Robert Cooke, M.D.
Winters, Runnels County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Born in Emory, Texas, youngest son of William and Nancy Cooke. Attended Waco College (now Baylor University); medical school in Kentucky, received degree, 1886. Began practice, Kentuckytown. Moved to Winters area in 1889. Became town's first doctor; and deacon in first church and later pastor. Married 1886, Sallie Mitchell. Had five children. Beloved by all as physician and Baptist preacher.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Robert Cooke, a Texas-born son of pioneers, earned his medical degree in Kentucky in 1886 and came to the Winters area in 1889, becoming the fledgling town's first physician. He doubled as a man of the church — a Baptist deacon and later preacher — beloved as both healer of bodies and shepherd of souls.
Why it matters
The frontier country doctor who was also its preacher captures how single individuals often carried the whole weight of medicine and faith in a young western town.
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Related people
- · Robert Cooke
- · Sallie Mitchell
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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