CORP FREDERICK HOLMES COOK
Frederick and Catherine Holmes Cook were the proud parents of eight children. Three were daughters~ Jeannette, Mary Ann & Catherine.
The remaining five were all boys starting with Frederick Thomas Jr (a baby who only lived one year) followed by a second baby boy named Frederick, then Charles, Harry & John.
This particular posting will be all about the second Frederick: his life as a member of the San Francisco police force and also his personal life.
In my original blog posting (from 2020), I had written that Frederick was the first born son named after his father. However, later research showed I was incorrect on this.
There was a baby born on November 24, 1870 who was given the same name as his father. Sadly, just three months into the New Year of 1871 , Frederick passed away on March 3. The cause of death was described of general debility: known as a state of physical or mental weakness, feebleness, or lack of strength and vigor, often caused by illness, injury.
Starting in 1870, San Francisco had what they referred to as the "Three Graces". This was the personification of the three epidemic diseases known as Malaria, Smallpox, and Leprosy, which were depicted in a political cartoon from 1882 by George Frederick Keller. The cartoon (as shown below), titled "San Francisco's Three Graces," used the mythological figures to satirize the discriminatory San Francisco authorities who blamed these diseases on the Chinese immigrant population and implemented quarantine and vaccination laws targeting them.
Three years later on Christmas Eve 1873, the Holmes Cook family celebrated the birth of a new son christened Frederick Holmes Cook.
The Holmes Cook family home in San Francisco was located at North East corner of Broderick and Northpoint streets. To date,I have not been able to locate a photo of what their home may have looked like. However, I was able to locate a few photos of what the houses in the Broderick Street area looked like at that time.
A California voters registration from July 15. 1896 describes Frederick Holmes Cook as follows.
HEIGHT: 5 Feet, 9 1/4 inches
HAIR: Dark Brown
EYES: Brown
CURRENT EMPLOYMENT: Electrician
It was also within this same year that Frederick would meet his future wife , Florence Ethel Winstanley.
Florence Ethel Winstanley
Born in May 1875 in California, Florence was one of four daughters raised by Clement and Ella (Nixon) Winstanley.
Clement was born in April 1846 in the town of Wandsworth Surrey England and arrived in the US in 1872. Her mother Ella Nixon was born on the East Coast in/abt 1850. An 1874 Census indicates Clement working as draftsman for an architect company called, Wright and Sanders in San Francisco.
Wright and Sanders were two English architects who began their practice in San Francisco around 1868. In fact, “The Mark Hopkins Mansion” (later the San Francisco Art Institute) on Nob Hill was designed by John Wright!
MARK HOPKINS
With its turrets and over-the-top decoration, the mansion was not beloved by architectural critics---one of whom called it "the last and worst of the railroad barons' palaces!"
In/around 1880, Clement registered for the army draft. After basic training, he worked as supply clerk in the Presidio and then later was promoted to Civil Engineer Chief of the quartermasters office, doing work as a topographer (someone who studies the surfaces of a land area and makes maps.
Sadly, his wife Ella died at age 48 on May 12, 1898- possibly due to the outbreak of Typhoid fever happening in San Francisco at that time. 16 years later, in 1914 while walking on the streets of San Francisco, Clement dropped dead of a heart attack. Both Ella and Clement are buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery.
On June 3, 1896 Florence and Frederick were married by the Rev. W.W Bolton (Photo on the right). The wedding took place at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary The Virgin San Francisco.
Two years later on November 16 1898, Florence gave birth to a baby girl they named Madeline Ella. Another baby girl would soon follow. Born on October 1, 1900 she was named Anita.
In what could only be described as a very challenging woman, Florence soon showed her true colors. As indicated in the news article above, she misappropriated the household funds while describing all cops as bums!
After twelve years of a loveless marriage and enough evidence on his side, Frederick was granted a divorce in December 1908. Florence was given custody of their two daughters.
In the following year of 1909, Florence passed away on September 16.
