Document B.77 · published register · transcription: verbatim
Stryker, Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in Wars 1791-1815, p. 83 — John D. Cooper, SERGEANT, Capt. Alexander Reading's Company, 2nd Regt. N.J. Detailed Militia, Sussex County: enrolled 8 Sept, discharged 5 Dec 1814.
- repository
- William S. Stryker, N.J. Adjutant-General — printed register
- collection
- Records of Officers and Men of New Jersey in Wars 1791-1815 (Trenton, 1909), “War with Great Britain, 1812-1815”, book p. 83 = PDF p. 192.
- identifier
- Reached through a finding aid: the American Genealogical-Biographical Index (Rider Index) vol. 34 p. 178, card “Cooper, John D., b. 1790-1799, War 1812, N.J.” citing “War Recds 1791, 1815, N.J.:83” — i.e. this page.
- date
- 1814
What is transcribed: The full company roster at p. 83.
People named
| As written | Role | Identified as | What this document says |
|---|---|---|---|
| John D. Cooper | subject | John Cooper ?–1850 probable | occupation: between 8 Sep 1814 and 5 Dec 1814, Sergeant, Capt. Alexander Reading's Co., 2nd Regt. N.J. Detailed Militia |
| Capt. Alexander Reading | official | ||
| Lieut. Nathaniel Hart | official | ||
| Ensign Moses Beamer | official |
What this document records
The index s birth window is not in the record
AGBI gives “b. 1790-1799” and Stryker gives no birth date at all. That window is the index's own estimate, and the entry says so. An index's inference must not be cited as the register's evidence — which is exactly how a soft date hardens into a fact.
What the roster does fix
Rank SERGEANT — third man on the list, above the privates and below the ensign; enrolled 8 Sept 1814, period “Until relieved”, discharged 5 Dec 1814. Sussex County, Capt. Alexander Reading's company, 2nd Regt. N.J. Detailed Militia. A 2nd-Regiment Sussex company of autumn 1814 is the same formation [B.30] found four Coopers in — John D., Abraham, Aaron and William — under the 2 (Seward's) styling.
The officers are worth as much as the men
Capt. Alexander Reading, Lieut. Nathaniel Hart, Ensign Moses Beamer, Sergeants Caleb Valentine and James Fisher. A named company with a named 89-day term is a far better handle than a bare index row.
Transcription and notes
Provenance, the AGBI birth window that is the index's estimate rather than the register's
evidence, and what the roster does fix are in the source: and coverage: headers and are not
repeated here.
Data from the document [verbatim] — Stryker p.83
"Captain Alexander Reading's Company of Infantry. Second Regiment New Jersey Detailed Militia. Sussex County." — all enrolled Sept. 8, '14, period "Until relieved," discharged Dec. 5, '14:
| No. | Name | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| — | Alexander Reading | Captain |
| — | Nathaniel Hart | Lieut. |
| — | Moses Beamer | Ensign |
| 1 | Caleb Valentine | Sergeant |
| 2 | James Fisher | Sergeant |
| 3 | John D. Cooper | Sergeant |
| 4 | William Ayres | Sergeant |
| 1 | John Ayres | Corporal |
| 2 | James King | Corporal |
| 3 | Jacob Shepherd | Corporal |
| 4 | William McClain | Corporal |
| — | Christopher Morris | Drummer |
| — | Joseph Viles | Fifer |
Adjacent company (Stryker p.85): "Captain William Swayze's Company of Infantry. Second Regiment New Jersey Detailed Militia. Sussex County" — Corporal (#2) Aaron Cooper (= [p.13 Aaron Cooper Sr] per [B.62]). So John D. Cooper and Aaron Cooper served in the same regiment (2nd, Sussex Co.), different companies (Reading's vs Swayze's).
Notes (identification — the record now FAVORS p.113/p.320 over p.129/p.4; still not conclusive)
Both catalog "John D. Cooper" candidates were Sussex-County residents in 1814 (Warren Co. was carved out of Sussex only in 1824), so "Sussex County / 2nd Regt" alone fits either. Two specifics tip the balance:
- Lieut. Nathaniel Hart co-serves in John D. Cooper's company. The Hart family is the recurring tie of the [p.113]/[p.320] John-Cooper thread — "John Cooper of Byram Twp Sussex" conveyed a meadow to Nathaniel Hart Sr before 1807 ([K.24]), and John of Independence later bought Hart land (from Samuel & Ellen Hart, part of William Hart's) 1855–57 ([K.56]). A Cooper–Hart militia messmate in 1814 slots a third node into that alliance (1807 land → 1814 militia → 1855–57 land). [p.129]/[p.4] has no documented Hart connection.
- Aaron Cooper is in a different company (Swayze's). [p.129]/[p.4] is precisely the John D. who co-resided with Aaron in 1830 Hardwick ([D.41]). If companies drew on sub-localities, the War-of-1812 John D. being in Reading's Co. (with Hart) rather than Aaron's Swayze's Co. argues he is not Aaron's Hardwick neighbour — i.e. not p.129.
⇒ Revised lean (supersedes the 2026-07-09 earlier note that favoured p.129/p.4): the record most plausibly belongs to [p.113 John Cooper of Independence] / [p.320 John Cooper of Byram Twp Sussex] (the same-man merge candidates). If so, it primary-source-attests p.113's middle initial "D" — until now only tree-tier ([L.132]) — and adds an 1814 Sussex-County attestation to the p.320↔p.113 identity. Caveats: militia companies were not locality-pure; Hardwick was also Sussex; a third Sussex "John D. Cooper" is not excluded. Not promoted past "probable-leaning."
- [p.129]/[p.4] John D Cooper of Hardwick stays a residual candidate — his middle "D" is independently primary-source-locked ([D.41]) and Hardwick was Sussex in 1814 — but the Hart + separate-company points now weigh against him.
- Age fit: both candidates b. ~1785 → ~29 in 1814 (a sergeant's rank fits an established man of that age).
Cross-references
- p.113 / p.320 — leading candidate (Cooper–Hart thread) ; K.24 + K.56 — the Cooper–Hart land ties.
- p.129 / [p.4] — residual candidate ; D.41 (John D. co-located with Aaron, 1830 Hardwick).
- B.62 — Aaron Cooper, same 2nd Regt (Swayze's Co.) ; p.13.
- name.469 Capt. William Swayze — Aaron's captain; the "Swayze" surname also appears inside the Cooper line (Caleb Swayze Cooper [p.163]) → a Swayze-family research thread.
- A.107 / D.470 — p.113's death/census anchors ; pr.14 (both candidates = Benjamin-son candidates).