Ancestry Family Tree, 'Samuel Cooper* Sr. Unknown-1825' (tree 63696121, person 212088048718, accessed 27 May 2026)

Transcription and notes

Filename: (image held in the family archive) (2 pages)

Identification

Ancestry Family Tree. Tree ID 63696121 (= different tree than L.118 / L.119's 179446987). Person ID 212088048718. URL: https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/63696121/person/212088048718/facts (accessed 5/27/26 9:44 AM).

Epistemic grade: Ancestry tree — low confidence per, BUT this tree provides catalog-defining clarification of Samuel Sr's two marriages + chronology that resolves the L.116/L.117 tree errors. 2-source-citation flag for marriage date.

Catalog-defining structural finding — Samuel Sr had TWO wives

Samuel Cooper* Sr. (= [[p.472]]) - Birth: Unknown (tree explicitly does not give DoB; [L.116/L.117] 1740 DoB likely tree error) - Death: 1825 New Jersey USA - Parents: Nathan Cooper* younger 1725-1797 [[p.461]] × Mehetabel Seward Cooper 1730-1812 [[p.464]] — = primary-source-corroborates Chambers + Seward + finally LOCKS Samuel as Nathan II's son (NOT sibling per catalog v227 hypothesis which is now FALSIFIED) - Siblings (per tree): Nathan III 1751, Elizabeth ~1755, Mary 1756 Sussex, Joseph 1760 Milton, Abraham 1762, Mehetabel ~1768

Marriage 1 — unknown first wife (d. before 1796)

• "Death of wife unknown first wife unknown Cooper (–1796) Bef. 1796" = 1st wife died before March 1796
• Children of 1st marriage (= b. before March 1796):
• Stephen Brown Cooper b. ~1780 [[p.502]] — m. Temperance Crammer 15 Apr 1826 per C.32
• Mary Cooper Hunt b. 9 Feb 1780 Roxbury Morris NJ d. 1842 — m. a Hunt per Chambers I.138
• Mehetabel Cooper b. 2 Jan 1782 Chester Morris NJ d. 1861 [[p.471]] — m. David Bunn 1773-1858
• Elizabeth Cooper b. 18 Apr 1785 Morris Co. NJ d. 1859 [[p.474]] — m. Jacob Bunn b. 1766
• Harriet Cooper b. October 1787 d. 24 Feb 1820 (per Find A Grave = G.192; tree gives 1818) [[p.504]] — m. Daniel Losey 1787-1875

Marriage 2 — Elizabeth Betsy Brown 1765- (m. 31 Mar 1796 per tree; primary-source = C.33 31 Mar 1795 in fact)

• Marriage: 31 Mar 1796 Morris NJ [2 sources per tree] — but C.33 primary-source attests 31 March 1795 (year off by 1)
• Wife: Elizabeth Betsy Brown 1765- [[p.473]]
• Children of 2nd marriage (= b. after March 1795/96):
• Abbie Cooper
• Deliverance Brown Cooper [[p.476]] — = explicit Brown-maternal-naming (matronymic from Elizabeth Brown)
• Mercy Cooper
• Charlotte Cooper
• Daniel Losey Cooper (= named after brother-in-law Daniel Losey?)
• Obadia Seward Cooper (= named after Obadiah Seward grandfather)
• Samuel Cooper
• Nathan Mulford Cooper

= 13 children total across both marriages. Chambers I.138's 11-child enumeration matches the catalog with slight name variations: | Chambers | L.120 tree | |---|---| | Mulford | Nathan Mulford Cooper | | Samuel, m. Temperance Crammer | (= primary-source-corrected via C.32: actual husband = Stephen B(rown) Cooper [[p.502]], NOT Samuel) | | Obadiah | Obadia Seward Cooper | | Daniel | Daniel Losey Cooper | | Charlotte | Charlotte Cooper | | Elisabeth, m. Bunn | Elizabeth Cooper [[p.474]] | | Mehitable, m. Bunn | Mehetabel Cooper [[p.471]] | | Mercy, m. Peter Bunn | Mercy Cooper | | Abide, m. Van Dike | Abbie Cooper | | Mary, m. Hunt | Mary Cooper Hunt | | Harriet, m. Daniel Losey | Harriet Cooper [[p.504]] |

Mercy + Charlotte + Abbie + Obadiah + Mulford + Daniel + (2nd-marriage Samuel) = all post-1795 children = biological children of Elizabeth Brown. Mehitable + Elizabeth + Harriet + (1st-marriage Stephen B + Mary) = 1st-wife biological children. [L.116] tree's claim that Mehitable + Elizabeth + Harriet were Elizabeth Brown's biological children is wrong — they were her step-children.

Chambers correction via primary-source

Chambers I.138 book p. 302 lists "Samuel, m. Temperance Crammer" under Samuel Sr × Betsey Brown's children. Per C.32 primary-source = Stephen B. Cooper m. Temperance Crammer on 15 Apr 1826. Chambers's "Samuel" is wrong; correct: Stephen B(rown) Cooper.

Possible explanation: Chambers (writing 50+ years after the marriage in 1895) may have misread an oral-tradition source OR confused two different Samuel-or-Stephen Coopers. The primary-source C.32 1826 record signed by the couple is definitive.

Follow-ups

• Identify Samuel Sr's 1st wife — d. before March 1795 (per C.33); 1st wife is biological mother of Mehitable + Elizabeth + Harriet + Stephen B + Mary. May have been ALSO a Brown (= would explain Stephen B's middle name pre-1795).
• Pull NJ probate 1825 for Samuel Sr (Morris docket 2042N per A.33 #44) — primary-source heirs roster
• Pull NJ Marriage Records 1770-1780 for any Samuel Cooper × ___ 1st marriage
• Identify "Daniel Losey Cooper" + "Obadia Seward Cooper" + "Abbie Cooper" — primary-source attestations for these post-1795 children
• Reconcile L.116 Mehitable Cooper 1782 tree which attributes Mehitable's mother as Elizabeth Brown 1765 — = L.116 is WRONG; biological mother was Samuel Sr's 1st (unknown) wife