Document A.132 · probate index · transcription: verbatim
Sussex Co., N.J. ESTATE INDEX, page 14 — the C-R × A/B given-name cell: two Cooper estates, files 1664 (Ann) and 1665 (Andrew J.).
- repository
- Sussex County Surrogate's Office, Newton, N.J.
- collection
- Estate Index (Russell Index), A-H reel, DGS 005679620, image 166
- identifier
- Page 14 — the cell where Cooper estates with an A- or B- given name are filed. Predicted at image 164 and actually at 166 — the anchors in the body record the correction.
What is transcribed: Page 14's two Cooper rows.
People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper, Andrew J | mentioned | Andrew J. Cooper 1855–1911 | death: 26 Mar 1911, Green Twp., Sussex Co., New Jersey |
| Grant Cooper | administrator | Ulysses Grant Cooper 1878–1953 | |
| Cooper, Ann | mentioned |
What this document records
It confirms andrew j from the county side
File 1665 · Cooper, Andrew J · d. 26 March 1911 · Green Tp · Grant Cooper Admr. The county's own index states the administrator, and he is Ulysses Grant Cooper, the decedent's son — which [A.157]'s 1912 receipts then confirm from the receipt side, each styled "one of the children of Andrew J. Cooper." It is also a third independent source for his death date, alongside [G.508] and [L.159].
A second cooper nobody has worked
File 1664 · Cooper, Ann · d. 22 December 1885 · Sparta Tp · James W. Crigar Admr. Not the Ann Cooper of [A.162], whose insolvent estate was settled in 1886 — or possibly the same; the catalog has not checked, and the dates are adjacent enough to matter.
One digit is an ink blob
The Proceedings block number for file 1665 is illegible — an ink blob — so the row reads 2 · 23 · [?]. [A.133] resolved it by reading page 23 entire rather than guessing the block.
The russell key
How the index works, since it is not obvious: the surname keys to a code (r for Cooper) and the given-name initial picks the row. ⇒ one surname's estates are scattered across many pages by first name. The full key table is at [A.128].
Transcription and notes
Provenance, how the Russell key scatters one surname across pages, the blotted block digit,
and the unworked second Cooper are all in the source: and coverage: headers and are not
repeated here.
Page 14 is the cell where Cooper estates whose subject has an A- or B- given name are filed
(the Russell key: surname keys to r, given-name initial picks the row — see [A.128] for the full
key table). It was predicted at image 164 and is actually at image 166; see the anchors below.
The two Coopers [verbatim]
| File No. | Estate | Date of death / Residence | Personal representative | Proceedings Vol/Page/Blk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1664 | Cooper — Ann | Dec 22 1885 · Sparta Tp | James W Crigar Admr | 2 · 23 · 4 |
| 1665 | Cooper — Andrew J = [p.1792] | Mar 26 1911 · Green Tp | Grant Cooper Admr = his son [p.1793] | 2 · 23 · [illegible] |
The block digit for 1665 is an ink blob at the frame edge and does NOT resolve at 16x. The volume and page (2 · 23) are legible. Whoever pulls the Proceedings block will have to scan page 23 of volume 2 for the Cooper name rather than jumping to a block number.
Both sheets of page 14 were checked; these are the only Coopers. The non-Cooper neighbours, in order, run: Cornkuser, Carruth, Coursen, Courson, Carner, Coursen, Crevelling, Coursen, Carr, Coursen, Carpenter, Christy, Carpenter, Corkey, Carpenter, Crossman, Carmer, Carmer, Crane, Cortright, Crane, Curry, Coursen, Curry, Crane, Courtright, Courtright, Crane, Cooper (Ann), Carmer, Coursen, Cortright, Corwin, Current, Carr, Carpenter, Coursen, Coursen, Crispin, Craig, Carmello, Cooper (Andrew J). Every one is a C-R surname with an A/B given name — a fourth independent confirmation that the Russell key is being read correctly.
The file numbers say the Cooper estates are a CONTIGUOUS BLOCK — and two are missing
Set the known 19th-century Sussex Cooper file numbers side by side:
| File | Estate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1664 | Ann | this entry |
| 1665 | Andrew J | this entry |
| 1666 | Caleb S | [A.128] |
| 1667 | Charles A | [A.128] |
| 1668 | ** UNKNOWN** | — |
| 1669 | ** UNKNOWN** | — |
| 1670 | Elias | Proceedings Index, DGS 005679623 p. 24 |
| 1671 | Effie M | ditto |
| 1672 | John J | ditto |
| 1673 | James H | ditto |
| 1674 | Phebe Ann | ditto |
| 1675 | Robert A | ditto |
| 1676 | Sarah J | ditto |
⇒ Eleven of thirteen consecutive numbers are accounted for, and every one is a Cooper. The county evidently assigned Cooper estates a contiguous run when the index was compiled. So files 1668 and 1669 are almost certainly two more Cooper estates the catalog has never seen — and their given names must begin with a letter whose page has not been read (the unread cells are 44 G/H, 54 I/J, 64 K/L, 74 M/N, 84 sheet 2 R/S, 104 W-Z).
"Almost certainly" is doing work in that sentence. The run is an observed pattern across eleven numbers, not a stated rule, and nothing on the page says the block is unbroken. It is a lead of high promise, not a finding.
And note what it does NOT explain: [A.128] recorded page 34 — the C-R × E/F cell, where Elias (1670) should sit — as entirely blank. Elias demonstrably has a Sussex estate. So either the Estate Index omits him while the Proceedings Index carries him, or page 34 was misidentified. Unresolved; worth one look when someone is next on this reel.
Page-to-image anchors read off the printed headers
The film record predicted page 14 at image 164. It is at 166.
| DGS image | book pages |
|---|---|
| 164 | 11 | 12 |
| 165 | 12 (sheet 2) | 13 |
| 166 | 13 (sheet 2) | 14 (sheet 1) |
⇒ the "page = image − 150" rule is already two pages adrift by page 14, at the start of the volume — so it is not merely the volume-2 boundary that breaks it ([A.128] found it broken past image ~243). Interpolate, then read the printed page number. Recorded in films/film.5679620.yaml.
Cross-references
- A.128 — the C/D cell (page 24), the Russell key table, and the five Coopers found there.
- A.130 — step two of the lookup for three of those.
- A.131 — why the online index cannot reach any of these (it starts ~1967).