The Coopers of Long Hill

George M Cooper Jr 1850–1936

Catalog ID p.160 · Cite this page: njcoopers.com/p/160/

George M Cooper Jr was born on 9 Sep 1850, the child of Lewis Sanford Cooper and Mary Jane (Jones) Cooper. George married Laura Cato. George died on 5 Jun 1936 in Santa Barbara County, California and was buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Lompoc, Calif..

Facts

EventDatePlace / detailCertaintySources
birth 9 Sep 1850 certain G.129 (Find A Grave Memorial 16880937), D.18, D.285
residence 1900 8th Township, Santa Barbara Co., California probable D.692
residence 1910 Santa Maria, Santa Barbara Co., California certain D.669
residence 1920 Santa Maria, Santa Barbara Co., California certain D.670
death 5 Jun 1936 Santa Barbara County, California certain G.129
burial Evergreen Cemetery, Lompoc, Calif. certain J.404

Family

Parents

Spouses

Siblings

Children

None recorded.

Family tree

Solid lines and outlines: certain. Dashed: probable or weaker. Open the full tree (four generations)

Laura (Cato) CooperLaura (Cato) Cooper1861George M Cooper JrGeorge M Cooper Jr1850–1936Lewis Sanford CooperLewis Sanford Cooper1825–1905Joseph CooperJoseph Cooper1785–1852Mary Jane (Jones) CooperMary Jane (Jones) Cooper1827–1880

In the documents

Every published document that names George M Cooper Jr, in date order, with what that document itself records.

DateDocumentRoleWhat it records
1855 G.589 cemetery memorial
Find a Grave memorial 140271250, Sarah Eliza Cooper Gingrich (1855-1920), Santa Maria Cemetery District, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara Co., California
 sibling
as "George M. Cooper"
7 Jun 1880 D.792 census population 1880
1880 U.S. census, Plevna Township, Reno Co., Kansas, supervisor's district 2, ED 2[89], page 6 (FamilySearch sheet 494B), lines 44-45 (dwelling 57, family 57) -…
 head
as "Cooper George M., 29, farmer"
residence: 1880, Plevna Twp, Reno Co., Kansas
occupation: Farmer
7 Jul 1900 D.692 census population 1900
1900 U.S. census, 8th Township, Santa Barbara Co., California, ED 162, sheet 16B, lines 56-58 (dwelling and family 109) — NARA T623
 servant
as "Cooper George"
residence: 1900, 8th Township, Santa Barbara Co., California
occupation: 1900, Farm laborer
1905 G.133 find a grave memorial
Find a Grave memorial 70788117 - Lewis Sanford Cooper, Santa Maria Cemetery District, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County, California
 child
as "George M. Cooper"
1908 G.130 find a grave memorial
Find a Grave memorials 15136843, 42112931, 37389902 and 15136864 - Joseph Benjamin Cooper (West End Cemetery, Stephenville, Texas) and his sons James Henry, Joh…
 sibling
as "George M. Cooper"
11 May 1910 D.669 census population 1910
1910 U.S. census, Township 7, Santa Maria city (Ward 3), Santa Barbara Co., California, ED 183, sheet 16B, lines 88-92 (dwelling 416, family 453) — NARA T624
 brother
as "Cooper, George M"
residence: 1910, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara Co., California
occupation: 1910, Carpenter, general work
15 Jan 1920 D.670 census population 1920
1920 U.S. census, Santa Maria Precinct No. 3, Santa Maria city, Santa Barbara Co., California, ED 112, sheet 16A, lines 49-50 (dwelling 352, family 364) — NARA …
 brother
as "Cooper, George M"
residence: 1920, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara Co., California
occupation: 1920, Carpenter, house
16 Feb 1920 J.399 obituary
The Santa Maria Daily Times (Santa Maria, Calif.), Monday 16 February 1920, page 1, "Death Claims Mrs. Gingrich"; newspapers.com image 629949790.
 sibling
as "George Cooper"

6 further documents not published (they may name living people).

