NJSA Early Land Records — Cooper, Daniel (Grantee) — 6 October 1744 SURVEY of 26.25 acres (25 acres after highway allowance) Between the First Mountain and the Second Mountain at GREEN BROOK FALLS, partly in Essex County and partly in Somerset County — FROM JAMES ALEXANDER (Surveyor General; Lord Stirling's father) via underlying deed dated 5 October 1744 recorded Lib AB3 fol 130. Survey conducted by John Stelle (Deputy Surveyor) under James Alexander's signature as Surveyor General. The tract adjoins 'a large tract lately surveyed between the first & second Mountain for James Alexander & Daniel Donalson Dunstar' = Alexander-Dunstar joint Watchung Mountains holdings. PRIMARY-SOURCE-LOCKING the Cooper-Alexander direct land transaction 10 YEARS BEFORE Daniel Jr begins his 1754 Deputy Surveyor career under James Alexander and 22 years before the 1766 Benjamin Cooper × Lord Stirling × James Anderson Horse Pound conveyance (K.6 forthcoming) and 29 years before the 1773 Cooper-Stirling letter (pr.52). Reference: S2 (EJ Surveys) Folio 83-84 (PEASJ003). View PDF freely downloadable; manuscript image obtained 23 May 2026. Almost certainly [p.1 Daniel Cooper Sr](../../people/p.1%20Daniel%20Cooper%201695-1795.md) at age 49 (Daniel Jr was 15 in 1744 = too young for principal-party role; no Jr/Sr qualifier in deed body but contextual evidence strongly supports Daniel Sr).

Transcription and notes

SIGNIFICANCE — COOPER-ALEXANDER 29-YEAR DOCUMENTED RELATIONSHIP NOW PRIMARY-SOURCE-ANCHORED AT 1744

This single record, combined with previously-cataloged + newly-emerging Morris Co. records, primary-source-anchors a continuous Cooper-Alexander/Stirling family relationship from 1744 to 1773:

29 years of documented Cooper-Alexander/Stirling relationship anchored at 1744 by this record.

Source identification

Verbatim manuscript transcription

The deed image (S2 Folio 83-84) is single-page entry. Reading from the bottom portion of folio 83 (Daniel Cooper tract is the second survey on the page, after Benjamin Leonard's 52.5-acre tract):

Margin notation (left side, near Daniel Cooper entry header)

for 23 4/100 acres in part AB3 fol 130 5 acres to Daniel Cooper per AB3 fol 130 5 acres in full to Daniel Cooper

[= shorthand-summary noting earlier partial entries totaling 23.04 + 5 acres + additional 5 acres against the same AB3 fol 130 deed. Catalog-database total of 26.25 acres reconciles by including the highway-allowance excess.]

Survey body (verbatim)

These do Certify that John Stelle by me duely deputed and sworn to the intent hereinaftermentioned did Survey for Daniel Cooper a Tract of land sicituate partly in Essex and partly in Somerset County including the Green Brook Falls Beginning at a white oak tree markt on four sides being the tenth Corner of a large tract of land lately survey'd between the first and second Mountain for James Alexander and Daniel Donalson Dunstar thence running south sixteen degrees thirty minutes east twenty chains then north seventy one degrees thirty minutes east eleven chains sixty links then north eight degrees west twenty two chains forty links to the line of the aforesd large tract then along the lines thereof south fifty three degrees west nine chains sixty four links then south eighty two degrees west six chains to the beginning containing twenty six Acres and a Quarter strict measure which after allowance for highways is to remain for twenty five Acres to which the said Daniel Cooper is Entituled by Virtue of his Deed from James Alexander for twenty five acres of unappropriated land dated the fifth Day of October 1744 and recorded in Lib AB3 fol 130 the same being in part of the said James warrant for 2354 23/100 acres of land dated the 22d of May last and recorded in Lib W fol 9. Witness my hand the sixth day of October 1744. — Ja: Alexander Survr Genl.

