Randal, I suggest you join the [email protected] It is really a good group .. most of our forefathers came from VA and N.C. and it is like family .. I noticed the name MESSER come through there. OSBORN(E) COOPER too. You can be a lurker like I am and gain so much information. Seems most of the folks travelled to KY and settled. BTW .. how are your dogs? I bred my 3 y LAB to my old 9y LAB and they had 10 puppies and they are beautiful. They were all spoken for before birth .. Derre ----- Original Message ----- From: "Randal W Cooper" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 09, 2004 11:13 AM Subject: [KyGreenup] William Cooper and Surnames of Barney, Messer and Rake/Raike > Dear Members of the Greenup County, Kentucky Discussion Group, > > William Cooper (my third-great grandfather) was born about 1821 or 1822 > in Massachusetts or Connecticut, according to various conflicting > records. He obtained a good education in Connecticut and became a > teacher in Connecticut, according to the memoirs of a grandson of > William Cooper. > > William Cooper claimed that his mother was descended from a Mayflower > passenger. He could name the members of each generation back from his > mother, but this information was not recorded or has not been preserved. > > William Cooper was described as an excellent reader and teacher, who > could read a passage so well that understanding would result in the > hearer, just from the manner of reading. > > William Cooper migrated from Connecticut to Greenup County, Kentucky by > 1846. How long it took him, where he stopped along the way, what > residences he had along the way, what route he took and with whom he > traveled, all are unknown. He became a tobacconist after he arrived in > Kentucky. William Cooper never owned land after 1848. > > William Cooper married Martha Ann Barney on May 6, 1846 in the Tygart > Creek village of Liberty, Greenup County, Kentucky, which later was > renamed Lynn. He purchased fifty acres and a Liberty town lot in 1847 > (two separate pieces of property) but sold them in 1848. William and > Martha had three children: Adoniram (my great great grandfather), > Artemas and Valentine. Valentine died in 1852 at age three. Adoniram > (1846-1875) married Martha Ann Messer on January 18, 1870 in Scioto > County, Ohio although they were lifelong residents of Greenup County, > and Artemas (1847-1908) married Sarah Susanna Rake/Raike in Greenup > County in 1873. > > William Cooper moved to Lewis County about 1852, then back to Greenup > County by 1860. He served in the Union Army's Twenty-second Regiment of > Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, Company "E", a Company which was composed > of mostly Lewis County men. He was wounded in the Battle of Chickasaw > Bayou, Mississippi, December 29, 1862. A mini-ball struck him in the > forehead an inch above his right eye. The wound affected his mind. After > the Civil War, William Cooper lived in Lewis and Greenup Counties in > various people's homes. He was described as a feeble-minded man who > lived day to day by the charity of the families of the neighborhood, who > watched after him. He was a resident of the National Union Soldiers' > Home near Dayton, Ohio for a few months. > > About 1885 or so, William Cooper moved to Jackson County, West Virginia > and made his home with his son Artemas Cooper. William Cooper died > November 23, 1903 in Jackson County and is buried in Meadowdale > Cemetery, adjacent to Meadowdale Baptist Church in the small community > of Duncan, in Eastern Jackson County, West Virginia. > > Query: Who were the parents of William Cooper? > > Sincerely, > > Randal W. Cooper > > > > ==== KYGREENU Mailing List ==== > The Greenup County KYGenWeb site can always use volunteers. Please contact [email protected] if you have resources, can do lookups or would like to add information to the pages at http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygreen2 > All of us sharing adds just that much more information about families! >