Hannah C. Cook (maiden name: Pixley) was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, on March 30, 1817, to Phineas Pixley and Hannah Curtis. Her father was a blacksmith and a veteran of the War of 1812. Her mother died a few days after she was born. Her family moved to Ohio, and she married Moses H. Cook there. They had at least four children: Joseph, born around 1836; Myron, born around 1843; Alice, born around 1846; and Francelia, born around 1853.
They lived in Ohio until the early 1840s, when they moved to Crete, Illinois. Her husband worked as a farmer there, and by 1850, they owned $1,200 of real estate. A decade later, they owned $4,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property, and by 1870, they had $700 of real estate and $540 of personal property. Her husband died on November 17, 1882, and she passed away around 1887.