William G Cooper 1875–1925

Catalog ID p.86 · Cite this page: njcoopers.com/p/86/

William G Cooper was born on 22 Dec 1875 in Texas, the child of Joseph Benjamin Cooper and Sarah Harriett (Starr) Cooper. William married Rosa Caroline Leonard (1900). William died on 16 Apr 1925 in the Euclid Water company's well, Seventeenth Street and Benson Avenue, Upland, San Bernardino Co., California and was probably buried after 19 Apr 1925 at Walnut Springs, Bosque Co., Texas. Three children are recorded.

Facts

Event	Date	Place / detail	Certainty	Sources
birth	22 Dec 1875	Texas	certain	B.130, D.273
residence	11 Jun 1880	Walnut Twp, Butler Co., Kansas	probable	D.663
residence	1900	Justice Precinct 2, Hamilton Co., Texas	certain	D.273
residence	19-20 Apr 1910	Precinct 3, Bosque Co., Texas	certain	D.676
residence	Sep 1918	R.F.D. #1, Glen Rose, Texas	certain	B.130
residence	2 Jan 1920	Justice Precinct #3, Bosque Co., Texas (outside Walnut Springs)	certain	D.784
residence	16 Apr 1925	Alta Loma, San Bernardino Co., California	certain	J.555
residence	Apr 1925	Upland, San Bernardino Co., California	certain	J.402, F.367
occupation	1900	Farm laborer	certain	D.273
occupation	19-20 Apr 1910	Farmer	certain	D.676
occupation	Sep 1918	Farmer	certain	B.130
occupation	2 Jan 1920	Farmer	certain	D.784
death	16 Apr 1925	the Euclid Water company's well, Seventeenth Street and Benson Avenue, Upland, San Bernardino Co., California	certain	J.555, J.556, J.557, F.367, J.402
burial	after 19 Apr 1925	Walnut Springs, Bosque Co., Texas	probable	J.557

Family

Parents

Father Joseph Benjamin Cooper 1852–1908
Mother Sarah Harriett (Starr) Cooper 1854–1927

Spouses

Rosa Caroline (Leonard) Cooper 1877–1918
married 20 Sep 1900, Bosque County, Texas
C.153, A.214, J.402

Siblings

Children

Joseph B. Cooper 1905–1951 probable A.214, J.402, F.345
Thomas H. Cooper 1902 probable A.214, D.676
Lena May Cooper about 1903 B.130, D.676, A.214, D.784

Family tree

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

In the documents

Every published document that names William G Cooper, in date order, with what that document itself records.

