The Coopers of Long Hill

Document I.115 · Published Genealogies and County Histories · transcription: verbatim

NJ Archives 1st Series Vol 23 (Calendar of Wills Vol I 1670-1730) pp. 196-197 + Vol 30 (Calendar of Wills Vol II 1731-1750ish) pp. 84 + 118 + 130 — primary-source examination of Camden Cooper line pr.2 hypothesis. Confirms William Cooper of Newton Twp Gloucester Co. (d. 1709-10) had sons Joseph + Daniel + grandson John; Daniel Cooper of Gloucester Co. (d. by Mar 1715) with widow Sarah (intestate, inventory only). A SEPARATE Daniel Cooper alive 1740 Burlington Co. (debtor in Burdsall estate). NO Daniel Cooper d. 1715 administration found = hypothesis-pre-conditions partial; Camden-Daniel-as-our-Daniel-Sr remains UNPROVEN at primary-source tier.

Transcription and notes

Source identification

Element Value
Publication series Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey, First Series (popular name: "New Jersey Archives" / "NJA")
Specific volumes Vol 23 = "Calendar of Wills Vol I 1670-1730"; Vol 30 = "Calendar of Wills Vol II 1731-1750ish"
Publisher New Jersey Historical Society (Vol 23: 1901; Vol 30: 1918 — typical NJA pub years)
Source files (image held in the family archive) (Vol 23, 752 pages, text-extractable) + (image held in the family archive) (Vol 30, 723 pages, image-only) — folder consolidation completed 2026-05-20; canonical path is (image held in the family archive) per memory feedback_nja_canonical_paths
Date retrieved 2026-05-20

Verbatim — Vol 23 p.196 (Daniel Cooper of Gloucester Co. inventory)

1715 March 30. Cooper, Daniel, of Gloucester Co. Inventory of the personal estate of, [£]4[?]1.12.4[?], incl. three male and one female negro slaves £140.--, one servant woman's time £6.--, bills and book debts £55.8.--; made by John Kaighin and John Kay; attested by Sarah Cooper.

Note: No will, no administration record, no heirs list follows. The 1715 entry is inventory-only. Implications: - Daniel Cooper of Gloucester Co. died intestate by 30 March 1715 - His widow Sarah Cooper attested the inventory - His heirs are NOT named in NJA records — = significant evidentiary gap - Daniel's family is plausibly Quaker (= Samuel Spicer the witness from 1691; John Kay + John Kaighin the inventory-makers both Quaker Gloucester Co.)

Verbatim — Vol 23 p.197 (William Cooper of Newton Twp will)

1709-10 March 7. Cooper, William, of Newton Township, Gloucester Co., yeoman; will of. Sons—Joseph and Daniel Cooper; grandsons—John Cooper and Jonathan Woolstone; daughter, Hannah Scirket; Ipsebath, daughter of Thomas Thackera dec'd. Owns land for his third dividend on ½ and 1-20 share of the Province, personal property. Executors—son Daniel and grandson John Cooper. Witnesses—Thomas Thackera, Elizabeth Newby, William Grow and John Icaighin. Proved March 23, 1710. Lib. I, p. 260, and Gloucester Wills

1710 March 27. Inventory of the personal estate (£710.10.6, incl. £631.11.10 in bonds and mortgages and £19.11.4 in cash and plate); made by John Dole and John Kay.

Notes: - Substantial £710 estate = upper-middle-class Gloucester Quaker - Newton Township Gloucester Co. ≈ today's Camden NJ vicinity (pre-1844 Camden County formation) - Will names grandson John Cooper (= executor) but NO grandson Daniel — L.85's claimed son-Daniel-1698-of-son-Daniel would have been 11 years old by this will date; his absence is suspicious

Verbatim — Vol 23 p.197 (William Cooper jr. of Salem will — for context)

1691 28th a. 1st m. (March). Cooper, William, junior, of Salem, blacksmith; will of. Wife Mary. Children—John, Hannah and Mary. Home lot of 16 acres, 100 a. on Allawayes Creek, Salem Co., given by father-in-law Edward Bradaway, 500 a. there, bought of John Test; personal estate. Executors—father William Cooper and father-in-law Edward Bradway. Witnesses—Sam'l Spicer and Henry Wood. Recorded December 23, 1692. Lib. A, p. 85

1691 May 11. Inventory of the personal estate of, £236.19, incl. a Bible and other books 10s., debts due to the estate £41, a bond in the hands of Wm. Cooper of Pine Point £30; made by George Deacon and Edward Bradway.

