The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 63

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220

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nineteen years, and held other important official and religious trusts. He died Eighth Month 1, 1749.

Joseph Cooper, Sr., son of William, purchased one hundred and sixty-seven acres of land (ad- joining the Turner survey) and other lands of Jo- ·seph Dole, November 19, 1723, and conveyed the same, January 27, 1728, to his son, Isaac Cooper, who, by will dated in 1765, devised it to his son Marmaduke, who, upon obtaining possession, built the two-story and attic brick building, with exten- sion. This residence still stands on the Haddon pike, near Coopers Creek and west of the Harleigh Cemetery. These lands have also passed to the name Cope.

Marmaduke Cooper, the only son of Isaac and Hannah (Coates) Cooper, married Mary Jones, danghter of Aquila and Elizabeth Jones, and had Lydia, who died 1817, aged twenty-nine, unmar- ried; Hannah, who died 1851, aged seventy-one, unmarried; Margaret, born 1781, who married Israel Cope, of Philadelphia; Isaac, born 1785, died 1844, unmarried; Elizabeth, who died 1811, aged twenty-one, unmarried; Ann, who died in 1816, aged twenty-four, unmarried; and Joseph, born 1794, who died in his minority and unmar- ried. Marmaduke, by will, October 21, 1795, de- vised all of his lands in Newton township to his son Joseph (born 1794), who died in his minority. and unmarried, when it passed to Isaac (born 1785), who died in 1844, also unmarried, when the same fell by inheritance to Hannah, the surviving sister of Isaac, and to the children of his deceased sister, Margaret Cope. Israel and Margaret (Cooper) Cope had five children-Mary Ann, who married Stephen P. Morris and died without issue; Marmaduke C., who married Sarah Wistar; Eme- line, who died unmarried; Elizabeth C., who married William M. Collins; and Lydia, who died unmarried.

Joseph Cooper, Sr., received from his father, William, the first settler, by deed dated August 24, 1700, a tract of land of one hundred and sixty- four acres and " his house in which he liveth," on Coopers Creek, being part of the original survey, and on the 18th of February, 1708, his father con- veyed to him two hundred and twelve acres of land at Coopers Point, being the remainder of the original survey, together with all appurtenances, etc., and on the 2d of May, 1728, Joseph Cooper, Sr., conveyed the last-mentioned tract of two hun- dred and twelve acres to his son, Benjamin Cooper.

Benjamin Cooper, son of Joseph, Sr., was three times married, as heretofore stated. By his first wife (Rachel Mickle) he had two daughters, both

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THE CITY OF CAMDEN.

of whom married Woods, of Philadelphia. By his second wife (Hannah) there was no issue, and it was during this marriage, or in contemplation of this marriage with Hannah Carlisle, that he erected the brick mansion at the Point, which bears on its gable end the legend, "B. + H. C., 1734." By his third wife (Elizabeth Cole) he had seven children-Joseph, of Newton, born 1735, married Elizabeth Haines and died childless ; Benjamin, of Haddonfield, born 1737, married Prudence Barton; James, of Philadelphia, born 1739, married Sarah Erwin, and, secondly, Han- nah Saunders; Samuel, of Newton, born 1744, married Prudence Brown; William, of Waterford, born 1746, married Ann Folwell; Isaac, of Phila- delphia, born 1751, married Elizabeth Lippincott; and Elizabeth, born 1756, married George Budd.

The old dwelling-house of Benjamin Cooper, mentioned above, still standing near the corner of Point and Erie Streets, being surrounded by a gar- den of several acres, was in later years used as a pleasure resort by the old residents of Camden Vil- lage, Kaighnton, Dogwoodtown, Fettersville and Coopers Ferry. Many of the old trees and a por- tion of the shrubbery of this garden may yet be seen, but are now on the property of house-owners in the vicinity. The mansion is built of stone, has two stories and attic, with hip-roof and dormer- windows. The dimensions are twenty-four by for- ty-five feet, with L extension of stone and brick twenty-four by twenty-seven feet, and on the front and river-side are wide piazzas. There are fifteen large rooms in the mansion. It was used in 1778 by the British General Abercrombie as his head- quarters, and when not occupied by their forces, was a favorite target for the practice of the Eng- lish cannoneers from the Pennsylvania side of the river. In the attic is a red-oak girder cut and splintered by a twelve-pound shot which entered the roof, struck the girder and fell to the floor. This shot is in possession of Samuel C. Cooper, of State Street. This mansion was long the residence of Joseph and Elizabeth (Haines) Cooper, he be- ing the eldest son of Benjamin.

