He graduated from Yale College in 1750; from 1763 to 1783 he represented the town in about thirty sessions of the general assembly. He was justice of the peace in 1764.
In 1771 he was appointed colonel of the Sixteenth Regiment of Militia, and during the Revolutionary War he accompanied General Wolcott's forces to New York in 1776.
Cooke was in command of Continental forces when the British burned Danbury on April 26 and 27, 1777. He resigned his colonelcy early in 1778.
He was member of the council of safety in 1778; member of the State house of representatives in 1776, 1778, 1780-1782, and 1784; Member of the Continental Congress 1784-1785 and 1787-1788.
Cooke was judge of the probate court for Danbury district 1776-1813; served as one of the Governor's council in 1803.
He was interred in North Main Street Cemetery.