William Cooper, p. 1091

WILLIAM COOPER, a prosperous agriculturist, and a descendant of one of the oldest families in the county, is a native of Franklin township, born November 13, 1821, a son of Stephen and Hannah Cooper. He received a thorough practical training on the old home farm, and his literary education was limited to the subscription schools of the vicinity. On April 13, 1847, he was married to Eleanor, daughter of Stephen and Sarah Day, and soon afterward the young couple came to their present farm in Franklin township, on which they made many improvements, a comfortable residence and all other buildings having been built by them. Here, by industry, perseverance, economy and sound judgment, Mr. Cooper has made an enviable success, and is now the owner of a large and highly improved farm. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cooper: Murray A. and Howard C. (the last named being deceased). Mr. Cooper is a member and supporter of the Presbyterian church of Prosperity. In politics he was first a Whig, and, since the party was organized, has been a Republican. He has never sought office, but has attended strictly to his occupation as a farmer and stock raiser, and now, at a ripe old age, finds himself surrounded by the comforts of life and a competency of this world's goods.

Murray A. Cooper, son of William and Eleanor Cooper, was born in Franklin township, September 18, 1849. He was educated at the Southwestern State Normal College of Pennsylvania, and at Union College Ohio. At the age of seventeen he commenced teaching, and continued in that vocation in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Read medicine but never practiced. On September 18, 1871, he established the Washington Advance (name changed to Observer), with H. B. Durant as partner, and continued its publication until November, 1873. This he sold and then purchased the Mt. Pleasant (Penn.) Journal, which he edited and published five years. He was recording secretary of the Pennsylvania Editorial Association in 1877. In 1879 he located in Steubenville, Ohio, and was connected with the Herald two years. For three years he was special correspondent with the Cincinnati Gazette. Owing to failing health, Mr. Cooper retired from newspaper work in 1884, and turned his attention to farming and stock raising, locating upon the home farm in Franklin township. In 1890 he became interested in Dorset Horn sheep, and was the first to introduce this important brand of English sheep into western Pennsylvania. In June, 1891, he made an importation from the best flocks in England. On march 31, 1891, at Pittsburgh, Penn., he assisted in organizing the Dorset Horn Sheep Breeders Association of America, being unanimously elected secretary and treasurer of the organization; reelected in 1892, and January 11, 1893, in New York City, was elected to the same position. He is now a resident of Washington, Penn., where he conducts the business of the Association, which has become one of the most successful organizations of the kind in the country, having members in twenty-four States, Canada and England. In politics he is a strong Republican, and in religion he is a Presbyterian.

Text taken from page 1091 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).

Transcribed February 1997 by Karen Souhrada of Pittsford, NY as part of the Beers Project.
Published February 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]