Roy Bird Cook

Cook was born in Lewis County, near Roanoke, West Virginia. He took a home study course in pharmacy during high school, and in 1905 took the State Board of Pharmacy exam to become the state's youngest certified pharmacist at the age of 19.{{cite web|last1=Venham|first1=Christy|title=Roy Bird Cook|url=http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/1580|website=e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia|accessdate=24 October 2016}} He went on to practice pharmacy in Weston and Charleston, West Virginia.

He also maintained an active interest in the state's history. He helped found the West Virginia Historical Society, and wrote multiple books and articles on historical subjects.

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• Collins Settlement of Old (191?)
• "Pioneer Sketches of Lewis County"; serialized in the Weston Independent, 1916-17.{{cite web|title=Roy Bird Cook|url=https://lib.wvu.edu/collections/exhibits/Roy_Cook_JPG/|website=West Virginia & Regional History Center|accessdate=24 October 2016}}
• Alexander Scott Withers - Author of "Chronicles of Border Warfare" - A Sketch (1921), n.p.; unnumbered [but 15 pp].
• The Family and Early Life of Stonewall Jackson (1924), this work has been called "the first definitive study of Jackson's formative years,"{{cite journal|last1=Munn|first1=Robert|title=West Virginia Library Association Recognition Awards|journal=West Virginia Libraries|date=1957|volume=10|issue=4|pages=15|url=http://mds.marshall.edu/wvlib/94/|accessdate=24 October 2016}}
• Lewis County in the Civil War (1924)

Cook received the Remington Honor Medal in 1955 from the American Pharmaceutical Association, and the Award of Merit from the West Virginia Library Association in 1957.{{cite journal|last1=Munn|first1=Robert|title=West Virginia Library Association Recognition Awards|journal=West Virginia Libraries|date=1957|volume=10|issue=4|pages=14–16|url=http://mds.marshall.edu/wvlib/94/|accessdate=24 October 2016}}

Cook collected a lot of material pertaining to the history of West Virginia, including the history of farming in the state, the history of the 31st Virginia Infantry, additional Civil War and early West Virginia state history, and more. He is responsible for multiple collections of materials held at the West Virginia & Regional History Center.{{cite journal|title=Roy Bird Cook Collections Riches Revealed|journal=West Virginia and Regional History Collection Newsletter|date=Fall 2012|volume=28|issue=1|pages=1–5|url=https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/news/newsletter/2005-2014/v28n1.pdf|accessdate=24 October 2016}}

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Category:1886 births

Category:1961 deaths

Category:People from Lewis County, West Virginia

Category:20th-century American historians

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:Historians of the American Civil War

Category:Pharmacists from West Virginia

Category:20th-century American pharmacists

Category:Historians of Virginia

Category:Historians of West Virginia

Category:Writers from West Virginia

Category:20th-century American male writers

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