Charles Cook, businessmen, politician (Canal Commissioner and State Senator), philanthropist and visionary, is credited with the establishment of Schuyler County (1854) and Havana, New York as its first County Seat; the Cook Academy (originally the People's College) began construction in 1858. Today the same facility is home to the New York State Academy of Fire Science. Cook also served as president of the Chemung Canal Trust Bank—the oldest continuously operating bank in the region dating to 1835. On November 20, 1886, a tribute service held at Cook Academy was attended by Governor David Hill and more than 1,000 citizens, associates and admirers of Cook. A bust of Charles Cook was dedicated at the tribute service. Charles Cook never married.