James Cooper, Livery Man

WILLIAM COOPER > AMOS COOPER > WILLIAM LLOYD COOPER m Elizabeth Beams > JAMES COOPER m Clorinda Evans

You can read a little about the Coopers here.

Clorinda Evans

James Cooper was born in 1839 in Illinois to William Lloyd Cooper and his Kentucky wife, Elizabeth Beams. In 1871, he married Clorinda Evans, whom was called "Aunt Toad." She was born 20 Aug 1847 in York, Clark County, Illinois. Her parents were Willliam and Jane. Jane remarried after her husband's death to a gent name Stuck, who also preceded her in death.

The young couple located from Rock Grove, Stephenson County to Hutsonville, Crawford County for the 1870 census. They moved to Plainfield, Bremer County, then they located to Nashua, Chickasaw County, Iowa, just a few miles from Plainfield. James operated a livery and feed stable in Nashua for many years.

In 1900, the couple had a niece, Saidie Smull, living with them as a servant (Mary Jane and Johnathan Smull's daughter) as well as Clorinda's mother, Jane Stuck, in Nashua. In about 1902, he sold the business which was located in a barn just north of CW Taylor's garage and packed up his household, moving back to Plainfield. In 1905, the folks who purchased the livery auctioned off the livery property and assets. Even in retirement, James made the news:

"James Cooper is chock full of aches and pains today, the result of a little runaway yesterday. He was fitting a new harness onto his team and as the last tug was snapped, as there was nothing to hold them, they started out of the barn as they are in the habit of doing. Mr Cooper grabbed for the reins and caught one near the bit. But, they had started down the incline and pulled them right along until they got into the street when he was thrown down, one of the horses' hoofs striking him on the head and a wheel running over him. The team ran up the street west past the hotel until they reached Mrs Moody's residence, where they again turned, and by a narrow margin missed running into Mr Foster's milk wagon. The lines winding around one of the hubs pulled them down to a walk and Mr Foster captured them."

Nashua Reporter April 2, 1903

James and Clorinda were noted in the local paper as having received many visitors to their home. Sister Ann Cooper Thompson Hardy was a frequent visitor. James died after several years' illness on 08 Oct 1912 in Plainfield.

The couple had no children, but as mentioned in Clorinda's obituary, "She outlived her generation, there being no blood relatives, except perhaps distant cousins, but during her later years, she had had the kind care of those in the community related to her by marriage."

Clorinda died 29 Oct 1932 in Plainfield.

1899 Ad, Nashua Reporter

Trailblazing Women: The First Woman Methodist Minister in Oregon

WILLIAM COOPER > AMOS COOPER > WILLIAM LLOYD COOPER > ANN COOPER m (1) Daniel Thompson (2) Andrew Hardy > ALMEDA  THOMPSON m Francis "Frank" Herbst > REV ALICE HERBST KEATING m JT Keating

Ann Cooper and her first husband Daniel Thompson had seven children before Daniel died in 1864 while they were living in Osage, Iowa. Ann remarried three years later to Andrew Hardy.

Almeda Hannah Thompson was born in Feb 1856 in Osage. She married Franklin "Frank" Herbst, son of Andre and Maria Herbst in 1872. The elder Herbst's had come from Guewenheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France originally around 1845 during an influx of German/French immigrants escaping political chaos and conscription in Europe. They first arrived in Wisconsin, then moved to Chickasaw County, Iowa.

Frank in back

Frank and Almeda would move on to Burwell, Nebraska, where a number of Cooper relatives settled, and then moved on to South Dakota. In late 1908, Frank had decided to move on to Oregon, which they did, eventually ending up in Portland. Not long after they got settled in, Frank died at age 56 on 24 Aug 1910.  He left his widow and three daughters.

Garibaldi

Alice Ellen was born 14 Sep 1876 in a log cabin in Bremer County. She married Rev Joseph Thomas "JT" Keating. Alice was very involved in her husband's ministry and was also deeply involved in the Salvation Army and became a captain. In 1919, she then herself became a licensed Methodist minister - the first woman to ever do so in Oregon.

Soon after, she was appointed to her first posting in the Salem district at a new church in the town of Garibaldi, a port town that sprung up out of the lumber industry. Her husband had a church in Bay City, located nearby.

The couple had two daughters:

Almeda E Keating, born 07 Dec 1907 in Nebraska. She married John Klerk of the Netherlands. Almeda worked for many years as a clerk at the Portland Visiting Nurse Association. She died 04 Aug 1992 in San Diego County, California. John died 23 Sep 2000.

Miriam Alice Keating was born 15 Mar 1910 in Seattle. She married Rev Ralph Kleen in Washington in 1932. She graduated from the Cascade Bible College in 1932 and served as organist, pianist, soloist, and as children's choir director and bell choir director in her husband's ministries in Oregon, Arizona, California, and Alaska. One of the churches he served in Oregon was Forest Grove United Methodist Church. She died 27 May 1997 in Los Angeles County. The couple had two children.

They also had a foster son, Rev Walter Stamm, who served in the Salem area.

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.

The Smiths: The Very Best Kind of Day

Yesterday, I drove up to Nashua to meet a cousin on the Smith side, Betty Jane Smith. There with her for the meeting were two of her kids and their spouses. I felt like I had been dropped into my own family, without all the expectations! Very nice, wonderful people. We told stories and shared photos. Betty is 94 years old and I spent time giggling with her - giggling - and laughing and smiling. She shared the most awesome family photos and filled in blanks in my knowledge about her father and mother, Walter Smith & Isabelle Monteith. At the end of the day, we had a piece of homemade pie, made by Betty, who had skipped church in order to provide the delicious treat for me - a virtual stranger. Did I mention how much I love Iowa?

Here is a beautiful photo of Isabelle, from her youth. As you might recall, Isabelle was one of three Monteith sisters who married Smith men. Jessie and Elizabeth married Walter's cousins, Alexander and Jacob.

Betty was adopted by Walter and Isabelle Smith after her birth. They were her biological great grandparents. She lived in the same house since she was born - the house Walter & Isabelle had lived in since they had "moved to town" sometimes around the turn of the 20th century.

The lovely Betty Jane Smith

Betty continued to live there after Walter and Isabelle died. Her adopted sister Maude moved in with her and finished raising her after Isabelle's death. When Betty married widower Leland Hahn, the family of Lee's two kids and their own two kids made the house their home. After Leland died, her second husband also lived in the home. Ninety-four years in the same house!

This is a particularly great photo of the Smith boys Mirt,  Rev Parker, Harland, Edwin, & Walter and sister Dora (Eva and Ella both died in 1924, so I'd put this photo at between 1924-1933):

They were at some kind of picnic - looks like some kind of pavilion behind them - perhaps the Nashua fairgrounds?

This is the boys and their spouses, except Edwin's wife, Kate Smull, This also includes sister Mary Madora "Dora" Smith and her husband BF Lichty, who lived in Waterloo.

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.

Munsons of New Haven

Enjoy my cousin's post on the Munson family of New Haven. Captain Thomas Munson was the first of the family to come to the US. My cousin and I are part of Clan William.

The Munsons in New Haven, CT