The Neverending Job: Robert Thompson Cooper, Again

AMOS COOPER > WILLIAM LLOYD COOPER > CHALKLEY JARED COOPER > ROBERT T

COOPER

Many moons ago, I had researched Capt Robert T. Cooper, stalwart and engaged citizen in some detail. You can read about it here. Doing the research is NEVER done. I do a round of research and then start all over again to see what new tidbits have been added to the volumes I've already collected.

I had already discovered that he lost his wife early in their marriage. I knew of some of his business dealings and his war record, but discovering his obituary recently filled in some of the blanks.

If you remember from reading about the Cooper's trip west, they were a Quaker family who left Pennsyvlania to go to a Quaker settlement at the edge of Crawford and Clark Counties, Illinois, where the pioneering journey of the family begins.

Nephew WW Fisher, a veterinarian, seems to have enjoyed his uncle's company. Joseph Cooper had early on worked with his brother Robert in the milling business when he was a tinsmith. He lived a full, fruitful life, but one without a life's companion by his side. Always kind of made me sad for him.

Joseph L Cooper: Spanish-American War Soldier

WILLIAM COOPER > AMOS COOPER > CHALKLEY JARED COOPER > JOSEPH L COOPER

Joseph

m Carrie Miles

Joseph L Cooper had a pioneering spirit like many of the Coopers. His daughter, Jessie, married a member of the Miracle Braves of 1914, Leslie Mann.  His parents, Chalkley Jared Cooper and Margaret Thompson had nine children and Joseph came along smack dab in the middle on 17 Mar 1849 in Rock Grove, Stephenson County, Illinois.

The Civil War was raging and many of his family had enlisted in the Army when at 13, Joseph attempted to fake his way into the Army himself. He failed, but would make up for it later. In 1874, he went to Nebraska and went into business with his brother Capt Robert T Cooper in the milling business at Seward. Joe was a tinner by trade and engaged in this business for several years at Seward, David City, Bloomington, Kearney, and Grand Island.

He married Carrie Miles, who had been born in Marengo, Iowa, on 31 Aug 1866 in Buffalo, Nebraska on 26 Dec 1881. They had three children: Fred Harmon, who died at age 30 in 1914 in Lincoln, Nebraska; Jennie L., who was born in Jul 1889 and died prior to 1920 in Nebraska, and Jessie L, who was born 02 Mar 1894 in Norfolk, Nebraska and died in 1969 in Los Angeles County, California.

The family moved to Lincoln in 1894. A couple years later, Joseph finally got his chance to serve when he joined up with Company E, 1st Nebraska Volunteer Infantry Regiment in 1898. He was issued a pension and his wife Carrie received his pension after his death. He started out at the Lancaster County fairgrounds which had become Camp Alvin Saunders before being sent by sea to the Philippines. He was nearly 50 years old.

"Camp Alvin Saunders was the muster in camp for the 1st and 2nd Nebraska Volunteer Infantry regiments for the Spanish American War. The camp was at the state fairgrounds in Lincoln, Nebraska. The camp was named after Alvin Saunders who was governor of Nebraska Territory during the Civil War. The camp had a short-life, primarily from April 26-May 19, 1898. The 1st Nebraska left Camp Saunders on May 16, 1898 for San Francisco and the 2nd Nebraska departed on May 19, 1898 for Camp Thomas, Chickamauga, Georgia. William Jennings Bryan, who became the Colonel and regimental commander of the 3rd Nebraska regiment, was reported being at Camp Saunders with “[a] corporals guard of volunteers” when the 2nd Nebraska departed on May 19. No recruits had been accepted yet for the 3rd regiment as of May 19, but these men were temporarily used to maintain order and guard the state’s property at the camp. The 3rd Nebraska assembled and mustered in at Fort Omaha beginning about June 12, 1898 so the stay of the regimental “cadre” at Camp Saunders was also very short."
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/military/SpanishAmericanWar/camp.htm

I recommend reading this very informative article on the 1st Nebraska Infantry here for details on the war and the unit where Joseph L. Cooper served.

The men of Company E enjoy Christmas dinner at
Camp Santa Mesa, December 25, 1898

The camp of Company E near the pumping station. 

