He is depicted as one of the affluent merchants in John Greenwood's satirical painting from the 1750s entitled Sea Captains Carousing in Surinam.

He devoted most of his energy to mercantile pursuits and local government in the 1760s, and in 1766 represented his Congregational Church in becoming a trustee of the new college in Rhode Island, later named Brown University.

[3] In the mid-1750s, the Boston portraitist, John Greenwood followed a group of sea captains and merchants to Surinam on the northeast coast of South America.

[4] Being commissioned by the merchants to create a satirical painting, Greenwood concocted a 22-figure tavern scene, showing himself among the affluent traders, all subject to the "intoxicating effects of alcohol and economic ambition.

As difficulties with Great Britain worsened, and the Continental Congress formed, Cooke became chairman of the Providence Committee of Inspection.

Meanwhile, the General Assembly took on a strong stance toward independence, and detailed four points against Wanton, after which the magistrates were forbidden to administer to him the oath of office during their June meeting.

[11] The town of Newport was highly exposed, being on an island in the Narragansett Bay, and one of the first acts of the Assembly under Cooke involved the removal of the colony's treasures, records and offices from there to Providence.

[9] Two vessels were to be manned and armed to protect the trade of the colony, and put under the command of Abraham Whipple, leader of the Gaspee raid, with the rank of Commodore.

[12] In January a memorial was adopted and forwarded to Congress by Cooke, detailing the exposed condition of the colony with its 130 miles of coastline, two navigable rivers and a hostile fleet in its waters constantly plundering the islands and shores.

[6] In late July 1776 the legal title of the government was changed by the General Assembly to "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations."

[16] In December 1776 seven ships and four frigates under the command of Sir Peter Parker appeared off Block Island and went up the sound to join a fleet of 70 transports with about 6000 troops, destined for Newport.

[17] Women and children in seaboard towns had already been advised to move, with their furniture, to the interior, and livestock was driven off from the larger islands.

[20] General Benedict Arnold was sent by Washington to Providence in January 1777 to assist with the defense of Rhode Island, and the Marquis de Lafayette entered service at the same time, greatly facilitating the American cause.

The general wrote two earnest letters on the subject, but when Cooke presented the situation to him, Washington ultimately approved of the plan, and thanked the State for its exertions.

[24] In addition to Cooke, his deputy governor, William Bradford, also declined re-election in 1778, and both men were publicly thanked by the General Assembly for "their patriotic zeal, firmness, and intrepidity.

"[6] Cooke's service and public record, said historian Thomas W. Bicknell, "give a high conception of the excellent good sense and wise judgment of the Governor.