Warren Co. N.J. Surrogate — Probate Record Index 1825–1956, A–K — the omnibus index, swept for Coopers. Found Aaron, Benjamin B., and six minors sharing one guardianship petition.

Transcription and notes

Provenance, the page-numbering trap, the literal-citation finding, the retracted combo nulls and the shared-triple observation are all in the source: and coverage: headers. The dated sweep narrative — what was searched when, and which readings were withdrawn — moved to [pr.33] on 2026-09-01; the family reconstruction is on [p.776]. What remains here is the verbatim index rows.

COMPLETE row 14 — Cooper, Aaron

Alignment proof, not assumption (per RULE ZERO). Image 234's Orphan's Court column carries 18/266 on row 12 and 18/476 on row 14, with rows 13, 15, 16, 17 blank; the Documents column reads A5·35 (12), A?·23 (13), BB·64 (14), ?·21 (15), ?·22 (16). The row numbers were cropped into the same image as the cells at 4x so the correspondence is visible in one frame rather than inferred across two.

Independently confirmed the same day from (image held in the family archive) (maintainer-supplied tight crop of row 14). That strip is a single uncropped-together band — 18 476, BB 64 and the row number 14 all on one ruled line, with no compositing by the reader. At 7x the 4 of 476 and the 4 of the row number 14 share the same open-topped form, so the row identification does not depend on counting rows at all.

Legibility limits, stated honestly. - The Documents File values on rows 12-13 and 15-17 are ambiguous in this hand (letter-pairs or digits — row 12 looks like A5, which would mix both). They are recorded here only as alignment scaffolding and should not be quoted. - Row 14's 476, 64 and the row number 14 are unambiguous. - BB carries one reservation: the second glyph could be an 8. It has the straight left stem and right-bulging bowls of the first B, unlike the stemless double-loop 8 in 18 476 on the same line — so BB is the better reading, but B8 is not excluded. The request drafted in pr.33 already asks the office to quote what is written on the document, which resolves it; until then give them both forms.

The four rows [verbatim]

Column assignment on rows 40 and 20 is read from position against the neighbouring rows' filled cells, not from a ruled-line trace of every column. The values are unambiguous at magnification; if one of these is ever ordered, quote the value and let the office confirm the series.

The three rows on page 172 [verbatim]

Image 309 = page 160, C+P — read row by row [verbatim]

Rows 7-10 are numbered but empty, and the remaining ~three quarters of the page is blank. No Cooper — the original note is correct for this page.

But page 160 is the LAST C+P page, not the first. Petitions vols 16-19 and Wills vol 38 are the highest volumes seen anywhere in this index — compare page 4 of C+A (Petitions 17-19, Wills 34-46, margin-dated 1943-45) — and the page trails off unfilled, which is what the end of an allocation looks like.

⇒ It covers roughly the 1940s-50s. Phebe Ann Cooper, who was about 7 when her parents died in April 1851, could not possibly appear on it. The C+P null says nothing about her, and the earlier C+P pages are uncaptured.

Page 216 rows 14 and 15 [verbatim]

14 · Cooper · Warren H. — Petitions 6/29 · Letters 4/347 · Bonds 6/670 15 · Cooper · William H. — Petitions 6/29 · Letters 4/347 · Bonds 6/670

(Row 40, Cooper · William J., carries no citations in the columns read.)

Rows 14 and 15 — Warren H. and William H. Cooper [verbatim]

Verbatim — Cooper Benjamin B entry (row 1, image 240, page 13 of C-section, C+B combo) [verbatim]

Cooper | Benjamin B | Petitions 5/484 | Wills 4/254 | Letters 4/289 | Bonds 6/457 | Inventories 9/498 | Surrogate's Orders 1/286 | (Accounts: ?)

Coverage sweep summary

Per user-captured images of the C-section combo pages:

User captured 39 images total (200, 212, 231, 232-256 even, 262, 274-303 selective, 309-356 sequential, 800/900/950/1000/1013). Coverage is partial across the C-section and select later-letter sections.