The common story is that my great(5)-grandfather Daniel Cooper was born at sea in 1695 while emigrating to the US from Holland, and that his father died on the same voyage. However, my great-something-uncle Theodore Cooper did quite a bit of genealogical research, and in 1903 he wrote that Daniel's grandson John Cooper had said: "My great-grand-father [Daniel Cooper's father] was born in England, from there went to Holland and married a Low-Dutch woman, by whom he had one son who also married in Holland and moved from there about 1700 to the city of New York or near it on the North River and died there leaving a widow and among other children my grand-father [Daniel Cooper]. The widow's house was burned and the family were left quite poor. Daniel learned the weavers trade and for many years worked at the trade about New Brunswick [New Jersey] and on the Raritan . he told me his brother Immanuel settled in West Jersey on the Delaware." There is plenty of documentation about Daniel's life from about 1726 on, but I have absolutely no solid proof of anything in Daniel's life from birth until then. Does anyone have suggestions for places I could look to find some proof of some of these statements? . If Daniel's father died in New York (or near it on the North River) between (guessing) 1700 and 1720, would any records exist of his death? . If Daniel was a weaver for many years in New Jersey and New York - say between 1710 and 1720, would there be any record of that? . If someone named Immanuel Cooper existed in "West Jersey on the Delaware", what records would still exist of him? That's a unique-enough name that if I found someone by that name in the right time period I could feel some confidence it's the right guy. . Does anyone know anything about records in Holland during the late 1600's - anything over there I should try to find? . I assume that in 1690-1700, there wouldn't be any immigration records available? . Ship records are scarce from that time period too I have an Ancestry account and have already checked that with no success. Thanks for all suggestions, Chris p.s. The line goes like this: 1. Daniel's father (name not certain, perhaps Daniel Keiper, written in Dutch) 2. Daniel (1695-1795) - supposedly born at sea 3. Daniel, Jr. (1729-1787) 4. John, Sr. (1765-1851) - speaker of the quote as recorded by Theodore 5. John, Jr. (1799-1863) 6. Fred (1842-1918) etc. me

Hi Chris, I've done some research in the New Brunswick Area in the 1700's - what do you have so far on your Cooper family in 1726? If Daniel's father was English and married a Dutch woman, he may have been escaping religious intolerance in England at the end of the 17th Century. There is a John Cooper in the NY Reformed Church register in the 1720's with a Dutch-sounding wife. Terry HJ >The common story is that my great(5)-grandfather Daniel Cooper was born at >sea in 1695 while emigrating to the US from Holland, and that his father >died on the same voyage. > > > >However, my great-something-uncle Theodore Cooper did quite a bit of >genealogical research, and in 1903 he wrote that Daniel's grandson John >Cooper had said: > > > >"My great-grand-father [Daniel Cooper's father] was born in England, from >there went to Holland and married a Low-Dutch woman, by whom he had one son >who also married in Holland and moved from there about 1700 to the city of >New York or near it on the North River and died there leaving a widow and >among other children my grand-father [Daniel Cooper]. The widow's house was >burned and the family were left quite poor. Daniel learned the weavers >trade and for many years worked at the trade about New Brunswick [New >Jersey] and on the Raritan . he told me his brother Immanuel settled in West >Jersey on the Delaware." > > > >There is plenty of documentation about Daniel's life from about 1726 on, but >I have absolutely no solid proof of anything in Daniel's life from birth >until then. > > > >Does anyone have suggestions for places I could look to find some proof of >some of these statements? > > > >. If Daniel's father died in New York (or near it on the North >River) between (guessing) 1700 and 1720, would any records exist of his >death? > >. If Daniel was a weaver for many years in New Jersey and New York - >say between 1710 and 1720, would there be any record of that? > >. If someone named Immanuel Cooper existed in "West Jersey on the >Delaware", what records would still exist of him? That's a unique-enough >name that if I found someone by that name in the right time period I could >feel some confidence it's the right guy. > >. Does anyone know anything about records in Holland during the late >1600's - anything over there I should try to find? > >. I assume that in 1690-1700, there wouldn't be any immigration >records available? > >. Ship records are scarce from that time period too > > > >I have an Ancestry account and have already checked that with no success. > > > >Thanks for all suggestions, > >Chris > > > >p.s. The line goes like this: > >1. Daniel's father (name not certain, perhaps Daniel Keiper, written in >Dutch) > >2. Daniel (1695-1795) - supposedly born at sea > >3. Daniel, Jr. (1729-1787) > >4. John, Sr. (1765-1851) - speaker of the quote as recorded by Theodore > >5. John, Jr. (1799-1863) > >6. Fred (1842-1918) > >etc. > >me > > > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >[email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' >without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message