Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/398

 COOPER

COOPER

during his residence in Europe. His countrymen became more and more antagonistic, and a local quarrel aggravated the matter. This disimte concerned the ownership of a part of the Cooper estate known as " Three Mile Point," which had been considered public property. Cooper came out victorious but with increased unpopularity. A biographer says *' by the end of 1837 Cooper had pretty sedulously improved every opportun- ity of making himself unpopular. His criticisms had been distributed with admirable imijartiality- Few persons or places could complain that they had been overlooked." In 1837 he began to insti- tute libel suits, and one newspaper after another became a defendant. He gained a verdict in almost every case, and by 1843 he had fairly suc- ceeded in silencing the press. In 1839 he pub- lished his " History of the United States Navy," which he had long contemplated. It was at first favorably criticised, but later called forth the most bitter condemnation, which was afterward reported by unprejudiced critics to be both cause-

OTSEOO HALL COOPCBSTOWN. COOPfn ^

less and malicious. The criticisms did not reduce the sale of the book for three editions were ex- hausted before the author's death. His last novel, " The Ways of the Hour," was published after he was sixty years old. In April, 1851, his health began to give way. A few months after his death a meeting was held in the city hall, New York city, in honor of his memory, Daniel Web- ster presiding, and a eulogy was delivered by his intimate friend, William Cullen Bryant. After his death Otsego Hall at Cooperstown was al- lowed to fall into decay, and the five acre lot surrounding it became dilapidated. In 1897 a movement was started to turn the old home into a park, the owners of the estate contributing several hundred thousand dollars for improve- ments, to include a suitable statue of the novel- ist. His principal writings are: Precaution (1820); The Spy (1821); The Pioneers (1823); The Pilot (1823); Lionel Lincoln (1825); The Last of the Mohicans (1826); The Prairie (1827); The Bed Bover (1828); Notions of the Americans (1828); The Wept of Wish-ton- Wish (1829); The Water-Witch

(1830); The Bravo (1831); The Heidenmauer (1832); The Headsman (1833); The Monikins (1835); Sketches of SwitzeAand (1836); Gleanings in Europe (1837-38); The Ameiican Democrat (1827); Home- ward Bound (1838); Home as Found (1838); The History of the Xavy of the United States of America (1839); TJie Pathfinder (1840); Mercedes of Castile (1840); The Deerslayer (1841); The Wing-and- Wing (1842); The Two Admirals (1842); Wyandotte (1843); Ned Myers (1843); Afloat and Ashore (1844); Miles Wallingford (1844); The Chain-bearer (1846); Lives of Distinguished Naval Officers (1846);. The Bedskins (1846); TJie Crater (1847); The Oak Openings (1848); The Islets of the Gulf (1848); The Sea Lions (1849); and The Ways of the Hour (1850). See James Fenimore Cooper by Thomas. R. Lounsbury (1890). He died in Cooperstown, N.Y.. Sept. 14, 1851.

COOPER, Job Adams, governor of Colorado, was born near Greenville, 111., Nov. 6, 1843; son of Charles and Maria (Hadley) Cooper. His fatlier was born in Maidstown, Kent county, England, came to America and settled in New- ark, N.J., in 1806, learned the trade of carriage making and in 1840 removed to Bond county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming and died in 1865. Job was graduated at Knox college, A.B. in 1865, and A.M. in 1868. He served in the civil war, 1864-65, with the 137th Illinois volun- teers. He was admitted to the bar in 1867 and practised in Greenville, 111. He was circuit clerk and recorder of Bond county, 1868-72; removed to Denver, Col., in 1872, where he practised law, engaged in insurance business, in banking and in stock raising. In 1888 he vi-as elected governor of Colorado as a Republican, serving 1889-91. He was president of the National bank of com- merce, 1891-99. He was married Sept. 17, 1867, to Jane O., daughter of the Rev. Romulus E. Barnes of Galesburg. 111., and their son Charles J. (Knox college, 1897) succeeded to. the manage- ment of the banking and mining business of his father who died in Denver, Col., Jan. 20, 1899.

COOPER, Joseph Alexander, soldier, was born in Pulaski county, Ky., Nov. 25, 1823; son of John and Hester Cooper. He volunteered in the Mexican war, serving with the 4th Tennessee infantry, and afterward engaged in planting. In 1861 he entered the Union army as captain in the 1st Tennessee infantry and was promoted in 1862 colonel of the 6th Tennessee regiment. He gained the rank of brigadier-general in 1864, commanding a brigade in Georgia. He com- manded a division in the battle of Nashville, Dec. 15-16, 1864, and in North Carolina in 1865. On reaching Washington, D.C., he was brevetted major-general March 13, 1865. He returned to Tennessee and on Jan. 15, 1866, by order of the President he was appointed commJ>-i<i^? of the