Joseph returned to Lincoln after the war and worked as a day laborer. In 1920, he and Carrie were empty-nesters and he was running a second hand shop. I believe Jennie died between 1910-1920. In 1910 she was working in a factory. She is not listed as surviving on the obits of either Joseph or Carrie.

Carrie was greatly involved in the United Spanish War Veterans (USWV) Auxiliary and was a past president of the Lincoln Chapter. The couple lived at 1934 N 30th St in Lincoln for many years.

1934 N 30th St Lincoln

Joseph lived until 13 Dec 1930 and siblings Susie Cooper Jones, Chalkley Jared "Jay" Cooper, Jr., and Barton Gourley Cooper survived him. His wife Carried died 18 Dec 1944 in Lincoln.

See for update on Jennie L. Cooper Conklin go here.

Civil War in Stephenson County, Illinois

Battle of Fort Donelson

Franklin Boyd

I was recently going through some muster rolls for various Illinois Infantry Regiments and noticed that the bulk of our relatives served in one of two places: in the earlier part of the war, many of the family joined up with Co B, 46th Illinois Infantry. It was a kick-butt regiment that saw a lot of action. It fought at Ft Donelson, the Battle of Shiloh, and the Siege of Vicksburg, among other battles.

It was organized in 1861 at Camp Butler, Illinois and mustered out in January 1866 at Baton Rouge, La. The company was discharged two weeks later in early February 1866. The original 3-year enlistment of these men expired in 1864. The government asked them to voluntarily reenlist. It met with great success:

"With the initial three-year enlistment of the Regiment about to expire, the Government issued General Order number 191, relating to the re-enlisting of Veteran Volunteers. This was to be a voluntary re-enlistment, and with the enthusiastic support of the officers and noncoms, three-fourths of the 46th Illinois Volunteer Infantry signed up on January 4, 1864, for another three years or less, depending on how long the war was to last. The re-enlisted Regiment now numbered twenty officers and three hundred and thirty four enlisted men, who were embarked on a steamer headed north. They reached Freeport, Illinois on January 23, where they proudly marched through the town to a hall where the citizens gave them a big reception and dinner. After the festivities ended, they marched out to the fairgrounds west of town, where they were given a 30-day furlough.

Having made a name for itself, the 46th Illinois was able to attract new volunteers to join the ranks. Recruiting offices were set up in Lee, Ogle, Whiteside, and Stephenson counties, hoping to bring the Regiment back to full strength by the end of the leave. On March 2, 1864, the Regiment left Freeport with a total of nine hundred eighty-seven men, heading south." http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/cw46-hist.html

Included in this bevy of soldiers from both the original group and the later additions were the following family members:

• Private Franklin Boyd (married Elizabeth Beams Cooper, youngest daughter of William Lloyd & Elizabeth Beams Cooper)

  

  Capt Robert Cooper

• Private Amos J Cooper (son of John L. Cooper and Asenath Maples)
• Captain Robert F Cooper (son of  Chalkley Jared Cooper and Margaret Thompson)
• Private George Washington Cooper (son of John L Cooper and Asenath Maples)
• Private Jonathan E. Thompson (son of Robert Thompson and Susannah Gourley).
• Private Robert Scott Thompson (son of Robert Thompson and Susannah Gourley. Two of their children married Coopers)
• Private Peter Wagner (son of William Wagner, brother to Mary Waggoner, wife of Peter Smull)
• Private Jacob N Kryder (brother-in-law to Catherine Smull, daughter of Peter Smull and Mary Waggoner)
• Private Jacob Lauck (brother-in-law to Emma Meyer Lauck, granddaughter of Peter Smull and Mary Waggoner)

Another Thompson, Private John A. "Jack" Thompson, brother to Johnathan E. and Robert Scott Thompson, served in Co A of the 11th Illinois Infantry and died in battle at Fort Donelson in February 1862.

The other Stephenson County-heavy company with several family members, was Company E, 147th Illinois Infantry. It was organized late in the war, at the beginning of February 1865 and was mustered out in late January 1866 They had a brief fighting history and mostly engaged in minor skirmishes and engaged with guerrillas.

