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Researching the surname Cook
in a county named Cook, in a large city with many
restaurants, would be challenging under the best of
circumstances, and relative to Sadie Cook, the
circumstances are poor. Minimal information is known
about the girl, and some of what was reported in
1903/4 appears to be in error.
1903/4 reports present Sadie as a twenty-three-year-old nurse who lived at 943 W. Superior St. in
Chicago. Her body was found at Buffrum's funeral
home and identified by her brother, George E. Cook
(1879–), a teamster boarding at 3153 Emerald Avenue.
Sadie was reportedly buried in the Calvary Cemetery
in Evanston, IL.
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Period reports sometimes spelled Sadie's last name
as Cooke, sometimes as Cook. In the coroner inquest,
it was spelled Cook. According to 1903 city
directories, three men lived at the address reported
as hers, 943 W. Superior, but not Sadie. A Sadie
Cook did live a few blocks down the street, at 1107
W. Superior, with her mother, Sarah, but that Sadie
was a clerk. In researching Iroquois stories, I've
found errors in name spellings, ages, addresses, but
occupations have been less error-prone.
A Sadie Cook was one of ten
nurses who lived and worked at the Park Avenue
Hospital Association and Training School for Nurses
at 175 Park* in 1902 and 1903. (Her name was listed
in some 1904 city directories, but that may have had to do with the publisher's closing dates.
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Discrepancies and addendum
* The 40-bed teaching hospital at 175 Park was
operated by Dr. Louis Thexton. Other student nurses
there with Sadie: Georgean Baudler, Hazel Johnson,
Anna Bryce, Henrietta York, Lulu R Champion,
Clothilde Reuse, Florence Titus, Martha Sciek, and
Margaret Dalgleish. Am storing their names here in
case one of these names turns up later. A Robert
Cook lived in the rear of the hospital. His
involvement with the hospital is not known, nor if
there was any connection between him and Sadie Cook
the nurse.
There may be a connection
between Sadie and another nurse who lost her life at
the Iroquois —
Harriet Andrews. Harriet worked at a
hospital facility at 1044 Monroe, also operated by
Dr. Louis Thexton. A woman named Mary Cook
worked at the Monroe Street facility but was much
older than Sadie.
There was another George E. Cook who was related to
Crocker and Carter Iroquois Theater victims but
does not appear to have been related to Sadie Cook.
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