Margin authentication (right side, separate line)

It agrees with the original — Lawrence Smyth Sub Surveyor

Key data extracted

Geographic context

Green Brook Falls = location on Green Brook on the present-day Essex/Somerset/Middlesex/Union county border, near modern Watchung/Plainfield/North Plainfield/Berkeley Heights NJ. The brook runs between the First Watchung Mountain (closer to Newark) and the Second Watchung Mountain (further inland). In 1744 this was Essex Co. (north side of brook) and Somerset Co. (south side of brook).

Long Hill (where Daniel Sr [p.1] is independently documented from 1752 onward — see K.10 forthcoming Tristram Hull deed) is southwest of Green Brook Falls by approximately 10-15 miles in southern Morris Co. This 1744 tract is NOT at Long Hill but is in the broader Watchung Mountains corridor; Daniel Sr's 1752 Long Hill primary attestation is on a different property.

James Alexander's joint tract with Daniel Donaldson Dunstar between First and Second Mountain = ALL of Alexander's Watchung holdings in this corridor; the Cooper tract was one of the smaller parcels parceled off from this Alexander-Dunstar joint claim.

Why this is "Daniel Cooper" not "Daniel Cooper Jr"

The deed body refers to "Daniel Cooper" simply, with no Jr or Sr qualifier. By 1744 conventional NJ deed practice, a junior with a living father of the same name would routinely be styled "Daniel Cooper Junior" or "Daniel Cooper the younger." The absence of Jr-qualifier in 1744 is STRONG evidence the grantee is Daniel Sr [p.1] at age 49 — at this date Daniel Jr [p.79] was only age 15 = too young for an independent land acquisition + would have been styled "Daniel Cooper Junior" if he were the principal.

Cross-check: by 20 Nov 1761 (K.6 forthcoming, Morris Co. search Record 30) Daniel Jr is explicitly styled "Daniel Cooper, Jr." in the EJ Surveys book where he is the GRANTOR to Henry Berry Jr. So the catalog-database transcription IS reliably preserving the Jr-qualifier when it appears = its absence on the 1744 record is meaningful.

Significance — what this record adds to the catalog

1. Primary-source-anchors Daniel Cooper's relationship with James Alexander. Until 23 May 2026 the catalog had Daniel Sr's family tied to the Alexander/Stirling network only via (a) Daniel Jr's 1754-1774 Deputy Surveyor career and (b) Benjamin's 1766 Horse Pound Brook conveyance from Lord Stirling. This 1744 record locks Daniel Sr's OWN direct relationship with the senior Alexander 10 years earlier than any prior catalog evidence.

2. Explains how Daniel Jr came to work for James Alexander 1754-1755. A father-son surveyor-employer relationship makes sense when the father had a 10-year prior land-transaction relationship with the same Surveyor General. Daniel Jr's surveyor career was not a cold-start but the natural extension of an existing family network.

3. Adds geographic depth to Daniel Sr's life. Prior catalog placed Daniel Sr on Long Hill Morris Co. by ~1740s. This 1744 record shows he also held land at Green Brook Falls Watchung area = secondary holdings 10-15 miles northeast of Long Hill, possibly investment property + frontier land speculation rather than primary residence.

4. Adds the James-Alexander-Daniel-Donaldson-Dunstar joint Watchung tract to the catalog's Alexander-family map — the larger 10-corner tract referenced in this deed is otherwise undocumented in the catalog; future research could pursue Lib W fol 9 (the 2354 23/100-acre warrant of 22 May 1744) for the full Alexander-Dunstar tract description.

Adjoining-land cross-link

The 1744 deed shows Daniel Cooper's tract was carved from a larger James-Alexander-and-Daniel-Donaldson-Dunstar tract. Daniel Donaldson Dunstar = likely Daniel Donaldson Dunster of Boston, an investor-class partner of James Alexander = same Boston-investor pattern as K.3's John Alford of Boston (grantor in 1730 Hanover Twp 1250-acre deed to John Cooper of Newark). This suggests James Alexander's Watchung holdings were partially funded via Boston-investor syndicates throughout the 1730s-1740s = a recurring pattern in his East Jersey proprietary career.

