COOKE, Hon. JOHN JOSEPH - Cass County has her full share of able lawyers, and among these are some who have made such effective use of their talents and opportunities as to elevate themselves to positions of prominence, and through the honorable distinction achieved by long and earnest effort, they reflect a high degree of credit upon the community in which they live. Conspicuous among these and worthy of signal mention is Judge John Joseph Cooke, whose voice and presence are familiar to the bar and general public.
John Joseph Cooke was born at Aurora, Ill., June 4, 1874. When three years old he was brought by his parents to Beardstown where he later attended the public schools, and still later was graduated from the high school, in the class of 1891. In 1892 he began attending the University of Notre Dame, from the law department of which he was graduated in 1894. In 1895 he was admitted to the bar, having been employed since June, 1894, in a law office in Chicago, where he continued until December, 1897. At this time he established himself in the practice of law in Beardstown, and has become one of the foremost men in his profession. Judge Cooke is a son of Michael and Catherine Cooke, his father being a native of Queens County, Ireland, who came to America in 1853, and was married in Aurora. He and his wife had nine children, four of whom are still living, John Joseph being the second in order of birth. The father was a foreman in the railroad shops in Beardstown from 1877 until January 1911, when he passed away, and was laid to rest in the Beardstown cemetery. he was a man of intelligence, skill and energy and had many friends. The mother of Judge Cooke, a native of Queenstown, Ireland, and a much respected lady, died in Beardstown November 1, 1914.
Politically Judge Cooke is a Democrat. In 1899 he was elected city attorney of Beardstown, being chosen a member of the Illinois legislature in 1904 and serving one term in the Forty-fourth General Assembly. When the Beardstown City Court was established in June 1911, John Joseph Cooke was elected the first judge of the newly created tribunal, an office which he still fills. In April, 1913, a County Bar Association was organized in Cass County, of which Judge Cooke was chosen the first president, which office he is holding at the present time.