The Coopers of Long Hill

Laura Elbertine (Cooper) Brill 1876–1937

Catalog ID p.2383 · Cite this page: njcoopers.com/p/2383/

Laura Elbertine (Cooper) Brill was born on 22 Jan 1876 in Le Sueur Co., Minnesota, probably the daughter of George Monroe Cooper and Rachel Nancy (Janes) Cooper. She married Henry Walter Brill (1895). She died on 21 Dec 1937 in Fergus Falls, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery, New York Mills, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota. Eight children are recorded.

Also recorded as: Laura E. Couper C.157

Facts

EventDatePlace / detailCertaintySources
birth 22 Jan 1876 Le Sueur Co., Minnesota certain G.664, L.90
residence 5 Jun 1880 Antrim Twp, Watonwan Co., Minnesota certain D.659
residence 1900 Leaf Lake Twp, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota certain D.288
residence 1910 Newton Twp (New York Mills Village), Otter Tail Co., Minnesota certain D.289
residence 1913 New York Mills, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota certain J.391
residence 8 Jan 1920 Newton Twp (New York Mills Village), Otter Tail Co., Minnesota certain D.842
residence 5 Apr 1930 New York Mills Village, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota certain D.843
death 21 Dec 1937 Fergus Falls, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota certain G.664
burial Greenwood Cemetery, New York Mills, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota certain G.664

Family

Parents

Spouses

Siblings

Children

  1. Hazel Brill Jun 1899 D.288
  2. Herbert George Brill 1896 probable G.664
  3. Robert Henry Brill 1896 probable G.664
  4. Hazel Brill Zentz 1899 probable G.664
  5. Cela Arthur Brill 1900 probable G.664
  6. Leonard W. Brill 1904 probable G.664
  7. Lawrence William Brill 1904 probable G.664
  8. Curtis Ben Brill 1914 probable G.664

Family tree

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

Henry Walter BrillHenry Walter Brill1871–1951Laura Elbertine (Cooper) BrillLaura Elbertine (Cooper…1876–1937George Monroe CooperGeorge Monroe Cooper1830–1913Joseph CooperJoseph Cooper1785–1852Elsie (Stackhouse) CooperElsie (Stackhouse) Coop…1800–1860Rachel Nancy (Janes) CooperRachel Nancy (Janes) Co…1855–1920

In the documents

Every published document that names Laura Elbertine (Cooper) Brill, in date order, with what that document itself records.

DateDocumentRoleWhat it records
5 Jun 1880 D.659 census population 1880
1880 U.S. census, Antrim Township, Watonwan Co., Minnesota, ED 266, page 6 (stamped 406B), lines 36-41 (dwelling 52) — NARA T9 roll 637
 child
as "Laura E [Cooper]"
residence: 1880, Antrim Twp, Watonwan Co., Minnesota
1895 C.157 marriage index
Minnesota Official Marriage System (MOMS) — Otter Tail County marriage index, certificate I-064, 4 September 1895: the one-line index row for BRILL, HENRY W × C…
 bride
as "COUPER, LAURA E"
2 Jun 1900 D.288 census population 1900
1900 U.S. census, Leaf Lake Township, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota, supervisor's district 7, ED 178, sheet 1B, lines 51-53 (dwelling 6) and 58-60 (dwelling 8) - NA…
 spouse
as "Laura, wife, 24"
birth: Jan 1876, Minnesota
residence: 1900, Leaf Lake Twp, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota
1910 D.289 census population 1910
1910 U.S. census, Newton Township (New York Mills Village), Otter Tail Co., Minnesota, supervisor's district 9, ED 167, sheet 2A, lines 28-36 (dwelling 26, fami…
 spouse
as "Laura, wife, 34; 7 children born, 5 living"
residence: 1910, Newton Twp (New York Mills Village), Otter Tail Co., Minnesota
1913 G.153 find a grave memorial
Find a Grave memorial 65182123 - George Cooper, Greenwood Cemetery, New York Mills, Otter Tail County, Minnesota
 child
as "Laura E. Cooper Brill"
1920 D.842 federal census
1920 US Federal Census, Newton Township (New York Mills Village), Otter Tail Co., Minnesota — Supervisor's District 9, Enumeration District 154, Sheet 3A, enume…
 spouse
as "Lowery [Brill]"
residence: 8 Jan 1920, Newton Twp (New York Mills Village), Otter Tail Co., Minnesota
1930 D.843 federal census
1930 US Federal Census, New York Mills Village, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota — Supervisor's District 4, Enumeration District 56-54, Sheet 4A, enumerated 5 April 19…
 spouse
as "Laura E. [Brill]"
residence: 5 Apr 1930, New York Mills Village, Otter Tail Co., Minnesota