Date	Document	Role	What it records
1875	B.130 draft registration WWI draft registration card (Third Registration), order number 1779, Local Board Bosque County, Clifton, Texas, 1918 - George William Cooper (P.M.G.O. Form No. …	registrant as "George William Cooper"	birth: Dec. 22nd. 1875 residence: 1918, R.F.D. #1, Glen Rose, Texas occupation: 1918, Farmer; employer "Self"; place of employment Glen Rose, Tex.
11 Jun 1880	D.663 census population 1880 1880 U.S. census, Walnut Township, Butler Co., Kansas, ED 108, page 13 (stamped 216), lines 17-21 (dwelling 108, family 114) — NARA T9	child as "George W, 4, b. Texas"	residence: 1880, Walnut Twp, Butler Co., Kansas
1900	C.153 marriage index Texas county marriage index, Bosque County, 20 September 1900 - G W Cooper and Rosa Leonard (FHL film 989188) - INDEX ONLY, no image	groom as "G W Cooper"
19 Apr 1910	D.676 census population 1910 1910 U.S. census, Precinct No. 3 (part of), Bosque Co., Texas, ED 8, sheet 2B, lines 52-56 (dwelling 29) — NARA T624	head as "Cooper, George W."	residence: 1910, Precinct 3, Bosque Co., Texas
9 Sep 1918	A.214 probate minutes community administration Bosque Co., Texas, County Court probate minutes 1917-1923 (vol. U-V), pp. 240-241: Estate of Mrs Rosa Cooper, No. 1420, application for community letters, order…	petitioner as "G W Cooper, husband of Mrs Rosa Cooper"	residence: 9 Sep 1918, Bosque Co., Texas
1918	F.368 death certificate Texas State Board of Health standard certificate of death, Bosque County, registered no. 63, state file no. 6039, B.O.V.S. Form D, filed 5 March 1918 - Mrs Caro…	informant as "G. W. Cooper"
2 Jan 1920	D.784 census population 1920 1920 U.S. census, Justice Precinct #3, Bosque Co., Texas (outside Walnut Springs city limits), E.D. 38, sheet 1A, lines 1-4	head as "Cooper, George W., Head, 44, Wd"	residence: 2 Jan 1920, Justice Precinct 3, Bosque Co., Texas (outside Walnut Springs) occupation: Farmer, General Farm
1925	F.367 death index California Death Index, 1905-1939, bound typed index, page 2180 (COOPER, Ezekiel-Harry), one line - George W Cooper, age 49, county code 36, died 4-15-25	deceased as "COOPER, GEORGE, W"	death: 15 Apr 1925, San Bernardino Co., California (county code 36)
17 Apr 1925	J.402 death report (news item) Redlands Daily Facts (Redlands, Calif.), Friday 17 April 1925, page 7 (Second Section), "Second Death In Upland Well"; newspapers.com image 994549384.	deceased as "George William Cooper"	death: Euclid Water Company well, 17th Street and Benson Avenue, Upland, San Bernardino Co., Calif. residence: Alta Loma section [San Bernardino Co., Calif.] occupation: well worker (hoist operator)
1925	J.555 newspaper article The Daily Report (Ontario, California), Thursday 16 April 1925, page 1, column 1 - 'Upland Well Claims Life of George Wm. Cooper When Machine Breaks'	deceased as "George William Cooper"	residence: 16 Apr 1925, Alta Loma, San Bernardino Co., California occupation: 1925, well-worker death: 16 Apr 1925 [the paper says "this morning at 9 o'clock"; see reading notes - the state index says the 15th], the Euclid Water company's well, Seventeenth Street and Benson Avenue, Upland, San Bernardino Co., California
1925	J.556 newspaper article The San Bernardino County Sun, Friday 17 April 1925, Section Two, page 11 - "'Death Shaft' Claims Second At Upland Well"	deceased as "George William Cooper"	residence: 16 Apr 1925, Alta Loma, San Bernardino Co., California occupation: 16 Apr 1925, operating the hoist lowering steel casing into a well death: 16 Apr 1925 [dateline UPLAND, April 16; "instantly killed today"], the Euclid Water Company's well, Seventeenth Street and Benson Avenue, Upland, San Bernardino Co., California
1925	J.557 newspaper article The San Bernardino County Sun, Saturday 18 April 1925, page 14 - item in the 'Seeing Ontario in Five Minutes' column	deceased as "George William Cooper"	death: 16 Apr 1925 [dateline ONTARIO, April 17; "instantly killed yesterday"], a well owned by the Euclid Water company on Benson avenue, Upland, San Bernardino Co., California burial: after 19 Apr 1925, Walnut Springs, Bosque Co., Texas

1 further document not published (they may name living people).

Still unknown, and where we have looked

Searches recorded

findagrave 2026-10-16 · HIS GRAVE, SEARCHED IN TEXAS FOR THE FIRST TIME. Every previous Find a Grave search on this file was run against California and San...

Searched for: HIS GRAVE, SEARCHED IN TEXAS FOR THE FIRST TIME. Every previous Find a Grave search on this file was run against California and San Bernardino Co., because that is where he died; [J.557] (found an hour earlier) says the body was shipped to Walnut Springs, Bosque Co., TEXAS, so the search was re-aimed. Four passes: (a) surname Cooper, location "Walnut Springs, Bosque County, Texas" - THE LOCATION FILTER SILENTLY FAILED AGAIN, returning one memorial in ALLEGHENY CO., PENNSYLVANIA; the locationId had been constructed by hand and resolved to Spring Hill, Pa. (b) cemetery-name search "Walnut Springs" - 8 cemeteries, none in Bosque Co. (c) firstname Rosa, surname Cooper, d. 1918 +/-2, Texas (locationId state_46) - 2 rows, neither hers. (d) THE COMPLETE-LIST PASS, with the county resolved by the site's OWN autocomplete rather than a hand-built id (locationId county_2537): surname Cooper, Bosque County, Texas, NO given name, NO dates - 65 memorials, all four pages read.

