Henry Christopher McCook (July 3, 1837 – 1911) was an AmericanPresbyterian clergyman,naturalist, and prolific author on religion, history, and nature. He was a member of the celebratedFighting McCooks, a family ofOhio military officers and volunteers during theAmerican Civil War.
McCook was born inNew Lisbon, Ohio, to Dr.John McCook and Julia Sheldon McCook. He learned the printing trade as a youth, then taught school for several years. attendedJefferson College. He was a member of theFranklin Literary Society and founded the chapter ofTheta Delta Chi atJefferson College.[1] After graduation in 1859, he studied theology privately and in theWestern Theological Seminary inAllegheny, Pennsylvania. With the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the41st Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment as achaplain with the rank offirst lieutenant, and helped tend the wounded. As a minister inClinton, Illinois,St. Louis, andSteubenville, Ohio, McCook became known for his compassion and intellect, and for his leadership in the movement to createSunday Schools. In 1869, he became pastor of the Seventh Presbyterian church ofPhiladelphia, where he lived for the rest of his life.
He spent his summers studying the behavior of ants and spiders. He published his observations and discoveries in a number of journals and books, as well as in a series of well-received illustrated children's books that explained the insects characteristics and traits in language and drawings for young minds. Many of McCook's books used illustrations drawn byDaniel Carter Beard, the founder of theBoy Scouts of America.
In the summer of 1877, he travelled toTexas to study agricultural ants. Two years later, McCook wroteThe Natural History of the Agricultural Ant of Texas. In 1889–93, he published his most ambitious work,American Spiders and Their Spinning Work, in three illustrated volumes. He also wrote a book on his ancestors in theWhiskey Rebellion, and delivered a number of papers on Civil War history at meetings of theMilitary Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States veterans organization.
McCook was Vice President of both theAmerican Entomological Society and theAcademy of Natural Sciences. In 1880,Lafayette College conferred the degree ofDoctor of Divinity to McCook. In 1895, he designed the official flag of the city of Philadelphia. He was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1896.[2] He again served as an Army Chaplain during theSpanish–American War in 1898.
Media related toHenry Christopher McCook at Wikimedia Commons
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
