Cook, Michael Urias

  • DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY ARTICLE: S. Lynn Campbell and Susan L. Bennett, “COOK, MICHAEL URIAS,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 14, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–. See full biography at: https://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cook_michael_urias_14E.html
  • DCB profile notes:
    • Farmer, butter producer, and breeder; b. 7 Feb. 1824 in Williamsburgh Township, Upper Canada, son of Michael Cook and Frederica Weegar (Weager); m. 1 April 1849 Margaret Gallinger (d. 1890), and they had five sons and three daughters; d. 5 Feb. 1912 near Aultsville, Ont.
    • Of United Empire Loyalist descent, Michael Urias Cook’s father was a farmer in Williamsburgh, in the St Lawrence valley. In 1832 he moved his family to a farm in Osnabruck Township near the village of Charlesville (later renamed Aultsville).
    • In 1881 he made a decision that would earn him a place in Canadian agricultural history: he decided to import Holstein-Friesian cattle. Cook’s decision has traditionally been attributed to his reading of American farm periodicals, which heavily promoted this breed, and to the influence of his progressive son Minard Michael.
    • Over the next few years, the firm of Lord, Cook and Son continued to sell and exhibit Holsteins; its cattle contributed to the foundation of Ontario’s present herd. (Holsteins now comprise 95 per cent of Canadian dairy cattle.) Cook also promoted the breed by helping to establish the Dominion Holstein Breeders’ Association in September 1884 and acting as its first president (1884–87). With the breed’s increasing popularity, Cook’s dominance as a breeder declined. He retired from farming in 1891, and his remaining cattle were sold off at a dispersal sale. Minard took over the operation of the farm, where the senior Cook lived till his death in 1912.
    • Michael Cook had been a staunch Liberal and a leading member of the Aultsville Methodist Church. Much of his farm was flooded in the 1950s during the construction of the St Lawrence Seaway, but his home has been preserved as the Doctor’s House at Upper Canada Village near Morrisburg.
  • Grandson of United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=1748
  • Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/262526979/michael-urias_p-cook