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276 practice of medicine as his profession, and began its study, reading for two years and taking a course of lectures at the University of Pennsylvania. Finding the bent of his inclination away from that vocation, he took up the study of law under his kinsman, Chancellor S. D. Frierson. He was admitted to the bar in 1841, at the age of twenty-one. He practised at Columbia for four years, then

removing to Nash ville, where he con tinued to reside until within the last year. He entered at once into a large practice, from which he has ac cumulated his fortune. In 1852 he and Re turn J. Meigs were appointed as commis sioners to codify the laws of the State, their report being enacted as the Code of Tennes see in 1858. He was an unsuccessful candi date for Attorney-Gen eral in 1854, being defeated by John L. T. Sneed. In 1861 he was elected one of the Judges of the Su preme Court, to suc THOMAS J. ceed Judge Caruthers. He was sworn in the early part of December; but the court transacted no business because of the near approach of the Federal forces. Judge Cooper was a Confederate sympathizer, but was a non-combatant. He went to Europe, and was in England during the war, spend ing a large part of his time about the courts of London, and in the study of equity jurisprudence. At the close of the war Governor Brownlow forbade him to resume his office, though his term had not expired. He returned to the practice of law in part nership with Judge Robert L. Caruthers,

their practice being very lucrative In 1872 he was appointed by Governor Brown as Chancellor at Nashville, being shortly after ward elected by the people for the full term He served until 1878, when he was elected Supreme Judge. Chancellor Cooper found the docket of his court seemingly hopelessly crowded. The years following the war were fruitful of litigation, and it was apparently beyond the capacity of any one man to clear the docket. He adopted new rules of procedure that expe dited the despatch of business, and by a sea son of labor almost unparalleled, he dis posed of the accumu lated cases. Not only did he dispose of this mass of business, but he delivered elaborate written opinions in most of the cases. He published these opin ions, covering his ser vice of Chancellor for six years, in three vol umes known as " Ten nessee Chancery Re ports." These three volumes are richer re FREEMAN. positories of learning than are any other law reports. They were from a judge whose decree was not final; but so forti fied were they by argument and citation of authority, that they are cited with as much confidence as the opinion of a court of last resort would be. In these opinions are to be found evidences of the diligence with which he studied the English reports dur ing his stay in London. He was essen tially a student, and having never married, his life has been one devoted to study, with absolutely no distractions. But the press of his professional duties prevented him from