Gravesite of Armistead Mason Cooke (1888-1919)

During the First World War, Armistead Mason Cooke served his county as a civilian through his professional positions with the Council of National Defense and the War Industries Board. Later, he served as a Major with the Construction Division of the Quartermaster Corps for the United States Army. He was officially discharged from his military service on 27 December 1918. Cooke fell victim to influenza during the third wave of the Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 and passed away from complications of pneumonia on 4 March 1919.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia on 27 November 1888, Armistead Mason Cooke was the youngest child of William Mordecai Cooke and Eloise Jane DeWinter. His father worked for the City of Norfolk Water Department while his mother looked after Cooke and his older sister, Jean Curry. As a young man, Cooke followed in the footsteps of his paternal grandfather by studying at the University of Pennsylvania where he completed coursework on civil engineering. 

When the United States officially entered World War I in April 1917, Cooke had been working as a sales manager for the John L. Roper Lumber Company in Norfolk. Following the establishment of the Subcommittee on Lumber and Forest Products by the Raw Materials Division of the Council of National Defense, Cooke was furloughed to the North Carolina Pine Emergency Bureau. Assigned to an office located in the Munsey Trust Building in Washington D.C., Cooke contributed to the war effort as a civilian by coordinating the purchase of large quantities of lumber from civilian companies for the United States Army. The Army would have used this lumber to build cantonments, gunstocks, and warehouses.

In September 1917, Cooke’s work with the Lumber Committee was transferred to the newly created Lumber Section of the War Industries Board where his responsibilities largely remainded the same. That same month, Cooke’s engagement to Antoinette Gay Camp was announced in the Virginia society pages. The couple exchanged their vows in an intimate ceremony at the bride’s family home in Franklin, Virginia, on 17 November 1917. The following month, Camp joined Cooke in D.C. where the newlyweds made their home on New Hampshire Avenue. 

On 8 May 1918, Cooke was inducted as a Major into the United States Army and entered military service with the Construction Division of the Quartermaster Corps on 3 July 1918. The Construction Division was largely responsible for all construction necessary in connection with the domestic and international operations of the Army. Cooke continued to reside in Washington as he carried out his service duties for the Army. He was officially discharged from his military service on 27 December 1918. 

In early January 1919, Cooke returned to Norfolk with his wife and their three-month-old daughter, Anne Mason. He resumed his former position with the John L. Roper Lumber Company and the couple purchased a house on Fairfax Avenue. Two months later, while on a business trip to New York City, Cooke fell severely ill with influenza which rapidly developed into pneumonia. Unfortunately, Cooke never regained his health and passed away in the early morning hours of 4 March. Based on information provided by his father in a post-war service questionnaire for the Virginia War Commission, it is possible that the young man may have already been struggling with his health prior to this trip. The survey explicitly notes that the Cooke had returned home from his service in Washington “greatly reduced in strength” before his death in New York.  However, it is unclear what exactly ailed the young man at that time. 

Among a large gathering of friends and relatives, funeral services were held at the Second Presbyterian Church in Norfolk. Often affectionally called Mason by those closest to him, Cooke was buried in his immediate family’s plot in the nearby Elmwood cemetery. The following month, his sister gave birth to a baby boy named Mason Cooke Andrews on 20 April 1919. 

“Big Southern Pine Orders for Government.” The Atlanta Constitution, September 26, 1917. 

“Cooke” Evening Star. March 5, 1919.

“Cooke” The Washington Post, March 6, 1919. 

“Engagement Announced.” Daily Press, September 26, 1917. 

“Major A. M. Cooke.” The Lumber Manufacturer and Dealer 64 (March 10, 1919) 28.  

Medical Department Matriculants, 1806-1852. University of Pennsylvania Archives and Records, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Norfolk & Portsmouth, Virginia, 1916 Directory. Norfolk, Virginia: Hill Directory Co., 1916.

Norfolk & Portsmouth, Virginia, 1919 Directory. Norfolk, Virginia: Hill Directory Co., 1919.

“Ocala.” The Tampa Tribune, November 11, 1917. 

“Obituary Major Armistead Mason Cooke.” The New York Lumber Trade Journal 65 (March 15, 1919): 36. 

“Obituary Notes.” The New York Times, March 5, 1919.

United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900.  Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. 

United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910.  Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1910. 

United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1920.

United States of America, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. 

United States Treasury Department. Decisions of the Comptroller of the Treasury, Volume 26, July 1,1919 to June 30, 1920. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1920. 

University of Pennsylvania. General Alumni Catalogue of University of Pennsylvania, 1917. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1917. 

University of Pennsylvania. The Record of the Class of 1909. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, 1909. 

Virginia War History Commission, Norfolk, Virginia Records, 1919-1921. Sargeant Memorial Collection, The Slover Library, Norfolk, Virginia.