The two hundred and twelve acres of land which Benjamin obtained from his father, Joseph, Sr., was conveyed by him to his sons Joseph and Sam- uel, the bulk of the property, one hundred and twenty-two acres, going to Joseph, by deed dated July 31, 1762, but Samuel, in 1669, received in ad- dition forty-four acres, at and near the ferry, to- gether with all ferry rights and privileges, and the next year he built the brick ferry-house, which bears in its gable-walls theinitials "S. + P. C., 1770," which stands for Samuel and Prudence Cooper.

Joseph Cooper, son of Benjamin, built upon his one hundred and twenty-two acres, at the Point, the brick house near the river at the head of Third Street. It is constructed of English brick, alter- nately red and white, and has two stories and an attic, thirty-six by eighteen feet, and contains nine rooms. A lean-to at the rear is fourteen by eighteen and one story high. It contains the re- mains of the old Dutch bake-oven of the period when the house was built. On the north end, work-

ed in black bricks, is seen the inscription, C which, interpreted, means Joseph and Eliz- I + E abeth (Haines) Cooper. The house is pop- 1788 ularly known as the ICE-house, and is now

dilapidated and unoccupied. Joseph Coop- er, by deed dated November 17, 1817, devised the said one hundred and twenty-two acres to his grand-nephew, Joseph W. Cooper, son of William, son of Samuel.

The house built by Samuel Cooper was the sec- ond ferry-house built at the Point. It has two stories and an attic, with dormer-windows, built of old English red and black brick, and has a front of sixty-three feet on State Street, with an L ex- tension on the side next to the river, making the entire length seventy-five feet. There are twenty- four large rooms in this mansion, which is still in good condition, has been known as Coopers Point Hotel, and in part is now used as offices of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad Company.

Samuel Cooper, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Cole) Cooper, was born Ninth Month 25, 1744, and died Sixth Month 25, 1812. He married, at Evesham Meeting, in 1766, Prudence, daughter of William and Elizabeth ( Haines) Brown, of Notting- ham, Pa. His wife, Prudence, survived him, and died Eighth Month 14, 1822. For many years they had resided on his farm called "Plea- sant View," now Pavonia, in Stockton town- ship. They had children,-Joseph, born 1767, married Sarah P. Buckley, of New York; Wil- liam, married Rebecca Wills; Mary, born 1766, married Richard M. Cooper, of Camden; Sarah, married Henry Hull, a minister, of New York; Benjamin, born 1775, married Elizabeth Wills; and Elizabeth, who died unmarried. When Sam- uel withdrew from business, about 1790, and re- tired to "Pleasant View," he turned over the con- trol and management of the upper ferry and the ferry property to his son William, and during the same period the lower ferry, at Cooper Street, was owned and managed by a cousin bearing tlie same name,-William, the son of Daniel.

William, the manager of the upper ferry, at the Point, was an active business man, and kept pace

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

with the progress of the times in all things that pertained to and facilitated ferrying. In later years he leased the ferry and the ferry-house, and re- sided in the old brick house on State Street, built in 1789, and now occupied by Mrs. Sarah Gaskill and Rachel Cooper, his daughters. The ferry and the ferry property eventually passed to Joseph W. Cooper, son of the last-named William, who con- tinued it until the property was obtained and in- corporated by the Coopers Point Ferry Company. The land lying along the south side of the ferry property was left by William Cooper (son of Sam- uel), of the upper ferry, to his two grandsons, Wil- liam and Samuel, the sons of Samuel H. Cooper, who married Hannah Wood, and deceased in year 1827, and before his father, William, who died Ninth Month 27, 1849.

