USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Registers of probate for the county of Suffolk, Massachusetts, 1639-1799 > Part 9
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At a town meeting 2 held in Boston, May 23, 1776, he was elected a Representative to the General Court. He was chosen July 4, 1776, Speaker pro tempore of the House,3 and he was a member of various committees.4
1 Boston Town Records, VI. 35.
2 Ibid., VI. 48.
3 General Court Records, 145.
4 Among these committees were the following : --
To make plans for the seizure of "any Vessels belonging to the Enemy, that may be coming into, or may Arrive in the Harbor of Boston." (June 15, 1776. General Court Records, XXXV. 52.)
To bring in a new Bill for the omission of tendering the Declaration in the Test Act. (July 2, 1776. Ibid., XXXV. 136.)
The House resolved July 4, 1776, that the "Comittee for taking Inventorys &c of the Estates within the Town of Boston, which have been left, or deserted by sundry Persons supposed to be inimical to the rights & Liberties of America, be. & they hereby are directed to make Sale of all Chaises & other Carriages belong- ing to such Estates, they first having the same appraised by the most suitable persons, & then advertizeing the same for Sale at such Appraizements, & all that may remain unsold at a day that said Comtee may appoint, shall then be adver- tiz'd to be Sold at public Vendue." (Ibid., XXXV. 149.)
To confer upon a Resolve to write to Gen'l Washington about military mat- ters. (July 5, 1776. Ibid., XXXV. 153.)
July 8, 1776, Mr. Cooper being absent, another was chosen Speaker pro tem- pore in his place. (Ibid., XXXV. 15S.)
To confer " on the subject of permitting persons inimical to America to depart this State." (General Court Records, October 9, 1776, to February 6, 1777; No- vember 21, 1776, p. 213.)
On the Resolve commanding " Naval Officers not to permit any vessel to de- part this State with Provisions " except what may be necessary for her crew dur- ing the voyage. (December 2, 1776. Ibid., 263.)
" To consider immediately, in what way most beneficial to the United States, to employ the troops of this, and the neighbouring Governments, that are on their
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He had served on several committees of the town to com- memorate the " Horrid Massacre " which was annually from 1771 to 1783, celebrated by an Oration, but at the town meet- ing 1 held in Faneuil Hall, Monday, March 5, 1783, and ad- journed to the Old Brick Meeting House to hear the oration of Doctor Thomas Welch,
" The Town did not proceed as usual to the choice of a Committee to provide an Orator to deliver an Oration the 5th of March next "
William Cooper, the Town Clerk, having made a motion to substitute therefor a celebration of the 4th of July in each year. This motion was referred to a Committee to consider and report. Their report 2 which was read at a town meeting held March 25, 1783, was as follows : --
" Whereas the Annual Celebration of the Boston Massacre on the 5!" of March 1770, by the Institution of a Publick Oration has been found to be of eminent Advantage to the Cause of America in disseminating the Principles of Virtue and Patriotism among her Citizens; And whereas the immediate Motives which induced the commemoration of that day, do now no longer exist in their primitive force; while the Bene- fits resulting from the Institution may and ought to be forever preserved, by exchanging that Anniversary for Another, the foundation of which will last as long as time endures. It is therefore Resolved, that the Celebration of the fifth of March from henceforwards shall cease ; and that instead thereof the Anniversary of the 4ª Day of July A. D. 1776 (a Day ever memorable in the Annals of this Country for the declara- tion of our Independence) shall be constantly celebrated by the Deli- very of a Publick Oration, in such place as the Town shali determine to be most convenient for the purpose - In which the Orator shall consider the feelings, manners & principles which led to this great National Event as well as the important and happy EFFECTS whether general or domestick, which already have, and will forever continue to flow from this Auspicious Epoch."
This report was accepted by the town, and Dr. John War- ren delivered the first of these orations. From 1789 to 1809,
march to New York; and those that are ready to march." (December 30, 1776. General Court Records, 390.)
To "confer with Commodore Manly, Capt Mc Niel, and the Commanders of other Continental and Colonial vessels." (General Court Records, February 7, 1777, to October 25, 1777 ; April 17, 1777, p. 268.)
To consider how to better the " execution " of " the Laws of this State." (April 19, 1776. Ibid., 289.)
1 Boston Town Records, VII. 192, 196.
2 Ilid., VII. 225.
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the year of his death, William Cooper was annually chosen moderator of the meeting called to celebrate in this manner the anniversary of the 4th day of July, 1776.
