George E. Cook of Thornbrook Hall, NY

George E. Cook of Thornbrook Hall, Chenango Co., NY

Binghamton Press, May 8, 1955
by Larry Reed

Norwich [Chenango Co., NY]:  The Norwich artist, George E. Cook, like Thompkins H. Matteson of Sherburne, was a prolific artist.  There the similarity ends.  Matteson was wholly American, robust and a pillar in civic affairs in Sherburne [Chenango Co., NY].  Much of his art dealt with American history.  Cook was a cosmopolitan, frail and known more locally for his house, Thornbrook Hall, than for his art or any participation in community affairs.  Much of his adult life was spent in Europe with his sister, Mary Adaline Cook.  They resided in London, Paris, Berlin, Milan and Palermo.  A large part of his art consisted of portraits of royalty and members of society in Europe, and European landscapes. 

 

The story of Cook starts with Thornbrook Hall which is still standing in the Country Club Road near here, a dirt road running between Route 12 and Route 23 at South Plymouth.  Thornbrook Hall was built by the artist's great-great-grandfather, David Cook, more than 100 years ago.  It is a fantastic structure, with numerous rooms, and destined from the start to be visited by royalty, and by many others of more or less note.  It is said the mysterious Mueller and Mueller Hill, believed to have been Charles X, King of France, was one of the first noted visitors to Thornbrook Hall.  It is known Prince Don Giovanni del Drago of Rome and his American wife, the former Miss Schmidt of the brewery family, visited the hall during George Cook's time. The prince and his wife liked Chenango County so well they purchased a farm farther up Canasawacta Valley. They put about $80,000 into it, it is said, and then after tiring of it sold for $8,000.

 

\The Cooks were descendants of Gov. William Bradford of Plymouth Colony, Abial Cook, son of David, having married a descendant of the Bradfords.  Abial was a lawyer.  He practiced with Daniel S. Dickinson of Binghamton.  He was the grandfather of George, the artist.  The artist's father, Walter A. Cook, also was a lawyer, having been admitted to the bar at the age of 16.  George was expected to carry on the tradition and become a lawyer.  But George had learned to paint on velvet, the fad at the time, and was in Boston making a fair income at it.  With the aid of a Dr. Mosher, he was able to persuade his father to send him to Europe, presumably for his health, but actually to study art.  In his early ears, Cook's artistic talents had been encouraged by Mrs. Theodore Hill and by Daniel Wagner and his sister, Louisa Wagner, all of Norwich.  The latter two were artists in their own right.  In Europe, Cook spent some time at the royal palaces of Romania and was a friend of Marie of Romania.  His sister still has messages to Cook in Marie's handwriting mailed as early as 1914, start of World War I, when she was the crown princess of Romania, and as late as 1927, when Marie was queen.  In the late years of his life, Cook spent many of his summers at Thornbrook, working from sketches on canvas he had prepared in Europe.  At our last visit to the Hall in 1949, there were some 300 of these sketches stacked on a table in the gallery, including a set of sketches of the royal palaces and gardens of Romania.  At that time there were still many valuable art treasures at Thornbrook Hall, including some 200 of Cook's own completed paintings, and many others, including antique furniture, Miss Cook and her brother had collected during their travel in Europe.    

 

During Cook's late years there were several noted visitors to the hall, including Loie Fuller and troupe of dancing girls; Joseph K. Bryant, former surgeon general, brought to the hall by the late George W. Ray, and Mr. and Mrs. Hudnut the perfume manufacturers.  She was the daughter of the daughter of the architect of the Library of Congress.

 

George Cook, the artist, died in 1930, at his winter home, Southern Pines, N.C.  His sister often has returned to Thornbrook Hall for a few weeks during the summers and she is expected to return this year.  About two years ago, she was married to Vittorio Crescimanno di Capodarso, an Italian writer.