The title to the bulk of the property lying north of Birch and Pearl Streets and west of the Isaac Cooper estate, has passed through, or is still re- tained in, the following lines, descending from the above Samuel and Prudence Cooper :

First line .- Joseph and Sarah P. (Buckley) Cooper, had one posthumons child, Joseph B. (born 1794, died 1862), who married Hannah Wills and left two sons-(1) Charles M., (2) Joseph B.

Second line. - William and Rebecca (Wills) Cooper had eight children-I. Samuel H. (born 1797, died 1827), who married Hannah Wood aud left two sons (1) William, (2) Samuel ; II. Joseph W. (born 1799, died 1871), who married Rebecca F. Champion and had eight children-(1) Joseph, (2) Elizabeth C., (3) Samuel C., (4) Anna M., (5) Mary, (6) Joseph W., (7) Ellen C. and (8) Walter M .; III. Mary W., who married William F. Reeve ; IV. Hannah, died unmarried; V. Eliza- beth H., who married Isaac H. Wood; VI. Sarah, who married Charles C. Gaskill ; VII. Rachel ; VIII. Prudence B., who married Emmor Reeve.

Third line .- Benjamin (born 1775, died 1842), who married Elizabeth Wills and had six children -I. Samuel, who died unmarried; II. Rebecca W., who married John M. Kaighn ; III. Prudence, who died unmarried; IV. Benjamin W., who married Lydia Lippincott and had (1) Samuel, (2) Benja- min, (3) Clayton, (4) Anna ; V. William B., who married Phebe Mendenhall, nee Emlen.

Samuel C. Cooper, lawyer, of State Street, is the son of Joseph W. Cooper, deceased, who was the devisee of his great uncle, Joseph Cooper. The lands at the Point, north of Pearl Street, were laid out in town lots in 1852 by the heirs of William Cooper, and by Joseph W. Cooper. The property lying east of the Joseph W. Cooper tract is held by the heirs of Isaac Cooper, son of Joseph, Sr.

Daniel Cooper, the youngest son of William Cooper, the first settler, was about seven years of age when he came with his parents to this county. When twenty years of age, and in 1693, he married Abigail, daughter of Henry Wood, who then re- sided on the north side of Coopers Creek, near the home of Lemuel Horner. On March 16, 1695, William conveyed to his son Daniel, “ in consider- ation of ye natural love and affection which I have and bear toward my son Daniel Cooper, and for and towards ye preferring and advancement of him in ye world, &c., all that dwelling-house upon Del- aware River wherein my said son now dwelleth, together with 114 acres of land thereto adjoining, which said premises were by me formerly pur- chased of William Roydon." This passed the ferry rights and privileges which had been granted to Roydon by the Gloucester County Court in 1688, the franchise extending from Coopers Creek to Newton Creek. In 1717 the Legislature of Penn- sylvania passed an act establishing a ferry to "Daniel Cooper's landing," and January 21, 1739, all of these rights were confirmed by royal patent to William Cooper, son of Daniel, and a monopoly thereby created giving the exclusive right of ferry for two miles above and two miles below, without limit of time and for a nominal tax. The above- mentioned conveyance of William Cooper to his son Daniel also included four separate parcels of land situated on Coopers Creek, Timber Creek, and the Delaware River, amounting together to about one thousand acres.