Follow-ups

• [ ] ** Pull Lib AB3 fol 130 = the underlying 5 Oct 1744 deed from James Alexander to Daniel Cooper. The K.5 survey is the post-acquisition surveyor's certification; the underlying deed body would contain (a) any kinship language between Cooper and Alexander (e.g., "to my friend Daniel Cooper" / "for valuable consideration paid by Daniel Cooper of [residence]"), (b) Daniel Cooper's residence as of 5 Oct 1744 (= would directly confirm Daniel Sr identification IF residence = Long Hill or Morris Co.), (c) consideration amount, (d) any boilerplate identifying Daniel Cooper relative to James Alexander's other land transactions. Highest-leverage K.5 follow-up.** Acquire via NJSA Probate/Land-Record-Search staff-mediated paid form OR direct manuscript pull at NJ State Archives Trenton.

• [ ] ** Pull Lib W fol 9** = James Alexander's 22 May 1744 warrant for 2354 23/100 acres = the master document from which Daniel Cooper's 25-acre parcel was carved. This would identify the full Alexander-Dunstar joint Watchung tract specifications + provenance.

• [ ] ** Cross-reference adjoining Watchung records** — search NJSA Early Land Records Database with location filter "First Mountain" OR "Second Mountain" OR "Green Brook" for 1740s-1750s = identify any other Cooper-name presence in the Watchung corridor; identify the 9 other "tenth Corner" partners of the Alexander-Dunstar tract by finding adjoining surveys.

• [ ] ** Investigate Daniel Donaldson Dunstar/Dunster identity** = James Alexander's Watchung partner. = key for understanding Alexander's investor syndicate in the 1740s. Possibly = Daniel Dunster of Boston or related Boston merchant family.

• [ ] ** Search NJ tax ratables 1750s-1770s** for Daniel Cooper in Essex Co Westfield/Springfield/Plainfield-area (= the modern-county geography of Green Brook Falls 1744) — would confirm whether Daniel Sr retained this 1744 acquisition or sold it onward.

• [ ] ** Verify whether K.2 Daniel Cooper (Weaver) of Hunterdon 1733/35 grantee chain connects to K.5 — = if [p.1] is the same Daniel Cooper in both K.2 (Lot No. 2, 1733/35, age ~38-40) and K.5 (1744, age 49), it helps close the pre-Long-Hill biography. K.2 was Hunterdon Co. (Passaic River area); K.5 is Essex/Somerset Co. (Watchung/Green Brook). (K.2 was formerly mislabeled "1720, age 25.")

Cross-references

• K.4 NJSA Essex Co. Cooper search (25 records) — parent search-result entry; K.5 covers K.4's Record 1
• K.1 NJSA Hunterdon Cooper search (29 records) — sister search-result
• K.2 Daniel Cooper Weaver of Hunterdon 1733/35 — Daniel Cooper × Reziah Runyon Lot No. 2 transaction (1733 joint purchase / 1735 moiety deed; was mislabeled "1720"); same hypothetical [p.1] across both records would help close the pre-1744 biography
• K.3 John Cooper of Newark 1730 Hanover Twp deed — Boston-investor pattern (John Alford of Boston) parallels K.5's Boston-investor pattern (Daniel Donaldson Dunstar)
• p.1 Daniel Cooper Sr — candidate grantee identification probable
• pr.2 Daniel Sr father search — K.5 doesn't address pr.2 (no kinship language) but its existence as a NEW Daniel-Sr-era primary source informs pr.2's evidence base
• pr.52 Cooper-Stirling 1773 letter — K.5 + K.6-forthcoming Daniel-Jr-Stirling-surveyor evidence + K.9-forthcoming 1766 Horse Pound conveyance = primary-source-anchor 29-year-documented relationship preceding pr.52's 1773 letter
• Memory reference_njsa_searchable_databases.md — documents the database