1691 Aug. 20. Administration of the estate granted to the widow Mary Cooper. Lib. A, p. 55

Sam'l Spicer = witness to this 1691 will = same Samuel Spicer who purchased Cooper's-Creek-Camden land 1685 + father of Sarah Spicer 1677-1742 (per I.93 + L.85). Establishes Spicer-Cooper witness-circle pre-existed the 1695 Daniel × Sarah Spicer marriage by 4 years.

William Cooper of Pine Point = another Cooper in Salem Co. holding a £30 bond. Possibly = the elder William Cooper (William Sr.) father of William jr.

Verbatim — Vol 30 body p.84 (Daniel Cooper alive 1740 — Burdsall estate inventory)

1741, June 26. Burdsall, Jacob, of Waterford, Burlington Co., house carpenter. Administration granted to Elizabeth Burdsall, widow, of Burlington. Thomas Coles, of Waterford, blacksmith, fellow bondsman. Lib. E, p. 184

1740, April 7. Inventory of personal estate, £161.5.6 (incl. debts due by Daniel Cooper, John Kay and John Collins).

A Daniel Cooper was alive in Burlington/Waterford area in April 1740, owing money to the Burdsall estate alongside John Kay (= same John Kay who inventoried both 1709-10 William Cooper of Newton + 1715 Daniel Cooper of Gloucester wills per Vol 23). The Quaker community continuity is striking: same individual John Kay across 31+ years of probate documents.

This Daniel Cooper of 1740 = CANNOT BE Daniel Cooper d. 1715 (= dead 25 years). Must be a different Daniel Cooper. Candidates: - Daniel 1698-1795 (son of Daniel 1673-1715 per L.85) = age ~42 in 1740, age-typical for debt - A third Daniel Cooper of Burlington Quaker line

Verbatim — Vol 30 body p.130 (Daniel Cooper as witness 1735-1738)

(within Crum [Cresse] will, Hunterdon Co.) ... Witnesses—Daniel Cooper, John Hicks, John Cresse...

A Daniel Cooper appears as witness in Hunterdon Co. wills 1735-1738. Could be same as 1740-debtor Daniel OR yet another.

Verbatim — Vol 30 body p.118 (Samuel Cooper of Newark = fam.4)

1737, Aug. 2. Cooper, Samuel, Esq., of Newark, Essex Co. Int. Adm'x, Experience Cooper, widow. Isaac Lyon and Daniel Tichener, fellow bondsmen. Lib. C, p. 173.

1737, Sept. 22. Inventory ($580.00.19) includes bonds due from John Plumb, Thomas Stag, Ezekiel Crane, John Reno Jun'r, Joseph Jones, Jeremiah Baldwin, Zachariah Hall, Thomas Price, Thomas Gardner, Thomas Longworth, John Nutman, Abraham Ketchel, Josiah Crane, Joseph Peck, John Johnson at Canabrok, Henry Eling, James Souler, Edward Heden, William Homer, Nathaniel Ward Junr, John Meling, Samuel Godden, James Smith, Capt. Amos Williams, Abraham Messeker, Daniel Cogswell, France Francisco, Hance Spier Jun'r, Joseph Bestedo, Nathaniel Crain, James Meing, John Baldwin Jun'r, Benjamin Shipman, John Francisco, Coll. John Cooper, Caleb Ward, Moses Harrison, Benjamin Baldwin, Josiah Olibert, David Alling, John Ogden, David Ogden, Nathaniel Anderson, Garret Jacobus, Joseph Hall, Jonathan Ward, Simeon Vanwinkle, John Hambleton, Bornt France, John Wells, Peter Sanderson, Jacob Spier, Jonathan Davis, Thomas Stag, Hendrick France, France Cook, Nathaniel Williams, Abraham Riker, Doctor Gillet, Abraham Defoe, Nathaniel Rogers, Thomas Ward, Philip Schuyler, Steven Ward, Perrigrine Sandford, Eleazer Bruen, John Mun, Adam Bessker, Jacob Vanderhoof, Abraham Francisco, Hendrick Spier, Timothy Person, Hssel Petterson, Eliphalet Johnson, Ebenetus Beech, Samuel Parke, John Brown, Daniel Serjeants, Widow Richards; made by Eliphalet Johnson and John Ogden.

