under during Confederacy. Handling mail during the war was a challenge at best. The Postmasters at large offices like Raleigh had numerous duties beyond the mail, and George Cooke had to coordinate the seven mail routes coming into Raleigh with the North Carolina and the Raleigh and Gaston railroad. This was no easy task as troop transport often upset the postal schedules. Cooke also had to oversee several railroad route agents and a messenger service which carried the mail from the train depot to the post office. Most mail cars had no heat and the War Department would quite frequently use the mail cars to ship dead soldiers home. No wonder complaints were the norm for route agents. By the end of the war almost everything was in short supply. Letters were reused, envelopes were turned inside out and reused. Paper was in short supply. It was not uncommon to see a letter written in one direction turned sideways and written in the other direction to conserve paper. By the end of the war more mail was being carried outside the system, by soldiers going and coming, than was being carried by the system.
George married Mary Van Dalen Lindeman of Wake County on October 28, 1846 when he was 25 years old, and she just 18. They would be parents of 4 known surviving children:
* Martha Elizabeth Cooke STRONACH (1848-1908)
* George Theodore Cooke, Jr. (1849-1851)
* Mary Augustine Cooke STRONACH (1851-1913)
* Annie Pulliam Cooke WAINWRIGHT
George T. Cooke Sr. died in 1884 at age 63. His wife of 38 years survived him 16 years, passing in 1900 at age 72.
Two of his daughters married sons of William Stronach, Scottish stone cutter who helped build the capitol building in Raleigh.
During the war,George was the Raleigh Postmaster which ran under during Confederacy. Handling mail during the war was a challenge at best. The Postmasters at large offices like Raleigh had numerous duties beyond the mail, and George Cooke had to coordinate the seven mail routes coming into Raleigh with the North Carolina and the Raleigh and Gaston railroad. This was no easy task as troop transport often upset the postal schedules. Cooke also had to oversee several railroad route agents and a messenger service which carried the mail from the train depot to the post office. Most mail cars had no heat and the War Department would quite frequently use the mail cars to ship dead soldiers home. No wonder complaints were the norm for route agents. By the end of the war almost everything was in short supply. Letters were reused, envelopes were turned inside out and reused. Paper was in short supply. It was not uncommon to see a letter written in one direction turned sideways and written in the other direction to conserve paper. By the end of the war more mail was being carried outside the system, by soldiers going and coming, than was being carried by the system.
George married Mary Van Dalen Lindeman of Wake County on October 28, 1846 when he was 25 years old, and she just 18. They would be parents of 4 known surviving children:
* Martha Elizabeth Cooke STRONACH (1848-1908)
* George Theodore Cooke, Jr. (1849-1851)
* Mary Augustine Cooke STRONACH (1851-1913)
* Annie Pulliam Cooke WAINWRIGHT
George T. Cooke Sr. died in 1884 at age 63. His wife of 38 years survived him 16 years, passing in 1900 at age 72.
Two of his daughters married sons of William Stronach, Scottish stone cutter who helped build the capitol building in Raleigh.
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