Result: NULL FOR BOTH OF THEM, AND IT IS A COMPLETE-LIST NULL, not a name null: Find a Grave holds exactly 65 Coopers in Bosque County and NEITHER George W. Cooper (d. 1925) NOR Rosa Caroline (Leonard) Cooper (d. 1918) is among them. ⇒ Their graves at Walnut Springs are unmemorialised on Find a Grave, which for a 1918 and a 1925 burial in a small town is unremarkable. WHAT THE PASS DID ESTABLISH, and it is the useful part: THE CEMETERY AT WALNUT SPRINGS IS OAK GROVE CEMETERY - the only Walnut Springs burial ground among the 65 (Maggie Moore Cooper 1887-1949 and Rosa Mae Cooper 1903-1961 are both there). That is the specific place to ask, and the catalog had no name for it before today. ONE CONFLATION RISK FOUND AND RECORDED, NOT OURS: "Lena S. Leonard Cooper, 24 Sep 1851 - 30 Sep 1883, Meridian Cemetery" (memorial 25333701) - a SECOND Leonard x Cooper marriage in Bosque County. Parsed: she was b. GEORGIA, married ALONZO COOPER in January 1878 in Robertson County, and is NOT connected here to Rosa Caroline (Leonard) Cooper Rosa Leonard or to this man. See Samuel Thomas Leonard. Note per the standing rule that an empty result is not evidence of absence - this says no MEMORIAL exists, not that no grave does.

newspapers com 2026-10-16 · SIGNED IN. THE OPEN LOOP THIS FILE HAD CARRIED SINCE 2026-10-04 - "the Ontario Daily Report 17 Apr pp. 3 and 6, the Pomona Bulletin 19...

Searched for: SIGNED IN. THE OPEN LOOP THIS FILE HAD CARRIED SINCE 2026-10-04 - "the Ontario Daily Report 17 Apr pp. 3 and 6, the Pomona Bulletin 19 Apr and the Bakersfield Californian 20 Apr, all unopened". Exact phrase "George William Cooper", year 1925 only, no place - 34 matches - and then THE CALIFORNIA FACET APPLIED and "Show more results" clicked, which is the step the earlier pass did not take: 16 California matches, the complete set, all listed and read by title/date/page.

Result: FOUND - TWO NEW ENTRIES, BOTH FROM HIS OWN COUNTY SEAT'S PAPER, which had never been named on this file: [J.556] The San Bernardino County Sun, Fri 17 Apr 1925, Section Two p. 11, "'Death Shaft' Claims Second At Upland Well" - the fullest account held, and the only one giving THE INQUEST VERDICT ("an accidental verdict was returned by the jury" before Deputy Coroner Emmett Waters, at the scene); and [J.557] The San Bernardino County Sun, Sat 18 Apr 1925 p. 14, a paragraph inside the "Seeing Ontario in Five Minutes" round-up - THE BODY LEFT OVER THE SANTA FE ON 19 APRIL FOR WALNUT SPRINGS, TEXAS, with his son Joseph, no services in California. That is the catalog's first burial place for him, and it is the town where his wife was buried in 1918 [F.368]. Both papers also date the death to 16 April, making it three papers to the index's one. THE METHODOLOGY POINT, worth more than either entry: the earlier pass read page 1 of an UNFILTERED result set, where distant papers running the wire brief outranked the two local ones. The state facet is what surfaced them. ALSO: neither of the two "Ontario Daily Report 17 Apr" pages exists as described - the Ontario story ran on the 16th [J.555], and the 17th/18th items are the County Sun's. Eleven distant California papers and one British Columbia paper remain unopened and are listed in the todo above; all carry the same wire brief.

genealogybank 2026-10-16 · SIGNED IN (chris_2535). THE GENEALOGYBANK SEARCH THIS FILE HAD BEEN OWING SINCE 2026-10-04, run in two parts so a name-null and a...

Searched for: SIGNED IN (chris_2535). THE GENEALOGYBANK SEARCH THIS FILE HAD BEEN OWING SINCE 2026-10-04, run in two parts so a name-null and a coverage-gap could be told apart (per [[reference_internet_archive_fulltext_search]]). (a) THE NAME: first name George, last name Cooper, keyword UPLAND, 1925 only, all states. (b) THE COVERAGE: keyword UPLAND alone, 1925 only, publication location CALIFORNIA - i.e. does GenealogyBank hold any southern-California paper for the year at all?