Still unknown, and where we have looked

Searches recorded

ancestry all 2026-10-18 · HIS MARRIAGE TO Laura (Cato) Cooper LAURA CATO, in the collection the 2026-10-15 row named as the next step: "Kansas, U.S., County...
Searched for: HIS MARRIAGE TO Laura (Cato) Cooper LAURA CATO, in the collection the 2026-10-15 row named as the next step: "Kansas, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1811-1911" (Ancestry coll. 61371) - 573,652 rows, sourced from "various Kansas County District Courts and the Kansas State Historical Society". Two angles, because the tree lead is "18 Feb 1879, Reno Co.": (a) THE BRIDE, Ancestry all-collections, ?name=Laura_Cato&marriage=1879_kansas-usa&marriage_x=1-0-0&count=50 - 59 ranked, page 1 read; only two rows are Kansas and both are the same record, which was opened. (b) THE GROOM, inside coll. 61371: ?name=George_Cooper&count=50 - 39 rows, ALL READ, the complete set of George Coopers in the whole collection.
Result: NULL ON BOTH - AND (b) TURNS THE NULL INTO A COVERAGE FINDING, WHICH IS THE USEFUL PART. (a) The only Kansas candidate is "Laura A Coat", 19, b. abt 1860, married 12 Mar 1879 at Chase, Kansas (coll. 61371 rec. 900145486, film 002194935) - a tempting mis-spelling of Cato at almost the right date. SHE IS NOT OUR LAURA: her spouse is "W P RATCLIFF", and her whole later life is indexed Ratcliff (1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920 censuses, Kansas state census, city directories, and a Find a Grave as "Laura Alice Ratcliff"). Excluded, and recorded so the near-miss is not re-opened. (b) THE 39 GEORGE COOPERS SPAN 1860-1904 AND TWENTY COUNTIES - Brown, McPherson, Chautauqua, Wilson, Pottawatomie, Wabaunsee, Riley, Osage, Sedgwick, Neosho, Johnson, Montgomery, Douglas, Chase, Miami, Geary, Greenwood, Nemaha, Linn, Jefferson - and RENO COUNTY IS NOT AMONG THEM, not once. No Cato or Coat spouse appears either. ⇒ THIS IS A COVERAGE GAP, NOT A NULL. The collection that would hold an 1879 Reno Co. marriage does not appear to cover Reno Co. at all. The "18 Feb 1879" date therefore remains TREE-TIER and is still deliberately not in marriages: - and the reason it cannot be confirmed online is now known, which is worth more than another null. A PLACE-FILTER FAILURE RECORDED FOR THE METHOD NOTE: an attempt to probe the collection's county coverage directly with ?marriage=_reno-kansas-usa&marriage_x=1-0-0 returned 573,652 rows - the entire collection - i.e. the filter was silently dropped because the bare slug did not resolve to a place id, and the "Reno" rows it surfaced are "Reno, Leavenworth, Kansas", a TOWNSHIP in another county. The count is what exposed it. ⇒ (b) was run by NAME instead, which needs no place filter at all.
familysearch records 2026-10-15 · HIS MARRIAGE RECORD to Laura (Cato) Cooper Laura Cato, which the file carries with no date or place. The tree lead on this file says "m....
Searched for: HIS MARRIAGE RECORD to Laura (Cato) Cooper Laura Cato, which the file carries with no date or place. The tree lead on this file says "m. 18 Feb 1879 Reno Co. [Kansas]", so: (a) Cooper, given George, spouse surname Cato, marriage 1876-1884, United States - the spouseSurname filter was IGNORED by the engine (65,851 ranked, page 1 read, no Cato among them), so this run proves nothing; (b) the BRIDE instead - Laura Cato, marriage 1877-1882, marriage place Kansas (491 ranked; page 1 of 5 read at 100/page).
Result: NULL. (b) returned no Kansas marriage for a Laura Cato in the window - the hits are NUMIDENT rows, WWI-era muster rolls and 1925 Kansas state-census Catos in Sedgwick Co., none of them hers. ⇒ the 18 Feb 1879 date remains TREE-TIER ONLY and is still not in marriages:. NEXT, and the index is not the end of it: FamilySearch's "Kansas County Marriages, 1855-1911" coverage is uneven by county, so a Reno Co. gap is a coverage question, not a null. Try the Reno Co. Probate/District Court marriage register directly (Kansas State Historical Society; also filmed), and Ancestry's Kansas marriage collections. His father Lewis Sanford Cooper and brothers were in Plevna Twp, Reno Co. through 1880 ([D.267], [D.693], [D.792]), so Reno Co. is the right register to page.
newspapers com 2026-10-04 · SIGNED IN. "George Cooper" OR "George M. Cooper", California, 5-30 Jun 1936 (22 matches).
Searched for: SIGNED IN. "George Cooper" OR "George M. Cooper", California, 5-30 Jun 1936 (22 matches).
Result: FOUND: Lompoc Record 12 Jun 1936 p. 8 'George M. Cooper, 85, Is Called' [J.404], downloaded.
findagrave 2026-10-04 · Not re-run; memorial 16880937 already in [G.129].
Searched for: Not re-run; memorial 16880937 already in [G.129].
Result: Not run.
familysearch tree 2026-10-04 · Not run this pass.
Searched for: Not run this pass.
Result: Not run.
ancestry all 2026-10-04 · Not run this pass.
Searched for: Not run this pass.
Result: Not run.
genealogybank 2026-10-04 · Not run this pass.
Searched for: Not run this pass.
Result: Not run.
familysearch records 2026-10-05 · George Cooper, b. 1849-1852, any place California (22,371; first 40 read); 1930 census (1810731), George Cooper b. 1848-1853, Santa...
Searched for: George Cooper, b. 1849-1852, any place California (22,371; first 40 read); 1930 census (1810731), George Cooper b. 1848-1853, Santa Barbara Co. (5); 1900 census (1325221), George Cooper b. 1848-1853, no place (239; filtered).
Result: FOUND: 1900 Santa Barbara Co. [D.692] (provisional); California Death Index 1905-1939 'George M Cooper', d. 5 Jun 1936 Santa Barbara, b. 1850 (1:1:QKSM-Y321, index only - agrees with the held death date). NULL: 1930 census (none in Santa Barbara Co. of his age); a California death certificate image (not online).
ancestry all 2026-10-06 · Ancestry 'U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995' (coll. 2469): name 'George M Cooper', keyword 'Santa Barbara' (rows kept where given name,...
Searched for: Ancestry 'U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995' (coll. 2469): name 'George M Cooper', keyword 'Santa Barbara' (rows kept where given name, initial, surname and town match).
Result: FOUND (index rows only): 'George M Cooper', Santa Barbara, California, 1908, 1909, 1910; no spouse given. Identification probable only (common name).

Documents