He lived in Hanover Street for many years, and in the re- turns made for Boston, in accordance with the Direct Tax of 1798, levied by the United States (Record Commissioners' Report, XXII. 298), the house is thus described : -
" INCREASE SUMNER, owner; William Cooper, occupier ; brick dwell- ing; West on Hanover Street; North on Mrs. Hixon ; South on Ins. Sumner; Kitchen, 320 square feet ; 2 stories, 5 windows ; brick.
Land, 1,718 square feet ; house, 800 square feet ; 3 stories, 22 win- dows; Value, 4,500."
The Independent Chronicle of Wednesday, November 29, 1809, makes this announcement : --
" Last evening departed this life, after a short illness, the venerable WILLIAM COOPER, Esq. aged 88 years, deeply lamented by his numerous connections and friends, and by the citizens of his native town generally. As the first testimony of respect, his deathi was an- nounced by the tolling of all the bells in the town. His character will hereafter be delineated by some person fully acquainted with its merits : at present it becomes us only to state, that he has been honored with the suffrages of his fellow citizens as Town Clerk forty-nine years suc- cessively, and it is worthy of remark, that during the whole of that time he was never absent from a Town Meeting."
The Chronicle of Monday, December 4, 1809, gives this ac- count of his funeral : 1 -
"On Saturday last, the remains of that venerable patriot and pious man WILLIAM COOPER, Esq were interred in the family vault in the Granary Burying Ground, agreeably to the arrangements of the Selectmen of the town. The procession was lengthy and respectable, consisting of the principal public Officers of the town, country, state, and U. States, & a large number of his fellow-citizens, who entertained a respectful sense of his long and faithful services, and were impressed with a grateful remembrance of his patriotic virtues."
The Boston Patriot of December 6, 1809, contains the follow- ing obituary notice : -
" On Tuesday, Nov. 28th, the venerable WILLIAM COOPER, in the 88th year of his age, resigned himself into the bosom of his
1 The Selectmen, November 29, 1809, appointed a committee to make arrange- ments for his funeral. (Boston Selectmen's Minutes, 43S.)
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Father and his God. IIe was born in the year 1722, of respectable parents, no doubt, for his manners and education ever marked him the gentleman ; - and the worthy brother of the late celebrated Samuel Cooper, D. D.
Mr. William Cooper was bred a merchant, and in the early part of his life was one of the Representatives from Boston. He was for a long series of years Register of the Probate Court for Suffolk under every form of government that has been experienced in Massachusetts since his birth. He united to a competent degree of assiduity and in- telligence in business a suavity of manner and a quick discerument of the characters of those with whom he had to do. His peculiar tempera- ment of miud and manner enabled him to glide smoothly down the stream of life ; - to be happy in himself, and never fail to afford satis- faction to those around him.
He was very active and ardent in the early stage of the American revolution ; and although he was not one of those master minds that 'are formed to move the universe, yet he was a co-operator with James Otis, Samuel Adams, Joseph Warren, John Adams and James War- ren ; was perfectly in their confidence and esteem, and a coustant attendant on all their meetings, both in public and in private.
Mr. Cooper was one of the Boston board of safety during the war ; and officiated as its Secretary.
In 1760, when Mr. Cooper was about 38 years of age, he was chosen Town Clerk of Boston. In that respectable ammal office he has con- tinued uninterruptedly till the day of his death. This circumstance is a very just criterion whereby to judge of his integrity, his intelligence, industry, and deportment, towards his fellow citizens.
Like the venerable Judge Cushing Mr. Cooper has lived through all changes of political times and seasous, without ever losing either his place ; or the good opinion of those who bestowed it -and without any change of principles.
Mr. Cooper was a decided Republican. His most happy and active days were spent in arranging the preliminary scenes of the revolution. Had he lived to the age of Nestor he would never have ceased to be a friend of liberty and the rights of man ; yet if all men were like him (judging from what we have seen of him in the decline of life) we ven- ture to assert there would be no such thing as party. He never cou- cealed, he never could conceal liis sentiments ; yet we believe he never obtruded them in any time, place or manner, wherein they could give offence, or fail to have their intended good effect.
