JOHN F. COOPER, cashier of the People's Bank of Monongahela City, was born December 7, 1847, in Fallowfield township, Washington Co., Penn., on the farm which he now owns and occupies, and which was the property of his father before him. One of the earliest settlers in what is now Fallowfield township was Frederick Cooper, a native of Germany, who emigrated to this country prior to 1770, and first settled in Frederick county, Va., where he lived until 1771. On April 20, of that year he came to this region, which was yet a wilderness, and purchased from Andrew Devore "one certain tract or parcel of land lying on the north side of the Monongahela, and bounded by lands of Paul Froman and James Devore." A peculiarity about the description of the said tract of land was that the quantity was not mentioned. He retained this tract of land about a year, and sold it to Abraham Miller in April 1772. At that time the boundary dispute between Pennsylvania and Virginia was raging, both provinces claiming jurisdiction over this region. Bedford county had been erected March 9, 1771, and the inhabitants of the Monongahela Valley were called upon to pay their share of the taxes to maintain the county government. And the majority of these having come from Maryland and Virginia, and being doubtful, in the absence of an established western boundary, whether they were living under the government of Pennsylvania or that of Virginia, resistance to the collection of these taxes followed. On this account much ill feeling and turbulence prevailed, and continued for some years, steps being finally taken by the two colonies, in 1780, for a permanent settlement of the boundary contention, and the jurisdiction of Virginia was withdrawn. Washington county was erected March 28, 1781. When Frederick Cooper first came here, he left a wife and three children--John, Mary and Elizabeth-- in the East. Owing to the feuds, discords and litigations amongst the inhabitants of the contending jurisdictions, because of the boundary controversy and the resultant inability of the settlers to make adequate defense against the Indians who had again become troublesome, he sold his land to Abraham Miller in 1772, and returned to the East, remaining there several years. His wife having died, he married Elizabeth Kyle, returned to this county with his family, and purchased 287 acres of land which had been warranted on April 17, 1769, to Jacob Froman, and surveyed under the name of "Wrangle." The warrant was returned to Frederick Cooper December 27, 1784, and he lived upon this land the remainder of his lifetime. From one of a series of historical sketches of early families written by Dr. J. S. Van Voorhis is gleaned the following: Of the children of Frederick Cooper, Catherine became the wife of Thomas Ward, who built the first house in Belle Vernon; Margaret married John Roland, and both died near Wooster, Ohio; Abraham removed to Guernsey county, Ohio; Frederick owned a farm in the "Dutch settlement," and was the father of Samuel and F.K. Cooper, all now deceased; Rebecca became the wife of Daniel Jacobs; George removed to Ohio; Valentine lived and died (a very aged man) on the original Cooper homestead at the mouth of Maple creek, a farmer and distiller by occupation. The names of the children of Valentine Cooper were Jackman, Washington, Jehu, Frederick, Elizabeth, Nancy, Narcissa and Josiah C. Of these, Jackman died in Upshur county, W. Va.; Washington has special mention further on; Jehu removed to Marshall county, Ill.; Frederick was a school teacher, and died in 1852; Nancy married Newton Van Voorhis, and both are now deceased; Elizabeth became the wife of Apollo Speers, who lived in Allen township opposite Belle Vernon; Narcissa married Martin Weaver, and removed to Huron county, Ohio; Josiah c. is still living, and is a practicing physician in Philadelphia. Washington Cooper, second son of Valentine, always remained a citizen of Fallowfield township, where he was born. He was married twice, first to Sarah A. Thompson, by whom he had five children: Margaret A., Mary E., Sarah A., Narcissa and Malinda J., all now deceased. Mr. Cooper's second wife was Ruth A. Graves, who was born in 1815 in West Pike Run township, this county, a daughter of John and Ann Graves, Quakers, who came from near Wilmington, Del., and settled in West Pike Run township, Washington county, where they purchased a farm. They were regular attendants of the Friends' meeting house, a short distance from their residence, and were universally respected. Five children were born to them, viz.: Albina, who married Joshua John, a Quaker, and they resided in Pike Run township; Jehu, who married and after his wife's death moved, with his two children, to Marshall county, Ill.; Taylor, who married Susan Borom, and lived on the homestead farm in Pike Run township; Ruth A., and Mary A., who married Ellis Johnson, and they afterward lived in Stark county, Ohio (he died in his one-hundredth year, and she lived to a ripe old age; the late Hon. James G. Blaine was a pupil of hers). The children born to Washington and Ruth A. (Graves) Cooper were five in number, as follows: John F., our subject; Eli M., who was born in 1849, and died in 1889 unmarried; Charles J., deceased in infancy; Jehu V., a farmer in Fallowfield township, owning a place of 106 acres, a portion of the old homestead (he married Jennie V. Wilson, and they have four children living); and Annie A., wife of William West, a farmer in Sumner county, Tenn. The father died in October, 1866, aged sixty-six years; the mother resides with her son John F. John F. Cooper attended the common schools of his township, which were above the average of country schools, in the meantime assisting his father on the farm. In 1881 he was elected register of wills for Washington county, and -elected in 1884, serving two terms. At the expiration of his term of office, in 1888, he returned to the farm, where he remained until January 1, 1891, when he assumed the duties of cashier of the People's Bank of Monongahela City, he having been elected to that position in December, 1890. On January 19, 1871, Mr. Cooper was united in marriage with Miss Sarah J, Crow, who was born in Fallowfield township, this county, a daughter of Benjamin and Susan (Thompson) Crow. Squire Crow was born in Washington county, and was a farmer and carpenter, also a justice of the peace a number of years. Mrs. Crow was born in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. John F. Cooper has born to them seven children, viz.: Frederick F., clerk for the Catsburg Coal Co.; Olive R., Alice C., Frances J., George W., Ethel E. and Charles McIlvain. The mother died January 23, 1888. She was a member of the M.E. Church, Mr. Cooper of the Presbyterian Church. He resides with his children on the old homestead farm, which he owns, four miles southeast of Monongahela City, on the Brownsville road in Fallowfield township. The farm comprises 113 acres, and he raises thereon grain and stock.

Text taken from page 162 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed March 1997 by Jack McNatt of Valrico, FL as part of the Beers Project. Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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