Sgt John Smull

• Sgt Johnathan Smull (son of Peter Smull and Mary Waggoner)
• Private Samuel Smull (son of Peter Smull and Mary Waggoner)
• Private Barton Gourley Cooper (son of Chalkley Jared Cooper & Margaret Thompson)
• Private Alfred Kaup (his daughter Minnie Kaup married Chalkley Jared "Jay" Cooper, Jr.)

Susannah Gourley Thompson, Oldest Rock Grove Resident

JOSEPH GOURLEY > SUSANNA GOURLEY m Daniel Thompson

We don't have a plethora of southern antecedents. Most come originally from the Puritan northeast US, not the more free-wheeling commerce-driven settlers who landed in Virginia and parts south.

Yet, the Gourley's had long been in Loudoun County, Virginia. Their origins are most likely Scottish and their presence in Virginia goes back until at least the mid 1700s. I've found indications that they were Quakers. Waterford, the town in which Susanna's father Joseph was born, was a Quaker settlement started by Pennsylvanian Amos Janney in 1733. Joseph and his wife Grace Morgan's antecedents started from Pennsylvania. I'm slowly chipping away at the story.

The birthday gift giving list looks like
Who's Who of my family tree

Susanna was one of at least eight children born to Joseph Gourley and Grace Morgan. In some of my research of Grace's family, it appears they may have been part of the Keithian Quakers, a group that split from the Friends in 1690 over disagreements on things like water Baptisms, which the Quakers had foregone some time previously. These Keithian Quakers often ended up as Baptists. If you hear the term Baptist Quaker or Primitive Baptists, that's most likely what's being referred to. It walks like a Quaker and talks like a Quaker, but isn't a Quaker. This makes sense as most of the Cooper's who settled in Iowa ended up as Baptists.

This interesting story comes from a Gourley relative, Patty, who shared the information online:

"A letter from Mary Verniece Byrd, one of the descendants of Susannah Gourley Thompson, dated April 18, 1973, to Reeva Decker. Susannah Gourley, born 1801, married Robert Thompson, born 1799, in Louden County, Virginia. She was born in either Pittsylvania County or Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Susannah Thompson had a son Scott who was much younger than her other children and full of the devil. Scott's wife Marietta was alive in 1937 as my little boys and I stopped to visit her a few hours in passing through. It is through her that I got my history about Susannah Gourley Thompson as she knew her well before she died. She told me that Susannah Gourley Thompson said that she well remembered the War of 1812. She had 3 brothers who fought in it. Her father - Joseph Gourley- was too old but he hauled provisions to the soldiers at Point Lookout, Maryland. If you look on your map it is a point south of Washington, D. C. at the edge of the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac River joined. She said she wore a blue dress and stood in a wagon, and waved a flag as the soldiers marched by. She would have been at least 11 years old." 

Susanna married Daniel Thompson about 1819. Daniel was born about 1800 in Virginia. Unfortunately, after having 11 children, he died in his 40s after their arrival in Stephenson County, Illinois.  Susanna's siblings spread out as well, some staying in various parts of Virginia and some moving to Clark and Crawford County (remember, there was a very large contingent of Quakers in the area), and then on to Livingston County or Stephenson County, and one to Champaign County, Ohio.

Susanna's son Daniel, born in 1828 in Virginia, married into the Quaker Cooper family, marrying Ann Cooper on 05 May 1850 in Illinois. They had seven children before he died prematurely at age 37 in Osage, Mitchell County, Iowa in 1864. His will made his wife not only the beneficiary of his estate, but the sole executor of Daniel's will.

Susanna's daughter Margaret Ann, was born 28 Oct 1821 in Virginia. She married a Cooper, as well, marrying Chalkley Jared Cooper on 28 Jul 1840 in Crawford County, Illinois. C J and Margaret had nine children before Margaret's death in 1880 in Rock Grove. CJ survived until 1885.

Susanna eventually became Rock Grove's oldest citizen. She had her 83rd birthday in 1884, but she still had a lot of life left in her. She resided with son-in-law CJ Cooper in some of the last years of her life. "Grandma Thompson," as she was known by all, lived on to the age of  97 and died of complications of age cared for by her daughter Grace. She outlived all but two of her children.

I hope to talk a little more about some of the other Thompson kids in a future post.

