Documents Relating to the Colonial History of NJ — TWO 1749 primary-source Daniel Cooper records: (a) Series I Vol 16 (Journal of the Governor 1748-1755) pp. 89-91 — 28 March 1749 Burlington Council, Gov. Jonathan Belcher in Council commissioning Daniel Cooper of Morris County as 'Quorum' (= Justice of the Quorum of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas); (b) Series I Vol 7 (Belcher 1746-1751) pp. 275-276 — 14 April 1749 sworn affidavit of 'Daniel Cooper Esqr One of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Morris' regarding timber destruction by the Newark/Horseneck rioters in the South-East-Pasaick + Great Swamp region, signed 'DANIEL COOPER'. Together these are the on-disk primary-source documents Schopfer's note (per project pr.3 Daniel Sr 1749 oath of allegiance.md) refers to. Revises Schopfer's naturalization-hypothesis reading: a Crown commission to Justice of the Quorum required the holder to already be a British subject, so the oath Daniel Sr took c. 28 Mar 1749 was the oath of office + oaths of allegiance/supremacy/abjuration as a subject, NOT a naturalization oath.

Transcription and notes

Two on-disk primary-source 1749 Daniel Cooper records, identified during the v192 search for the Schopfer "Oath of Allegiance" lead

Per project pr.3 Daniel Sr 1749 oath of allegiance.md Schopfer claimed Daniel Cooper Sr took the "Oath of Allegiance" in Morris County NJ in 1749 and interpreted this as a naturalization-related oath. The NJ Archives Vol 16 + Vol 7 corpus on disk contains TWO 1749 Daniel Cooper records that together account for what Schopfer was apparently referring to:

1. 28 March 1749 Burlington Council (Vol 16 pp. 89-91) — Gov. Belcher in Council commissioned Daniel Cooper as a Justice of the Quorum of the Morris Co. Court of Common Pleas. The oath that Daniel Sr would have taken c. that date = the standard oaths of allegiance, supremacy, abjuration + oath of office, taken by all Crown-commissioned officeholders. (The Vol 16 entry for Richard Saltar's 6 Dec 1748 commission to the Council [Vol 16 p. 95] shows the model: "Mr Saltar took the Oaths appointed by the Acts of Parliament, and also his Oath of Office.")

2. 14 April 1749 affidavit (Vol 7 pp. 275-276) — Daniel Cooper Esqr "duely sworn on the Holy Evangelists, on his Oath" testified about Newark/Horseneck rioter timber destruction. This is a testimony oath, not an allegiance/naturalization oath. The affidavit explicitly identifies him as "One of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Morris" — confirming the 28 Mar 1749 commission was in effect by 14 Apr 1749.

Source identification

Verbatim — Vol 16 p. 89-91 (28 March 1749 Burlington Council, Morris Co. appointments)

Header (p. 89)

"At a Council held at Burlington on the 28th day of March 1749.

Present His Excellency the Governor John Reading James Hude James Alexander John Rodman John Coxe Esq[r] Richard Smith Andrew Johnston Robt H. Morris Thomas Leonard"

"His Excellency by Advice of Council Ordered a Proclamation for a General Fast, on Thursday the [] Day of [].

His Excellency by and with the Advice of this Board appointed the following Officers in the several Counties vizt"

"For the County of Morris" (p. 91)

The page is in a two-column commission-listing format. Reading down both columns under the "For the County of Morris" heading:

For the County of Morris

Left column (Judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas): John Budd John Lindsley Jacob Ford } Judges &c Timothy Tuttle Ebenezer Biram

Right column (Justices of the Quorum + Justices of the Peace): Daniel Cooper Quorum Abraham Vancompen quo[rum] Ephraim Price Joseph Tuttle John Budd junr } Justices Abraham Vanaken John anderson

[continuation below, additional Morris Co. Justices of the Peace:] David Line Benjamin Hathaway Isaac Vandyne Benjamin Smith } Justices Joseph Ketchill Jonathan Pettit Robert Gobel Richard Lunday Robert Gould William Henry Benja Pierson

Cooper datum: Daniel Cooper is named as one of two named "Quorum" Justices for Morris Co. (the other being Abraham Vancompen, "quo[rum]"). Per the Vol 16 editorial gloss ("Kusper. Kuiger, Cooper.") footnoted at the bottom of the page, the editor noted surname-variant cross-referencing — the meaning of this footnote needs image-scan verification but appears to be an editorial alternative-spelling note for Bergen Co. judge "Derrick Kuyport" in the adjacent paragraph (= "Derrick Kuyper"), unrelated to Daniel Cooper.

Verbatim — model for the oath-of-office procedure (p. 95)

The Vol 16 record of a separate Council appointee — Richard Saltar Esqr to the Council, 6 Dec 1748 mandamus — describes the standard oath-taking ceremony:

"Which Mandamus was read and Mr Saltar took the Oaths appointed by the Acts of Parliament, and also his Oath of Office."

= "the Oaths appointed by the Acts of Parliament" = the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration; "Oath of Office" = the oath specific to the office being assumed. This is the procedure Daniel Cooper would have followed when qualifying under his 28 Mar 1749 commission, taken before the Morris CCP at its next session.

Verbatim — Vol 7 p. 255 (transmittal letter, 10 June 1749)

"Late last night, the Master of the Ship Nebuchadnezzar, being come up, I Rec'd my Packett, Containing, amongst other things, the papers menc'oned in the enclosed List… [Among the documents listed:] 'And an Original Affidavit (to prove the s[ai]d three last menc'oned papers Delivered &c) made the 14th of April 1749.'"

Sumy Street, Saturday Morn[in]g, 10 June 1749 FERDJOHN PARIS

Verbatim — Vol 7 p. 275-276 (14 April 1749 Daniel Cooper Esqr affidavit)

"Copy of the Affidavit of Daniel Cooper Esqr rec'ed in London 9. June 1749

Daniel Cooper Esqr One of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Morris, being duely sworn on the Holy Evangelists, on his Oath declared that, during the Six Months while the Pardon Act was last Year in Being & in Force, the Destruction of Timber, on the South East Side of Pasaick River, continued, or rather increased, & that it's melancholly to see the Destruction there, of the finest Timbered Land of this Province, they being now strowed with fine Trees cut down, & two or three Lengths of Staves taken out, & [p. 276] all the Rest left a rotting, whereas the Rest might have been mostly used for Ship Timber; That the Timber, on the South East Side of Pasaick, being, last Year, mostly destroyed, those Vagabonds got, Last Winter, over Pasaick River, into the Great Swamp, belonging to the Proprietarys of Pensilvania, to Dockwra's Heirs, &, Others, and are committing, to this Day, the like Destruction of Timber there, and he verily believes, the Number of those Vagabonds, Destroyers, does now, daily, encrease, That their Force is far Superior to any, that any of the Magistrates can raise, That, as he conceived his Duty was, he has gone, several Times, to endeavour to persuade them to desist, but to no Effect; That One Time, upon that Occasion, a Blow, with a Club, was aimed at this Deponent, by One of them, which, had not this Deponent got out of the Way of it, he verily believes, might have killed him, as the Blow struck upon a Fence, &, with the Force of it, the Club was shivered to Pieces And further sayth not.

                                             DANIEL COOPER

Sworn the fourteenth Day of April 1749. Before Ja: Alexander,"

Verbatim — Vol 7 p. 420-421 (Solomon Boyle deposition, 23 October 1749)

"The Information of Solomon Boyle of Morris County, Sworn before Robert Hunter Morris Esqr Chief Justice of the Province of New Jersey.