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

Still unknown, and where we have looked

Searches recorded

state index 2026-10-19 · HER MARRIAGE TO Henry Walter Brill HENRY WALTER BRILL — the only gap on this file, and it stood at "no date or place recorded". Searched...
Searched for: HER MARRIAGE TO Henry Walter Brill HENRY WALTER BRILL — the only gap on this file, and it stood at "no date or place recorded". Searched the Minnesota Official Marriage System, the counties' own statewide certificate index: Last Name Brill, First Name Henry, County All Participating, Search By Both Applicants, Search Option Name Starts With, no date range — 4 records returned, all four read. Searched on the GROOM deliberately, because her surname is the unstable one — and the result proved the point. MOMS was chosen over Ancestry and FamilySearch because it is free, statewide, and compiled by the counties from their own registers, so there is no vendor-coverage question to argue about afterwards. (link)
Result: FOUND → [C.157]. OTTER TAIL County, certificate I-064, 4 September 1895, BRILL, HENRY W × COUPER, LAURA E. Result table captured and filed under Marriage/Minnesota/Otter Tail County/. THE CLERK WROTE COUPER. That is why no Cooper-keyed marriage search had ever reached this record, and it is now in also_known_as as a form to search the family under. TWO RECORDS ALREADY ON THIS FILE AGREE, INDEPENDENTLY: [D.288] (1900) records them married 4 years in June 1900 — 4 Sep 1895 to 1 Jun 1900 is four years nine months — and [D.843] (1930) gives her age at first marriage 20 against an actual 19. Neither was consulted to find the record; both were checked afterwards. The index gives no parents, so it cannot by itself prove this is George Monroe Cooper's daughter; the date agreement with her own two censuses is what does that. The certificate itself must be ordered from Otter Tail County — see todo:. The other three rows, read and set aside: Douglas Co. D-329, 1888, Henry R Brill × Mary E Pottsmith; Jackson Co. C-413, 1894, Henry Brill × Lizzie Voehl; Crow Wing Co. L-137, 1926, Henry Brown × Pearl Brill.
ancestry all 2026-10-18 · HER 1880 AND 1920 CENSUSES, both at "no search recorded". 1880 — NO SEARCH WAS NEEDED. The record was already in this file's entries:...
Searched for: HER 1880 AND 1920 CENSUSES, both at "no search recorded". 1880 — NO SEARCH WAS NEEDED. The record was already in this file's entries: list: [D.659], her father's 1880 household, has her at line 40 as "Laura E", 4, "G'daughter". What was missing was not the record but the residence: header, so every gap report called it unsearched. ⇒ Promoted, and [D.659]'s subject row given her p: id in the same pass. 1920 — a name-and-year national search, since no Otter Tail Co. gazetteer id was in hand: coll. 6061 ?name=Laura_Brill&birth=1876&count=50 — 54 rows over 2 pages, page 1 read.
Result: 1880 → [D.659], certain: name, age, birth state and both parents' birth columns agree, and the household is her own parents' (her father entered as "Son in law" of the head). 1920 → [D.842], Newton Twp, ED 154 sheet 3A — and she is not under the name searched for: the enumerator wrote Lowery. The ranked result surfaced her anyway on surname + year + township. Two children born since 1910 (Birdie H. 3, Lester H. 1½). 1880's lesson is the one worth keeping: a linked entry is not a recorded fact. The gap report reads headers, so a record cited only in entries: is invisible to it.
ancestry all 2026-10-18 · HER 1930 CENSUS — her last, since she died 21 Dec 1937. coll. 6224 ?name=Laura_Brill&birth=1876&count=50: 46 rows, one page, all read....
