SAMUEL W. COOK, a highly respected member of the farming community of Oakland township, was born in Marion county, Ohio, in 1833, a son of Peter L. Cook. The father was born in 1808, and died May 2, 1892, aged eighty-four years; he enjoyed excellent health until about three weeks previous to his death. The paternal grandfather of our subject, John Cook, was a blacksmith by trade, and also carried on farming in Marion county, Ohio; he was sixty-two years of age at the time of his death, and left his second wife a widow. His first wife was Susan Louderback, a native of Pennsylvania, and in that State they were married; thence they removed to Ohio, when Peter L. was a small lad; he is one of a family of nine children, seven of whom grew to adult age. He married Hannah Hankle, a native of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Henry Hankle, who died at the advanced age of ninety-six years. Eleven children were born of this union; the mother died in the fall of 1887, in her seventy-sixth year; one son died in the summer of 1859, aged twenty-eight years; he left a wife and five children; the other members of the family are living, all are married and have families, the first, second and third generations numbering about 125 souls.

Samuel W. Cook, our worthy subject, was married in 1857, to Elizabeth Lovell, of Schuyler county, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Seaver) Lovell; Mrs. Cook's father was a native of Kentucky, and her mother was of German extraction; the maternal grandmother lived to the extreme old age of 104 years; Mrs. Cook was born in 1840. They began their married life here in Schuyler county, and with the exception of a legacy of $3,000 which was recently received by Mrs. Cook, have accumulated their property through their own efforts. They own a fine, fertile farm of 110 acres, and Mrs. Cook has a tract near by which consists of fifty-six acres.

They are the parents of eleven children; one son and two daughters died in infancy; Charles E. died at the age of nineteen years, in 1885; Mary E. is the wife of Thomas Chalkley; William T. married Laura Strausbaugh, and has two children; Lizzie is the wife of Harry Smith; Hannah married James Lybarger, and is the mother of one child; Inez L., Samuel W. and Wilmar F. are at home.

In his political opinions Mr. Cook adheres to the principles of the Democratic party; he has represented his township in some of the local offices, and has discharged his duties with great credit to himself. Mrs. Cook is a consistent member of the Church of the Disciples.