Document I.151 · Published / Reference · transcription: partial
Pelletreau/Hedges/Foster — First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, NY, 1639-1660 (Sag-Harbor: J. H. Hunt, 1874; 214 pp.). PRIMARY-SOURCE COVERAGE OF JOHN COOPER SR's SETTLEMENT-FOUNDING PERIOD in Southampton: John Sr admission as inhabitant (PDF p. 29), Founder Signers (p. 36), bastardy-paternity case (p. 40), 4th Ward officers naming both 'John Cooper Senr' and 'John Cooper Junr' simultaneously (p. 55), 'John Cooper the elder' censured 18 Nov 1644 (p. 57), multiple court proceedings 1640s-1650s, autograph signature of John Cooper Sr at book p. 162 (per index PDF p. 6). 30+ Cooper attestations including Thomas Cooper land grants 1640s + John Cooper Jr early adult records.
I.151: Pelletreau/Hedges/Foster — First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, Long Island, NY, 1639-1660…Transcription and notes
Source
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | First Book of Records of the Town of Southampton, with Other Ancient Documents of Historic Value, Including All the Writings in the Town Clerk's Office From 1639 to 1660 |
| Compilers | Henry P. Hedges, William S. Pelletreau, Edward H. Foster |
| Publisher | Sag-Harbor, NY: John H. Hunt, Printer |
| Date | 1874 |
| Pages | 214 (PDF) |
| Local file | (image held in the family archive) |
| Internet Archive | https://archive.org/details/recordsoftownofs00sout |
| Date acquired | 2026-05-29 |
Cooper attestations (selective; not exhaustive)
| PDF page | Content | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 6 (Index) | "Cooper, John Sen. (autograph) 162" + "Cooper, John 60, 34, 127" + "Cooper, Thomas 48, 143" | AUTOGRAPH of John Cooper Sr preserved at book p. 162 |
| 29 | "John Cooper shall and is admitted an[habitant]" | Early settlement admission |
| 36 | "Thomas Halsey, John Cooper, Thomas Sayre, Edward..." | Founding-period signer list |
| 39 | "his home lot to John Cooper, Jr." | Earliest 'Jr' suffix attestation = confirms Sr + Jr both alive |
| 40 | "John Cooper doth acknowledge himself father" + "George Wood is father. Cooper and John Moore..." | paternity acknowledgment (bastardy court case) |
| 51 | "It is ordered that John Cooper shall enjoy the Lott of..." | Court order — land allocation |
| 55 | "for the fourth ward John Cooper Senr Tristrum Hedges John Cooper Junr John Cory Mr Howell" | Both Sr + Jr serving 4th Ward simultaneously |
| 57 | "November 18, 1644 John Cooper the elder was Censured by the court" | 'John Cooper the elder' = JOHN COOPER SR primary-source dated 1644 attestation |
| 58 | "Thomas Talmage Senr and John Cooper shall lye between their..." | Land-line reference |
| 65 | "John Cooper doth acknowledge to owe..." | Debt acknowledgment |
| 71 | "granted that Thomas Cooper shall have a home lott of... The above lot of Thomas Cooper is the one now owned by..." | Thomas Cooper land grant |
| 75 | "Thurston Raynor, John Cooper Senr, Richard Odell..." | Community signer list |
| 78-79 | Multiple town-meeting attendance lists | Cooper-family community participation |
| 81 | "I C. No. 8 (John Cooper his 2 acres)" | Land-allotment label "I C" = initials = John Cooper |
| 83 | "A. Dom. 1650, That John Cooper shall pay..." | 1650 court order |
| 87 | "John Smith John Howell John Cooper Richard Barrett" + "plaintive against Thomas Cooper & John White defendants" | Court — Thomas Cooper sued |
| 92 | "Thomas Burnet, Thomas Cooper, Henry Pierson, Ellis Cooke" | NAMES Henry Pierson alongside Cooper — supports the Pierson-Cooper kinship referenced in I.149 Vol 2 John Sr will |
| 101 | "northward from or by Thomas Cooper his home lott" | Geographic anchor |
| 103 | "hath on both sides John Cooper 4 acres and 2 acres" | Geographic adjacency |
| 104 | "granted that John Cooper junior shall have a fifth..." | Junior land allocation |
| 106 | Multiple court entries: "appeal of John Cooper junior" + "John Ogden plaintiff John Cooper defendant" + "Stanborough plf against John Cooper senior defendant" + "John White and John Cooper doe ingage" | Sr + Jr both in court 1650s |
| 107 | Community list including "John Cooper sen Mr Smith" | |
| 111 | "Thomas Goldsmith John Cooper Junr were all and each..." | |
| 113 | "John Cooper Jun. hath liberty to sell..." | |
| 114 | "shall repaire to John Cooper Sen. & Thomas Sayre who..." |
Catalog-defining findings
- John Cooper Sr's autograph preserved at book p. 162 (PDF approximately p. 187) — primary-source signature for [p.531 John Cooper Sr]. Worth zooming + rendering for the catalog.
- 18 Nov 1644 attestation of "John Cooper the elder" being censured by court = earliest primary-source dated mention; confirms Sr was alive + active 1644 (= 18 years before his 1662 death).
- Both Sr + Jr alive 1640s-1650s — multiple court cases name both simultaneously; confirms two-generation overlap consistent with WikiTree's Sr 1594-1662 / Jr 1625-1677.
- Pierson + Cooke families alongside Coopers from earliest 1640s = sets up the eventual son-in-law relationships in John Sr's 1662 will (per I.149).
- NO DANIEL COOPER in Vol 1 sweep = continues the quadruple-null (Howell + Vol 1 + Vol 2 + Vol 5 all silent on Daniel) for pr.2 Hypothesis C.
Open follow-ups
- Render PDF page where book p. 162 falls to capture the John Cooper Sr autograph image — would be catalog-defining primary-source-autograph attestation (= same significance as A.68 Daniel Cooper autograph for Daniel Sr authentication)
- Read PDF p. 40 in detail — paternity case implications for Cooper genealogy
- Sweep all 30+ Cooper attestations for any naming children or kinship language
- Cross-reference 1644 censure at PDF p. 57 with town records of the period for context
- Search for Henry Pierson + Ellis Cook attestations matching the 1662 will references (= I.149 Vol 2 will body)
Cross-references
- I.148 Howell 1887 — published genealogy summary
- I.149 Pelletreau Vol 2 (1660-1717) — companion John Sr will
- I.150 Pelletreau Vol 5 (Loose Documents) — companion Cooper index
- p.531 John Cooper Sr 1594-1662 — NEW catalog stub created same-day
- p.214 John Cooper Jr 1625-1677
- fam.1 Long Island English-colonial Cooper
- pr.2 Daniel Sr father search — quadruple-null on Daniel-Cooper-in-LI-line