His remarkable health and long life indicate that he was born with a fine constitution, which he never injured, by any irregular habit. In him we have witnessed a man whose age, usefulness and good tem- per made him truly honorable. He seemed to be a stranger to that
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decrepitude and petulance which often destroys the dignity of years. He seems ever to have improved his talents to the best advantage ; and to have lived and died a model for all good men."
He died intestate, and administration on his estate was granted January 8, 1810, to his son " John Cooper Esquire of Machias."
He married in Boston April 25, 1745, Katharine, daughter of Jacob Wendell.
He had a large family of children, seventeen in number. But it is worthy of note - and it is a striking commentary on the condition of the Boston Records - that notwithstanding he was himself Town Clerk for so many years, the births of none of his children are recorded in the Town Records, although no fewer than six of them were born during his own term of office.
A Town Clerk who neglected to record the births of his own children could hardly be expected to show much concern for those of his fellow townsmen.
William Cooper's colleague in the Probate Office was John Cotton. They were friends and near neighbors. They lived within a stone's throw of each other. William Cooper must have had personal knowledge of all that happened in the Cotton family. Its joys and its sorrows could not have remained un- known to him. John Cotton was the father of eleven chil- dren. Eight of them were born, and all but one of them died. while William Cooper held the office of Town Clerk. Yet only the birth of one of these eleven children is to be found of record. The others have no official existence on the Town Clerk's books.
These meagre records of the Cotton and Cooper families are only two of a large number of instances of this neglect. They can be multiplied indefinitely. They are only two counts in the indictment. The same proportion holds good in the case of nearly all Boston families.
William Cooper cannot of course be charged with the short- comings of his predecessors or his successors. But inasmuch as he held the office of Town Clerk for nearly half a century, his sins of omission are largely responsible for the deplorable de- ficiencies of the Boston Records.
Boston is the despair of the genealogist. It is practically impossible to compile complete and satisfactory family histories
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of our old Boston families. Indeed, it is only during the lat- ter half of the century which has just drawn to its close that any systematic or intelligent attempt has been made to recorl Boston births, marriages, and deaths.
Prior to that time probably not one in a dozen of the births, with deaths in a still smaller proportion, can be found of record, while perhaps fully a third of the marriages are missing.
The Boston records are in painful contrast to those of the other towns of Massachusetts. Their records have in general been kept with great care and are reasonably complete.
The record of the town meeting I held March 11, 1765, is strangely silent as to the choice of a Town Clerk for the ensu- ing year. Although William Cooper himself was undoubtedly on that day elected to this important office, he singularly enough neglected to make any record of the fact, and there exists no official account of the action of the town in that regard.
THE REGISTRY OF PROBATE.
The first Town House in Boston stood where now stands the Old State House. The expense of its erection was borne partly by the legacy left by Captain Robert Keayne for that purpose, and partly by subscriptions made by other public-spirited inhabitants.
The General Court,2 in making an allowance to the Town toward the cost of the edifice, stipulated
" that sufficijent roomes in the sajd house shall be for euer free, for the keeping of all Courts."
This first Town House was destroyed by fire in 1711, and the second Town House - the present Old State House - " for the Province, County & Town," was erected on its site.
The Boston Weekly News-Letter of March 19. 1730, makes this announcement : -
" These may Notifie all Persons within the County of Suffolk, that in Consideration of the Small Pox being now in Boston, and for the benefit and safety of those living in the Country, The Hon. Josiah Willard Esq ; Judge of the Probates of Wills, &c. for the said County intends to hold
1 Boston Town Records, JV. 613. See, however, the Boston News Letter of March 14, 1765.
2 Mass. Col. Rec., IV. Part 1, 327.
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hi's Court at Mr. Rogers's the Sign of the George near Roxbury, the last Monday in the Month, from Half an Hour after Nine in the Morning, to Half an Hour after Twelve.
By Order of his Honour the Judge, John Boydell, Reg."
The Boston News-Letter of October 8, 1730, contains the following notice : -
" These may Inform all Persons within the County of Suffolk, Thut the Honourable Josiah Willard Esq ; Judge of Probates for said County, will (for the future) hold his Court at his Own House in Boston crery Monday as usual.
By Order of the said Judge. J. Boydell, Reg."
On Wednesday, December 9, 1747, this second Town House very narrowly escaped the fate of its predecessor. Only its substantial brick walls saved it from total destruction.
