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Oscar F. Cooke family papers, 1856-1971

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Cooke, Oscar F.
Title
Oscar F. Cooke family papers
Dates
1856-1971 (inclusive)
1886-1971 (bulk)
Quantity
8.8 cubic feet, (15 document cases, 3 flat boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Collection Number
Coll 44
Summary
Papers and photographs of the family of Oscar F. Cooke of Portland, Oregon, including records of the West Hills Winery, records of the estates of Oscar and Ella Cooke, papers of Mary Lepper, Helen Lovin, and other relatives, and family photographs. Most of the materials, which date largely from the late 1880s to the early 1960s, are financial in nature and involve real estate holdings and estate litigation. Winery records include details on wine making operations and floor plans of the winery building.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Funding for additional processing and revisions to this finding aid was provided by the OHS Wine Archives fund.
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Historical Note

Oscar F. Cooke was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1869, the son of Herman and Matilda Cooke. He came to Portland from San Francisco with his parents, at the age of 7, but the family relocated to a land claim in Idaho and later settled near Fort Walla Walla. One of Cooke’s brothers, Hermon, became a lawyer, settling first in Tenopah, Nevada, and later in Reno. Another brother, James Daniel ("Dan") Cooke, was a farmer near Hillsdale, Oregon. Oscar Cooke returned to Portland in 1896 and started a general store at Sylvan. He became part owner of the Sylvan Brick Company, and later was a building contractor, farmer, and owner of numerous rental properties. He owned property throughout Multnomah and Washington Counties in Oregon, as well as in the City of Portland and southern Washington State. He began the West Hills Winery in the late 1930s and ran the enterprise until the early 1950s. He died in Portland in 1955.

Cooke was married in 1901 to Ella Marie Gateley (1877-1957), daughter of John Gateley (an Oregon pioneer of 1859), but the couple had no children. Ella’s sister, Mary Gateley Lepper (d. 1947), married John Lepper (d. 1915), and their daughter, Helen Lepper, married Clarence Lovin, who worked for a time for the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation.

After the death of Oscar and Ella Cooke, Ella’s niece, Helen Lepper Lovin, served as the executrix of the estate with the assistance of Portland attorney John Woerndle. There were many legal issues involved, including a conflict with John Vermillion, who had worked for the Cookes in the winery and who claimed to have been promised a portion of their legacy. Due to this and other problems, the estate was not settled until the mid 1960s.

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Content Description

The Cooke family papers consist primarily of business and real estate records, papers relating to the estates of Oscar and Ella Cooke, personal papers and family photographs, and records of the West Hills Winery. The winery records are largely financial in nature, but forms submitted to state and federal authorities provide details of the wine-making operation in the late 1930s and 1940s. Also included among the winery records are floor plans of the buildings, submitted as part of an application to install storage vats.

The papers relating to the Cooke estate document real estate holdings and transactions, primarily for properties in the city of Portland and in Washington County, Oregon. Much of the estate material was created by lawyer John Woerndle. Also included among the papers of Mary Lepper and Helen Lovin are records relating to real estate holdings in San Francisco.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright holders.

Preferred Citation

Oscar F. Cooke family papers, Coll 44, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series:

  • Series A: West Hills Winery records, 1930-1957
  • Series B: Oscar F. Cooke papers, 1898-1966
  • Series C: Ella Cooke papers, 1889-1971
  • Series D: Other family members' papers, 1856-1946
  • Series E: Photographs, circa 1870-1952

Custodial History

Much of the collection was preserved by Helen Lepper Lovin in the course of litigating the estate of Oscar and Ella Cooke. The materials were eventually gathered by Mrs. Lovin's son, James Marsh, who donated them to the Oregon Historical Society.

Acquisition Information

Library Accession nos. 26030, 26545, and 27301.

Processing Note

Much of the collection originally consisted of loose and unorganized papers. In processing, rough categories were created based on provenance, but some overlap remained, especially among the papers of the various estates.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Collection processed by Trudy Williams, Geoffrey B. Wexler, and Shawna Gandy. Finding aid prepared by Geoffrey B. Wexler and Shawna Gandy.
2007

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