Document L.116 · Family Trees · transcription: verbatim
Ancestry Family Tree #89758918, person ID 162758972981 — Mehitable Cooper (b. 2 Jan 1782 Borough of Chester Morris NJ – d. 21 Jun 1861 Dix Schuyler Co. NY) — daughter of Samuel Cooper 1740-1825 × Elizabeth Betsy BROWN 1765-1825; m. David Bunn 1773-1858 on 7 Mar 1803 Chester; 8+ children incl. Mary Bunn Strader + Eliza Bunn Gray + Daniel M Bunn + Harriet Bunn + Samuel Dennis Bunn + Jacob Miller Bunn + Edward Bunn + Mahitabel Bunn
L.116: Ancestry Family Tree #89758918, person ID 162758972981…Transcription and notes
Source identification
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Source type | Ancestry Member Family Tree (user-built) |
| Certainty | LOW per feedback_ancestry_family_trees_low_certainty.md |
| Tree ID | 89758918 |
| Person ID | 162758972981 |
| URL | https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/89758918/person/162758972981/facts |
| Local file | (image held in the family archive) |
| Date accessed | 27 May 2026 |
Tree-level facts
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Mehitable Cooper |
| Birth | 2 Jan 1782 • the Borough of Chester, Morris County, New Jersey |
| Death | 21 Jun 1861 • Dix, Schuyler, New York, USA |
| Burial | Reading Center, Schuyler County, NY |
| Father | Samuel Cooper 1740-1825 |
| Mother | Elizabeth Betsy Brown 1765-1825 |
| Spouse | David Bunn 1773-1858 |
| Marriage | 07 Mar 1803 • Chester, Morris, NJ |
Children (with David Bunn)
| Child | Vitals |
|---|---|
| Mary Bunn Strader | b. Jul 1796 Pennington Mercer NJ — d. 26 Oct 1856 Hector Schuyler NY (= predates 1803 marriage; tree-anomaly OR child from prior relationship) |
| Eliza Bunn Gray | b. 22 Dec 1804 Morris NJ – d. 1889 |
| Daniel M. Bunn | b. 9 Dec 1806 Morris NJ – d. 1895 |
| Harriet Bunn | b. 25 Jan 1808 Morris NJ |
| Samuel Dennis Bunn | b. 18 Apr 1810 Roxbury Morris NJ – d. 1889 |
| Jacob Miller Bunn | b. 24 Oct 1813 NJ – d. 25 Mar 1833 NJ (age 19) |
| Edward Bunn | d. 30 Jul 1849 Schuyler Co. NY |
| Mahitabel Bunn | (= namesake daughter — vitals not in visible timeline) |
Siblings (per tree)
| Sibling | DoB |
|---|---|
| Elizabeth Cooper / Bunn | 18 Apr 1785 Morris NJ – 26 Mar 1859 Hunterdon NJ (= married a Bunn — cousin? possibly same Bunn-family marriage cluster) |
| Harriet Cooper | Oct 1787 – 24 Feb 1820 Mendham Morris NJ |
| Deliverance Brown "Dilly" Cooper | 25 Sep 1808 Chester Morris NJ (= 26 years younger than Mehitable; mother Elizabeth would be age 43 = plausible-but-late) |
Catalog-defining significance
Confirms "B middle initial = Brown" hypothesis for fam.2
The catalog's "B middle initial" naming-pattern observation (per fam.2 §"B middle initial naming-pattern marker") flagged Brookfield / Bushnell / Brown / Burnet / Barber as candidates for what "B" stood for in mid-19th-c. fam.2 Cooper individuals (Stephen B / Joseph B / Daniel B / James B Cooper).
L.116 attests Samuel Cooper 1740-1825 × Elizabeth Betsy BROWN 1765-1825. Their daughter Mehitable's much-younger sister is named "Deliverance Brown 'Dilly' Cooper" = explicit Brown-maiden-name-as-middle-name pattern. = fam.2 children of Samuel × Elizabeth Brown carried maternal Brown-surname-as-middle-initial. This primary-source-confirms the "B = Brown" hypothesis.
Samuel Cooper 1740 — which Samuel?
G.188 Find A Grave narrative for Nathan Cooper II names a son "Samuel Cooper (1752-?)". Different from this L.116's Samuel Cooper 1740-1825. Most likely two separate Samuel Coopers in fam.2:
- Samuel Cooper b. 1740 [[p.472]] = Mehitable 1782's father; m. Elizabeth Betsy Brown 1765-1825; lived Chester Morris; d. 27 Jul 1825 NJ
- Samuel Cooper b. 1752 = Nathan II × Mehetabel Seward's son; per G.188 Find A Grave; relation to Samuel 1740 unclear (possibly cousin / same generation different parents)
Mid-18th-c. NJ Cooper families intermarrying made Cooper-Cooper marriages possible. Samuel 1740 might also be a fam.2 individual but from a different Nathan-Cooper-I-generation branch.
Mary Bunn Strader 1796 birth predates marriage
Tree shows Mary Bunn Strader b. Jul 1796 BEFORE the 7 Mar 1803 Mehitable × David marriage. Either (a) tree-error on Mary's DoB, (b) Mary is from David's prior marriage, OR (c) Mary is a stepdaughter / adopted daughter. Plausible explanation: David Bunn was 23-30 when Mary was born; possible he had a prior marriage.
"Marriage 7 Mar 1893" final entry = OCR error
Tree's final timeline entry shows "Marriage 7 Mar 1893" to David Bunn — = clearly an OCR/tree-error duplicating the 1803 marriage with year mis-transcribed as 1893. Ignore.
Tree-cited Ancestry sources
- 1860 United States Federal Census
- Ancestry Family Trees
- New Jersey, U.S., Marriage Records, 1670-1965 (= the 1803 marriage)
- New York, State Census, 1855
- New York, U.S., Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890
- New York, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999
- North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000
- U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
Provenance + caveats
LOW certainty (Ancestry tree). 8 cited sources. The "1782 Borough of Chester Morris NJ" birthplace is consistent with fam.2 Chester Twp residence.
Follow-ups
- Pull NJ Marriage Record 7 Mar 1803 Chester for Mehitable Cooper × David Bunn — primary-source-locks the marriage + Mehitable's parents
- Identify Samuel Cooper 1740-1825 vs Samuel Cooper 1752-? — likely TWO different fam.2 individuals; needs resolution
- Pull NJ probate 1825 for Samuel Cooper d. 27 Jul 1825 NJ — would name heirs + identify which Samuel (1740-born) he is
- Pull NY Wills + Probate 1861 for Mehitable Cooper Bunn d. 21 Jun 1861 Schuyler NY
- Verify Brown family of Morris NJ — Elizabeth Betsy Brown 1765-1825 parents
- Update fam.2 §"B middle initial" with confirmed Brown-maternal-line hypothesis