Abigail, the wife of Daniel Cooper, died the next year after marriage, leaving one child, William, who became the heir of his father's estate, and from whom all the Coopers in this line living in this vicinity descend. In 1695 Daniel married Sarah Spicer, the daughter of Samuel, who lived on the north side of Coopers Creek, adjoining Henry Wood. By her he had two children, Samuel and Daniel, and died in 1715 intestate, his eldest son, William, by the English law of primogeniture, inheriting his es- tate, which had been kept intact as conveyed to him by his father, the first William, in 1695. Prompted by a sense of fairness, William conveyed of his inheritance to his half-brothers, Samuel and William respectively, two hundred and twenty-seven acres in Waterford township and a large tract on the head-waters of the north branch of Coopers Creek. On March 20, 1715,- the year of his father's death-William purchased thirty-eight acres fronting on Coopers Creek. In 1722 he bought out and obtained releases from the residuary devisees of all interests and claims on the

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estate of their grandfather William, the first settler, and in 1723, as mentioned above, the three hun- dred acres of the Roydon survey, thus vesting in himself nearly five hundred acres of the valuable Delaware River front lying between the present Line and Birch Streets, together with the ferry privileges originally obtained by Roydon in 1688. In 1744 he conveyed to his son Daniel one hundred acres, comprising land mostly below or south of Plum (now Arch) Street, and in 1764 one hundred acres lying between Plum and Cooper Streets to his son Jacob, who, in 1773, laid out forty acres of the same into a town plot and gave it the name of Camden.

William Cooper (born 1694, died 1767), son of Daniel, had by his first wife, Deborah Medcalf, five children,-Daniel married Mary West, Jacob mar- ried Mary Corker, Abigail married William Fisher, Deborah married Restore Lippincott and Mary married Jonathan Lynn,-and by a second wife Mary Rawle, he had one child, Rebecca, who died unmarried.

During the latter part of his life he resided in Philadelphia, where he owned considerable real estate. By his will the balance of his Delaware front estate, lying north of Cooper Street to Pearl Street and from the river to Seventh Street, passed to his grandson, William, the eldest son of his son Daniel.

Daniel Cooper, who, as above mentioned, re- ceived one hundred acres from his father, William, in 1744, built the large brick house lately known as Parson's Hotel, now demolished, near the cor- ner of Front and Federal Streets, where he re- sided. On its gable was inscribed the initials, " D. C. M., 1764,"-i. e. Daniel and Mary Cooper. Daniel Cooper, son of William, married Mary, daughter of Charles and Sarah (Parsons) West, of Philadelphia, and had three sons,-William, who married Abigail Matlack ; James, who married Priscilla Burrough ; and Joshua, who married Abi- gail Stokes.

His son William (born 1740, died 1787), who married Abigail Matlack, daughter of Richard and Mary (Wood) Matlack, had five children, to wit : (1) Daniel (born 1766, died 1804), who married first Elizabeth Rogers, and secondly Deborah Middleton ; (2) Richard Matlack Cooper (born 1768, died 1844), who married Mary Cooper; (3) Charles W., who married Susan Flemming, and died without issue; (4) Mary, who married Sam- uel Volans of Philadelphia; and (5) Sarah W., who married Samuel W. Fisher, of Philadelphia.

By will dated February 15, 1768, Daniel Cooper devised the ferry property and adjacent land to his

