The Coopers of Long Hill

Document B.57 · family bible · transcription: verbatim

The “Cooper Bible Record” at the New Jersey Historical Society — a 1796 Berriman Bible with two unrelated-looking family records: Side A, Stephen R. Cooper of Newark, and Side B, John Cooper Jr's nine children and Arthur Erwin Cooper's seven. Are they one Bible or two?

repository
New Jersey Historical Society, Newark — Manuscript Collection, “Cooper Bible Record”
collection
Holy Bible, printed Philadelphia by Berriman & Co. / Jacob R. Berriman, MDCCXCVI (1796). The NJHS stamp — “NJ Historical Society Manuscript Collection — Cooper Bible Record” — appears on Side A page 2, rubber-stamped onto a pre-existing Bible page.
date
1796

What is transcribed: Both sides. Side A page 1's death year is unread and Side B carries no recorded zoom.

People named

As writtenRoleIdentified asWhat this document says
John Cooper Jr mentioned John Cooper Jr 1799–1863
Stephen R. Cooper mentioned Stephen Cooper 1771–1839 probable
Frederic Stephen Cooper mentioned Frederic Stephen Cooper 1842–1928
birth: 24 Oct 1842, Erwin [later Coopers Plains], Steuben Co., New York
Charlotte Elizabeth Cooper mentioned Charlotte Elizabeth (Cooper) Bryson 1844
birth: 2 Oct 1844
Arthur Erwin Cooper mentioned
Stephen Jones Cooper mentioned
William White Cooper mentioned
Lucinda Jones mentioned
Mary Pierson mentioned

What this document records

One bible or two is the governing question

RAISED BY THE MAINTAINER 2026-05-26 AND STILL OPEN. It decides whether the co-location of the two records is evidence of kinship between Stephen Cooper Stephen Cooper and John Cooper Jr John Cooper Jr, or merely an archivist's decision to file two Cooper Bible records as one item. The physical evidence already leans toward TWO, and the entry records it: Side A carries the printed header “THE END OF THE APOCRYPHA” ⇒ it was inscribed into the 1796 Bible's own leaves, in the usual place for a family record. Side B looks like LOOSE manuscript pages in a different page format, headed “Family Record” — not part of the printed volume. ⇒ Side A is the Bible's record; Side B may have been placed with it. Not settled — an archivist's opinion or a physical examination is what settles it, and neither has been had.

The njhs enquiry is untracked

The maintainer e-mailed NJHS on 2026-05-26 to ask this very question — “I'm wondering if the Stephen Cooper pages are from a different Bible from the John Cooper pages. I've emailed NJHS to ask.” No reply is recorded, and there is NO row for it in pending-reminders — checked 2026-09-02. ⇒ an external enquiry has been outstanding for over three months with nothing watching it. That is the exact failure the reminders file exists to prevent; see the todo.

Side b 1 duplicates b 58 and that is useful

Side B-1 gives the same nine children of John Cooper Jr as [B.58] page 679 — two independent manuscript records of one sibship. Agreement between two family records written in different households is worth more than either alone, and it is what makes John Jr's family the best-documented generation in this line.

The bible names a place that changed its name

Side B states explicitly that Cooper's Plains was FORMERLY ERWIN. That is a place-name change recorded by the people who lived through it — and it dissolves an apparent conflict: [B.45] and [I.59] give Frederic Stephen Cooper's birthplace as Coopers Plains, New York, while the Bible gives Erwin. Same place, two names, and the Erwin form ties the village to Mary Erwin's family.

Side a is a family the catalog did not have

Stephen R. Cooper b. 1771 of Newark, with wives Lucinda Jones and Mary Pierson and sons John Cumming, Stephen Jones and William White Cooper. Unknown to the catalog when this entry was written, and a candidate group for Daniel Sr's grandsons — which is precisely why the one-Bible-or-two question matters.

Transcription and notes

One Bible or two? Side A is inscribed in the 1796 volume's own leaves; Side B looks like loose manuscript pages laid in with it. The question decides whether two Cooper families were kin or merely filed together — and the enquiry sent to NJHS on 2026-05-26 has never been answered or tracked.

Provenance, the 8× pass that corrected three readings, and the Erwin/Coopers Plains name change are in the source: and coverage: headers and are not repeated here.

Data — Side A verbatim (Pages 1-2; Stephen R. Cooper family)

Page 1

[printed header — page top] THE END OF THE APOCRYPHA.

[marginal note]: Stephen R Cooper

Stephen R. Cooper was Born [?] December 1771 and died Oct 25th 18[??] at half past three o'clock in the morning

He was Married Mary Pierson on the 30th March 1798

Mary Cooper died the 12th day of June 2 o'clock in the morning [year illegible in this scan]

Married to Lucinda Jones on the 26th of December 1801

[marginal note]: wife of Stephen Lucinda Cooper was born 9 day of April in the year 1779 Died Sep 7th 1867

John Cumming Cooper the son of Stephen & Lucinda Cooper Was born on the first Day of October at 12 o'clock in the [evening?] in the year of Our Lord 1802. Died Feb 26, 1878 aged 75 y 6 mo & ?

Mary [Cooper] 1st Daughter of Stephen & Lucinda Cooper Born February [4th?] 1805 at 5 o'clock P.M. — — — Died Feb 17th 1879

Harriet Lydia Cooper 2nd Daughter of Stephen & Lucinda was Born the 8 day of August 1807 at 5 P.M. — was Drowned in my Mill Race by some person ?? or other [?] the gate Either Mischievous or Malicious in Sunday at 3 o'clock the 11 day of September 1808

Page 2

** Re-verified 2026-05-26 via 8x zoom crops at (image held in the family archive). Three transcription errors in earlier reading corrected.**

Stephen Jones Cooper was born on Monday the 18 of September 1809 at 1 o'clock PM. Died in the hope of a Glorious immortality on Wednesday December 10th 1851 at 7 o'clock in the morning.

