Document A.94 · letters of administration · transcription: verbatim
Letters of administration on Joseph Cooper of Independence Twp., Warren Co., N.J., intestate — granted 29 November 1852 to Edward Chandler by Surrogate Lewis C. Reese. Letters Vol. 2, p. 25.
- repository
- Warren County Surrogate's Court, Belvidere, N.J.
- collection
- Letters of Administration, Vol. 2, p. 25 (= the omnibus index's "Petitions 2/25")
- identifier
- The Joseph Cooper grant, third of four entries on the page
- date
- 1852-11-29
What is transcribed: The Joseph Cooper grant. The page also carries a Coursen/Simmons guardianship (5 Oct 1852), John Titman → Baltis Titman (17 Nov 1852) and a Mary Smith entry at the foot — recorded as page context only.
People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joseph Cooper | deceased | Joseph Cooper 1785–1852 | residence: Independence Twp., Warren Co., New Jersey death: before 29 Nov 1852 |
| Edward Chandler | administrator | ||
| Lewis C. Reese | official |
What this document records
Three readings corrected
A 2026-08-09 re-read at 3-7× corrected three values. ① The grant date is "twenty ninth day of November A.D. 1852", not 24 November. ② The Surrogate is Lewis C. Reese, not "Rice" or "Reed". ③ The preceding entry is John Titman, admr Baltis Titman — not "John Felman/Tilman".
The tell was already in the transcription
The old reading contradicted itself and nobody noticed. It had the letters granted the 24th and witnessed the 29th — a five-day gap between a grant and its own attestation, which is not how these are written. The register has "twenty ninth" in longhand in both clauses, and is internally consistent. Same lesson as [A.122]: when a date is doubtful, the instrument states it more than once — read the other statement rather than the ambiguous one.
What it establishes
Joseph Cooper Joseph Ellis Cooper — the catalog's central Y-DNA-key person — died INTESTATE, and his administrator was Edward Chandler. No kinship is stated for Chandler anywhere in the grant.
One thing left unchecked
"Isaac Smith" for the Mary Smith entry at the foot of the page has NOT been re-checked — the register appears to read Silas Smith. That entry is not this record's business and was never transcribed; flagged as unverified rather than quietly repeated.
Transcription and notes
Provenance, the three corrected readings, the self-contradiction in the old transcription
that should have caught them, and the one value still unverified are all in the source: and
coverage: headers and are not repeated here.
Verbatim — Letters of Administration grant
Transcribed 2026-08-09 from the filmed register (DGS 005679647 img 54) at 3–7×. Previously transcribed from the Surrogate's-office scan with "Rice" and "twenty fourth"; superseded — see the correction above.
State of New Jersey, Warren County ss. I Lewis C. Reese, Surrogate of the County of Warren do Certify [SEAL] that on the twenty ninth day of November A.D. 1852 administration of the goods and Chattels rights and Credits which were of Joseph Cooper late of the County of Warren, who died intestate, was granted by me to Edward Chandler of said County, who is duly authorized to administer the same agreeably to law. — Witness my hand and Seal of Office the twenty ninth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty two
Lewis C. Reese, Surrogate
For position on the page, the entry immediately above it:
"…on the seventeenth day of November A.D. 1852 administration of the goods and Chattels, rights and Credits which were of John Titman, late of the County of Warren who died intestate was granted by me to Baltis Titman of said County…"
Significance (verbatim-supported facts; analysis in p.112)
- Joseph Cooper of Independence Twp died intestate, administration granted 29 Nov 1852 — consistent with his death "on or before 5 Nov 1852" per the A.53 inventory. Note the inventory is dated before the grant, which is ordinary: the inventory is taken as the estate is gathered and filed with or after the letters.
- Administrator = Edward Chandler, NOT one of Joseph's sons (George M ~22, Caleb S ~18, etc. in 1852 — the eldest were old enough, yet the grant went to Chandler). The "Chandler" surname is carried as the middle name of Joseph's son Calvin Chandler Cooper ([p.164]) — pointing to Chandler being a family/in-law connection (likely via Joseph's wife Elsie Stackhouse's line). See [p.112] for the kinship analysis + trace targets.
- Does not by itself name Joseph's father — so it does not directly prove the 6-brother (Benjamin-paternity) hypothesis — but the administrator + the intestate finding are new data feeding that thread.