sons, William and Joshua. Daniel married Mary West, daughter of Charles West, of Philadelphia, and died in 1776, leaving three sons,-William, James and Joshua. Jacob Cooper, who received one hundred acres from his father, William, in 1764, after laying out the town plot of Camden, as men- tioned above, sold the remainder of his holding October 10, 1781, to his nephew, William Cooper, the son of his brother Daniel. This remainder lay mainly south of Federal Street to Line, and east of West Street, towards Coopers Creek, and is known as Coopers Hill, a name applied to that ground rising from the marsh west of Fourth Street, and south of Bridge Avenue, forming a knoll then covered with stately oak and pine-trees and having on the eastern slope a magnificent apple orchard. Upon this hill stands the City Hall, the Cooper Hospital, the Haddon Avenue Station and many fine private residences. In 1776 Jacob Cooper gave to five trustees and their suc- cessors the lots on Plum (now Arch) Street, at the corner of Fifth and Sixth Streets, in trust to erect a place of worship and make a grave-yard. Joshua Cooper, the youngest son of Daniel, and grandson of Wm. Cooper, of Philadelphia, inherited from his father a portion of his land south from Plum Street (now Arch Street,) and in 1803 laid out a town plot adjoining that of his uncle Jacobs-town of Camden. He established the ferry at the foot of Federal Street, and placed it under the manage- ment of his son William, but finally sold it to John D. Wessels. In 1818 Joshua conveyed to Edward Sharp ninety-eight acres of land lying along the river and south of Federal Street, which termi- nated his interest in this locality. He built and resided in the house No. 224 Federal Street, now occupied by the Camden Safe Deposit Company ; afterward removed with his family to New Albany, Ind. Wm. Cooper, the eldest son of Daniel, in- herited from his grandfather, Wm. Cooper, of Phila- delphia, " the plantation called Cooper's Ferry, wherein my son Daniel now dwells," which, with other lands purchased from his uncle, Jacob Cooper, comprised the large territory extending from the Delaware River to Sixth Street, between Cooper and Pearl Streets, and from West Street to Coopers Creek, between Federal and Line Streets. He died in 1787, and by will divided the bulk of his real estate between his sons, Daniel and Rich- ard M. Cooper, the land at the foot of Cooper Street, to which belonged the ferry franchise, pass- ing to Daniel, who died intestate in 1804, leaving three daughters,-Mary Ann, who afterwards mar- ried William Carman, Abigail and Esther L.,- whose shares in their father's estate were set off to

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HISTORY OF CAMDEN COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.

them in severalty in 1820, with the exception of the share of Mary Ann Carman, which was divided among and sold by her heirs. The remainder of Wm. Cooper's estate vesting in Richard M. Cooper and his nieces, Abigail and Esther L. Cooper, has been kept intact and managed as one property for their mutual benefit, first by Richard M. Cooper and after his death, in 1844, by his son, William D. Cooper, who had, in 1842, laid out into town lots the land between West Street, Broadway, Pine Street and nearly to Benson Street, known as Cooper's Hill. The Cooper Street Ferry, after varying fortunes, with team and steamboats, was finally discontinued soon after the establishment of the West Jersey Ferry at the foot of Market Street, having been for many years an unprofitable asset of Abigail Cooper's share.

The lands lying north of Cooper Street, between that street and Pearl Street, and eastward as far as Sixth Street, were laid out into town lots before 1852, and mainly by Wm. D. Cooper.

Richard M. Cooper (born 1768, died 1844) mar- ried Mary, daughter of Samuel and Prudence (Brown) Cooper, of Coopers Point, and they had children,-(1) Sarah West Cooper, who died 1880, unmarried; (2) Elizabeth Brown Cooper ; (3) Caroline Cooper, who married John C. Hull, of New York City; (4) Abigail Matlack Cooper, who married Richard Wright, of Philadelphia ; (5) Alexander Cooper, who married first, Hannah Cooper, and secondly, Mary H. Kay, (nee Lippin- cott) ; (6) Mary Volans Cooper, who died 1855, unmarried ; (7 and 8) Richard Matlack Cooper and William Daniel Cooper, twins, who both died unmarried, Richard M. in 1874, and William D. in 1875.

JOHN COOPER AND HIS SONS .- John Cooper, the only son of William Cooper, eldest son of William and Margaret Cooper, of Coopers Point, was born at Salem, Ninth Month 22, 1683. His father died in his thirty-second year, in 1691, leaving him to the fostering care of his grand- father Cooper.

Johu Cooper and his cousin, Joseph Cooper, Jr., received as joint tenants from their grandfather William in his lifetime, a large improved tract on the creek, near its mouth, which had been surveyed to him as an overplus of the original survey. This land they sold and conveyed, in 1715, to their cousin William, son and heir of Daniel. By his grandfather's will he received a handsome leg- acy, and he and his cousin, Jonathan Woolstone, were made tenants in common of all land belong- ing to him as the third dividend " out of the one- eighth part and one-twentieth part of a Propriety."

In addition to this, John was the heir to three hundred acres on a stream called Coopers Creek, the largest branch of Alloways Creek, deeded to his mother, Mary, by her father, Edward Bradway.

With this liberal start in life, John Cooper mar- ried, Eleventh Month 1, 1711-12, in Chesterfield Meeting, Anne Clarke, and soon after settled per- manently in Deptford township, Gloucester County.

He was early called to the services in the meeting in 1711, and meetings for worship were for some time held at his house; and together with his cousin Joseph, Jr., and William Evans, acted as the first three trustees of Haddonfield Meeting in 1721, and was soon appointed to the station of an elder, " for which his religious experience and a divine gift had qualified him." He was a public Friend of much weight, and frequently traveled in the ministry. A memorial was issued by the Glouces- ter and Salem Quarterly Meeting, held at Had- donfield in 1756, in which the above and the fol- lowing clear testimony is borne : "He was often concerned for the well ordering of the church in its several branches, careful to demean himself as became an humble follower of the Lamb, show- ing it clearly by his good example among men and in a particular manner before his own family. . . . He departed this life the 22nd day of 9th mo. 1730, in the 48th year of his age." His widow, Anne, died Twelfth Month 17, 1766. They had three sons,-James and David who were distinguished as ministers among Friends, and John, provided for in his father's will as "a child unborn," was prominent as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1776. The testimony from Woodbury Monthly Meeting concerning James Cooper sets forth that "In the 41st year of his age he appear- ed in the ministry, in the exercise of which he was diffident and cautious. . As he grew in years he increased in the gift of the ministry, which was sound and edifying. . . He had a compassionate feeling for the poor and needy, be- stowing his goods cheerfully to them, and was lib- eral in entertaining friends, his heart and home being open for that purpose." He died at Wood- bury Eighth Month 3, 1798, in his seventy-first year. His brother, David Cooper, also a minister, died Eleventh Month 5, 1795, in his seventy-second year, and the memorial published by the same meeting on occasion of his death, bears testimony that "He was endowed with superior talents, was a useful member in the community, in religious meetings he was solid and weighty, sound in judgment and clear in expression. He was a firm advocate for' the liberty of the black people and a liberal pro-

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moter of schools." David Cooper was the author of "Thoughts on Death," and of "Counsel and Instruction to his Grandchildren." In 1761 he represented his county in the General Assembly. In the Pemberton letters, 1764, it appears that David was interested in the Moravian Indians as their friend and protector.

JOHN COOPER, the third son, was born Jan- uary 5, 1729, in Deptford township, Gloucester County, about one mile below Woodbury. Some time prior to the Revolution he built and moved into the fine old-fashioned brick house in Wood- bury, opposite the county clerk's office, where he lived the remainder of his life a bachelor. At the outset of the Revolution he embraced the cause of the colonies with fervor, and when the Com- mittee of Correspondence for Gloucester County was formed, on May 5, 1775, he was chosen one of the members. Thenceforth until his death he was, with hardly an intermission, continuously called to fill important public offices of trust and respon- sibility. He was elected to the Second Provincial Congress that met at Trenton, May 23, 1775, and re-elected to the Third.

On the last day of the first session of the latter he was appointed treasurer for the Western Divi- sion of New Jersey, and at the second session was, on February 14, 1776, chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress, his associates being William Livingston, John De Hart, Richard Smith and Jonathan Dickinson Seargeant. His name does not appear on the published minutes of this Con- gress and it is uncertain whether he attended or not.

It is certain that he did not attend after the meeting of the Fourth Provincial Congress, to which he had been again chosen, and where he was in daily attendance from its opening, on the 10th of June, 1776, to the 15th of July, when he was compelled to leave, it is said, from sickness. While there he took a prominent and decided part in its proceedings, being appointed one of the com- mittee to draft a Constitution for the new States, and chairman of the committee to prepare a bill regulating the first election under that Constitution, and voting on the 21st of June to establish an in- dependent government for the colony, and on Tuesday, July 2d, for the adoption of the new Constitution he had helped to draft.

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The history of Camden county, New Jersey, Part 63

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards Number of Pages: 1220

Author: Prowell, George Reeser, 1849-1928
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Richards
Number of Pages: 1220