Edwards Cooper was Born on friday the 31 day of May 1816 at five o'clock P.M. Died in the full hope of a Blessed immortality on the [12th?] day of August 1854 at half past six o'clock P.M.

William White Cooper was Borne 1818 Sept the 20 [time] o'clock in the morning. Died trusting in Jesus Christ on Sunday the 10th day of September 1854 at one o'clock in the morning. (Blessed Brethren! think that sleep in Jesus, will god bring with him! I come down O come Lord Jesus, to such bodies and bid you arise to come in eternity?)

Reading notes on the corrections (vs. earlier transcription):

Datum Earlier reading Re-verified Bible reading Evidence
Stephen Jones birth day "the 16 of September" "the 18 of September" Visual: digit is two-loop "8" not single-loop "6"; **calendar: 18 Sep 1809 = Monday (matches Bible's "Monday"); 16 Sep 1809 = Saturday **
Stephen Jones death "Wednesday December 14th 1857" "Wednesday December 10th 1851" Visual: day-digit "0" not "4"; year-last-digit "1" not "7" (no top hook); **calendar: 10 Dec 1851 = Wednesday ; 14 Dec 1857 = Monday **
William W death day "Sunday the 11th day" "Sunday the 10th day" Visual: two-character "10" with "1" + "0"-loop; **calendar: 10 Sep 1854 = Sunday ; 11 Sep 1854 = Monday **
William W death year "1859" "1854" Visual: fourth digit has angular flat-top "4" identical to Edward Cooper's same-page "1854" (catalog-confirmed); a "9" on this page would show a closed-loop top + descender, which this digit lacks

** Two siblings died ~30 days apart in 1854** (Edward 12 Aug 1854 + William W 10 Sept 1854). Possible 1854 cholera or typhoid epidemic in Newark (or wherever they were residing). The catalog should investigate Newark NJ 1854 epidemic context per pr.2 Daniel Sr father search Stephen Cooper of Newark research thread.

** William W birth-year conflict: Bible visual reads 1818 (two identical figure-8 characters in positions 3-4). Per history-v220.md note, D.313 1850 census shows William W age 30 (= b. 1820) + L.106 Ancestry tree shows 1820. Resolution: Bible-tier visual reading is 1818; external sources (1850 census + tree) say 1820. Discrepancy may indicate: (a) Bible-writer error (writing "1818" when intending 1820); (b) age-rounding in 1850 census; (c) two-William-W conflation. Recommend higher-resolution scan + cross-check D.313 / D.314 census age digits. For now, catalog should carry "b. 1818 per Bible OR 1820 per census"** with the conflict noted.

[rubber stamp]: NJ Historical Society Manuscript Collection — Cooper Bible Record

Data — Side B-1 verbatim (Family Record; John Cooper Jr 1799-1863 family)

Heading

Family Record of the Children of John Cooper [Jr] and Elizabeth his wife

Births (2 columns, 9 children)

Left column:

  1. Francis Erwin Cooper — born at Erwin, Steuben County, New York on Tuesday Morning September the first Anno Domini 1829 —

  2. Mary Erwin Cooper — born at Erwin Steuben Co. New York on Monday Morning June 6 1831 —

  3. John Cooper — born at Erwin Steuben Co. N.Y. on Thursday Morning — October 24, 1833 —

  4. Thomas Wallis Cooper — born on Sunday — February 14, 1837 at four o'clock P.M. — at Erwin

  5. Theodore Cooper — born at Erwin Steuben Co. N.Y. on Saturday Morning at 2 o'clock the 12th of January — 1839

  6. Samuel Erwin Cooper — born on [Anno Domini?] on Saturday [continues right column]

Right column:

6 (cont.) > Morning at 2 o'clock — the 6th day of February 1841 — at Erwin N.Y.

  1. Frederick Stephen Cooper — born at Erwin N.Y. Monday Oct 24 at half past three o'clock P.M. Anno Domini 1842 — Cooper's Plains formerly Erwin

  2. Charlotte [Elizabeth?] Cooper — born on Wednesday October 2nd 1844 at Cooper's Plains at 5 o'clock P.M. — Cooper's Plains formerly Erwin

  3. [crossed out: born March 15, 1848 at Coopers Plains Steuben Co N.Y.] Arthur Erwin Cooper was born on the 12th April 1848 At Cooper's Plains Steuben Co. New York

Signature (bottom right of page)

This is correct John Cooper J.r [signature] Aug 30th 1851 Cooper's Plains, Steuben Co. N.Y.

Data — Side B-2 verbatim (Family Record; Arthur Erwin Cooper × Eliza B. Cooper's children + marriages)

Heading

Family Record

Births (left column, 7 children)

  1. Charlotte I. [or L.] Cooper, daughter of Arthur Erwin & Eliza B. Cooper, was born at Coopers Plains N.Y. Feby. 6th 1874

  2. Kathleen Cooper, daughter of the same, was born at the same place, Dec 15th 1876

  3. Thomas Wallis Cooper — Son of the same, was born at the same place Feby. 10th 1879

  4. Elizabeth Cooper, daughter of the same, was born at the same place April 21st 1881

  5. Theodore Arthur Cooper, Son of the same, was born at the same place Feby. 18th 1884

  6. Louise Cooper — daughter of the same, was born at the same place May 1st 1886

  7. Francis Frederick Cooper — Son of the same was born at the Same place — Sept 14th 1890

Marriages (right column)