Document C.28 · Marriage Bonds · transcription: active
NJ Warren County Marriage Return 1864 — Robert M Cooper × Phebe Ann Schenck (Independence Twp); NAMES OF PARENTS col = 'Joseph & Elsy Cooper' | 'John & Eliz Schenck'. Now verbatim (2026-07-08).
Transcription and notes
Filename
(image held in the family archive)
Film locator added 2026-08-06
The register this page comes from was identified on the 2026-08-06 FamilySearch Center visit: "Warren. Marriage Registers 1848–1867, Death Registers 1848–1867" = Film 584584 / DGS 4210793 (623 images; the reel's own target card reads "WARREN COUNTY NEW JERSEY · VOL. A H · MARRIAGES · DEATHS · 1848-1867"). This page = image 275, book page 258 — matching the page number already recorded below. Capture: (image held in the family archive).
No new data. The row was already transcribed verbatim here on 2026-07-08 from the JPG, and the film image agrees with it. Recorded only so the page can be re-found by film + frame. (One reading to note: at the trip capture's resolution the mother's name can look like "Betsy" and the Schenck mother's like "Ell." — the 2026-07-08 close read of the JPG gives "Elsy" and "Eliz.", and those stand.)
Identification
- Source: New Jersey, Warren County, Marriage Register (= one of the bound register volumes covering 1864)
- Page heading (per visible portion): "[Record of] Marriages in the Township of [Independence?], County of [Warren], State of New Jersey, from the [?] day of May 186[4], to the [?] day of [?] 186[5]"
- Page shows multiple 1864 marriages including the Robert M Cooper × Phebe Schenck entry — exact row position TBD on zoom pass
- Catalog datum (from filename + folder convention): Robert M Cooper married Phebe Schenck in Warren County NJ in 1864
Data from the document [verbatim] (read 2026-07-08)
Page heading: "Return of Marriages in the Township of Independence, County of Warren, State of New Jersey, from the [1st] day of May 1864 to the [?] day of May 186[5]." Page 258. Columns: Date of Marriage | Age of Each (M/F) | Single or Wid'd | By whom Married | Residence | Official Station | Where Married | Names of Parties | Residence | Names of Parents | Occupation | Time of Making Record.
Robert M Cooper × Phebe Schenck (row 3):
| Column | Value |
|---|---|
| Date of Marriage | 28 May 1864 |
| Age (M / F) | 26 / 23 |
| Single or Wid'd | Single (both) |
| By whom Married | E. Simonton [?] |
| Where Married | Vienna [Independence Twp] |
| Names of Parties | Robert M. Cooper + Phebe Ann Schenck |
| Names of Parents | "Joseph & Elsy Cooper" (Robert's) | "John & Eliz. Schenck" (Phebe's) |
| Occupation | Carpenter |
| Time of Making Record | August 18 |
- The "Names of Parents" column names Robert's parents as "Joseph & Elsy [Elsie] Cooper" — a second primary-source lock (with [F.139] Calvin's death cert) that the Warren Joseph's wife was Elsie, not Mary Scull. (It does NOT name Joseph's own parents, so it does not settle Joseph's origin — see [p.112] identity question.)
- Ages: Robert M 26 → b. ~1838 ( [p.165] Robert Marshall b. 18 Apr 1838); Phebe 23 → b. ~1841 ( [p.170]).
- Register lists both as "Single" in 1864 — in tension with the later [D.298] 1910 "M2/second-marriage" reading and the Samuel-E-b.1861 puzzle (see below); the register is the earlier/primary record for this ceremony.
- Robert married Phebe Ann Schenck = daughter of John & Elizabeth Schenck — the John Schenck household was the 1850 census neighbor of Joseph Cooper's (dwelling 235, next to the Cooper cluster in [D.4]).
Apparent conflict with G.151 son Samuel E b. 1861
G.151 Find A Grave lists Robert M Cooper's eldest son Samuel E Cooper as b. 1861 — = pre-dating this 1864 marriage by ~3 years. Possible resolutions:
- Find A Grave date wrong — Samuel E actually b. ~1865 not 1861 (typographical error); marriage 1864 = correct date for first child
- Samuel from prior relationship — Robert M may have had a prior partner (deceased, separation, or unmarried union); Samuel = Robert M's biological son but pre-Phebe
- Samuel was Phebe's child — pre-Phebe-and-Robert-marriage, Phebe had a son who took the Cooper name later (no biological evidence)
- Second marriage register — possibly this 1864 register is a Robert M Cooper × Phebe Schenck second marriage ceremony, with earlier (pre-1861) marriage not yet found
Resolution path: zoom + re-read register entry (= primary-source date) + pull 1865 NJ State Census or 1870 federal census Robert M Cooper household to verify Samuel's relationship status. Listed on p.165 Open trace targets.
Cross-references
- p.165 Robert Marshall Cooper — groom
- p.170 Phoebe A (Schenck) Cooper — bride (NEW spouse stub pending)
- G.151 — Robert M Cooper Find A Grave (= names Phoebe + 8 children; conflict noted above)
Status
[verbatim] — row read 2026-07-08 (full transcription above, incl. the Names-of-Parents column "Joseph & Elsy Cooper").