Walton Ward Fisher, DVM in Seward, Nebraska

WILLIAM COOPER > AMOS COOPER > CHALKLEY JARED COOPER > MARY E COOPER > Joseph Fisher > WALTON WARD FISHER, DVM

Seward Courthouse & Fire Dept 1910

Joseph Fisher was the son of Jacob and Mary Fisher who had come from Berks County, Pennsylvania to Oneco, Stephenson County, Illinois prior to 1850. In about 1860, he married Mary Ellen Cooper, daughter of Chalkley Jared Cooper and his wife Margaret Ann Thompson. Mary Ellen was the second of nine known children, born 19 Mar 1843 in Clark County, Illinois.

Mary Ellen and Joseph had one known surviving son, Walton Ward Fisher, born on 29 Jun 1868, prior to her death in 1873. In 1880, W W Fisher was not living with his father, but with his Grandfather C J Cooper, Great Grandmother Susan Gourley Thompson, and aunt Susan Lavica Cooper. His father died on 22 Sep 1881. Both of his parents were buried in Rock Grove Union Cemetery in Stephenson County.

The next sight of Walton is in 1896 when he's living in Nebraska and has married Ruth Hill. Ruth's family was from Cole County, Illinois and her parents had come to Nebraska when she was seven years old.

Walton Ward Fisher, DVM

In 1900, the couple are living in Madison Township in Fillmore County, Nebraska where they are farming. In 1910 they are living in Seward and Walton is working as a contractor. Seward is located just West of Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1913, most of the town's people were attending "the big ball game" south of town when a tornado decimated over 15 blocks, killing 13. In 1918, a modern high school was built. The population reached nearly 2,000 after the rebuilding.

At some point, he attends college (possible UNL) and receives his veterinary degree. In 1918, he is listed in the Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association Journal as practicing n Seward, Nebraska.

Walton Bruce

This also launches him into the "professional" category in town which gave them a higher social standing. Mrs. Fisher was very active in community affairs, but particularly the Order of the Eastern Star. They had three children: Rebecca Louise "Louise", Meda Hill, and Walton Bruce.

In 1927, Walton and his daughters returned to Stephenson County for their first visit since he left for Nebraska to visit a Fisher relative.

The daughters would both become schoolteachers. In 1931, Louise went to Chicago high schools to teach and Meda first went to Idaho, but then also joined Louise in Chicago. Neither would ever marry.

R Louise

Son Walton Bruce "Bud" Fisher married Mary Louise McCreavey and became an insurance salesman and moved to Ft Wayne, Indiana. By the mid-1940s, the growing family would be living in Oak Park, Illinois.

WW and Ruth moved to River Forest, Illinois in about 1940 to be near the rest of the family. WW Fisher died 18 Mar 1953 in Cook County. Ruth would die suddenly on 21 July 1955 while traveling with her daughters in Greeley, Colorado.

All of the children of the Fisher's would eventually end up in Florida. R Louise died 21 Dec 1996 in New Port Richey, Meda Hill died in Dec 1965 in Sarasota, and Walton Bruce 27 Feb 1971 in Brooksville. Walton Bruce and his wife had seven children, One would died at age 9 of illness in Illinois and Walton Thomas "Tom" would die in an auto accident on 24 Mar 1966. He was a junior linebacker for the University of Tennessee who died in a car-semi accident on his way back from Spring Break. Another player was killed and one very gravely injured in the crash. The Tom Fisher Memorial Stadium was built in his honor at Hernando High School, where he attended, in his honor.

Alice Emrick, Grocer

AMOS COOPER >  CHALKELY JARED COOPER > MARGARET COOPER m George Emrick > ALICE EMRICK

Grocery store once operated by Alice Emrick in Glendale

Alice Emrick was born to George Emrick and Margaret Anna Cooper on 03 Oct 1882, according to
family records. The date of the family’s move from Stephenson County, Illinois to Seward County, Nebraska is unknown, but occurred after her birth, but before 1900.

Robert Cooper, profiled previously, lived with the Emrick's in 1910.

Alice’s mother Margaret died in Seward County in 1914. Alice lived with her father, caring for him until sometime in the mid-1920s, when she moved to Glendale, Los Angeles County, California and became a grocer. Sometime during the period in Seward, she married a man named Moler, for whom no further information is available. She was listed as a widow for the 1930 census.

