The Coopers of Long Hill

Document I.159 · Published / Biographical sources · transcription: verbatim

Wikipedia article 'Daniel C. Cooper' (en.wikipedia.org, oldid=1334667627) — full biography of Daniel C. Cooper of Dayton OH (21 Nov 1773 – 13 Jul 1818); names parents George Cooper × Margaret Lafferty + grandfather Daniel Cooper b. at sea ~1695; rich Dayton-founding bio; cites 5 secondary sources back to 1882. = the most consolidated published bio of him.

Transcription and notes

Source: Wikipedia, "Daniel C. Cooper", en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_C._Cooper, oldid=1334667627, maintainer-supplied printout 2026-06-06.

Data from the document [verbatim] (key facts only — the Dayton-founding biography is extensive; full PDF on disk)

Daniel C. Cooper (November 21, 1773 — July 13, 1818) was an American surveyor, farmer, miller and political leader.

He was born in the Passaic Valley at Long Hill, Morris County, New Jersey, the son of wealthy farmer George Cooper (20 August 1745 — 20 September 1801) and Margaret Lafferty. George's father Daniel was born at sea on the voyage from Holland about 1695.

Career milestones (Dayton OH): - Surveyor under Jonathan Dayton (Symmes Purchase); went to Fort Washington (Cincinnati) c. 1793 at ~age 20 - Headed survey of Dayton site 1795 (60,000 ac at confluence of Great Miami + Mad rivers) - 1796: Dayton Twp formed; Daniel = tax assessor; highest tax $6.25 (his gristmill) - 1797: laid out Mad River Road - 1800–02: Symmes failed; Daniel petitioned Congress; named proprietor of Dayton; paid $2/ac for 3,000+ ac incl. town site; replatted; passed clear titles to settlers - Donated land for: 2 churches (3rd + Main), cemetery (5th St btw. Ludlow + Wilkinson), Cooper Park, county courthouse, Dayton Academy (with bell, 1807), Dayton Hydraulic - War of 1812: organized stationed troops to build a Great Miami River levee - OH State Legislature: House 3rd Assembly (1804), 6th (1807), 12th (1813); OH State Senate 7th (1808), 8th (1809), 14th (1815), 15th (1816) - 1810: President of the Select Council of Dayton - 1815: appointed Trustee of Miami University (15 Feb); laid out lots east of Dayton (Oregon District) - June 1818: developed overland freight line Cincinnati–Dayton with John Piatt - Died 13 Jul 1818 from rupturing a blood vessel while wheeling the new First Presbyterian Church bell to the church on a wheelbarrow - Buried Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, OH (= G.122)

Family (verbatim):

"In 1803, Mr. Cooper married a woman in Cincinnati, whose maiden name was Sophia Greene (August 25, 1780 — May 11, 1826), the young widow of G. W. Burnet, a young lawyer of Cincinnati. Sophia was born in Rhode Island, the daughter of Charles Greene, a member of the Ohio Company who had removed to Marietta in 1788."

"After Daniel Cooper's death, Mrs. Cooper married Gen. Fielding Lowry. Daniel and Sophia Cooper had six children, all of them dying in childhood except David Zeigler Cooper, who was born November 8, 1812, married Miss Letitia Smith in Philadelphia, and died in Dayton, December 4, 1836."

Extra context: Daniel had a 1,000-ac farm south of town; in 1802 brought "an African American female servant" (recorded as "Black Girl"; her children Harry b.1803 + Polly b.1805 became indentured servants until ages 21/18) — first African-American woman of record in the area. In 1803 he sold the farm to Robert Patterson (Rev-War vet, founder of Lexington KY, grandfather of John H. Patterson of NCR) — incorporated into Patterson's "Rubicon" farm.

Notes (interpretation — not data bullets)

This article OVERTURNS the catalog's previous "1779" birth-year for Daniel C. Wikipedia + its 5 cited secondary sources (1882, 1896×2, 1902, 1932) + Littell 1851 (I.4) + Brode 1932 (I.130) + BGMI/NatCAB 1901 + the Ancestry tree all converge on 21 Nov 1773. The DAR-replacement-stone "Nov. 20, 1779" recorded at G.122 is therefore an isolated 20th-c. DAR-research error, not primary-source-grade. Canonical: 21 Nov 1773.

Several corrections to Find A Grave-derived data (G.122): - Marriage to Sophia: 1803 (not "1801" as Find A Grave had it; she was Burnet's widow at the 1801 date) - Sophia's prior husband: G. W. Burnet (Cincinnati lawyer) — NEW; explains Find A Grave "1801" date - Sophia's 2nd husband (post-1818): Gen. Fielding Lowry — corrects Find A Grave "Loury" spelling and identifies him - Sophia's origin: Rhode Island, dau. of Charles Greene (Ohio Co.; Marietta 1788) — NEW - David Zeigler Cooper married Letitia Smith in Philadelphia — the single live Y-line residual for George's whole subtree

Confirms our George × Margaret Lafferty parentage at biographical-source tier, and explicitly places Daniel C.'s birth at Long Hill, Morris Co. NJ = Daniel Sr.'s exact geography. Independent of Find A Grave and the Ancestry tree.

Names Daniel Sr. as Daniel C.'s grandfather, born at sea ~1695 from Holland — at biographical-source tier this corroborates the catalog's p.1 Daniel Cooper Sr "born at sea / Holland" tradition (cf. I.36 House of Cooper + Brode).

Cited references (Wikipedia bibliography)

  1. The History of Montgomery County, Ohio (Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1882)
  2. Steele, Robert W. & Mary Davies, Early Dayton (Dayton, OH, 1896)
  3. Edgar, John F., Pioneer Life in Dayton and Vicinity, 1796–1840 (Dayton: W. J. Shuey, United Brethren Publishing House, 1896, 307 pp.)
  4. Conover, Charlotte Reeve, Concerning the Forefathers (New York: Winthrop Press, 1902, 503 pp.)
  5. Conover, Charlotte Reeve, Dayton and Montgomery County (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1932)

Cross-references