" Yesterday Morning between 6 & 7 o'Clock we were exceedingly surprised by a most terrible Fire, which broke out at the Court House in this Town, whereby that spacious and beautiful Building, except the bare outward Walls, was entirely destroyed."1 "But the County Records, and Papers belonging to the Inferiour Court, being deposited in an Office upon the lower Floor, were most of 'em preserved." "
The General Court,3 March 9, 1747/8,
" Voted that the late Court House in the Town of Boston be Re- paired as soon as conveniently may be,"
and apportioned the cost to the Province, the County of Suffolk, and the Town of Boston.
The inhabitants of Boston being aggrieved at this apportion- ment at a town meeting January 7, 1750/1, voted to petition the General Court for relief, alleging as follows: -
" And your Memorialist accordingly Represent that it appears prob- able from the ancient Records of the Town that about the Year 1657 a House was built on the Towns Land for the immediate Use and Service of the Town, & that the Charge thereof was born by a Subscription of the Inhabitants - It further appears from the Province Law made in the
1 Boston News Letter of December 10, 1747. See also Boston Gazette of December 15, 1747.
2 Boston Evening Post of December 14, 1747. .
8 Mass. Archives, XLIX. 211, 212, 213.
Boston Town Records, IV. 241-244.
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year 1693. that the said House had some time before been made use of both by the Province and County as well as by the Town . . . In the Year 1711, by the Providence of God the said House was Consumed by Fire . .. The Town being then destitute of any House for publick Meet- ings, and other publick uses, agreed to the proposals made by the General Court . . . for rebuilding said House, and upon the Proportion which the Town should bear of the Charge thereof . . . But it pleas'd God in his providence in the month of December 1747. to Suffer the Town- house to be again Consumed by Fire, and this while in the immediate use and Service of the General Court ; "
all the papers and records of the town having been removed in October, 1742, to the commodious building erected by Peter Faneuil for the town ; the rooms in the Town House which had been appropriated to the use of the town having been, on such removal, occupied by the General Court and the town excluded from any benefit thereof.
" . . . Must it not then appear to your Honours a much greater hard- ship that the Town should be held to pay more than their proportion in common with the rest of the Province for the Charge of building a House, which they have no manner of Use and Occasion for & when those Rooms the Town formerly had in it for several years past have still been and still are wholly Improved by the Province.
Your Memorialists could Enlarge upon the unequal Proportion they Imagine they Pay to the Province Tax upon the Decrease of the Polls, Buildings and other Estate of the Town, and the declining State of their Trade, but they humbly Apprehend that without this, your Honours will be Induc'd to think favourably of this their Application, and that you will not Suffer the aforesaid Vote by which they apprehend them- selves to be aggrevied, to take Effect, or that you will otherwise releive them, as to your Wisdom shall seem meet."
But the General Court 1 seems to have been deaf to this appeal.
The Probate Office was then in Pudding Lane, now Devon- shire Street.
In the Boston Weekly News Letter of Thursday, April 16, 1752, there appears this notice : -
" THE Records of the Court of Probate, &c. for the County of Suf- folk are remov'd to the House of Robert Spur, Esq; in Dorchester where the Judge will hold a Court every Friday, from Nine to Or
1 General Court Records, XIX. 337
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o'Clock, until further publick Notice : and he proposes to Act upon such Business as the Inhabitants of the Country Towns are concern'd in on Friday next, and upon such Business as the Inhabitants of Bos- ton are concern'd in, the Friday next after, and so alternately, to prevent, as far as may be, the Small-Pox being communicated from the Town to the Country. And the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston are desired to use all possible Precaution against bringing the Infection in their Apparel, Papers, or by any other Means, as one of the Officers of the Court is liable to the Distemper."
" As no Probate Business has been done in the said County for several weeks past, a Court will be held for the Inhabitants of Boston, on Tuesday next, but from thence forward on no other Day than Friday."
The Boston Weekly News Letter of Thursday, September 21, 1752, contains the following : -
" We are desired to inform the Publick, That the Records of the Probate-Office for the County of Suffolk, will be this Week remov'd from Dorchester, to the Office in Pudding-Lane in Boston, where they were formerly kept ; and the Judge will hold his Court there, ou Fri- day next from Nine o'clock in the Morning until One, and so on every Friday until further Publick Notice."
