Document B.44 · sar application · transcription: verbatim
NJSSAR membership packet of Abram Parrot Cooper, filed 5 June 1895 — three Patriots in one binding: William Parrot, George Townley and Peter Cooper (1761-1847), whose musket and bayonet the family still held in 1895.
- repository
- New Jersey Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NJSSAR)
- collection
- Application for Membership with two supplemental applications, bound as one packet for member Abram Parrot Cooper.
- identifier
- Filed 5 June 1895; approved 14 June 1895; registered by Registrar General H. Thomas Clark 24/29 June 1895. State No. 384; National No. 6111[?] — last digit unclear.
- date
- 1895-06-05
What is transcribed: Four pages: the Peter Cooper cover and application, the William Parrot application, and the George Townley supplemental. Transcription is partial by its own description.
People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abram Parrot Cooper | applicant | ||
| Peter Cooper | mentioned | ||
| William Parrot | mentioned | ||
| George Townley | mentioned |
What this document records
What it says about peter cooper
b. 15 June 1761, Morris Co., N.J.; Private, Morris Co. militia, first service September 1779; at the Battle of Springfield and a Morristown skirmish; d. 3 February 1847, aged 85. And his musket and bayonet were still in the family in 1895 — 116 years after the service. That is an object, not a document, and objects survive in families.
The gold standard claim is withdrawn
CORRECTED 2026-09-02. The entry called this “the gold-standard primary source” for Peter’s service. It is not. It is a great-grandson’s statement in 1895 about service in 1779-80 — 116 years later, made to satisfy a society, and countersigned by two affiants who likewise were not there. And a cross-check does not help it. [B.50] read Stryker’s Morris Co. Cooper privates — Abraham, David, Henry, Ichabod, James, John, Reuben, William — and Peter is not among them. That may mean Stryker’s roll is incomplete, which is ordinary; it is not asserted that the service did not happen. But the claim is family testimony, uncorroborated, and the entry should have said so.
The document records a father it will not name
“Father procured a substitute for Peter at age 18 and brought him home from the army.” A specific, characterful act by Peter’s father — in the same packet whose great-grandparent boxes are BLANK. The catalog reads Peter as a son of Daniel Cooper Jr Daniel Cooper Jr — on [A.10], where a Peter Cooper administers Daniel Jr’s 1787 estate, and [G.91]’s Find a Grave family block naming Daniel Jr and Anna “Nancy” Cross as his parents. This document does not support that and its silence is itself a caution: in 1895, only 48 years after Peter’s death, his own descendants did not write his parents’ names on a form that asked for them.
Three patriots in one packet
William Parrot, George Townley and Peter Cooper — the applicant’s maternal and paternal Revolutionary ancestors bound together. Recorded because a three-Patriot membership is unusual, and because the Parrot and Townley lines are Abram’s maternal ancestry, which the catalog does not otherwise document.
Transcription and notes
A withdrawn claim. The entry called this the “gold-standard primary source” for Peter
Cooper’s Revolutionary service; it is a great-grandson’s statement made 116 years after the fact, and
Stryker does not list him. Provenance, the blank parents’ boxes, and the musket are in the
source: and coverage: headers and are not repeated here.
Data — verbatim transcription (from page-images, partial — handwritten cursive)
Page 0 — Cover page (Peter Cooper application)
The New Jersey Society of the SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP [applicant] Abram Parrot Cooper DESCENDANT OF William Parrot, [Geo.] Townley, Peter Cooper
Application examined and approved: June 5, 1895 [State Registrar signature] Accepted by State Board of Management: June 14, 1895 [State Secretary signature]
DATES: Application filed with State Secretary: June 5 1895 Notification of election: June 14 1895 Fees paid: [date] Duplicate to Registrar General: June 24 1895 Approved and registered by Registrar General: June 29 1895 / H. Thomas Clark Certificate of Membership delivered: ? Badge delivered: ?
The applicant claims membership through THREE Revolutionary War patriot ancestors: William Parrot, George Townley, and Peter Cooper. SAR rules typically allow one application per patriot, so this packet likely contains 3 separate applications bound together.
Page 1 — William Parrot application (left side)
The William Parrot application's lineage chain reads:
I, Abram Parrot Cooper, being of the age of twenty-two and upwards, in wit, of the age of 33 years, do hereby apply for membership in the [NJ] Society by right of lineal descent in the [following] from William Parrot who was born in Essex Co. NJ [date partially legible] and died in Morris [Co. NJ] [date partially legible]
I was born in Long Hill County of Morris State of NJ on the 5 [day] of Feb [1862]
I am the son of Alexander Cooper [son also] of Abigail Parrot [maternal line] grandson of Squire Parrot [grandson also of] Martha Parrot [Squire's wife] great-grandson of Nathan Parrot [great-grandson also of] Catharine Williams [Nathan's wife] great-great-grandson of [BLANK] great-great-great-grandson of [BLANK] [...] descended from William Parrot
The said William Parrot assisted in establishing American Independence in the capacity of [private]
Page 2 — Peter Cooper application (left side)
I, Abram Parrot Cooper, being of the age of twenty-two and upwards, in wit, of the age of 33 years [...] hereby apply for membership in the Society by right of lineal descent in the [following] from Peter Cooper who was born in Morris Co. [NJ] on the 15 day of [June 1761] and died in Morris [Co.] on the [3rd?] day of Feb [1847] and who assisted in establishing American Independence
I was born in Long Hill County of Morris State of New Jersey on the 5 day of Feb [1862]
I am the son of Alexander Cooper [son also] of Abigail Cooper [née Parrot] grandson of Peter Cooper [our subject] [grandson also] of Susan Boyes [or Boyle] great-grandson of [BLANK] [great-grandson also] of [BLANK] [further great-great-grandparent boxes BLANK] descended from Peter Cooper
The said Peter Cooper assisted in establishing American Independence, while acting in the capacity of Private in the Morris Co. Militia
** Critical observation: The great-grandparent boxes (= Peter Cooper's parents = Abram's great-grandparents) are LEFT BLANK in the application. Peter Cooper's parentage is NOT primary-source-documented in this 1895 SAR application.** The catalog hypothesis that Peter b. 1761 = son of Daniel Cooper Jr (1729-1787) remains an inference, not yet primary-source-confirmed.
Page 2 — Ancestor's Service (right side, Peter Cooper)
The ancestor-service section reads (cursive transcription, partial):
[Peter Cooper's] first service began Sept 1779. He was in the Battle of Springfield [and] one Morristown skirmish [...] [Because of his] extreme youth, [age] 18 years, his father procured a substitute for him and induced him much against his will to leave the army and return home. [...] "I have now in my possession the old musket and bayonet which he carried in the service" [— signed by an affiant, presumably Abram Parrot Cooper or another descendant]
Two affiant signatures at bottom (witnesses to Peter's service).
Page 3 — George Townley supplemental application (right side)
[supplemental] APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP [applicant] Abram Parrot Cooper DESCENDANT OF George Townley
(George Townley lineage chain not yet captured; additional pages may not have been included in the 4-page PDF.)