This is the fam.4 Newark NJ / Springfield MA Cooper line — Samuel Cooper Esq + wife Experience Cooper. The inventory names "Coll. John Cooper" as debtor = Colonel John Cooper of Newark = primary-source attestation of fam.4 Col John Cooper alive 1737. = corroborates already-known fam.4 work per F.78 + I.52.

ANALYSIS — Camden Daniel hypothesis status post-Vol 23/30 examination

Hypothesis Pre-condition Status post-Vol-23/30
William Cooper of Camden (1632-1710) existed CONFIRMED — Vol 23 p.197 William Cooper of Newton Twp Gloucester Co. d. by March 1710 (= matches L.85 William Founder 1632-1710)
William's son Daniel existed CONFIRMED — Vol 23 p.197 names "Sons—Joseph and Daniel Cooper" + Daniel as executor
Daniel d. 1715 existed CONFIRMED — Vol 23 p.196 inventory 30 March 1715
Daniel × Sarah Spicer 1695 marriage CIRCUMSTANTIAL — Vol 23 confirms Daniel had widow named Sarah 1715; doesn't name her maiden surname. I.93 Youngs typescript attests "Sarah Spicer m. 1695 Daniel Cooper" (= published-secondary genealogy). No NJA primary-source attestation of maiden name yet.
Daniel × Sarah had a son named Daniel NOT ATTESTED IN NJA — William's 1709-10 will lists grandsons John + Jonathan Woolstone (executor + heir respectively); does NOT list a grandson Daniel. If Daniel 1698 was 11 by 1709-10, his ABSENCE from the will is suspicious. Either: (a) Daniel 1698 didn't exist; OR (b) he existed but wasn't bequeathed-and-named in the will; OR (c) he was born after 1709-10.
Daniel 1698-1795 = our Daniel Sr UNPROVEN — Vol 30 p.84 attests A Daniel Cooper alive 1740 Burlington (= could be Daniel 1698 OR a different person). NO Vol 30 decedent record for Daniel Cooper 1731-1750. Identification chain Daniel 1698 → Long Hill NJ Daniel Sr requires denominational shift (Quaker → Reformed Dutch) + 70-mile relocation (Gloucester Co. → Morris Co.) — neither attested in NJA.

The Vol 23 missing-grandson-Daniel finding

Most significant evidence: William Cooper of Newton Twp 1709-10 will names grandson John Cooper (executor) + grandson Jonathan Woolstone, but NOT a grandson Daniel. If L.85's tree-tier claim that Daniel 1673-1715 × Sarah Spicer had a son Daniel 1698 is correct, that grandson would have been 11 years old when his grandfather William wrote the 1709-10 will.

Two possible interpretations: 1. Tree is wrong: Daniel 1698 didn't exist as a son of Daniel 1673-1715. L.85's claim is fabricated or confused. The L.85 hypothesis collapses. 2. Will-omission is innocuous: Daniel-the-grandson did exist but wasn't bequeathed-and-named because (a) he wasn't yet adult; (b) he was bequeathed under his father Daniel's primary inheritance (= his father got the land + would pass to him later); (c) the will just doesn't enumerate all grandchildren.

Period-typical NJ Quaker wills DO routinely name minor grandchildren receiving bequests — so interpretation 1 has real weight. But it's not definitive.

What's still needed to PROVE OR DISPROVE the hypothesis

Per pr.2's testing-path list: 1. Haddonfield Monthly Meeting (Quaker) records 1693-1715 — would attest (a) Daniel × Sarah Spicer 1695 marriage; (b) Daniel-the-younger 1698 birth (if real); (c) any disownment of Daniel-the-younger for marrying outside the faith (= would imply denominational shift) 2. Salem County orphan court records 1715-1720 — would have appointed guardian for any minor children of Daniel d. 1715 (= would name them all) 3. Gloucester County deeds 1700-1760 — Daniel 1698 (if real) would have land conveyances post-coming-of-age 4. Reformed Dutch baptism records 1726-1740 Morris Co. for Daniel Sr's children — sometimes name grandfather; though usually not 5. Y-DNA from a documented male-line descendant of William Cooper Founder of Camden via a separate son (= not the Daniel 1698 line) — would resolve at biological level

Cross-references