William Cooper, farmer, Washington Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, was born in Mifflin Township, now Washington Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. He was a son of John Cooper and Mary [Miller] Cooper.
The grandfather, Adam Cooper, was reared in Lykens Valley and died in Mifflin Township.
The father, John Cooper, was born and reared in Miffln Township. He was a man of great natural ability, and was self educated, learning much from his children. He served one term in the State Legislature and refused nomination for a second term. He was married in Mifflin Township and afterwards located on his father’s farm. At one time he owned three farms aggregating about five hundred acres. His death occurred on the old homestead about 1884, when he was eighty-six years of age, his wife having died a year or two previously. Their children were:
Jacob Cooper, a farmer, died in Washington Township;
Philip Cooper, a farmer, died in Upper Paxton Township;
Amos Cooper, a farmer, died in Washington Township;
Nellie Cooper, Mrs. Eli Swab, Washington Township;
Jemima Cooper, wife of Daniel Lebo, Upper Paxton Township;
William Cooper;
Mary Cooper, widow of Josiah P. Miller, Washington Township;
Silas Cooper, farmer, Upper Paxton Township; and
Amanda Cooper, wife of Henry Hartman, Washington Township.
William Cooper attended subscription and common schools of his native place during the winter months and was occupied at other seasons in the saw mill and on the farm with his father. At the age of twenty-six or twenty-seven he was married, in 1858, to Miss Mary A. Martin, a native of Washington Township, and a daughter of Samuel P. Martin and Mary [Dubendorf] Martin, who is still living. After marriage he rented and cultivated different farms for twelve years and about 1870 bought his present farm of fifty-two acres, on which he has good buildings and improvements. His children are:
Jeremiah F. Cooper;
Harry Channdy Cooper, Shamokin, Pennsylvania;
Abraham Lincoln Cooper, clerk in store in Wichita, Kansas, since 1881;
E. Cooper, wife of Jacob A. Matter, Harrisburg;
Mary Cooper, wife of Jacob Weitzler, Chester, Pennsylvania;
William H. Cooper, dairyman and huckster, Lykens, Pennsylvania, a tanner by trade;
Harry M. Cooper, shoemaker at Halifax, Pennsylvania;
Edward C. Cooper, at home; and
Edith I. Cooper, at home.
Mr. William Cooper was formerly a liberal Republican, but is now a member of the Populist party. In religious fellowship he is connected with the Reformed church.
__________________________________
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.
The above information was modified/edited from Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, published in 1896 by J. M. Runk and Company of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. A free download is available from the Internet Archive.
See also:
Findagrave Memorial #25830496. William Cooper died 20 November 1913 in Elizabethville, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, and is buried at the Maple Grove Cemetery at that place.