NJ Abstracts of Wills, Vol. XXXVI (1786-1790), p. 179 — Will of Nathan Cooper of Roxbury Twp., Morris Co., 12 July 1788, proved 7 Aug 1788

Transcription and notes

• Source files:
• User-supplied screenshot 2026-04-25 of the Ancestry result page "New Jersey, U.S., Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817 for Nathan Cooper" — Volume XXXVI, Abstracts of Wills, 1786-1790, displaying p. 179.
• Original entry in the published Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Administrations, etc. (the NJ Archives series of will abstracts), Volume XXXVI covering 1786-1790. Original Surrogate-Office liber-and-page is recorded as Lib. 31, p. 179.
• Identification: Published abstract of a Morris Co. Surrogate-Court probate file for Nathan Cooper of Roxbury Township, Morris County, New Jersey. Will dated 12 July 1788; proved 7 August 1788 (so testator died between those dates). Source surfaced via Ancestry's "NJ, U.S., Abstract of Wills, 1670-1817" search (J.34) for "nathan cooper Morris NJ b. 1780" 2026-04-25. Pulled to identify the J.33 Deed 4 witness "Nathan Cooper Junr" October 1785.

Data from the document (verbatim, abstract entries from p. 179)

The page contains three consecutive abstract entries, presented here verbatim. The Nathan Cooper entry is the second.

Top of frame (truncated — close of an unrelated will above)

• "wife to have £300, and otherwise provided for. The 4-acre woodlot, that I bought of John Sharp, to my sons, Benjamin and James. Executors—sons, James and William. Witnesses—John Tatum, Joseph Clement, James Whitall, Jr. Proved Jan. 8, 1790."
• "1789, Aug. 24. Inventory, £1,693.16.8½, made by John Tatum and Phinehas Lord. Lib. 31, p. 423."

(This entry belongs to a different testator — the close of a will whose head is above the visible frame. Surnames to look for in a fuller context include Tatum, Lord, Sharp, Whitall, Clement; sons Benjamin + James + William inherit; Gloucester / Salem-area pattern. Not Cooper-related.)

Middle entry — James Cooper of Roxbury, 1789 administration [Cooper-relevant secondary]

• "1789, Dec. 2. Cooper, James, of Roxbury, Morris Co. Int. Adm'rs—Phebe Cooper and David Thompson. Fellowbondsman—Henry Cooper; all of said Co. Witness—Jabez Guinnup."
• "1789, Dec. 4. Inventory, £422.5.7, made by John Rolston and John Wright. Lib. 30, p. 232."

Significance for the Roxbury Cooper family: James Cooper, named as an executor in his father Nathan Cooper Sr.'s 12 July 1788 will (the next entry), died intestate himself only 16 months later (Dec 1789). The administrators were his widow Phebe Cooper + David Thompson (also a witness on the 1788 will of his father — close family friend). Fellow bondsman Henry Cooper = James's surviving brother + co-executor of Nathan Sr.'s will. Inventory of £422.5.7 indicates James died with substantial personal property. Witnessed by Jabez Guinnup (presumably a JP). Recorded in Liber 30, p. 232 — a different liber than Nathan Sr.'s will (Lib. 31, p. 179). Indicates Henry Cooper assumed full executor responsibility for both estates 1788-1789.

Main entry — Nathan Cooper of Roxbury, 1788 will [verbatim]

• "1788, July 12. Cooper, Nathan, of Roxbury Township, Morris Co.; will of. Sons, Henry and James, all lands in Roxbury, on south side of road from Mendham to Roxbury, bounded by James Hopkins and Daniel Seward, of 250 acres; also land on north of road bounded by Nathan Cooper, Jr., Samuel Wills and James Hopkins, of 200 acres. Son, Nathan, 5 shillings. Son, Davenpoort Cooper, £10. Daughter, Hannah Saterly, 5 shillings. Daughter, Mary Clover, 5 shillings. Executors—sons, Henry and James. Witnesses—David Thompson, Caleb Howell, Pain Brown. Proved Aug. 7, 1788."
• "1788, Nov. 29. Inventory, £8.13.0, made by Jacob Conine and Constant Victor King."
• "Lib. 31, p. 179."

Family structure documented (verbatim from will)

Testator: Nathan Cooper of Roxbury Township, Morris County, NJ (= "Nathan Cooper Sr." in colloquial usage given his son Nathan Jr. is named in the will). Died July-August 1788.

