The Coopers of Long Hill

Document I.29a · Published Genealogies · transcription: partial

Stryker-Rodda Some Early Records of Morris County NJ 1740-1799 — Ear-Mark Register p3 (1749 Daniel Cooper) + Brand-Mark Personal Index p15 (Cooper Constant 1763-64+1780, Daniel Jr 1752-1766, Henry 1775) + Pequanock Poor Records pp 79-82 ('Justice Cooper' attestation Jan 1771). Sub-entry of [I.29](I.29.yaml). Coopers attested as Morris Twp livestock-mark registrants 1749-1780 + Pequanock-area Justice of the Peace 1771

Transcription and notes

Section 1 — RECORD OF EAR MARKS 1740-1776 from Morris Township Minute Book

Page 1 (verbatim — 1740/41 through 1745 entries)

1740/41 Jeremiah Osborn, Jr / Jonathan Osborn / Benjamin Hathaway / James Coles

1741 Samuel Whithead / Samuel Day / James Vare / Ephram Gobel / Robard Gobel / Benjamin Conger / Zachuriah Farechild / Mathew Lum / David Trobridg / Benjamin Bayles / Joseph Hayward / Joseph Tichenor / Samuel Baylis

1742 Joseph Coe, Jur / Thomas Guering / Moses Stockbridg / Solomon Boyle

1743 Benjamin Freeman

1744 Benjamin Coe / Thomas Allerton / Timothy Johnes / Richard Woods / Ezra Hallsey / Jonathan Osborn, Juner / Calib Farechild

1745 Philip Cundit / Samuel Robards

1

(No Cooper on p1.)

Page 3 (verbatim — 1749 through 1752 ear-mark entries)

[continued] John Parkhust

1749 Caleb Lindsly / Ezekil Lyon / Daniel Cooper / Uriah Glover / Simeon Gobel / Mr. Ezekiel Chever / Hur Osborn / Solomon Bates / Daniel Wolling / William Bard / Henry Wick — Recorded to William Tuttle 1791 / Henry Wick Junior

1750 Joseph Fairchild / Poul Zonzinger / Benjamin Hinds / Benony Trembly / Jacob Tharp / David Osborn

1751 Joseph Prudden / Ezra Hallsey / Joseph Stiilles / Robard Pool / George Armory / Samuel Arnold / Josiah Cain / Peter Dickerson / Samuel Lyon / Jonathan Conkling / Stephen Conkling / Abraham Hendricks

1752 John Lindsley / Samuel Hudson / Thomas Kent / Henry Gardnor

Cooper datum: "1749 / Daniel Cooper" — appears as registrant of an ear mark in Morris Township in 1749.

Identification: Per index p 200 → Daniel Cooper appears on pp 3 and 59; the p3 reference is this 1749 ear-mark entry. Likely = Daniel Cooper Sr (1695-1795, age ~54 in 1749), residing in Morris Twp / Long Hill.

Same-year same-county lead (added v190.5x9+ 2026-05-08): maintainer note quoting Chris Schopfer (NJ mailing list) states Daniel took the "Oath of Allegiance" in Morris County NJ in 1749 — same year, same county as this ear-mark registration. Per project pr.3 Daniel Sr 1749 oath of allegiance.md, the Oath of Allegiance + ear-mark registration in 1749 = consistent active-settlement-establishment pattern at Long Hill / Morris Twp. Schopfer interprets the oath as evidence Daniel Sr was foreign-born (= consistent with I.36 Holland-born family tradition); this directly addresses M.22 PRIORITY 1 open question on Daniel Sr's NJ-jurisdiction naturalization status. Primary-source acquisition target: Morris County Court of Common Pleas minutes 1739+ at NJ State Archives Trenton; secondary: GMNJ Vol 65 No 1 (Jan 1990) Peter A. Winckel article on NJ naturalization process.

Editorial note: Stryker-Rodda's editorial standard (per p xi) is "the date, name of the registrant and the registered mark" — but the printed transcript here lists names only without the mark descriptions, presumably because the mark-text is too space-intensive.

Section 2 — BRANDS AND MARK 1741-1776 (Morris Township Minute Book) — Personal-Name Index

Page 15 (verbatim — alphabetical-by-surname personal-name index, continuation page)

This page is a continuation of an ALPHABETICAL PERSONAL-NAME INDEX following the chronological brands register (book pages 9-13). Entries are in format "Surname Given-Name" followed by a list of years the person appears in the brands record. Reading column by column:

Cooper Constant — 1763-1764
Cooper Constant — 1780
Cooper Daniel, Jr — 1752-1756, 1758-1764, 1766
Cooper Henry — 1775

Adjacent entries for context:

Crane Moses — 1779 Darling William — 1779-1781 Day Joseph — 1757-1758 Day Timothy — 1762-1767 Dickerson Peter (Morristown) — 1774-1775, 1777 Dickerson Sarah (widow) — 1780 Doremus Cornelius — 1756-1765, 1769-1775 Doremus John (Pequanick) — 1750-1755 Doremus John Thomas — 1770-1771 Douglass Joshua — 1778, 1780 Drake Abraham (Roxbury) — 1754-1755 Drake Ebenezer — 1763-1764, 1756, 1759-1761 Drake Jacob, Jr — 1746-1765, 1767 Drake Jacob 2d — 1767, 1770, 1772-1773 Drake John — 1778 Drake Joseph — 1778 Drake Nathaniel (Roxbury) — 1743-1752, 1755-1757, 1759-1761 Drake Silas — 1763 Drake Silas — 1772, 1774 Drake Silas — 1779 Dunham Asher — 1775 Dunn Jacob — 1775, 1777 Elarzelear Jacob — 1779 Evens John — 1752 Ford Jacob (Morristown) — 1740-1742, 1744-1746, 1748-1750, 1754-1756, 1758 Ford Samuel — 1761-1762 Foster Joseph — 1764-1768 Gardiner Thomas — 1777-1779 Gerin Joseph (Guerin) — 1763 Gillet Aaron — 1765 Grandine Samuel — 1761, 1763, 1765-1766 Grandine Samuel — 1772-1775 Griffin Thomas — 1772 Gould Jacob — 1773-1774 Guard Ephraim — 1772 Halsey Annanias — 1763, 1766-1773 Hamilton Thomas — 1762 Hammon James — 1761 Harclocker Henry — 1769-1771, 1771-1773 Harker James — 1747-1748 Harris Samuel — 1770-1773 Hathaway Benjamin (Morristown) — 1750-1760 Hathaway Benjamin, Jr — 1753-1754 Hathaway Elizabeth — 1763

Cooper data: four entries — Constant Cooper twice (1763-64 and 1780; might be two different Constants OR a re-registration after a gap), Daniel Jr (continuous 1752-1764 with one-year gap 1757, plus a final year 1766), Henry (1775 only). All four are presumably Morris Township registrants (the brands register being the Morris Township Minute Book per I.29 p xi-xii notes).

Daniel Sr absence: Daniel Sr does NOT appear in this brand-register personal-name index — only Daniel Jr. Either Daniel Sr did not register a brand mark, or his entries are on an earlier page (9-14) not on disk, or his mark was transferred to Daniel Jr.

Section 5 — ABSTRACTS FROM POOR RECORDS 1769-1779 from Pequanock

Page 79 (verbatim opener)

ABSTRACTS FROM POOR RECORDS 1769-1779 FROM PEQUANOCK TOWN BOOK I

6 April 1769 / Nathan Howel to take Abraham Mee queen till he is of age. £1. 6. 0. Isaac van duyn to keep Samuel Jon Son till near Townd Meeting £7. 10. 0

20 May 1769 / John Dreemus to keep Frederik Mowers till next Town meeting Day £4. 6. 8

22 Feb. 1770 / Justice Gould to keep Joshua Lewis 2/11 per week

13 Mar 1770 / Peter Young to keep Fradrik Mowers till next Town meeting £7. 0. 0

18 April 1770 / Abraham Mowers to keep his brother Fradrick till next Town Meeting £9. 15. 0

19 April 1770 / Tunis Peer to keep Fradrick Mowers till next Town Meeting £8. 0. 0

7 May 1770 / Seth Meburin to keep his sister Betty the ensuing year £10

12 March 1771 / Sold Samuel Jonson to Isaac van duyn till next Town Meeting for £7. 9. 0

(No Cooper on p79.)

Page 82 (verbatim — January-April 1771 entries; 'Justice Cooper' attestation)

25 December 1770 / To Nicholas Hiler for 1 shirt and Sheet and 1 pound of Candles for Wessel 8s. 8d. To John Hiler for 1 Bushel of Ry for Wessel 4s.

7 January 1771 / Paid to Justice Bowers for examining John Divine and John Blomfield by order of Justice Cooper — 9s. 4d.

9 January 1771 / Paid to Seth Meburin for keeping his sister Betty £5. 12

15 January 1771 / Paid to Richard perkin for 1 yd and 3 quarters of cloth @ 10/ to Buttons and mohair 1/ for Saml Jonson 18s. To 3 gallons and 3 quarts of Rum @ 3/6 and ½ pound of Tea @ 8/ for Wessel York 17/2 18s.

18 January 1771 / Paid to Jacob Miller for 2 Eels of tow linen @ 2/ for Wessel 4/0 York 4s.

23 February / Paid to Garret Freeland for sarvis don for Wessel 8s. Paid to Lambertus & Lenore for his wifes making a vest and Trowsers for John Robbards 2s. Paid to Robert Gould Junr for sarvis don for Wessel 13s.

27 March 1771 / To Saml Ogden 1 bottle wine 4/4, ½ nut milk 3d for widow Crow 4s. 7d. Hat for John Robbards Jr 5s.

15 April 1771 / Tunes Peer for keeping Freadrik Mowers £8. 6. 10

Cooper datum: "7 January 1771 / Paid to Justice Bowers for examining John Divine and John Blomfield by order of Justice Cooper — 9s. 4d."

Significance: This is a primary-source attestation that a person named Cooper held the office of Justice of the Peace in Pequanock-area Morris County as of January 1771. The most plausible identifications:

  1. Daniel Cooper Sr (1695-1795) — would be age 75-76 in Jan 1771; Esqr title in I.29c p59 ratables (3 years earlier) strongly implies Justice-of-the-Peace standing. Most likely candidate.
  2. Daniel Cooper Jr Esqr (likely b. ~1734-1740) — also Esqr-titled in p59. Possible but younger and presumably less established at age 31-37.

The simple "Justice Cooper" reference (no first-name) suggests the local clerk did not need to disambiguate — there was only one Justice Cooper of consequence in Pequanock-area Morris in early 1771. Defaults to Daniel Sr unless contradicted.

Open follow-up: are there NJ Provincial Council records showing Daniel Cooper's Justice-of-the-Peace commission date and tenure? — would lock down the identification.