The Coopers of Long Hill

Document A.69 · Probate and Estate · transcription: verbatim

NJ Essex County Unrecorded Estate Papers File 5798 — Stephen Cooper of Newark, died intestate 20 Oct 1839; administration granted 5 November 1839 to his two sons John C. Cooper of the Township of Orange + William W. Cooper of Newark. PRIMARY-SOURCE-LOCKS Stephen Cooper b. ~1772 d. 20 Oct 1839 [B.57](../B-Military/B.57.yaml) Side A patriarch as a NEWARK ESSEX CO. NJ RESIDENT = closes the geographic mystery for the B.57 Cooper Bible at NJHS Side A family. Bond amount $5000; bondsmen: John C. Cooper + William W. Cooper + William Lee + John C. Pitts; witness Alex B Thompson; Surrogate J.A. Smith. Newark Essex Co. NJ is geographically adjacent to Long Hill Morris Co. NJ (= Daniel Cooper Sr's residence) — possible kinship to Daniel Sr line via unidentified intermediate; needs research.

Cite this page "NJ Essex County Unrecorded Estate Papers File 5798 — Stephen Cooper of Newark, died intestate 20 Oct 1839; administration granted 5 November 1839 to his two sons John C. Cooper of the Township of Orange + William W. Cooper of Newark. PRIMARY-SOURCE-LOCKS Stephen Cooper b. ~1772 d. 20 Oct 1839 [B.57](../B-Military/B.57.yaml) Side A patriarch as a NEWARK ESSEX CO. NJ RESIDENT = closes the geographic mystery for the B.57 Cooper Bible at NJHS Side A family. Bond amount $5000; bondsmen: John C. Cooper + William W. Cooper + William Lee + John C. Pitts; witness Alex B Thompson; Surrogate J.A. Smith. Newark Essex Co. NJ is geographically adjacent to Long Hill Morris Co. NJ (= Daniel Cooper Sr's residence) — possible kinship to Daniel Sr line via unidentified intermediate; needs research.", document A.69, The Coopers of Long Hill, njcoopers.com/e/A.69/

Transcription and notes

CATALOG-DEFINING DISCOVERY: Primary-source locates B.57 Side A's Stephen R. Cooper b. 1771 in NEWARK, ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY — closes a 7-day-old open research question.

Source identification

Element Value
Collection NJ Essex County Unrecorded Estate Papers, File 5767-5850 (FamilySearch microfilm series 005676573)
Specific file 5798 — Stephen Cooper, City of Newark
Original file numbering Stephen Cooper estate = file #5798 within the unrecorded-papers range 5767-5850 (= 83 files total)
Repository NJ State Archives, Trenton (or county Surrogate's office; per FamilySearch image series indicates microfilm capture)
Acquisition User-supplied via local folder Death/Wills and Probate/New Jersey/Essex County/Unrecorded Estate Papers 5767-5850/ on 2026-05-26
Local files 4 JPG images: (image held in the family archive) (cover/file separator) + (image held in the family archive) (administrators' oath) + (image held in the family archive) + (image held in the family archive) (administration bond — two views of same document)

Verbatim transcription

Page 317 — File cover/separator

5798 Stephen Cooper [decd] [intestate] [filed?] Nov 5, 1839 [letters of?] [administration?] [admins?]: J[ohn] [C] Cooper [admins?]: W[illia]m W Cooper

(Note: This is the file-cover/separator sheet, showing the file number 5798 + decedent name + date of probate filing + administrators. Image was largely too dark to read fully at current rendering; transcription is partial.)

Page 318 — Administrators' Oath

Essex County, ss.

John C. Cooper and William W. Cooper the Administrators within named, being duly sworn according to law, did depose and say that [Stephen] Cooper [the file shows the decedent's name; clerk wrote the wrong name 'John Cooper' but context confirms Stephen — possibly a clerical error] within named, died without a WILL, so far as they know, and as they verily believe; That they will well and truly Administer all and singular, the Goods and Chattels, Rights and Credits, which were of the said deceased, at the time of his death, that have, or shall come to their possession or knowledge, or to the possession of any other person or persons for them; and that they will make and exhibit into the Surrogate's office of the county of Essex, a true and perfect inventory of all and singular the said Goods and Chattels, Rights and Credits, and render a true and just account of their Administration.

Sworn before me at Newark on the [?] day of November Anno Domini 1839

John C Cooper [signature] William W Cooper [signature]

J.A. Smith Surrogate [signature]

Pages 319+320 — Administration Bond

Know all Men by these Presents, That we John C. Cooper of the Township of Orange, William W. Cooper, William Lee and John C. Pitts of the City of Newark in the County of Essex and State of New Jersey are held and firmly bound unto the Ordinary or Surrogate-General of the said State in the sum of Five Thousand Dollars lawful money of said State to be paid to the said Ordinary or Surrogate-General, his Successors or assigns: To which payment well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our Heirs, Executors, and Administrators jointly and severally, firmly by these presents. Sealed with our Seals, and dated the Fifth day of November Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and thirty nine.