Sons (per will text — 4 distinct names listed, but per J.38 MD Paulsen tree the underlying family had only 3 sons; "James" and "Davenpoort" are most plausibly the same person): - Henry Cooper — co-executor + co-devisee of all 250 + 200 acres in Roxbury. IDENTIFIED 2026-04-25 via J.38 as Henry Miller Cooper Sr. (1733-1819), who later moved Roxbury → Chester (1803) → Mendham (where he died). Henry was 55 in 1788. = the "Henry Cooper Esq. of Chester" of Littell I.4 p. 198 + Harrison Co. Genealogies I.20. - James Cooper — co-executor + co-devisee. Died intestate himself c. 2 Dec 1789, widow Phebe Cooper, see middle entry above. IDENTIFIED 2026-04-25 via J.38 as James Davenport Cooper (1720-1789), who died Nov 1789. James was 68 in 1788, the eldest son. - Nathan Cooper, Jr. — gets only 5 shillings (token bequest). Already held land north of the Mendham-Roxbury road bounding the 200-acre devise (i.e., he had received an advancement of land during his father's lifetime, hence the token will-share). IDENTIFIED 2026-04-25 via J.38 as Nathan Cooper Jr. (1725-1797), age 63 in 1788. = the J.36 1797 will testator. - Davenpoort Cooper — gets £10. REVISED reading 2026-04-25: per J.38 (MD Paulsen tree), Nathan Sr.'s second son was James Davenport Cooper (1720-1789) — full name James Davenport. The J.35 abstract may have listed him twice with different name forms (once as "James" the executor, once as "Davenpoort" the £10 bequest beneficiary), or the abstracter mis-parsed a single bequest like "to my son James Davenport, £10" as a separate son named "Davenpoort." Most plausible reading: James + Davenpoort = the same person James Davenport Cooper. The £10 token bequest was an additional legacy beyond the 250+200-acre executor-devise split with brother Henry. Alternative: Davenpoort really was a fifth son not in the MD Paulsen tree — open question pending re-examination of the actual will manuscript.

Daughters (2, both married): - Hannah Saterly (married surname Saterly / Satterly) — 5 shillings token. - Mary Clover (married surname Clover) — 5 shillings token.

Executors: sons Henry + James Cooper.

Witnesses to will: David Thompson, Caleb Howell, Pain Brown.

Land described: - 250 acres on south side of the Mendham-Roxbury road, bounded by James Hopkins + Daniel Seward — devised to Henry + James. - 200 acres on north side of the road, bounded by Nathan Cooper Jr. + Samuel Wills + James Hopkins — also devised to Henry + James. - Nathan Cooper Jr.'s own tract is north of the road (since the 200-acre Henry/James tract is bounded by him); his acreage is not specified in the will but he's a substantial Roxbury landowner by 1788.

Inventory: £8.13.0 (very small inventory for a will-testator with 450 acres of land; suggests either limited personal property or that the estate had already been substantially distributed via lifetime gifts).

Inventory appraisers: Jacob Conine + Constant Victor King.

Recording: Liber 31, page 179 (Morris Co. Surrogate Office).

Significance for the Cooper-Benjamin catalog

Nathan Cooper Junr identification (J.33 Deed 4 witness — RESOLVED)

The witness "Nathan Cooper Junr" on J.33 Deed 4 (October 1785, Morris Co. Deed Book E pp. 495-498) is identified as Nathan Cooper Jr. of Roxbury Twp., Morris Co. — the son of testator Nathan Cooper Sr. (d. July-Aug 1788). The identification rests on:

• Geographic match: Roxbury Twp. is the same county (Morris) where the J.33 Deed 4 sale was held; Nathan Junr's documented presence in Roxbury 1788 + his already-extensive land holdings there make him the obvious "Nathan Cooper Junr" of Morris Co. for that era.
• Temporal match: Nathan Junr was alive in October 1785 (deed witness) and again in July 1788 (named in father's will) — internally consistent.
• Onomastic match: the "Junr" suffix in 1785 means Nathan Sr. was alive and a known referent in the same locality; Nathan Sr. of Roxbury was alive in 1785 and is named in the 1788 will as the father of Nathan Jr.
• Absence-of-alternative: no other "Nathan Cooper Sr."/"Nathan Cooper Jr." pair documented in Morris Co. in 1785; the Ancestry search J.34 surfaced this Roxbury family as the dominant Nathan-Cooper structure.

