Orchard Cook (March 24, 1763 – August 12, 1819) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Born in

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

in the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...

, Cook attended the public schools, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He served as Assessor of Pownalborough in 1786,and Town clerk of New Milford, in the District of Maine from 1795 to 1797. He was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

, served as judge of the court of common pleas for Lincoln County 1799–1810, was appointed assistant assessor of the twenty-fifth district in November 1798, and served as overseer of

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

from 1800 to 1805. Cook was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

to the Ninth, Tenth, and

Eleventh In music or music theory, an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. The interval can be also described as a compound fourth, spanning an octave plus a f ...

Congresses (March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1811). He was not a candidate for renomination in 1810. He then served as Sheriff of Lincoln County in 1811, and Postmaster of

Wiscasset Wiscasset is a town in and the seat of Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The municipality is located in the state of Maine's Mid Coast region. The population was 3,742 as of the 2020 census. Home to the Chewonki Foundation, Wiscasset is a ...

in Massachusetts' District of Maine from 1811 until his death there August 12, 1819. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Orchard 1763 births 1819 deaths People from Wiscasset, Maine Politicians from Salem, Massachusetts Bowdoin College people Massachusetts Democratic-Republicans Maine sheriffs Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from the District of Maine Members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts