Hi Ed Oops - yes, Dad was b 1904 not 1804. And no, I don't know where the name DeWitt came from but I suppose from the Dutch side of Sophia's family - perhaps someone left behind in Holland. Also have wondered about the Hulbert and if it would be the English of Hulbrecht. Sounds reasonable to me. Then along comes James FitzJames - now where did that come from? Very very English???? So many questions, so few answers. This is interesting information re; the history of Pultneyville/Williamson, much of it we already have. My sister has done a lot of research on the Cooper/Cowles lines. In fact, she has the Peper family back to Holland as follows: Descendants of Abraham Peper 1 Abraham Peper b: in Oostzouberg, Welcheren Island Holland 2 Abraham Peper, Deacon d: 09 May 1845 in Pultneyville, Wayne, NY b: 02 Nov 1757 in Oostzouberg, Holland .... +Williaminia Bloomert d: 27 May 1845 in Pultneyville, Wayne, NY b: 16 Mar 1762 in Oostzouberg, Holland ... 3 Wilhelmina Peper d: Aft. 1835 b: 14 Feb 1795 in Oostzouburg, Holland ....... +Russell Cowles b: Abt 1771 in East Hartford, Conneticut ..... 4 Sophia Lucinda Cowles d: 27 Nov 1893 in Baker Co., Oregon b: 1819 in Pultneyville, Wayne Co., New York ......... +Nathaniel P. Cooper d: Apr 1870 in Ft. Collins, Larimer Co., CO b: Abt 1806 in New York ..... 4 Henry Russell Cowles d: 14 Apr 1892 in Washington, Washington, IA b: 13 Apr 1823 in Pultneyville, Wayne, NY ......... +Elizabeth McCafferty d: 1891 in Washington Co., Iowa b: 05 Jan 1826 in Cedar Grove, Franklin Co., Ind. ..... 4 Sylvester Cowles b: Abt 1824 in NY ..... 4 Theodore Cowles b: Abt 1825 in NY ..... 4 Lorenzo Cowles d: 1867 b: Abt 1825 in NY ......... +[1] Clarissa Cafferty d: 01 Mar 1876 in Cambridge City, Wayne Co., Ind. b: 20 Jun 1824 in Cedar Grove, Franklin Co., Ind. ..... 4 Nelson Cowles b: Abt 1826 in NY ......... +[1] Clarissa Cafferty d: 01 Mar 1876 in Cambridge City, Wayne Co., Ind. b: 20 Jun 1824 in Cedar Grove, Franklin Co., Ind. 2 Hubrecht Peper d: 1838 in Oostzouberg, Holland b: in Oostzouberg, Holland NOTE: Cafferty and McCafferty were sisters. Clarissa was married to both brothers - she was widowed when she married the second time. All but one of the brothers of Sophia migrated to Iowa after their father died. Just one stayed in or near Pultneyville - presumably to take over his father's business. I don't know if George Washington Cowles was related but was probably a son of the one who stayed in NY, considering the subject matter of his book and the location. There were several Cooper's in or near Williamson/Pultneyville in the early census records. Peter, Jos., Fro.?, and Tho. 1810 census. 1820, Peter and Thomas. 1830, Peter, Thomas, Israel and Griffin. 1840, Thomas & Griffin. There were probably some others in the two early census and the later ones but these are on hand right now. I have Ancestry so have checked them all trying to figure this out. So, that still leaves us wondering who Nathaniel belonged to. Do you have a will or probate record for Jemes, the father of Griffin? This might give all of the children he had. Also, do you have a male Cooper cousin from this line that would be willing to do the DNA testing? That might be very helpful. Carroll Hi Carroll, Thank you for your reply, pointing out how you know that Sophia COWLES husband is Nathaniel P. COOPER, plus the additional useful and interesting information about your family. I do think that there is a fair chance that Nathaniel might belong to the Salem/Camden County, NJ, COOPERS, even if he was born in New York State. I did notice a couple of your 'deliberate' :-) mistakes, just to see if I read it carefully, such as your father, Maurice DeWitt COOPER being born in 1804 rather than 1904. Getting back to Pultneyville, Wayne Co., New York, I sometimes get a little confused about Williamson the village and Williamson the township. Pultneyville & Williamson are both in the Town of Williamson, so when I see that my COOPERS, Griffith & Alexander are mentioned as being in Williamson, it could and does at times mean that they are actually in the village of Pultneyville rather than the village of Williamson but they are so close together that it does really makes much difference. So, anyhow, I tried finding your Russell COWLES, father of Sophia in Pultneyville and anywhere in Wayne County but couldn't find a reference to him, until it suddenly dawned on me that he was being referred to as Russell COLES. Now that you wrote that it is pronounced as Kolz, the spelling of COLES is understandable. See if you agree with me...... ______________________________________________________________________________ _____ Source: Military history of Wayne County, N.Y. : the County in the Civil War Sodus, N.Y by Lewis H. Clark, published by Hulett & Gaylord, 1883 page 216 [I think this is about 1814] ............The British soldiers, who are said to have landed from their Batteaux with unloaded guns, loaded forthwith. There was a scattering of both sides. In the scuffle the British seized as prisoners, Richard White, bartender; PRESCOTT FAIRBANKS, Mr. Ledyards clerk, and RUSSEL COLE. The latter jumped away in front of Ledyards store, dashed around it to the creek and swam over to the other side.........Not many minutes elapsed before the enemy, having loaded and regained their boats, commenced a scattering of musketry fire, paying their particular respects to the bushes into which RUSSELL COLE had escaped........ The prisoners White and FAIRBANKS were taken away and sent to Halifax. It was some months before they were released...... Fairbanks was the son of Rev. Eleazer Fairbanks the early Presbyterian minister of Palmyra who settled at what is still known as FairbanksPoint east of Pultneyville.....RUSSELL COLE was a blacksmith by trade and also a gunsmith; an ingenious mechanic and withal something of a hunter. He could make a rifle and use it. He married a daughter of Deacon Abraham PEPPER. [The reason I put PRESCOTT FAIRBANKS in capital letters, is because his grandson, also named Prescott Fairbanks, married MARY ELIZA COOPER, in 1868 and she is the daughter of James B. COOPER & Sarah ROGERS & James B. is the son of GRIFFITH MORGAN COOPER whom I mentioned in my previous message, who was born in 1791 in Haddonfield, New Jersey.] ______________________________________________________________________________ ___ Source: Landmarks of Wayne County, New York by George Washington COWLES, published by D. Mason, Syracuse, NY, 1895: [He isn't a relation of Russell's is he?] Chapter XX. History of the Town of Williamson. page 305 ........The second highway ...through....Williamson village.....was later known in this town as Jersey street from the fact that many of the settlers along its lines came from New Jersey. [So this helps to explain why my New Jersey Cooper relations were in Wayne County but I wonder why a lot came from NJ to up State New York in the first place? G.W. Coles supplies a great deal of detail about Williamson & Pultneyville, including the incident with the British soldiers in 1814. He also spells the name as RUSSELL COLE.] page 315 Pultneyville.-- This village..........RUSSELL COLE put up a blacksmith shop, and afterwards built a larger one on the site of the James B. Cragg house. page 316 Churches.-- The First Presbyterian Church of Williamson was or- anized by Rev. Allen C. Collins, a missionary, November 21, 1816, the constituent members being: ..........Wilhelmina PEPPER..... Abraham PEPPER.....Maria FAIRBANKS ___________________________________________________________________________ Source: Old Houses and Churches of Wayne County, New York State compiled by Mrs. Helen Balmat Gorman, State Historian, 1938 page 49 Lake Captains Monument. Pultneyville, Wayne County, New York, was once a busy port on Lake Ontario, and many of its residents were seamen. This Monument erected to the memory of Lake Captains of the vicinity, was dedicated in 1930. A list of the names is given. Also on a historical marker here, one reads, "From 1687 French Batteaux men stopped here to trade with the Indians. First Settler "Yankee Bill" Waters, a hunter, lived here in 1804." ..............Samuel Throop......RUSSELL COLE...... Horatio N. Throop......John H. Ledyard.....Milton Fairbanks.....etc. [I don't think that they are suggesting that these gentlemen were French. I included the Troop gents because one of their relations, Adoniram Judson Throop married Anna Hamilton COOPER at Pultneyville in 1878, she being the daughter of Alexander Hamilton COOPER brother of Griffith Morgan COOPER. The Fairbanks is also a relation of the Prescott Fairbanks who married Mary Eliza COOPER, mentioned previously. The connection here seems to be that they were mariners which is what Griffith Morgan Cooper claimed to be, having been in the US Navy, as were his brothers and his father.] ________________________________________________________________________ I hope that some of this information is of interest to you. I know I have not proven a connection between your Nathaniel P. COOPER and my Coopers but think that I have made a case for his possibly being from that line of Coopers. I have another question to ask you. Where do you think that the DEWITT name comes from? - Ed ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.