Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 02.djvu/403

 COOPER

COPE

He published Letters on the Slave Trade (1787) ; Information Concerning America (1790) ; Trial of Thomas Cooper (1800) ; The Bankrupt Laics of America and England Compared (1801); Tracts on Medical Jurisprudence (1819) ; and Elements of Po- litical Economy (1826) ; besides minor publications. He died at Columbia, S.C. May 11. 1839.

COOPER, Thomas Abthorpe, actor, was born in London, England, in 1776: the son of a promi- nent physician of Irish descent. The " A " was introduced into his name after his arrival in America to distinguish him from another Thomas Cooper, and his friends finally extended it into "Abthorpe," but it is believed that he never adopted it. He was well educated by the cele- brated author, William Godwin, a kinsman, and was subsequently trained for the stage. He made a success in London in the characters of Hi^^ilet and Macbeth in 1795, and the following year sailed for America, arriving in New York Oct. 18, 1796. His first appearance in America was on Nov. 11, 1796, at Baltimore, Md., as Penruddock in " The Wheel of Fortune," under an engagement with Thomas Wignell. He ap- peared in Philadelphia, Dec. 9, 1796, as Macbeth, and was introduced to a New York audience in August, 1797, as Pierre in "Venice Preserved." After spending 1803-03 in England he returned to America in 1804 and became an acknowledged favorite of the ^^unerican stage. His daughter married a son of President John Tyler and the President appointed him to public offices, includ- ing that of surveyor of the port of New York and of that of Philadelphia. See his Memoir by Joseph Norton Ireland (1888). He died in Bristol, Pa., April 21, 1849.

COOPER, William, representative, was born in Burlington, N.J., in 1754; son of James and Hannah (Hibbs) Cooper. Ee removed to Otsego county, N.Y., in 1790 and founded Cooperstown. He practised law and on Dec. 17, 1791, became first judge of the Otsego court of common pleas. He was a representative in the 4th and 6th con- gresses, 1795-97 and 1799-1801. He was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Fenimore of Burlington county, and their son was James Fenimore Cooper, the novelist. Judge Cooper died in Albany, N.Y., Dec. 22, 1809.

COOPER, William C, representative, was born in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, Dec. 18, 1832. He at- tended Mt. Vernon academy and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He was prosecuting attorney of Knox county, 1859-62, and mayor of the city of Mt. Vernon, 1862-64. He was a member of the house of representatives of Ohio, 1872-74, and judge-advocate-general of the state 1879-84. He was a Republican representative from the 9th Ohio district in the 49th, 50th and 51st con- gresses, 1885-91.

COOPER, William Frierson, jurist, was born in Franklin. Tenn., March 11, 1820. His ances- tors were Scotch and Irish and remoAed to Tennessee from South Carolina early in the nine- teenth century. He was graduated at Yale in 1838 ; studied medicine and attended the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania for two years, but left to take up the study of the law. He was admitted to the bar in 1841, and practised in Nashville, Tenn. In 1852 he was appointed with Return J. Meigs, a commissioner to codif}- the laws of Tennessee and their report was enacted as the code of the state in 1858. In 1861 he was elected a judge of the supreme court of Tennessee to succeed Judge Caruthers. He was in Europe during the civil war, and on his return Governor Brownlow forbade him to re- sume his office, although his term had not ex- pired. He became a law partner with Robert L. Caruthers. In 1872 he was appointed by Governor Brown state chancellor, and was shortly after- ward elected to that office for a full term wliich expired in 1878, when he was elected a justice of the supreme court of the state and held the office until 1886. He was elected dean of the law faculty of the University of Nashville, April 29, 1874, and resigned in May, 1875. Yale college. East Tennessee universitj^, and the University of Nashville conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. in 1890. He published Tennessee Chancery Beports (3 vols., 1878).

COOTER, James Thomas, educator, was born near Monticello, Lewis county, Mo., Dec. 2, 1858; son of Elbert Wesley and Julia (Hamilton) Cooter; grandson of James and Vina (Jones) Cooter, and of Andrew and Nancy (Chauning) Hamilton, and a descendant of German and Scotch ancestors. He acquired his preparatory education at Monticello seniinary and was gradu- ated at Wabash college, Indiana, in 1884. He attended Princeton theological seminary, 1884- 86, and McCormick theological seminary in 1887, and was ordained a Presbyterian clergj-man in 1888. He preached at Baxter Springs. Kan., 1887-90, studied at Princeton in 1890, and in 1891 became president of Washington college, Tenn. He founded and became editor of the Pioneer Educator in 1893. He was married in 1894 to Sadie Morgan, daughter of Joseph Gilbert of Terre Haute, Ind.

COPE, Edward Drinker, naturalist, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., July 28, 1840; son of Alfred, grandson of Thomas Pym, and great-grandson of Caleb Cope. His father and grandfather were prominent linen merchants in Pliiladelphia. After attending Westtown academy and the University of Pennsylvania, and pursuing a course in comparative anatomy in the Pliiladel- phia academy of sciences and in the Smithsonian