Elisha Cooke (September 16, 1637 – October 31, 1715) was a wealthy Massachusetts physician, politician, and businessman who was elected

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of the

Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay is a bay on the Gulf of Maine that forms part of the central coastline of Massachusetts. Description The bay extends from Cape Ann on the north to Plymouth Harbor on the south, a distance of about . Its northern and sout ...

Assembly in 1683. He was the leader of the "popular party", a faction in the Massachusetts House that resisted encroachment by royal officials on colonial rights embodied in the

Massachusetts Charter The Massachusetts Charter of 1691 was a charter that formally established the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Issued by the government of William III and Mary II, the corulers of the Kingdom of England, the charter defined the government of the co ...

.Chu, Jonathan M. "Cooke, Elisha". ''

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'', February 2000. This role was taken up by his son, Elisha Cooke Jr.

Life

Cooke was born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, the son of Richard and Elizabeth Cook, from

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, England. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1657 at age 20, in a class of seven students. Cooke was trained and practiced as a physician, but he also became a politician. He was made

freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...

in 1673. He was elected to the colonial assembly representing

in 1681, serving until 1683. Cooke was elected to the commission of counsellors in May 1693; however, Governor Sir

William Phips Sir William Phips (or Phipps; February 2, 1651 – February 18, 1695) was the first royally appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and the first native-born person from New England to be knighted. Phips was famous in his lifeti ...

refused to ratify the choice, to exact revenge on Cooke's having opposed his appointment as chief magistrate. In 1695 Cooke was appointed Judge of the

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

, taking the place of John Richards, who had died, and in 1701 he became Judge of Probate. Cooke was a confidential adviser of Lord Bellomont, who became Governor of Massachusetts in 1699. He lost his judicial appointments in 1702 when

Joseph Dudley Joseph Dudley (September 23, 1647 – April 2, 1720) was a colonial administrator, a native of Roxbury in Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the son of one of its founders. He had a leading role in the administration of the Dominion of New England ...

became governor; Dudley took revenge on Cooke for being a member of the council which had committed him to prison in 1689. This had occurred after the

1689 Boston revolt The 1689 Boston revolt was a popular uprising on April 18, 1689, against the rule of Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of the Dominion of New England. A well-organized "mob" of provincial militia and citizens formed in the town of Boston, the ca ...

, which deposed Sir

Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714; also spelled ''Edmond'') was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other ...

, governor of the

Dominion of New England The Dominion of New England in America (1686–1689) was a short-lived administrative union of English colonies covering all of New England and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies, with the exception of the Delaware Colony and the Province of Pennsylvani ...

, and other officials (including Dudley). Cooke served on the rebel council that took power after the dominion's overthrow. Cooke married Elizabeth Leverett, the daughter of Governor

John Leverett John Leverett (baptized 7 July 1616 – 16 March 1678/79In the Julian calendar, then in use in England, the year began on 25 March. To avoid confusion with dates in the Gregorian calendar, then in use in other parts of Europe, dates between Ja ...

in June 1668. They had one son, Elisha Jr., who was born on December 20, 1678. Elizabeth died on July 21, 1715, and Cooke died shortly thereafter on October 31, 1715.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Elisha Sr. 1637 births 1715 deaths Harvard College alumni Members of the colonial Massachusetts House of Representatives Members of the colonial Massachusetts Governor's Council Justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature People from colonial Boston 18th-century American physicians 17th-century English medical doctors Speakers of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (colonial period)