In Days Gone By: Edmonds’ Socialist Mayor W. H. Cook

Foreword: In 1910, the socialist movement in America was spearheaded by the Socialist Party of America (SPA), founded in 1901. By 1910, the SPA reached its peak both in political power and membership. The movement attracted intellectuals and feminists, as well as immigrant and native-born workers. SPA’s platform was based upon improved worker conditions, women’s suffrage and the shift of ownership from private industry owners to the public.

On a national basis the political movement was headed by Eugene V. Debs, a labor organizer and past member of the Indiana Legislature. Debs initially identified himself as a populist-democrat. In 1893, he helped organize and became president of the American Railroad Union. 

Debs and the union gained national fame in 1894 when it successfully conducted a strike against the Great Northern Railway for higher wages. Debs gained further renown when he was imprisoned for six months for his role in the Chicago Pullman Palace Car Company strike in 1895.

While in prison, he read extensively, including the writings of Karl Marx. After his release, he became extremely critical of established economic concepts including “capitalism” as he deemed it a struggle of the classes. In 1897, he announced that he was converting to a socialist and was instrumental in the establishment of the Socialist Party of America.

From 1900 to 1920, Debs unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. presidency five times. In 1912, he received more than 700,000 votes and more than 920,000 in 1920.

Edmonds 1910: A town divided

During the same period, Edmonds residents were essentially equally divided on several social issues, including the banning of alcohol and its distribution (“dry” versus “wet”) – women’s suffrage, labor unions and worker conditions in the logging industry and in the city’s shingle mills.

As previously documented in the article “Hung in Effigy,” the lead-up to the early parts of 1910 had been tumultuous. The town’s civic leaders and some prominent businessmen wanted to keep the status quo while the Civic League – composed of preachers, churchgoers and the influential Women’s Christian Temperance Union – wanted to put an end to the town’s saloons and drinking-related problems.

Given the social issues, some of the city’s most prominent leaders’ political leanings began to shift. Among those who began identifying themselves as socialists, rather than Populist-Democrats or Republicans, were A. M. Yost, the patriarch of the Yost family, a major landowner and whose family owned a mill, lumber yard and multiple other businesses; and W. H. Schumacher, former grocery store owner, Edmonds Bank president and newspaper owner.

A.M. Yost’s sons, who ran many of the family businesses, remained Democrats.

At the end of February 1910, Edmonds residents voted for the first time to have the city join other cities in banning commercially available alcohol. Women’s suffrage and improving working conditions at the mills remained hot topics in the city.

Despite the citizenry voting to have Edmonds become a “dry” city, there remained a powerful faction of business owners and some governmental officials who were in favor of a “wet” vote. Without revenue from alcohol sales and operations of multiple saloons, the business owners’ influence waned and the city’s funding sources greatly diminished.

This set of conditions led to the rise of W. H. Cook 

The early years

William H. Cook was born in Nebraska in October 1859. After graduating from school, he went to work as a general laborer in the construction industry. Around 1890, he married Mary McSweeney, who had immigrated from Ireland.

The couple welcomed son Elias Columbus Cook on June 29, 1892 and daughter Zenna Eulou Cook on April 14, 1894 to their family. Sadly, W.H.’s wife passed away in 1896. 

A year and a half after her passing, W.H. Cook left his two young children with a friend and headed west. He arrived in Edmonds in 1898 and went to work as a laborer in one of the city’s shingle mills. Six months after arriving, Cook purchased a lot and built a house on 6th Avenue and Main Street.

In 1900, he requested that his children be sent westward. At the ages of 7 and 6, they traveled by themselves via train and boat to Edmonds. According to Zenna’s memoirs, they arrived on a gray misty morning and were met by their father at the dock.

Upon his children’s arrival, Cook enrolled them in the Edmonds school system where they excelled. By all accounts, Cook was a very attentive and involved father.

A man of many talents and interests

Once the family was settled, Cook continued to work as a laborer in the mills, being promoted to the status of “engineer” in 1908. During the same period, he opened an upholstery store and tinkered as an inventor on the side.

He patented a “current motor” that could be powered by tidal action or a running stream. Unfortunately, he could not find investors to back his invention, and the system was never developed.

Along with his business interests, Cook became involved with civic activities. Identifying as a socialist, he championed improved working conditions for mill workers, higher wages and wealth distribution. From 1902 to 1908, he unsuccessfully ran for Edmonds City Council and the mayor’s position on multiple occasions.

W.H. Cook declared the new mayor

In the lead-up to the fall 1910 mayor’s race, the Civic League – a driving force behind the “dry” vote – endorsed the incumbent Mayor William Keeler. Given the Civic League’s endorsement, the “wet” faction realized that it was unlikely that the mayor would be interested in holding a referendum on reinstating saloons and alcohol in Edmonds. So, they started to look at other candidates.

The main candidates for the mayor’s job, including dairy farmer C.D. Everton, did not come out strongly against a “dry” city. However, Cook – once again running as a socialist – stated that he was not opposed to a “wet” city so long as there were proper ordinances and law enforcement in place to ensure that it did not result in civil disobedience.

In a great surprise to many, Cook received the most votes and was declared the new mayor. However, many of the voters believed that the reason for his election was not due to his socialism, but due to the “wet” votes he garnered.

The Edmonds Tribune-Review published the results of the election on Dec. 3, 1910 with the following paragraphs midway through the article:

Mayor Keeler handily defeated his opponent (Everton) within his own party in the primaries, but the endorsement by the Civic League spelled his doom in the end.