Searched for: HER 1930 CENSUS — her last, since she died 21 Dec 1937. coll. 6224 ?name=Laura_Brill&birth=1876&count=50: 46 rows, one page, all read. TWO EARLIER ATTEMPTS THIS SAME HOUR WERE INVALID AND ARE RECORDED AS SUCH, NOT AS NULLS. (a) residence=_otter+tail-minnesota-usa_1951 — I guessed the gazetteer id; Ancestry resolved it to mcdonald-missouri-usa_1951 and searched a Missouri county. Zero results, meaning nothing. (b) birth=1876_minnesota-usa&birth_x=1-0-0_1-0 — an id-less place token marked exact; zero results, also meaningless. This was the SECOND guessed-place-id slip of the afternoon (the first bounced a search to Nevada). Both were caught instantly by reading the slug back out of the returned URL — the check added to the place-recipe guidance this morning. ⇒ The rule earns a stronger form: do not type a gazetteer id that was not read from the form or from the guidance's recorded list.
Result: FOUND → [D.843]. New York Mills Village, ED 56-54 sheet 4A, dwelling 75 / family 77: Henry W. 55 and "Laura E." 54, with only Birdie H. 13 and Lester H. 11 at home — the five older children of [D.842] have gone. Age at first marriage 20 ⇒ married 1896, agreeing with [D.288]'s "married 4 years" in 1900 from an entirely different column, thirty years apart. Her mother's birthplace reads Connecut — the third different answer the daughters' censuses give for Rachel Nancy (Janes) Cooper's origin (Canada 1880/1900/1910; Ohio on [D.824]; Connecticut here). The 1880 answer is the one to trust: Rachael was then in her own father's household.
familysearch records 2026-10-15 · Laura Brill, death 1937, Minnesota (1,255 fuzzy; page 1 read); record 1:1:Z4YV-6GPZ opened. Also 1900 census record 1:1:M934-NK1 -> its...
Searched for: Laura Brill, death 1937, Minnesota (1,255 fuzzy; page 1 read); record 1:1:Z4YV-6GPZ opened. Also 1900 census record 1:1:M934-NK1 -> its image is the sheet already filed as [D.288].
Result: INDEX ONLY: 'Minnesota, Deaths, 1887-2001' - Laura Brill, female, 61, b. 1876 Minnesota, d. 21 Dec 1937, Fergus Falls (Township), Otter Tail Co.; certificate number 11602; father George M. Cooper; mother 'Rachel N. Jones' [sic]; spouse Henry Brill. 'Check Image Availability' - no image viewed. Other index rows for her: 1905 MN state census Homestead Twp ('Lauria Brill'); 1910 Newton (parents Rachel and George Cooper in the household; children Hazel, Lenard, Pearl, Lawrence, Cela and two pairs of 'Twin'); 1920 Newton ('Lowery Brill'); 1930 New York Mills (Lester H, Birdie H); Minnesota Death Records and Certificates 1900-1955 ('Laura Elbetine Cooper'). None opened.
familysearch tree 2026-10-15 · Tree search Laura Cooper, spouse surname Brill, b. 1875-1877; profile LHC1-SV8 opened.
Searched for: Tree search Laura Cooper, spouse surname Brill, b. 1875-1877; profile LHC1-SV8 opened.
Result: LEAD ONLY. LHC1-SV8 Laura Elbertine Cooper, 22 Jan 1876 Minnesota - 21 Dec 1937 Fergus Falls; residences (unsourced events) 1880 Antrim, Watonwan Co.; 1900 Leaf Lake Twp, Otter Tail Co.; 1910 Newton, Otter Tail Co. Spouse 'Henry William Brill' G3FM-4VD (1873-1946) - the catalog has 'Henry Walter' from [G.664]; no marriage event. Eleven Brill children on the tree: Hazel M (1899-1920), Hensel (1900), Cela Arthur (1900-1972), Sady A (1901), Lawrence (1904), Leonard (1904), Lornce (1905), Pearl (1908), Curtis Ben (1914-1916), Birdie H (1917), Lester H (1919) - several look like duplicated index readings of the same child (Lawrence/Lornce, Hensel/Sady?). Not the [G.664] panel's Herbert George (1896). None opened; to resolve from the 1900-1930 censuses.
findagrave 2026-10-14 · Find a Grave: Brill, Laura, b. 1876 +/-2, d. 1937 +/-2.
Searched for: Find a Grave: Brill, Laura, b. 1876 +/-2, d. 1937 +/-2.
Result: FOUND memorial 65181937 -> [G.664]; panel: parents George and Rachel Nancy Janes Cooper, husband Henry Walter Brill, brother George Melville Cooper, seven children.

Documents