Ferdinand W.C. Cook was born on July 23, 1823 Harry Cook and Ann Bradwin Wright Cook. He was baptized William Charles Ferdinand Cook in St. Mary’s Church, Islington, London. At the age of 9, Ferdinand emigrated to America with his father and older brothers Henry (18) and Theodore (16), on board the ship Ontario. The ship arrived in New York City on April 17, 1833, about 3 months shy of Ferdinand’s tenth birthday. Murphy & Madaus note that Ferdinand Cook was 16 when he reached America, but this is not correct, and it is possible that they used the census records for brother Theodore to establish that age. In 1834, the rest of the family, including his mother Ann and brothers Arthur (15), Francis (13) and Frederick (5) immigrated to America as well and joined the Cook family in New York. It was in New York that Ferdinand, Francis and Frederick received their training in metal work and engineering, as all three worked for the "Novelty Iron Works" (formerly Stillman & Co), which was a large and well established engineering and industrial manufacturing company in the city. Along with their education, this on-the-job training gave all of them a real knowledge and skill with the engineering and manufacturing of heavy industrial equipment, foundry work, castings, and military armaments; the top-quality workmanship that Novelty Iron Works was known for in New York. While he was employed at Novelty Iron Works Ferdinand visited New Orleans in the early part of the 1840s, functioning as a sales agent for the customers of the company in that region. These were mostly businesses in the sugar and cotton industry. The allure of New Orleans must have been great, as Ferdinand moved there in 1845 and in 1849 married a local woman, Mary Jane Wilcox. In 1852 Ferdinand’s younger brother Frederick joined him in New Orleans and by 1855 his brother Francis had as well. The threesome established the Belleville Iron Works in Algiers, LA where they concentrated on manufacturing large-scale industrial machinery and agricultural equipment. This type of industrial engineering and manufacturing was practically unknown in the south, which had relied for decades upon northern manufactures for their machinery. The Cooks even dabbled in the manufacture of small arms and artillery, and as early as May of 1856 they had corresponded with US Secretary of War Jefferson Davis about the possibility of establishing a national foundry for the manufacture of canon and arms in New Orleans. While he was making his own business successful, Ferdinand remained a sales agent for the Novelty Iron Works, but by had 1861 resigned from that position. Brothers Ferdinand and Francis also spun off their small arms portion of the Bellville Works sometime in late 1860 or early 1861, establishing the Nashua Iron Company for the production of arms. This company was established on Canal Street in New Orleans proper, across the Mississippi River from their Algiers factory.