Alice operated a couple of neighborhood markets, one of which was located at 310 E California St in Glendale. The building is still standing and is still being used as a grocery. She had previously been at 471 W Harvard St in Glendale for a few years.

Her father George resided with her until his death in 1933. Brother Bert Cooper Emrick, a salesman, and his wife Lela also resided in Glendale. By 1936, she had retired and she died in 1940 at the age of 57.

SEE THE UPDATE ON THIS STORY HERE.

Captain Robert T Cooper

WILLIAM COOPER > AMOS COOPER > CHALKELY JARED COOPER > CAPT ROBERT T COOPER m Emma Brenizer

Robert T Cooper was the first-born child of Chalkely Jared Cooper, Sr and Margaret Ann Thompson, in Clark County, Illinois on 24 May 1841. The family removed to Rock Grove, Stephenson Co., Ill., in 1844. As a youth he worked on the family farm in the summer months and attended school during the winter.

He was sworn into the US Army on Sept. 10, 1861. He was mustered into the service as Sergeant of Co. "B," 46th Regiment Illinois Infantry, on Sept. 14, 1861, at Springfield, Illinois, and did camp and drill duty. He fought in the battle of Fort Donelson, Kentucky on Feb. 16, 1862, where his uncle, John A. “Jack” Thompson (son of Susannah Gourley and Robert Thompson) also served.

During the battle of Shiloh, Tenn., on April 6, 1862, he was severely wounded in the left arm and was furloughed home. He returned to his company and regiment at La Grange, Tenn., July 7, 1862. He fought with his company until the close of the war. He received his final promotion to Captain on Dec 23, 1864. He was mustered out at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Jan. 20, 1866, and was discharged at Springfield, Illinois, Feb. 2, 1866.

When he arrived back in Stephenson County, the attended college in Peoria, Ill., and graduated in 1866. He went into the mercantile and grain business in Rock City, Illinois until 1869, when he was elected county treasurer. After he served 4 years, he moved to Seward, Nebraska and purchased the Blue Valley flour mill in Holmesville. Brother Joseph L Cooper worked with him in his business interests there.

He ran for and was elected as County Treasurer in 1881 and was considered for State Treasurer at one
point. He served two terms and then served as County Clerk for two years before returning to business pursuits.

He was married to Emma J. Brenizer in 1887. They had two children; the first died in infancy in 1888, their second, Emma, died at age 5 years in 1894. He engaged in farming and stock raising until 1890 when his wife died, three months after Emma’s birth. He then retired from active business at Seward, where he died 12 Sep 1916.

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.

Cooper Family Stories

This page features the stories related to the descendants of Amos Cooper and Hannah Lloyd.

AMOS COOPER & HANNAH LLOYD

Meet the Coopers: Amos & Hannah Lloyd Cooper
Mystery Muddle: The Legend of James Fennimore Cooper  

   JOHN L COOPER

        John L Cooper's Kids

        Civil War in Stephenson County

        ALFRED JAMES COOPER
        Alfred James Cooper, A Restless Guy
        LINA COOPER
        Trailblazing Women: Angie Debo, Historian Pt 1
        Trailblazing Women: Angie Debo, Historian Pt 2
        ALFRED D COOPER
        Together Forever: Alta & Elva Cooper  

     AARON WASHINGTON COOPER
     Aaron W Cooper & His Neighbors

       HANNAH H COOPER
       Hannah H Cooper, Crazy as a Hawk 

   WILLIAM LLOYD COOPER

    On the Road....Stephenson County, Illinois and Grant County, Wisconsin
    William Lloyd Cooper & Elizabeth Beams
    Mystery Muddle: Truth, Legend, or Something In Between  

            ANN COOPER
            Susanna Gourley Thompson: Rock Grove's Oldest Resident
            LORENA THOMPSON
            Peter Smull: Samuel Smull of South Dakota
            The USC Trojans: Willis Smull's Children
            OMAR HAZZARD THOMPSON
            Scandal Sheet: The End of the Frank & Grace Noble Marriage
            ALMEDA HANNAH THOMPSON
            Trailblazing Women: The First Woman Methodist Minister in Oregon