Out-of-scope per memory

The Roxbury Cooper family (Nathan Sr. d. 1788 + sons Henry, James, Nathan Jr., Davenpoort + daughters Hannah Saterly, Mary Clover) is not part of Daniel Cooper Sr.'s Long Hill line. None of these names match Daniel Sr.'s 7 named children in A.9 (Daniel Jr., John, Benjamin, Charity, Hannah, Sarah, Providence) and the geographic separation (Roxbury north Morris vs. Long Hill / Passaic south Morris) supports a distinct Cooper family. Per memory feedback_cdv_scope_benjamin_male_descendants.md, this Roxbury Cooper line is now formally out of scope for Benjamin-descendant research.

A residual question worth noting (but not pursuing): was Nathan Cooper Sr. of Roxbury (d. 1788) a sibling of Daniel Cooper Sr. of Long Hill (b. 1695, d. 1795)? Daniel Sr. is documented as having 11 children per Mellick (I.14) of which only 7 are named in A.9; but the question here is whether Daniel and Nathan were both children of an earlier Cooper patriarch. The 1788 will gives no parentage data for Nathan Sr.; resolving this would require: - Earlier wills / probate records for a putative father (perhaps the Dutch immigrant Cooper of c. 1690) - Dutch Reformed baptism records - Land patent records showing common ancestry of the Roxbury and Long Hill tracts

Filed as out-of-scope unless directly bridged to Benjamin's line by future evidence.

Cross-references in the existing catalog (J.31 / J.32)

The J.31 + J.32 Morris Co. deed indexes contain numerous Nathan Cooper rows that are now unambiguously this Roxbury Cooper family (not Daniel-Sr. line):

• J.31 1793: Nathan Cooper → Henry Wilk, B.142 — almost certainly Nathan Jr. of Roxbury (5 years post-1788 will), conveying out land. "Wilk" likely a misread of "Wick" or "Wills" (Samuel Wills was a J.35 boundary neighbor) — re-read priority.
• J.32 (c. 1800-04): Abraham & Nathan Cooper ← Saml Stiles, B.[?] — separate Cooper figure (Abraham Cooper of Chester per D.78) jointly receiving with a Nathan Cooper (possibly Nathan Jr. of Roxbury). Stiles connection here is separate from J.33's Jonathan Stiles.
• J.31 1822: Eliz/Nathan Cooper → Elias Howell, p. 427 — joint conveyance by Nathan + wife Elizabeth, Roxbury cluster.
• J.31 1823: David Cooper → Nathan Cooper, p. 200 + J.32 counter-side — Cooper-to-Cooper deed within the Roxbury family network.
• J.31 1825: John Cooper → Nathan Cooper, p. 95 + J.32 counter-side — same network.
• J.31 1832: Nathan K Cooper → Obadiah J. Cooper + Nathan H Cooper → Joshua G. Carwin — second-generation Roxbury Coopers with middle initials (Nathan Jr.'s sons or grandsons).
• J.31 1842-1845: Nathan Cooper / Nathan A Cooper rows — third-generation Roxbury Coopers.

These rows can now be unambiguously tagged as Roxbury Cooper family rather than Benjamin-line research targets, simplifying future J.31 / J.32 re-reads.

Status / follow-up

• Filed [verbatim] for the Nathan Cooper 1788 will entry. Volume + page + liber-and-page citation all captured.
• The middle entry (James Cooper of Roxbury, 1789 administration) is captured [verbatim] as Cooper-relevant secondary data — useful for completing the Roxbury Cooper family chronology but not core to the Benjamin question.
• The top-of-frame entry (closing of a different testator's will, sons Benjamin + James + William, Tatum/Lord/Sharp/Whitall) is captured [verbatim] for completeness but not Cooper-related — flag for future researchers who might encounter these names.
• Cross-link to J.33 Deed 4 witness identification: see J.33 §"Deed 4 — Witnesses" updated 2026-04-25.
• Cross-link to J.34 Ancestry search results (the lead path that surfaced this will).
• Roxbury Cooper line declared out-of-scope per memory feedback_cdv_scope_benjamin_male_descendants.md. No further research priorities in this entry.