Mike,
First, congratulations on your Cook & Brother musket. It is quite rare and likely worth tens of thousands of dollars, depending on condition, etc.
Below is an informative article on the Cook & Brother Armory in Athens. The Cook and Brother Armory relocated to Athens after the fall of New Orleans to Union forces. Ferdinand W. C. Cook and Francis L. Cook were born in England and migrated to New Orleans where they were operating a small armory in l861.
One of the best in-depth sources of information on Cook & Brother rifles, carbines and musketoons is "Confederate Rifles and Muskets" by Murphy and Madaus.
Hope this is helpful to you.
Mike Bailey
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Cook and Brother Armory serves as reminder of Confederate effort in Athens
By Marion J. Rice
A significant reminder of the Confederate war effort stands in Athens on East Broad Street at Trail Creek, just across the bridge over the North Oconee. This classic building with symmetrical fenestration, a central stair tower, rock coursed first story and brick second, was speedily built in the summer and fall of l862 to house the Cook and Brother Armory to manufacture Enfield rifles.
Production ceased in the summer of l864 when the Confederate government failed to reimburse the Armory for its expenses, and the labor force, organized as the 23rd Battalion, Georgia Volunteers was called into service by Governor Brown. The property stood empty until l870.
It was then put up for forced sale, and was acquired by the Athens Manufacturing Company for $l8,000, a fraction of its value. Converted into a weaving mill for the Athens Factory, it was known as the Check Mill for many years from the weaving design of its popular cloth.
Later the building became part of the textile manufacturing complex known as The Chicopee Mill. These buildings were deeded to the University of Georgia by Johnson & Johnson in the mid-1980s. Most of the complex is now devoted to physical plant operations of UGA, but the armory building now houses the Business Outreach Services and Small Business Development Center.
The Cook and Brother Armory relocated to Athens after the fall of New Orleans to Union forces. Ferdinand W. C. Cook and Francis L. Cook were born in England. Eventually they gravitated to New Orleans where they were operating a small armory in l861. They had thrown in their lot with the Confederacy, and had made a contract with the government to manufacture Enfield rifles.
Before they could get rifle manufacturing underway, however, Farragut and the Union Navy had breached the defenses of New Orleans. As soon as Ferdinand Cook heard that Fort Jackson had been passed on March 24, 1862, he knew that the city would soon fall. Loading a schooner with iron and steel and loading as much armory equipment as possible on a steamboat, the Cooks headed upstream for Vicksburg. They searched for a new location to establish an armory, and eventually decided to relocate in Athens, with the assistance of private and Confederate loans.
Property was purchased on the east bank of the Oconee River in August and construction of the new armory began. All facets of work were expedited - building construction, recruitment and training of workers and assembling supplies. Operations began on Christmas day in l862. Eventually worker housing and other amenities were constructed, and the labor force formed into a militia unit for local defense, with Ferdinand given the rank of major and Francis that of captain.
From the outset, however, production was handicapped by the lack of skilled labor. Although some qualified men were detailed from the army, the labor problem never permitted the armory to achieve its projected capacity of 600 rifles a month. After the war, Francis L. Cook estimated that total output of all classes of rifles during the year and a half of effective operation, 1863 to mid-1864, some 3,800 to 4,000 rifles had been produced. Other miscellaneous items, including sorghum mills, were also made by the armory for civilian use. These were important in bartering for food to maintain the morale of the labor force.
The summer of l864 saw the termination of effective production. First, the Confederate government defaulted on payments for guns manufactured, and the Cooks were unable to pay their workers. Then, with the unsettled conditions of Sherman's movements, the labor force was activated as the 23rd Battalion and fought in the ''Little Gettysburg'' of Griswoldville (near Macon), where the Georgia militia suffered heavy casualties.
Survivors then became part of the Georgia militia under Major Gen. Gustavus W. Smith. He was ordered to the defense of Savannah and later to South Carolina to repel attacks from Union troops landing from gunboats to cut the Charleston and Savannah railroad. The 23rd Battalion fought in engagements near Grahamville and Honey Hill, S. C. and then in the defense of Savannah. In one of these Major Ferdinand Cook, was reputed to have recklessly exposed himself in an action near Hardeeville on Dec. 11. l864. With his death, the Cook and Brother Armory lost the guiding spirit of the enterprise.
Eventually most of the 23rd Battalion returned to Georgia from South Carolina with other militia via Augusta. While Armory Inspector Burton was enthusiastic about the Confederate government taking over Cook and Brother Armory and Ordnance Chief Gorgas had placed Athens under his supervision, time was running out. Before Master Armorer Charles Henry Ford of Richmond and Francis Cook could perfect a lease-back agreement with the Confederate government, Confederate forces surrendered on April 9, l865. All that Francis Cook was left with was Confederate IOUs and no U.S. dollars to finance any type of conversion to civilian use.
But the Cook and Brother Armory Building still stands as a significant reminder of difficult times in the history of Athens, and how people strove to survive. It is fitting that the Cook and Brother Armory Building, built for war, was resurrected for civilian use, and now serves an educational mission as part of the University of Georgia.
Dr. Marion J. Rice is professor emeritus of social science education at the University of Georgia and served as president of the Athens Historical Society