The condition of the Probate Records at this time may be learned from the following memorial 1 of Judge Hutchinson, who afterward became Governor Hutchinson : -
" To the honourable Spencer Phipps Esq L' Governour & Coman- der in chief & the honourable his Majestys Council of the Prov- ince of the Massachusetts bay
The Memorial of Thomas Hutchinson Esq Judge of the Probate of Wills &cª for the County of Suffolk, humbly sheweth,
That upon your Memorialist entring upon the aforesaid Office he made enquiry into the state of the Records & Files and found that from some time in the year 1720 until some time in the year 1723 there are no authentick Records in any Book but part of the business of the Office during that term is copyed on sheets of paper and about one half of said business lyes in the Original papers on file & have never been copyed or Registred into any book or on Sheets of paper Your Memorial- ist apprehends it very unsafe for the County that the papers should remain in this state. Enquiry has already been made by an Executor to a Will proved during that Time for a Copy thereof but the Original cannot be found and there is danger that the Settlement of many Es-
' Mass. Archives, XVIII. 874; Council Records, XII. 261.
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tates may be affected by this neglect. And as the several Probate Of- fices and what relates to them are subject to the direction of your Honour & the Honourable Board, your Memorialist therefore prays that such Order may pass in this Affair as to your Wisdom shall seem meet and as in duty bound shall ever pray &c"
THO HUTCHINSON
MILTON 27 June 1752"
At a Council held at the College Library in Cambridge June 27, 1752, " Read and Ordered That the Memorialist cause the several Papers mentioned in the Memorial to be recorded as soon as may be, and the further consideration of the memorial is referred till that be effected."
The Act1 passed by the General Court in 1754, to enable John Payne, a clerk in the Probate Office, to attest the records from February 17, 1743, until February 1, 1754, they not having been, during all that time, attested by the Register of Probate as required by law, has already been cited.
- The Records of the Court of General Sessions,2 under date of November 7, 1752, contain the following : -
" The Petition of Andrew Belcher Esq: Register of the Court of Probate as entred in January last Setting forth that the Records of the Probate office are kept in a place which has twice taken fire not owing to any Carelesness of the officer and therefore pray'd the Consideration of the Court ; Whereupon the Court appointed Abiel Walley, Thomas Hubbard & John Philips Esq" a Committee to take the Petition aforesaid into Consideration and Report to the Court which they have Accordingly done as is Set forth in their Report which the Court accepted off and thereupon appointed the aforesaid Com- mittee to provide a Suitable place in order to lodge the Records of the Probate office in at the charge of the County."
This was followed, January 1, 1754, by the memorial 3 of the Judge of Probate : -
" The Memorial of Thomas Hutchinson Esq: Judge of the Probate of Wills & granting Administration &c. for the County aforesaid, Set- ting forth to this Court
That the Reccords of the probate office for sd County are now & for many years past have been kept in a room not only Inconvenient for an office & holding Courts of Probate but extreemly unsafe, & exposed
1 Acts of 1754-5, Chap. 2; Mass. Archives, XIX. 152; ante, p. 52.
2 Minute Book of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, II.
3 Ibid., II.
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to the Damage of fire he apprehending that with the expence of about one hundred and twenty or thirty pounds lawfull money a Convenient brick building might be erected on the County Land by the prison iu the Town of Boston a room of about 20. or 22 feet square will be suffi- ciently large, and will be much Safer, than if there are any Other Rooms over it or contiguous to it. And he prays the Consideration of this Honble Court, &c."
The Committee appointed by the Court on this memorial
"reported [January 28, 1754] that they had Viewed the Land in s! Mem. mention'd, & were of Opinion that a Convenient Brick Building for the Probate office might be Erected in the front of said Land ad- joyning to the County Goal, & thereupon It is Ordered that John Fay- erweather, Joshua Winslow & Joseph Dowse Esq" be & they hereby are appointed a Comtee to Erect a Brick Building on said Land for an office for the Judge of Probate for this County, & that they do it in the most convenient manner, & at the cheapest Rate they can." 1
This Committee erected on Queen Street, now Court Street, a brick building for the Probate Office. It was ready for occupancy, December 3, 1754, for on that day
"John Fayrweather Joshua Winslow & Joseph Dowse Esq" a Committee appointed by this Court to Erect an office for the Judge of Probate for this County, reported that they had built said office, & the same was now Compleated." 2
But the new Probate Office proved far from satisfactory, as appears from the Report and Order 3 made May 14, 1756, on a petition of the Registers of Probate : -
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