Document M.32 · Society Publications · transcription: partial
NJ Archives 1st Series Vol XXIX = Nelson & Honeyman (eds.) Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey. Tenth Volume of Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey, 1773-1774 (Paterson NJ: The Call Printing and Publishing Co., 1917) — = Craddock 1999 bibliography ref #101; underlying primary-source-published transcription for the four 1773-1774 NJ-Cooper-forgery-case newspaper articles at [J.131](../J-Newspaper/J.131.yaml)-[J.134](../J-Newspaper/J.134.yaml). Date-discrepancy discovery 2026-05-17: Vol XXIX p. 141 dates Gov. Franklin's pardon 13 December 1773, NOT 1774 as Craddock's [I.22](../I-Published/I.22.yaml) entry-102 transcript states — Craddock has a year-typo. J.134 imprisonment window corrected to ~3 months (17 Sep 1773 → 13 Dec 1773), not 15 months.
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Transcription and notes
Source identification
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Series | Archives of the State of New Jersey. First Series. Vol. XXIX |
| Subseries | Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey — Tenth Volume of Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey |
| Date range | 1773-1774 |
| Editor | Edited by the late William Nelson, succeeded by A. Van Doren Honeyman |
| Publisher | The Call Printing and Publishing Co., Paterson NJ |
| Publication year | 1917 |
| Total pages | 602 PDF pages (book pages ~570 + front + index) |
| Local file | (image held in the family archive) |
| Per Committee on Colonial Documents | Austin Scott; Ernest C. Richardson; Joseph F. Folsom; A. Van Doren Honeyman; James J. Bergen; Hiram E. Deats |
Per feedback_findagrave_certainty.md and equivalent |
HIGH primary-source-published grade for content; underlying newspaper sources retain own primary-source-direct grade if pulled |
Relationship to existing catalog
This volume = Craddock 1999 bibliography reference #101 — see I.22 Complete bibliography enumeration. Craddock cites pp. 17-18, 28, 33, 141, 277-278 in entry 102 Benjamin² Cooper as the underlying source for four verbatim newspaper quotations (see J.131, J.132, J.133, J.134).
Acquiring this volume 2026-05-17 closes one derivative-access layer: the J entries can now be upgraded from [partial via Craddock quotation] to [verbatim via Nelson-Honeyman 1917]. The original 1773-1774 newspaper run remains one further layer back (Nelson-Honeyman is itself a transcript), but the verbatim text in the J entries can now be primary-source-cited against M.32 rather than against Craddock.
Cooper-relevant content — pages directly Craddock-cited
| Vol XXIX book page | Content | Catalog impact |
|---|---|---|
| pp. 17-18 | August 1773 NY Gazette extract — sentencing news + significant NEW Ford-counterfeiting background (impenetrable-swamp print shop, 2-year duration NJ+PA+NY+UK coins counterfeited, "Treasurer for the three provinces" nickname, names King + Richardson as Ford's confederates) | J.131 upgrade — add Ford-background context that Craddock omitted |
| p. 28 | 22-23 September 1773 extracts (Pennsylvania Gazette + Pennsylvania Journal + NY) — Reynolds executed Friday 17 Sep at Morris-Town; ~13,000 attendees at execution (Mellick's "thousand" was the sentencing crowd; this is the execution); Ford reported "asleep under a tree, guarded by King and another man well armed... reduced by a fever" = NEW Ford-as-fugitive datum | J.132 upgrade — add execution-attendance figure + Ford-fugitive details + executioners' identity (King guarded Ford) |
| p. 33 | 27 September 1773 NY Gazette + Weekly Mercury — full text whose latter half Craddock excerpted; surrounding context adds: Ford+King initially apprehended together, both escaped Morris Co. Gaol; one gang member convicted of aiding their escape made confession that triggered Reynolds/Haynes/Cooper/Budd trials | J.132 upgrade — add Ford+King prior-arrest + escape + chain-of-confessions backstory |
