Hi Ed I found the first reference of the Cooper-Cowles marriage in a book, "The Genealogy of the Cowles Families in America", by Colonel Calvin Duvall Cowles (pronounced Kolz), U.S. Army Retired; published in 1929. Quote from the book: Sophia b. 1819, d. 1893; m. 1835 _____ Cooper, who d. about 1868. I have been unable to find further information re: the marriage but it must be refer enced in some court record book or church in or near Pultneyville. Living in Oregon and unable to afford a trip to the area makes research there a little difficult. My great grandfather, Hulbert DeWitt Cooper was their first child and was b in 1836 in PA. He went by DeWitt H. and I didn't find his true name until locating his mother's land records after her death in E. Oregon, Baker Co. Next the family, 1840 census, is in Frankfort, KY where James FitzJames was born in 1839. 1850 census, Washington, Washington co., Iowa, shows N.P. Cooper, Wife Sophia, Ch. DeWitt and James and two daughters Florence Elizabeth and Geneva Jane. N.P. is very active in the community, especially in re: to the schools. Nathaniel was the School Funds Commissioner for the County of Washington, State of Iowa and a merchant. In the court records he is sometimes listed as N.P., other times as Nathaniel P. Sophia is also mentioned in the records as "wife". They had Helen Mary, Theodore Henry, and Edmonia Lincoln by 1861. Nathaniel went to see Pike's Peak about 1860/61 (after the census where they were still in Iowa). It was still Indian Territory but he brought his family out to Ft. Collins, CO where they farmed for the next ten years until his death. He was involved in starting schools - education apparently mattered greatly to him. James FJ became a teacher (never married). A year or so after N.P.'s death in 1970 James, Sophia, Edmonia and a nephew, Russell Ames, son of another sister who died in childbirth came to Oregon, setteling in Jackson Co. About 1883 they moved on to Baker Co. where Sophia made a land purchase of 160 acres (BLM). DeWitt also relocated to Jackson Co. from CO early 1870's then on to Baker Co when his mother and brother did. My grandfather was his only son out of 3 children, Guy Colin Scott Cooper (Melissa Scott b. Iowa was his mother, d in childbirth around 1879). My dad, Maurice DeWitt Cooper was b in 1804 in Baker City, Baker Co., OR but the family moved to Portland, OR in 1907. Dad married and I was b in Portland. This is basically what I know of my family. My older brother, Maurice Guy Cooper gave his DNA for the DNA FamilyTree project but we have not had any matches so far. We do know from the 1790 census records that there were at least 2 Cooper's in the vacinity of Pultneyville, Peter and one whose name doesn't pop right into my mind. We also think Nathaniel had a brother Benjamin as there was mention of him in a history of Ft. Collins, visiting the family in Ft. Collins around the time of the Civil War as well as some correspondence to and from Nathaniel and Benjamin. If you can shed any light on Nathaniel's parentage I would be most grateful. Carroll Cooper Summers Salem, Oregon Carroll Cooper Summers, wrote: >My sister and I have searched for years trying to find the parentage of our >gr grandfather, Nathaniel P. Cooper (we think the P stands for Parda or >Pardee but are not sure). Nathaniel was b somewhere in NY about 1806, d. >Apr. >1870 Ft. Collins, CO.. We think he was probably b. near Pultneyville as that >is where he married in 1835 to Sophia Cowles. They had 7 children. The mention of Pultneyville got my attention. Some of my Coopers lived there and in the surrounding area of Wayne County, New York in the 19th century. Can I ask you how you found the information that the husband of Sophia Cowles was a NATHANIEL P. COOPER? What I know of my Coopers is that GRIFFITH MORGAN COOPER born 1791 Haddonfield, NJ, son of Capt. JAMES B. COOPER & Rebecca MORGAN. These Coopers were originally Quakers but possibly because the father James B. Cooper served in the Continental Army during the Revolution and later in the U.S. Navy he was more than likely dismissed from being a member of the Society of Friends. However, Griffith Morgan Cooper became a Quaker later in life and moved to the Town of Williamson, Wayne County sometime after marrying ELIZABETH HODGSON in 1812. G.M. Cooper's brother, ALEXANDER HAMILTON COOPER b. 1812 married REBECCA E........... moved to Port Gibson, Ontario Co., NY and later to the Town of Williamson where he is buried. I think that Capt. James B. Cooper had about eleven children but I can only account for five of them at the moment. There is another brother, Captain BENJAMIN COOPER b. 1793 who marrried ELIZABETH HICKS. They lived on Hicks Street, Brooklyn, New York. My ggg-grandfather, JAMES MORGAN COOPER, b.1799 was a gunner in the US Navy, died in 1868 and is buried in New York Bay Cemetery, NJ. Since reading your message, I have tried to find a Nathaniel Cooper in Wayne County but have been unable to do so. Just thought that I would let you know of other Coopers in that area around the time period that you are interested in. - Ed ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.

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