This Informant sayth he is settled on a Tract of Land upon Pasaick River, being Part of a Tract of 2000 Acres Formerly patented to Robert Barclay, about one Mile from the House of Justice Sa[n]luel Cooper, who is also settled on Part of the said 2000. Acres; That about the latter End of October last, being at the House of Samuel Woodruff, Alderman in Elizabeth Town, he was there desired by several Persons, particularly One they called Lawyer Daniel Clark, and One John Osborn, both of Elizabeth Town, to acquaint Daniel Cooper, that in a fortnights Time the Mob intended to pay him a Visit, and that he heard said Clark say, that he would accompany that Mob: which with the frequent Threatnings of the Mob since, to turn said Cooper out of Possession, has occasioned this Informant, as he was settled on the same Right with Cooper, to be almost in continual Fear ever since…

And this Informant further sayth, that he with the said Joseph Dalrymple, on the 2d Day of this Instant, had Occasion to go to Turkey, where they saw at Abraham Hendricks' House, the said Abraham Hendricks, Daniel Little, and, he thinks, Isaac Hendricks, and some more, that were present at turning Dalrymple out of Possession, And, as this Informant had been told by Daniel Cooper and Moses Ayres, that since their turn[ing out of Joseph Dalrymple]…"

Note: The OCR reads the name as "Sa[n]luel Cooper" once (line 19919) and "Daniel Cooper" multiple times in the same Boyle deposition (lines 19926, 19930, 20009). Boyle is settled on the same 2000-acre Barclay tract as the Justice; the rioters threatened both the Justice and Boyle. The "Justice Sanluel Cooper" appearance may be an OCR error for "Daniel Cooper" — the image scan of Vol 7 p. 420 should be checked before treating "Samuel Cooper" as a distinct person here. If the original print does read "Samuel," this is a fifth candidate Samuel Cooper (in addition to the four catalogued elsewhere) needing identification.

What this source establishes

1. Daniel Cooper Sr was Crown-commissioned Justice of the Quorum, Morris Co., 28 March 1749

By 28 March 1749 Gov. Jonathan Belcher in Council at Burlington commissioned Daniel Cooper as one of two named Quorum Justices (the other being Abraham Vancompen) for the Morris County Inferior Court of Common Pleas. The 14 April 1749 affidavit confirms the commission was in effect: "Daniel Cooper Esqr One of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Morris." This is the on-disk primary-source documentation of the Schopfer-cited "1749 Oath of Allegiance" — though under the actual procedure for Crown commissions (Vol 16 p. 95 Saltar model) what Daniel Sr took c. April 1749 were the oaths of allegiance + supremacy + abjuration + oath of office, taken as an existing subject.

2. Revises the Schopfer-naturalization-hypothesis reading

Schopfer's note (per project pr.3 Daniel Sr 1749 oath of allegiance.md) interpreted Daniel Sr's 1749 oath as a naturalization oath, taken because he was foreign-born and applying for citizenship. A Crown commission as Justice of the Quorum required the holder to already be a British subject — naturalization is a precondition to office-holding, not a consequence of it. The chronology is:

• IF Daniel Sr was native-born: no naturalization was ever needed; he qualified as a subject by birth → consistent with v189/v190/M.22 NJ-native-born reframing
• IF Daniel Sr was foreign-born: he must have been naturalized before 28 March 1749, either under the 1683 NY Act, 1700 acts, or the 1740 Plantation Act (which allowed colonial naturalization of foreign-born Protestants). Per M.22 NO Cooper appears on the famous 1715 NY Naturalization List, so he was not naturalized via that route. Subsequent NY/NJ naturalization act lists (1719, 1729, 1735, 1740) would have to be checked.

Combined with the v190.5++++++ "10-tradition consilience-NEGATIVE" framing per project pr.2 Daniel Sr father search.md, the parsimonious reading remains native-born subject. The 1749 commission to Crown judicial office is corroborative — not the smoking-gun naturalization Schopfer suggested.

3. Primary-source autograph attestation (printed transcript)

The Vol 7 p. 276 affidavit ends with signed name "DANIEL COOPER" — = printed-transcript-grade attestation of his name. The original manuscript is at the British Public Record Office (PRO B.T. New Jersey Vol VI ff 22), having been transmitted to London by Ferdinand John Paris in June 1749 alongside the State of Facts documents. This is not a genuine autograph image (the NJ Archives editors printed it as plain text), but it is a published primary-source attestation of Daniel Sr's name in 1749 at age 54.

4. Daniel Sr active service profile 1749

Combined with the rest of Vol 7's State of Facts documents (which run from Jan 1747/8 to October 1749), this entry documents Daniel Sr as an active magistrate in the Newark/Horseneck Riot period, personally attempting (per the 14 April 1749 affidavit) to disperse rioters at the Great Swamp / Pasaick River — and having had a club aimed at his head, deflected by a fence. Consistent with I.29a 1749 ear-mark register entry (same year, same county) = active settlement + judicial work at Long Hill / Morris Twp 1749.

5. Daniel Sr land position 1749

Per the Solomon Boyle 23 October 1749 deposition (Vol 7 p. 420-421): Daniel Cooper is settled on part of a 2000-acre tract patented to Robert Barclay on the Pasaick River. Boyle is settled on the same tract, "about one Mile from the House of [Justice Sa[n]luel] Cooper." Moses Ayres is also on the same tract. Per the Elizabeth Town rioters' communications via "Lawyer Daniel Clark and One John Osborn" (transmitted to Daniel via Boyle), the Mob intended to "pay him a Visit" + "turn said Cooper out of Possession." This is primary-source evidence Daniel Sr was on the disputed Robert-Barclay-tract land at Long Hill in October 1749 + that Elizabeth-Town claimants disputed his title — directly tied to the Newark Land Riots history.

What this source does NOT establish

• Daniel Sr's birthplace — Crown commission requires subject status but does not specify native-born vs naturalized. Vol 16 + Vol 7 are silent on birthplace.
• Whether Daniel Sr was foreign-born + naturalized pre-1749 — the lists of foreign-born subjects naturalized under the 1740 Plantation Act would be in subsequent NJ Provincial records 1740-1749, unsearched at catalog level. Per M.22 NO Cooper on the 1715 list = no early NY naturalization.
• The actual taking of the oath by Daniel Sr — Vol 16 records the Council commission; the oath was administered at Morris CCP next session (per standard procedure) and would be recorded in Morris County Court of Common Pleas minute book 1739+ at NJ State Archives Trenton, OR at Joint Free Public Library of Morristown per I.29 provenance note. Not yet on disk; primary-source acquisition target.
• The OCR reading "Sa[n]luel Cooper" vs "Daniel Cooper" at Vol 7 p. 420 line 19919 — needs image-scan verification to determine if there was a second Morris Co. Cooper Justice in 1749, or if the OCR is corrupted.
• The bottom-of-Vol-16-p.91 footnote "Kusper. Kuiger, Cooper." — needs image-scan verification; appears to be editorial alternative-spelling note for Bergen judge Derrick Kuyport/Kuyper, not a Daniel Cooper variant.

Schopfer-lead resolution

The Schopfer note per project pr.3 Daniel Sr 1749 oath of allegiance.md is now identified to its on-disk primary-source basis: NJ Archives Series I Vol 16 pp. 89-91 + Vol 7 pp. 275-276. Schopfer's interpretive claim (= "naturalization") is revised by this entry: the 1749 oath was an officeholder's oath under a pre-existing subject status, not a naturalization application.

Per project pr.3 Daniel Sr 1749 oath of allegiance.md should be updated to reflect: 1. The lead is documented and on disk (Vol 16 + Vol 7); 2. Schopfer's naturalization-hypothesis reading is revised — it was an officeholder oath, not a naturalization oath; 3. The PRIORITY 1 acquisition target shifts from "Daniel Sr's 1749 oath" (now found) to "Daniel Sr's pre-1749 naturalization record IF foreign-born" (= 1740 Plantation Act NJ-jurisdiction lists, 1729+ NY naturalization act subsequent lists, or pre-1715 records).