            HANNAH COOPER
            Hannah Cooper of Spring Grove 
            Levi Bolender and Sarah Haas
            Jacob Marean and Mary Bolender

            JAMES COOPER
            James Cooper, Livery Man

            MARY JANE COOPER
            Peter Smull Family: Sgt Johnathan Smull

            ELIZA COOPER
            The Hennich Family & the Burwell Tornado of 1905

            ELIZABETH BEAMS COOPER
            The Boyds of Plainfield
            Roy Boyd, Plainfield Merchant
            Miss Hazel Boyd, Woman of Substance
            Frank Ross Boyd, Merchant of Horton
            Civil War in Stephenson County

    CHALKELY JARED COOPER

      Susanna Gourley Thompson, Rock Grove's Oldest Resident
        
        ROBERT T COOPER
        Capt Robert T Cooper
        Civil War in Stephenson County
        The Neverending Job: Robert Thompson Cooper, Again

        MARY ELLEN COOPER
        Walton Ward Fisher, DVM, Seward, Nebraska

        BARTON GOURLEY COOPER
        Civil War in Stephenson County 
        CLAUDIUS MILTON COOPER
        Ma, The Rawleigh Man is at the Door: Claudius Cooper 
        THEODORE LLOYD COOPER
        Willow Creek, Montana - Part 1 Theodore Lloyd Cooper
        FRANK OSCAR COOPER
        Willow Creek, Montana - Part 2 Frank Oscar Cooper
     
        JOSEPH L COOPER
        Joseph L Cooper: Spanish War Soldier
        JESSIE COOPER
        The Miracle Braves of 1914: Leslie Mann
        JENNIE COOPER
        Jennie Cooper Conklin

        MARGARET ANN COOPER     
        More Coopery: George Emrick and Family
        ALICE EMRICK
        Alice Emrick, Grocer

        SUSAN LOVICA COOPER
        Case Solved: Susan L Cooper  

        CHALKLEY JARED "JAY" COOPER
        Civil War in Stephenson County

   FRANKLIN COOPER

       WILLIAM CLAYTON COOPER
       William Clayton Cooper of South Dakota

Willow Creek, Montana - Pt 2: Frank Oscar Cooper

"Poker Crew- Bill Taylor, Ted Heily,Johnny Jenkins, Frank Black, Frank Cooper,WN Nixon" - 1935 Ron V. Nixon Collection - Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University - Bozeman 

William Cooper > Amos Cooper > Chalkley Jared Cooper > Barton Gourley Cooper > Frank Oscar Cooper

Chalkley "Charley" Cooper, Frank Cooper's grandfather, found most of his children decamp from the Stephenson County, Illinois area and remain in parts west. One exception was Barton Cooper. He did leave Illinois for the untapped prairie of Prairie, Jewell County, Kansas for about eight years in the 1870s/1880s. He and his first wife, Mary's first addition arrived months after the great blizzard of April 1873 and before the holidays, 21 Dec 1873 in the form of Frank Oscar Cooper. In the early 1880s, the Coopers returned to Stephenson County and remained there

Frank moved from Stephenson County to Seward County, Nebraska, where he was found in 1900. Several other of Charley's children had either settled there permanently or had lived there temporarily. In that year, he married his first wife, Anna Diers Dupin, daughter of Joseph W. Dupin and Georgia A. Fairleigh. They had three children before Anna died in 1914 not terribly long after arriving in Willow Creek, Montana. She was buried in Seward.

That year, Frank headed west to Willow Creek, Montana. His brother Theodore also arrived that year (see that story here). A young widow named Anna Matilda Shogren Holden married Frank in 1916. She had one child, Leslie Holden. Between the three children Frank had with Anna Dupin, the five they had together, and Leslie, there were nine kids. Son Jack took over the ranch from his father and continued the ranching legacy which has now reached into its fourth generation.

Jack Cooper

Willow Creek.

According to the family website, the history of the land went like this:

"Recorded as the Silver Brook Farm by the County Clerk on November 28, 1914, the original homestead of 480 acres was settled by Frank Oscar Cooper. He raised farm animals and harvested a large garden before losing the land during the Great Depression. After receiving a Land bank loan for $200/year, Frank repurchased the land. In 1946, his son Jack bought the land and continued to run a general farming operation for several years.

