Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/401

 COOPER

COOPER

birth of Peter Cooper was fittingly celebrated in the large hall of the Cooper Union at which Mr. Cooper's son-in-law and partner, the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt presided, and Seth Low, president of Columbia university read the address of the e%-en- ing. He was president and director in various banking, insurance and industrial associations, and was given the honorary degree of LL.D. by the regents of the University of the state of New York in 1879, and by the College of New Jersey in 1883. His son and partner, Edward, maj-or of New York city, 1879-80, administered liis estate and carried out his plans as to benefactions. A bronze statue of heroic size by St. Gaudens, sup- ported by a pedestal of Italian marble designed by Stephen White, standing in the little green triangle south of Cooper Union, was unveiled Feb. 12, 1897. He is the author of: Idms for a Science of Good Government (1883). His name re- ceived a place in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, New York university, October, 1900. He died in New York city, April 4, 1883.

COOPER, Philip Henry, naval officer, was born in New York state, Aug. 5, 1844; son of Hiram H. and Delia A. (MvLrdock) Cooper; grand- son of Henry Cooper; and a descendant of Gov. AVilliam Bradford of the Mayflower. He was graduated at the U.S. naval academy May 28, 1803, and as ensign was attached to the Eich- motul in the West Gulf blockading squadron. He was an active par- ticipant in the battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, was promoted master Nov. 10, 1865, and lieuten- ant, Nov. 10, 1866. He served on board the Pov:hnta.n of the Pacific squadron, 1865-68; was promoted lieutenant - commander March 12, 1868, and assigned to duty at the U.S. naval academy. He then joined the European squadron on board the Plymouth and returned to the Naval academy. He was made commander March 13, 1880; served on special dutj- under the bureau of navigation in Wash- ington, DC, and commanded the Sirntara in the Asiatic and North Atlantic stations, 1881-84; was on duty at the Norfolk navy yard, 1886-90; com- manded the Si'xitara again on the Asiatic sta- tion, 1890-91; was on the board of inspection and survey, 1891-94; commanded the San Fran- cisco, 1894; and was promoted captain April 11, 1894. In November, 1894, he succeeded to the superintendency of the U.S. naval academy, and Dec. 1, 1898, was given command of the Chicaijo.

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COOPER, Richard M., representative, wag born in Gloucester county, N.J., Feb. 29, 1768; a descendant of William Cooper, born in England in 1632, and one of the first English settlers on the Delaware river opposite Philadelphia. Rich- ard was a member of the Society of Friends, and served in the New Jersey assembly several years. He was presiding judge of the Gloucester county courts; president of the state bank at Camden, 1813-42, and represented his district in the 21st and 22d congresses, 1829-33. He died at Camden, N.J. March 10, 1844.

COOPER, Samuel, clergyman, was born in Bo.ston, Mass, March 28, 172"); son of William and Judith (Sewall), and grandson of Thomas and Mehitable (Minot) Cooper, and of Chief Justice Samuel and Hannah (Hull) Sewall. His father, the Rev. William Cooper (1694-1743), was a graduate of Harvard, 1712, minister of the Brattle street church, Boston, 1716-43, and was elected to and declined the presidency of Harvard in 1737. Samuel jDrepared for college at the Boston Latin school, 1732-39, and was graduated at Harvard in 1743. He then studied theologj' and in 1744 became a colleague with the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Colman, being made assistant pastor of the Brattle street church. Boston, Mass., May 21, 1846. He was married Sept. 11, 1746, to Judith, daughter of Dr. Thomas and Judith (Colman) Bulfinch of Boston. He was a member of the Harvard corporation 1767-83, and was elected president of the college in 1774 but declined the position. He was a vigorous writer in the public press in behalf of the patriot cause and the most positive articles in the Boston Gazette on the stamp act and subsequent i>olitical usurpations on the part of Great Britain were from his pen. He was the object of denunciation by the British officers in Boston and with others was publicly lampooned in an oration on a city street. He was obliged to leave Boston, and his church was used as barracks for British soldiers, 1775-76. He was a fellow and the first vice-president of the American academj- of arts and sciences, received the degree of S.T.D. from the University of Edinburgh, 1767, and that of AM. from Yale in 17r)0. He died in Boston, Mass., Dec. 29, 1783.

COOPER, Samuel, soldier, was born in Hack- ensack, N. J., June 12, 1798; son of Samuel and Mary (Horton) Cooper. His father, a soldier of tiie American Revolution, fought at Lexington, Bunker Hill, Monmouth and Germantown, gained the rank of major, and after the war settled in Dutchess county, N.Y. The .son was graduated at the U.S. militaiy academy in 1815 and served in the artillerj' and on garri.son duty at Wash- ington, D.C., for several years. He was married in 1827 to a granddaugliter of George Mason, U.S. senator from Virginia. He was promoted