Roy Bird Cook (April 1, 1886 – November 21, 1961) was a pharmacist and historian with a special interest in

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

history.

Life

Cook was born in Lewis County, near

Roanoke Roanoke may refer to: Places *Roanoke Colony, a former English colony that mysteriously disappeared *Roanoke Island, the location of the Roanoke colony in present-day North Carolina *Roanoke River, flowing through Virginia and North Carolina and ...

. He took a home study course in pharmacy during high school, and in 1905 took the State Board of Pharmacy exam to become the state's youngest certified pharmacist at the age of 19. He went on to practice pharmacy in Weston and Charleston, West Virginia. He also maintained an active interest in the state's history. He helped found the West Virginia Historical Society, and wrote multiple books and articles on historical subjects.

Works

*''Collins Settlement of Old'' (191?) *"Pioneer Sketches of Lewis County"; serialized in the ''Weston Independent'', 1916-17. *''Alexander Scott Withers - Author of "Chronicles of Border Warfare" - A Sketch'' (1921), n.p.; unnumbered ut 15 pp *''The Family and Early Life of

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general and military officer who served during the American Civil War. He played a prominent role in nearly all military engagements in the eastern the ...

'' (1924), this work has been called "the first definitive study of Jackson's formative years," *''Lewis County in the Civil War'' (1924)

Awards

Cook received the Remington Honor Medal in 1955 from the

American Pharmaceutical Association The American Pharmacists Association (APhA, previously known as the American Pharmaceutical Association), founded in 1852, is the first-established professional society of pharmacists in the United States. The association consists of more tha ...

, and the Award of Merit from the West Virginia Library Association in 1957.

Legacy

Cook collected a lot of material pertaining to the history of West Virginia, including the history of farming in the state, the history of the

31st Virginia Infantry The 31st Virginia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. It fought mostly as part of the Army of Northern Virginia. The 31st Virginia was organized ...

, additional Civil War and early West Virginia state history, and more. He is responsible for multiple collections of materials held at the

West Virginia & Regional History Center The West Virginia & Regional History Center (WVRHC), is the largest archival collection housing documents and manuscripts involving West Virginia and the surrounding central Appalachian region. Because of name changes over the years, it is someti ...

References

1886 births 1961 deaths People from Lewis County, West Virginia 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Historians of the American Civil War Pharmacists from West Virginia 20th-century American pharmacists Historians of Virginia Historians of West Virginia Writers from West Virginia 20th-century American male writers {{US-historian-stub