In 1977, after studying Ag-Production at Montana State University, Jack's son Mark returned to Willow Creek permanently to assist with the ranching and farming operations. Mark began actively working with registered cattle as a teenager under the tutelage of his father. He and his wife Cristy now manage the ranch which consists of over 5,000 acres." http://www.cooperherefords.com/

In 1942, daughter Marjorie moved to Vancouver, Washington, where she worked for Kaiser Ship Builders, designing "baby flattops" for the war effort. She then enlisted in the US Navy. She was stationed in Washington, DC, where she drew maps showing where the US fleet was during WWII. Her sister Connie also served as a WAVE for two years.

All nine children have died: Leslie Holden (Anna Shogren's son); Mary Verniece, Howell Raymond "Raymond", and Helen Dorothy (Anna Dupin); Jack Lawrence, Marjorie Lee Jenny, Betty Ann, Clee Scott "Scott", and Constance "Connie," but the legacy of what Frank Oscar Cooper and his children built remains.

CASE SOLVED: Susan L Cooper

Amos Cooper > Chalkley Jared Cooper > Susan L Cooper

Bellingham, WA 1910

I complained recently about how difficult it is to trace women "back in the olden days" because of marriages and the loss of their original identity. In hunting down the children of Chalkley Jared Cooper, this really impacted my work.

Chalkley "Charley" Cooper and his wife Margaret Ann Thompson married in 1840 in Crawford County, Illinois and had nine children. They are, in order:

Capt Robert T Cooper > Emma Brenizer

Mary Ellen Cooper > Jacob M Fisher

Barton Gourley Cooper > (1) Mary Magdaline Bollinger (2) Alice Bollinger

Joseph L Cooper > Carrie L Miles

Margaret Anna "Annie" Cooper > George Emrick 

Amy/Ann Cooper (mystery to be solved)

Susan Lavica Cooper > William May "May" Jones

Chalkley Jared "Jay" Cooper, Jr. > Minnie Janet Kaup

Harlin Cooper (year of birth unknown, died young before 1880)

I found very little to support Susan's existence until I found an obit for Joseph L Cooper. It said he was survived by "a sister, Susie Jones Bellingham of Washington." Hmm. 

Then, I found the Washington Death Records. They list an incorrect first name for her father, but the last name was correct. A person who put a family tree on Ancestry had the wrong first name for her husband which sent me down a road to futility. Doing some tricky backwards detecting, I finally found, and definitely confirmed Susan's story and her later lineage. The gap in information from 1881 to 1899 due to the infamous missing 1890 US Census could be overcome! If she hadn't lived in Washington during those missing years, where was she? She wasn't back home in Stephenson County. Several of her brothers went to Nebraska. Maybe they were close by. 

Susan was born in 1853 in Stephenson County, Illinois. She moved west sometime prior to 1900 when she was both married to W. May Jones and living in Hiawatha, Nebraska. I also found reference they had also lived in Jewell County, Kansas in the 1880s - her brother Barton had also lived there in the late 1870s/early 1880s. They had three children in Jewell: 

Lyman Llewellyn Jones

Edward James Jones

Ira Truman "Casey" Jones

In about 1904, the family arrived in the wild west mining, lumber, fishing/canning town of Bellingham, Washington, where they settled, with the exception of their brief stint in Chilliwack New Westminster, British Columbia. Susan was a piano tuner and lived until 1934, when she died at the age of 81. Her husband May either sold or built sewing machines and farmed during his time in Canada and died prior to Susan on 15 Aug 1931 in Bellingham. Her children survived her. She died 16 Sep 1934.

Ira T. Jones was the fire chief of Bellingham under two administrations and served as assistant chief between political appointments. He retired in 1943. He had a giant cacti collection, which he began selling off in 1943. In 1946, he and his wife bought a beautiful new home. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1970. Ira died in 1978 in Bellingham, and Iona, his Icelandic wife, died in 1990 in Seattle.

Ira named his oldest child Clayton Cooper Jones, further reinforcing the theory that Susan had been found. Ira died in 1978.