Two weeks after being elected, W. H. Cook was interviewed by a reporter from the Tacoma Times. A three-column article appeared in the fourth page of the Dec. 23, 1910 edition.

In the article, the reporter asked W. H. Cook several questions, and his responses were then chronicled.

Reporter: “Is it true as the dispatches say, Mr. Cook, that you are a socialist?”

Cook: “I believe in the control of the merits of production by society, and the distribution of production among the workers on an equitable basis.”

Author’s note: The Tacoma Times inserted a comment stating that Mr. Cook had obviously read the works of Karl Marx.

Reporter: “How far do you expect to carry out a social administration in Edmonds?”

Cook: “None but a fanatic would think that one town alone could be operated in pure socialist fashion without the consent of the inhabitants. Before we can have pure socialism in Edmonds we have to have it in Washington and in the United States as a whole.”

Reporter: “What are you going to do right now as mayor?”

Cook:  “I hope to be able to make some things easier for the man who works, to make Edmonds a better town to live in. Anything I can do would be remedial now.”

Reporter: “The press dispatches stated that you won out in the election with the support of the ‘wets.’”

Cook: “There has been an attempt made to discredit my victory as a socialist.  Perhaps that explains it. I haven’t had a drink for many years.”

Author’s note: The Tacoma Times stated that Cook was indignant when he answered the last question.

W. H. Cook’s reign as mayor

Cook assumed the position of Edmonds mayor on Jan. 1, 1911. A council meeting was held in the City Hall building, which at the time was a wooden building on 5th Avenue North just north of Bell Street. By all accounts, the meeting was non-eventful as both the mayor and new city councilmembers became familiar with the city’s operations.

In January, Mayor Cook along with other councilmembers oversaw the finalization of the new city dock and the completion of the Carnegie Library building. During the final week of January, the city hall’s offices moved to the northwest side of the Carnegie Library building along with the city’s jail.

The library, which was located on the second floor, was scheduled to be dedicated two weeks later, on Feb. 17.

On Wednesday, Feb. 1, the mayor and city council met for the first time on the ground floor of the Carnegie Building. Unfortunately, as the Edmonds Tribune-Review reported the following day, the meeting was contentious.

The Edmonds Tribune-Review’s account of the proceeding read:

“While waiting for absentee councilmen Messrs Peterson and Anderson to arrive, Mayor Cook stated that he felt it was proper to say a few words about the new hall. For ten years, he said, the city fathers had been meeting in the old shack which was just vacated and there was no question that everyone was tickled to get out of it and into a fine building.  Then Mr. Cook started to explain the view the Socialists held of Mr. Carnegie’s charity.  He said no Socialist would thank Carnegie for his charitable soup, for the money so given had been wrestled from half-starved and ill-paid employees. Further he considered it unpatriotic to cherish Carnegie’s name, as Carnegie had made much of his money defrauding the United States government.

At this point, Councilman Beeson, a thorough stand-pat Republican, began to grow restive, and as the mayor showed no signs of letting up on his criticism of Carnegie, Mr. Beeson touched off a parliamentary bomb.  He suddenly moved to adjourn.  Councilman Garrett, seconded it, and when the mayor hesitated about putting the motion, Mr. Beeson called for ayes, and nays and the motion to adjourn was carried unanimously.  The mayor tumbled and announced that he would call the meeting to order and proceed to business.  This was done and business was taken up.”

Over the next two months Mayor Cook attempted to slowly reform the way the city’s operations worked but met strong headwinds from the city council on each of his ideas.

Less than three months after being elected as Mayor, W. H. Cook resigned. The Edmonds Tribune-Review article read: 

“The announcement in the bulletin window of the Tribune-Review was the first information that most citizens had that Mayor Cook, discouraged by the opposition he had met in carrying out his ideas of Socialistic “reform”, had suddenly resigned the office to which his aspirations had been for so many years.  It is generally understood that councilman Hall would be the logical candidate for the vacancy….”

After resigning

W.H. Cook continued to be a strong advocate for “Socialistic” reform after his resignation and continued to strongly criticize Andrew Carnegie for what Cook viewed as his “tainted charity.” Ironically, Cook’s daughter Zenna, who had strong ambitions of becoming a teacher, was one of the most frequent users of the Carnegie library and its resources.

Cook returned to working in the mills as an engineer and eventually had some success in working with mill owners to improve working conditions and wages in the city’s shingle mills.

Zenna Cook met her goal of becoming a teacher. She taught in the Edmonds School District for a year before moving to the remote Metlakatla School District near Ketchikan, Alaska, where she was instrumental in creating the school district’s entire curriculum. While there, U.S. President Warren Harding, visited the school district and had lunch with Zenna. Harding was the only U.S. President to have visited Ketchikan.

Later, Zenna moved to California, where she was a private tutor for children with disabilities and later spent many years teaching in the La Jolla school district.

After her death in February 1987 at age 92, she willed her belongings to the Edmonds Museum, a place she loved as a child, and a building dedicated while her father was mayor. The gift included many cherished items as well as a sizable cash bequest. The gift is still referred to as the “Cook Collection” at the museum.

Author’s final note: The city remained “dry” after Cook’s resignation.

Thanks go to the Edmonds Historical Museum, Sno-Isle Genealogical Society, Wikimedia and the Washington State Library for their assistance in researching this article.