Will County ILGenWeb Biographies..... 
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File contributed for use by:
Dori Leekly & Margie Glenn

Author: History of Will County IL, 1878

George B. COOK, salesman for Gaylord & Co., Lockport; was born in Jefferson Co., 
N. Y., July 13, 1838; in 1845, the family left New York State and settled near 
London, Can.; his father was traveling salesman for the wholesale firm of Murray & 
Anderson; in July, 1851, his father came to Illinois and settled near Morris, on the 
Au Sable; in March, 1852, he moved to Chicago and took charge of the lock at the head 
of the I. & M. Canal; on the 9th of June following he died of cholera; George B. 
remained with the family, and in the Spring of 1854, they moved to Lockport; here, in 
connection with an older brother, he attended the lock and provided for the family; 
in 1861, he went to Channahon and followed various pursuits; in August, 1869, he took 
charge of a force of men engaged in the improvement of the Kankakee River, and afterward 
was engaged in the construction of the feeder to the I. & M. Canal on the same river; 
in 1871, in connection with C. E. FOWLER, he opened a general merchandise store at the 
village of Shermanville, on the Kankakee River; at the end of eight months, they closed 
out their stock, and he returned to Lockport; his family remained here, and he went to 
Chicago as foreman in the packing-house of Col. HANCOCK; here he remained until May, 1873, 
when he entered the employ of J. A. BOYER as foreman in his quarries at Lemont; in the 
Fall of 1873, he was employed as salesman by James E. CASEY, of Lockport; then in the 
grocery trade; December, 1875, he took the position he now occupies. He was married March 
3, 1859, to Eliza KILEEN, a native of Ireland; has two children - James R., born Dec. 3, 
1859; George B., born Dec. 9, 1864.


Additional Comments:
HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS; Chicago: Wm LeBaron Jr & Co, 186 Dearborn Street, 1878.