Cross-references

• I.29a — Stryker-Rodda Page 3 1749 Daniel Cooper ear-mark register = same-year same-county active-settlement evidence
• I.29 — Stryker-Rodda parent entry; 1768 Morris Twp ratables Daniel Sr Esqr 350 acres (= post-1749 continuation of his Long Hill residence)
• M.22 — NYHS Quarterly Bulletin Vol I 1917 = 1715 NY Naturalization List NULL for Cooper; this M.22 negative finding combined with I.78's 1749 Crown-commission finding = strong argument for native-born OR pre-1715 naturalized
• I.36 — House of Cooper Holland-born family-tradition narrative; I.78 does not directly falsify the Holland-born claim but the office-holding-required-pre-existing-subject-status logic narrows the naturalization-window
• Project pr.3 Daniel Sr 1749 oath of allegiance.md — Schopfer interpretation; needs update per Section above
• Project pr.2 Daniel Sr father search.md — v190.5++++++ 10-tradition consilience-NEGATIVE framing; I.78 strengthens the native-born reading
• Project pr.44 NJ Colonial Documents corpus scan.md — full 43-volume NJ Colonial Documents corpus scan note; references 322 Daniel-Sr-line Cooper hits including Vol 18 1773 counterfeiting case + Vol 26 Daniel Jr 1729 Piscataway birth footnote
• Project pr.7 Daniel Sr unsubstantiated notes 2026-05-08.md — maintainer note (#2) "NJ Documents Series 1 Vol 6 p.426 1747 rioter-letter + Vol 7 p.275 1749 timber affidavit (PRIORITY 1 acquisition)" — the Vol 7 p. 275 1749 timber affidavit acquisition is now CLOSED via this entry

Open questions / follow-up

• Image-scan verification of Vol 7 p. 420 "Justice Sa[n]luel Cooper" reading — is the OCR garbled or is there a distinct Samuel Cooper as Justice in Morris Co. 1749? Boyle's later references in the same deposition are "Daniel Cooper," suggesting OCR-garble; but the printed transcript must be confirmed against the PDF image.
• Image-scan verification of Vol 16 p. 91 "Daniel Cooper Quorum" + bottom footnote "Kusper. Kuiger, Cooper." — confirm the typography of the Quorum designation and the meaning of the footnote.
• Morris CCP minute book 1739+ at NJ State Archives Trenton OR Joint Free Public Library of Morristown — to record Daniel Sr's actual taking of the oath of office c. April 1749 (post-commission qualifying session). This would document the literal oath ceremony, but the substantive question (subject status) is already established by the commission itself.
• NJ Provincial naturalization records 1740-1749 at NJ State Archives — the only remaining naturalization-window for a foreign-born Daniel Sr (1740 Plantation Act). Per Winckel's GMNJ Vol 65 No 1 (Jan 1990) NJ-naturalization-process article (per project pr.3 Daniel Sr 1749 oath of allegiance.md), naturalization records of this period would be at NJ State Archives Provincial Council minutes 1740-1749. Highest-value remaining acquisition for resolving Daniel Sr birthplace.
• Subsequent NY Naturalization Acts 1719, 1729, 1735, 1740 — published lists in subsequent NYHS Quarterly Bulletin volumes or NY Provincial records
• Robert Barclay 2000-acre Pasaick River patent — the tract on which Daniel Sr was settled in 1749 per Boyle deposition. Original Barclay patent date + chain-of-title would document Daniel Sr's land acquisition + the Elizabeth-Town disputed claim. Cross-references to maintainer note in project pr.7 Daniel Sr unsubstantiated notes 2026-05-08.md items (4) Long Hill Township historic Cooper properties.