One of the well-known residents of Woonsocket is Charles Nourse Cook, president of the Woonsocket Institution for Savings, who has been identified with the banking interests of that city for more than thirty years.
He was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, March 28, 1872, son of Theodore M., who was cashier of the Producers National Bank and treasurer of the Producers Savings Bank for many years, and Mary Adelaide (Nourse) Cook. After attending the public schools of his native city Mr. Cook enrolled as a student in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Boston, Massachusetts, where he completed his course and received the degree of Chemical Engineer. After his graduation he followed his profession in the employ of the Silver Spring Bleaching and Dyeing Company of Providence. With this concern he was associated from 1894 until it was sold to the United States Finishing Company in 1903, during this time rising from one position to another until, in 1899, he was made president. When the business was sold he accepted the position of manager of Slatersville Finishing Company. In 1913 Mr. Cook was called upon by the trustees of the Woonsocket Institution for Savings to serve as treasurer of that institution and in this responsible position he served until 1928, when he was elected president of the institution. It was largely through the interest and effort of Mr. Cook that the fine new bank building at the corner of Main Street and Cook’s Hill Lane was erected, a building of which the citizens of Woonsocket are justly proud.
In addition to his able service to the Woonsocket Institution for Savings, Mr. Cook is a director of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company of Providence, and is a member of the Board of Managers of the Woonsocket branch of that bank, serving as chairman of the board. He was one of the re-organizers of the American Wringer Company and has been a member of its board of directors since 1922. He is also a director of the Providence and Worcester Railroad Company. Mr. Cook was for fifteen years secretary of the Woonsocket Hospital. Mr. Cook’s social interests are varied, being represented by membership in the City and Cumberland clubs of Woonsocket, the Hope Club of Providence, Agawam Hunt Club of Providence, and the Providence Art Club. In political preference he is a Republican. He and his wife attend the Universalist Church.
Charles Nourse Cook was married, in 1894, to Mary Crosby Alley, of Lynn, Massachusetts.
Source: Carroll, Charles. Rhode Island: Three Centuries of Democracy, vol 3 of 4. New York: Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1932.