Years of service 1775–1784 Name Lemuel Cook | ||
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Battles/wars American Revolutionary WarBattle of BrandywineSiege of Yorktown Other work Agriculture in the United States Battles and wars | ||
Lemuel Cook (September 10, 1759 – May 20, 1866) was one of the last verifiable surviving veterans of the American Revolutionary War. He lived to see the country that he fought to create split apart in the American Civil War.
Contents
Early life and education
Cook was born in Litchfield County, Connecticut to Henry Cook and his wife Hannah Benham.
Career
Enlisting in the Continental Army at the age of sixteen, Cook fought at Brandywine and in the Virginian campaign, and was present at Charles Cornwallis' surrender in October 1781. He received an honorable discharge signed by George Washington on June 12, 1784.
Later life and death
Following the war, Cook became a farmer and married Hannah Curtis. They had seven sons and three daughters.
Lemuel was the oldest and last living pensioner of the American Revolution. He enlisted at age 16 and was wounded several times. He was an active Mason and a life long Democrat. His church was Congregational. He lived in Plymouth, Connecticut until 1790, where he then moved to Clinton, NY. In 1795 he returned to Plymouth (then Northbury) Conn. and moved to Pompey, NY. In 1805, he moved to North Bergen, NY in 1821 and then to Clarendon, NY. in 1832. He died in 1866. Resources: Sons of the American Revolution; Family Bible; Old News Papers.
Cook died at the age of 106 and was buried with full military and Masonic honors. He was one of seven American Revolutionary War veterans who, having survived into the age of photography, were featured in the 1864 book The Last Men of the Revolution, which gives many details of his life. He was the last survivor of 2nd Continental Light Dragoons and was one of only four Revolutionary War veterans to see the start and end of the American Civil War. At the time of his death, only three other revolutionary veterans (Samuel Downing, Daniel F. Bakeman and John Gray) were still alive.
