Meet the Coopers: Amos & Hannah Lloyd Cooper

The Cooper side of the family is large and complex. I've had an opportunity to speak with a few of the descendants over the past few years and through them I learned that Amos, who I consider our family head, had a father named William according to his marriage record. I have not delved into this information to any degree because it would require a trip East to Montgomery and Bucks Counties, Pennsylvania and that is not in the cards right now.

Amos was born in about 1772 in Montgomery County,  Pennsylvania. The Coopers were Quakers and attended the Horsham Monthly Meeting in Bucks County. In 1794, Amos and his intended bride, Hannah Lloyd appeared with their parents in front of several monthly meetings to state their intention to marry. On 12 Dec 1794, they married at the Haddonfield Monthly Meeting. The Coopers farmed in Northampton, Bucks County for several years quite successfully. In 1801, he was farming 73 acres with a value of about $1,000. His brothers also farmed near him. The couple had at least nine children, not all of them surviving to adulthood. In about 1806, the couple moved to Delaware for unknown reasons, but remained there only about two years before returning to Bucks County. Son William Lloyd Cooper was the only child born in Delaware.

1794 Wedding and its Witnesses

In July of 1825, the Cooper's appeared before the Quaker Monthly Meeting and requested they be allowed to remove themselves from their congregation so they could be the first pioneers in the family and head West. This was granted to the couple and their children.

Quaker Request for Removal

So, with that, the family made up of Amos, Hannah, George, John, Sarah, William LLoyd (my 3rd GG), Amos, Chalkley, and  Franklin departed for Illinois.

There was a large Quaker settlement near York, near the Crawford County, Illinois line. The family settled in first in Crawford, then in Clark County, Illinois according to the 1830 census. I found one little reference to Amos possibly being a justice of the peace in 1830. Beyond that, I don't know much about the couple once they got to Clark County. Amos and Hannah seemed both to have died about 1835.

The children thrived in the area and many went on to other parts of Illinois and my 3rd GG William Lloyd Cooper and his wife  Elizabeth Beams moved on to Stephenson County. After William's death, his wife Elizabeth would live with her daughter's family in Bremer County, Iowa. She would be buried in Stephenson County.