| p. 141 | 13 December 1773 — Gov. William Franklin's pardon announcement of Joseph Haines + Dr. Barn Budd + Benjamin Cooper. DATE CORRECTION: Craddock's I.22 transcript dates this December 13, 1774 — that is a Craddock year-typo. Primary source clearly reads December 13, 1773 + page header [1773]. J.134 imprisonment window corrected from ~15 months to ~3 months (17 Sep 1773 respite → 13 Dec 1773 pardon) | J.134 MAJOR CORRECTION — date 1774→1773 + imprisonment window revised |
| pp. 277-278 | 2 March 1774 Pennsylvania Gazette — full gallows-eve confession narrative whose middle portion Craddock excerpted; NEW: Ford-Reynolds wood-meeting story (Ford showing Reynolds a "large bundle of paper money", Reynolds peeking through keyhole and seeing Ford "cutting the money from sheets"); NEW: NJ Assembly's REJECTION of Cooper's testimony as extracted under duress — "they think no confidence could be put in the testimony of such a person as Cooper, and in such manner obtained... find great fault with the magistrates for the unjustifiable measures used to extort from a condemned malefactor a confession" | J.133 upgrade — add Ford-Reynolds backstory + NJ Assembly critique of magistrates (= primary-source-published critique of Daniel Cooper Sr's bench conduct) |
Adjacent / additional Cooper-relevant content (not yet inventoried)
Vol XXIX has 1773-1774 coverage = the peak period of Cooper-family newspaper visibility. Beyond the 5 specific pages Craddock cited:
- Additional newspaper extracts on the Ford counterfeiting case + Cooper trial likely span surrounding pages (16-19, 25-35, 138-145, 274-285+)
- Possible additional 1773 mentions of Lord Stirling (Cooper's Hibernia Iron Mines partner)
- Possible 1774 follow-up on Ford's eventual fate (captured? died of fever?)
- Possible mentions of Daniel Cooper Sr (Judge) or Daniel Cooper Jr (former Morris Co. Sheriff) in other contexts
Recommendation: Cooper-name index sweep of Vol XXIX is high-priority follow-up. Likely 10-30 additional Cooper-name hits beyond the 5 Craddock-cited pages.
Open questions / follow-up
- PRIORITY 1: Full Cooper-name index sweep of Vol XXIX — pull the index pages, identify all Cooper hits, render each cited page; could yield 10-30 additional 1773-1774 Cooper-relevant extracts beyond Craddock's 5 pages.
- PRIORITY 2: Upgrade J.131-J.134 with Vol XXIX content (= primary task this volume enables; see per-entry impact column above)
- PRIORITY 3: Investigate the King + Richardson names — Ford's swamp-confederates identified for the first time at primary-source-published level. King later guarded fevered Ford during the September 1773 flight. Were they ever caught? Did they testify?
- PRIORITY 4: NJ Assembly Journal Dec 1773 - Mar 1774 for the official record of Assembly's critique of the magistrates' duress-extraction tactics (per Vol XXIX p. 278) — this would primary-source-attest at parliamentary-record level (one step closer than newspaper-reportage).
- PRIORITY 5: Locate original 1773-1774 newspapers directly (NY Gazette, NY Gazette + Weekly Mercury, PA Gazette) at Library of Congress / NY Historical Society / Pennsylvania Gazette searchable archive — would close the second derivative layer.
Cross-references
- I.22 — Craddock 1999 = the citing source that drew our attention to this volume; bibliography ref #101.
- I.56 — Mellick 1889 narrative of the Cooper case (parallel published-secondary).
- M.24 — Honeyman SCHQ Vol I 1912 (parallel published-secondary, by the same A. Van Doren Honeyman who finished editing M.32).
- M.33 — Vol XXVI = NJ Archives Newspaper Extracts Vol VII covering 1768-1769 (the underlying-event period of the Perth Amboy NJ Treasury robbery + March 1769 Hibernia purchase).
- J.131 — NY Gazette 30 Aug 1773 (= source at Vol XXIX pp. 17-18 + possibly adjacent)
- J.132 — NY Gazette + Weekly Mercury 27 Sep 1773 (= Vol XXIX p. 33 + context at p. 28)
- J.133 — PA Gazette 2 Mar 1774 (= Vol XXIX pp. 277-278)
- J.134 — NY Gazette + Weekly Mercury 13 December 1773 (= Vol XXIX p. 141; Craddock's "1774" was a year-typo)
- p.2 Benjamin Cooper — catalog subject