The Condition of this Obligation is such, That if the above bound John C Cooper and William W. Cooper Administrators of all and singular the goods, chattels and credits of Stephen Cooper [the file's decedent] late of the county of Essex, deceased, do make or cause to be made, a true and perfect inventory of all and singular the Goods, Chattels, and Credits of the said deceased, which have or shall come to the hands, possession or knowledge of the said John C. Cooper and William W. Cooper [...] or into the hands or possession of any other person or persons for the said John C. Cooper and William W. Cooper; and the same to make & Exhibit & cause to be exhibited into the Surrogate's Office of the County of Essex, at or before the expiration of six calendar months, from the date of the above written Obligation, and the same Goods, Chattels and Credits, and all other Goods, Chattels, and Credits of the said deceased, at the time of his death, which at any time after shall come to the hands or possession of the said John C. Cooper and William W. Cooper or into the hands or possession of any other person or persons for the said John C. Cooper and William W. Cooper do well and truly administer, according to Law; and further, do make or cause to be made, a just and true account of his administration, within twenty calendar months from the date of the above written Obligation; and all the rest and residue of the said Goods, Chattels and Credits, which shall be found remaining upon the account of the said administration, the same being first examined and allowed of by the Judges of the Orphans' Court of the County, or other competent authority, shall deliver and pay unto such persons or persons respectively, who in service shall by law, be entitled to receive the same. And if it shall hereafter appear, that any last Will and Testament was made by the said deceased, and the executor or executors therein named, or any other persons, do exhibit the same into the said Prerogative Court making request to have it allowed and approved of, the said John C. Cooper and William W. Cooper [...] being thereunto required, do render and deliver the said letters of administration, (appurtenance of the said testament being first had and made) to the said Court, then the above Obligation to be void and of none effect; else to remain in full force and virtue.

Sealed and Delivered; in the Presence of [witnesses]: Alex B Thompson [signature]

[signatures of 4 bondsmen]: John C Cooper William W Cooper William Lee John C Pitts

What this source establishes

Stephen Cooper of NEWARK ESSEX CO. NJ — primary-source-locked location

The B.57 Cooper Bible at NJHS Side A documents Stephen R. Cooper b. ? Dec 1771 + Mary Pierson (m. 1798) + Lucinda Jones (m. 1801) + their children. Until 2026-05-26 the catalog had no geographic locator for this family — Bible's NJHS provenance suggested NJ but the specific county was unknown.

A.69 + D.310 + G.176 primary-source-LOCK Stephen Cooper as resident of Newark, Essex County, New Jersey:

Newark Essex Co. NJ is adjacent to Long Hill Morris Co. NJ

Newark = seat of Essex Co. NJ. Long Hill = Morris Co. NJ, immediately west of Essex. The two counties share a long border. Daniel Cooper Sr (1695-1795) of Long Hill lived ~15 miles from Newark.

This raises the possibility that Stephen Cooper b. 1772 d. 1839 is related to Daniel Sr's line: - (a) Grandson hypothesis: Stephen could be Daniel Sr's grandson via an unidentified intermediate son or grandson — Daniel Sr d. 1795 at age 100, Stephen b. 1772 would have been age 23 at Daniel's death - (b) Nephew hypothesis: Stephen could be the son of a SIBLING of Daniel Sr — possibly Anne Cooper Van Court's [p.3] son (= her son Daniel VanCourt b. 1724 m. ??? could not have a son named Stephen — needs verification) - (c) Unrelated Newark Cooper hypothesis: Stephen could be from a separate Cooper line in Essex Co. NJ — connected to other Newark Coopers like Samuel Cooper of Newark (= [pr.61] NJSA Probate Order Samuel Cooper Esq. 1737 administration target) OR other unidentified Newark Coopers

Per memory feedback_grep_catalog_before_recommending.md, before recommending substantial work: grep catalog for "Stephen Cooper" + "John C Cooper" + "William W Cooper" + "Newark" + "Orange Twp" + "John C Pitts" + "William Lee" to find any existing entries.

Two children confirmed as administrators

Two additional bondsmen — William Lee + John C. Pitts of Newark

These are NEW catalog persons. Bondsmen on a probate bond were typically: (a) relatives of the decedent, (b) family friends or business associates of the administrators, (c) prominent men of standing.

J.A. Smith = Essex Co. Surrogate 1839

J. Allen Smith or J. A. Smith served as Essex County Surrogate in this period. Catalog reference for verification of other Essex Co. NJ probate dates.

Cross-references

Follow-up