Ti clergyman Josephus Cook fought for faith, social justice

TICONDEROGA | Today few Americans remember the name, Rev. Josephus Flavius Cook. But in his day, this Ticonderoga, New York, native made his mark as a minister, author, social reformer, sermonizer, world lecturer, and defender of Protestant Christianity. Born Jan. 26, 1838, Cook had a normal childhood growing up in Ticonderoga. While his career and speaking engagements would take him to college campuses and auditoriums up and down the Eastern Seaboard (and beyond), where he lectured about science and religion as well as the negative impact of industrialization on the spirit of working people, he always kept in touch with family and friends in his hometown. After early schooling in Ticonderoga, Cook attended the Phillips Academy preparatory school in Andover, Massachusetts, for his middle and high school education. Founded in 1778, Phillips Academy gave Cook the encouragement to attend university to study theology and philosophy. Cook entered Yale University but soon transferred to Harvard where he graduated with a desire to extol the virtues of good living and social justice. In 1858, before graduating from college, he published "Home Sketches of Essex County: Ticonderoga," a book about local history. In "Letters of a Ticonderoga Farmer", published in 1946 and edited by Frederick G. Bascom, Cook family letters, between father (William H.), mother (Georgianna Hemmingway), and son (Josephus), provide a look into Ticonderoga's farm, school, and university life between 1851 and 1877. Cook's father William H. (1833-1892) was allegedly born at Highgate, Vermont, although family member Dr. Dean Cook today refutes this detail which appears in several online histories. "He was raised a Catholic and later converted to Protestantism becoming a Methodist minister as he preached here in Ticonderoga," according to Fred Provoncha, a local resident who has studied the Cook family. "During the Civil War, William H. served as the chaplain of the Fifth Regiment, New York Cavalry." It's not surprising that Cook made his mark as a defender of the faith. His ancestors were New England Pilgrims, via Connecticut, with the family eventually making its way to settle in Ticonderoga. Following his graduation from Harvard at the end of the Civil War, Cook was noticed by the Boston press and churchgoers for his Monday lecture series on the topics of the day, always held at noon, at the historic Tremont Temple Baptist Church located on Boston's busy Tremont Street. For nearly 20 years, Cook was the Temple's most popular clergyman attracting thousands of the faithful with his "Boston Monday Lectures" held during his tenure there. Topics included transcendentalism, orthodoxy, conscience, heredity, and more. "In the (Tremont Temple) lectures, Cook attempted to convey recent developments in European current events, science, and philosophy in a way that reconciled them to Protestant belief," according to L.T. Remplap's "The Gospel Awakening". "His commentary stressed social amelioration and civic responsibility. He later traveled the world; his lectures were published and translated into several languages." Next: Rev. Cook and a unique gathering of the world's religions. Continued Note: Special thanks to Ticonderoga residents Fred Provoncha and Dr. Dean Cook for details about the life of Josephus Cook. (Revised: Jan. 30, 2022)

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Ti clergyman Josephus Cook fought for faith, social justice

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