Virgil Young Cook

Virgil Young Cook (November 14, 1848 – March 12, 1922) was an American military officer from Kentucky. He served in the 12th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment and 7th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment of the Confederate States Army from 1863 to 1865. He later moved to Independence County, Arkansas, and became one of the largest landowners of that area by the time of his death. He was major general of the Arkansas National Guard and served in the Spanish-American War, but saw no action.

Early life Virgil Young Cook was born on November 14, 1848, in Boydsville, Kentucky, as the youngest child of five to Pernecia (née Dodds) and William D. Cook. His father was a merchant and tobaccoist. His maternal grandfather John Craig Dodds was a Kentucky militiaman who served in the War of 1812 and in the Indian Wars. He transferred to Company H of the 7th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, the company commanded by C. W. Jetton and the brigade commanded by Edward Crossland. He also had real estate holdings in Batesville.

Cook was major general of the Arkansas National Guard. They had two sons and four daughters, Neva, Virgil Whitefield, a son who died in infancy, Bertha May, Jennie, and Varina Davis. His wife died in 1916. He later married Sarah B. (née Lanier) Wyse of Forrest City on April 28, 1920. He had the Cook-Morrow House, a brick residence on Main Street in Batesville, built for his family in 1909. He was a member of the Methodist Church in Batesville.

Cook died of "acute indigestion" on March 12, 1922, at his home in Batesville. He was buried in Oaklawn Cemetery. He was the richest resident of Independence County by the time of his death.