Cooke, John Esten
lawyer, author, was born Nov. 3, 1830, in Winchester, Va.
He was a noted Virginia author who served in the confederate army during the civil war. He wrote much historical fiction, The Virginia Comedians being the most famous of his romances. He was the author of Leather Stocking and Silk; The Youth of Jefferson; Surry of Eagle's Nest; Wearing the Gray; My Lady Pokahontas; Henry St. John, reissued as Bonnybel Vane; Mohun, or the Last Days of Lee and His Paladins; Her Majesty the Queen; Pretty Mrs. Gaston; Stories of the Old Dominion; The Maurice Mystery; Mr. Grantley's Idea; Professor Pressensee; Virginia Bohemians; Hammer and Rapier; Hilt to Hilt, include the greater part of his work in fiction. He wrote also Life of General Lee; Stonewall Jackson, a Biography; and Virginia, a History of the People. He died Sept. 27, 1886, in Boyce, Va.