I have more items to provide as proof, but will be posting these privately. I'm happy to answer any questions about this research. Fill out the contact form on this page and I'll get back to you!

The Miracle Braves of 1914: Leslie Mann

William Cooper > Amos Cooper > Chalkley Jared Cooper, Sr > Joseph L Cooper > Jessie Cooper

Young Les Mann

and Leslie Mann

The great extended Cooper clan of Pennsylvania was everywhere in the Stephenson/Winnebago counties area by the late 1800s. Amos, the first pioneer, who had settled in Clark County, Illinois had a large family which included Chalkley Jared Cooper and his wife Margaret Ann Thompson who had found roots in Stephenson County. They were successful and very well-regarded citizens of Rock Grove.They had nine children, the fourth being Joseph L Cooper, who headed west to Nebraska.

Joseph married his wife, Carrie Miles, born in Marengo, Iowa, on 26 Dec 1881 in Buffalo, Nebraska. He lived in Norfolk, and was later a day laborer in Lincoln and eventually ended up in Omaha, owning a second-hand shop. They had three children: Fred Harmon, who died at age 30 in 1914, Jennie, and Jessie. Jennie is not listed as a surviving child in her parents' obituaries, so I would guess she too died young.

Jessie met Leslie Mann, a star 4-letter man who attended Lincoln High in Lincoln, and married him immediately after his graduation, on 04 Mar 1911 across the river from Omaha in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Leslie was the son of Samuel and Minnie Mann of Lincoln. Leslie and his brother Chauncey (Channing) R Mann, both stood out on the athletic field. Both would make athletics/education/service their life's calling. Les looked back later in life on his greatest sports moment and he said it was the football game between Lincoln High and Omaha Central in 1909 or 1910. Football would remain the game he loved best.

Miracle Braves of 1914

Leslie attended Springfield YMCA college in Springfield, Mass, where he also 4-lettered. In 1913, he joined the Boston Braves and played in the World Series as an outfielder on the "Miracle Braves of 1914." The team had moved from dead last in the rankings in the last two months of the year and ended up taking it all in four games straight (you can read more about that here).

Les Mann as a Cub

In 1915, he moved on to play with the Chicago Cubs and played in the 1918 World Series between the Cubs and Boston Red Sox. It was while in Chicago that their only child, Leslie Mann, Jr., was born in 1918. Mann would have an RBI single off of the famous Babe Ruth in Game 4 of the 1918 World Series. He would later also play for the St Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Giants.

Baseball wasn't the million dollar contract game then that it is now, so Les coached between seasons. He taught basketball at Amherst from 1915-1917, and Phys Ed at Rice Institute from 1919-1924. During the first World War, he worked at Camp Logan in Texas for two years. He was the head basketball coach for Indiana University in the 1922-23 and 1923-24 seasons and at Springfield College in the 1924-25 and 1925-26 seasons.

Once he retired as a player and coach, Mann became an advocate for baseball as an international sport. He founded the USA Baseball Congress and organized a 20-game tour of Japan in 1935. He was also largely responsible for baseball being selected as a demonstration sport for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. He went on to found the International Baseball Federation, which organized an international championship in England in 1938, Cuba in 1939, and Puerto Rico in 1941.

Spalding Official Base Ball Guide

During World War II, he worked for the USO, first as director of the federal USO building in Tampa,
Florida, and later as director of the mobile division of the USO for the West Coast area.The family, after a life on the road, settled in the Pomona/Pasadena area of California and Les remained mostly retired after the War. Les wrote many books on various sports.

Coach Mann, Indiana University Basketball, 1922-23

Tragically, Leslie's California retirement was cut short. Despite his athletic background and good health, Les and Jessie were driving in Pasadena on 14 Jan 1962 when Les complained of feeling faint. Moments later, he had a massive heart attack, lost control of his vehicle, and hit two parked cars. Mrs. Mann survived the crash, but Les died of the heart attack that day at the age of 67. Jessie died 08 Jul 1969.

Jessie & Leslie's son Leslie grew up to serve in the US Navy during World War II as an Ensign. After the War, he attended Stanford Law School. He married and was a successful attorney in Pomona who later resided in Scottsdale, Arizona. They had a son, Leslie Mann III.