Result: (a) 14 hits in the whole country and CALIFORNIA IS ZERO. The fourteen are Chester (Pa.) x5, West Palm Beach, Providence, Milford (Del.), Norwalk, Portland (Ore.), Baton Rouge, Boston, Savannah and Omaha - none of them about him. (b) AND THE COVERAGE IS REAL: 882 articles mention Upland in California in 1925, across Los Angeles 342, RIVERSIDE 260, San Diego 93, Oakland 45, San Francisco 46, San Jose 43, El Centro 29, Hemet 22 and Redding 2. Riverside is about twelve miles from Upland and its Daily Press and Independent Enterprise are both held. ⇒ THIS IS A TRUE NAME NULL AGAINST GENUINE COVERAGE, not an absence of newspapers. The archive was reading southern-California papers in April 1925 and none of them names him. BUT NOTE WHAT IS MISSING FROM THE STATE LIST: no Ontario, no Redlands, no San Bernardino paper. The two titles that actually carried the story - the Redlands Daily Facts [J.402] and the Ontario Daily Report - are NOT in GenealogyBank at all, which is precisely why newspapers.com found the accident and this engine cannot. A worked example of why CLAUDE.md requires both services: the holdings diverge exactly where it matters. The Ontario Daily Report 17 Apr pp. 3 and 6, the Pomona Bulletin 19 Apr and the Bakersfield Californian 20 Apr are still unopened ON NEWSPAPERS.COM, where they were found on 2026-10-04.

ancestry all 2026-10-16 · SIGNED IN. THE ANCESTRY ALL-COLLECTIONS SEARCH THIS FILE HAD BEEN OWING SINCE 2026-10-04, run as the William G Cooper todo specified:...

Searched for: SIGNED IN. THE ANCESTRY ALL-COLLECTIONS SEARCH THIS FILE HAD BEEN OWING SINCE 2026-10-04, run as the William G Cooper todo specified: George_Cooper, death 1925 in SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA (exact place, no birth constraint - a birth-year constraint silently drops the place filter on this engine). 555 ranked rows; the California Death Index row sorts first. An earlier, tighter attempt the same day - name "George William Cooper", birth 1875 +/-3 Texas, death 1925 +/-2 California - returned only 14 rows and did NOT include the death-index entry, so the tighter query was the wrong instrument and is recorded here as the failure it was.

Result: FOUND, AND IT OPENED THREE RECORDS IN ONE PASS. (1) California Death Index 1905-1939 -> [F.367]: COOPER, GEORGE, W., age 49, county code 36 (San Bernardino), date of death 4-15-25. Image downloaded and filed. This settles the death date - [J.402] is datelined the 17th and the tree said the 16th - and age 49 confirms a 22 Dec 1875 birth. IT CARRIES NO PARENTS' NAMES, which is what this file's todo had hoped for; the certificate behind it still has to be ordered. (2) and (3) came from its Suggested-records panel - see below.

familysearch records 2026-10-16 · HIS 1880 CENSUS - reported as a gap with 'no search recorded'. NO PROVIDER WAS OPENED: the catalog already holds his father's 1880 sheet...

Searched for: HIS 1880 CENSUS - reported as a gap with 'no search recorded'. NO PROVIDER WAS OPENED: the catalog already holds his father's 1880 sheet as [D.663], found and filed on 2026-10-05, and it was grepped first.

Result: ALREADY HELD -> [D.663], line 20: 'George W', son, 4, b. Texas, in Joseph Benjamin Cooper's family at Walnut Twp, Butler Co., Kansas. The entry had transcribed the row and explicitly declined to link it - 'Not asserted to be William G Cooper William G. Cooper (b. 1875)' - so the row was invisible to every consumer and the gap report went on calling his 1880 census unworked. GRADED PROBABLE HERE and linked as provisional: true on the entry. ⇒ Like Freddie Cooper's 1910 census earlier today, this was a MISSING LINK, not a missing record. The same pass gave the sheet's fourth child, 'Charles E, 1, b. Kansas', his own file Charles E Cooper - a son of Joseph Benjamin Cooper on the Joseph Cooper Y-line who had been sitting in an entry with no p.N since October.

findagrave 2026-10-16 · RE-RUN WITH THE DEATH DATE AND COUNTY THE 2026-10-04 PASS DID NOT HAVE, which is the condition CLAUDE.md sets for repeating an engine...

Searched for: RE-RUN WITH THE DEATH DATE AND COUNTY THE 2026-10-04 PASS DID NOT HAVE, which is the condition CLAUDE.md sets for repeating an engine search. Four searches: (a) George Cooper, b. 1875 +/-5, d. 1925 +/-1, location CALIFORNIA; (b) surname Cooper, b. 1875 +/-3, d. 1925 +/-1, NO location (285 records, page 1 read - the list is alphabetical by given name, so page 1 is A-An); (c) George Cooper, d. 1925 +/-1, no location (148 records across 8 pages, page 1 read); (d) surname Cooper, d. 1925 +/-2, location BOSQUE COUNTY, TEXAS - the hypothesis that he was returned to Texas for burial, which his son Joe B. was in 1951 (Oak Grove Cemetery, Walnut Springs [F.345]) and where his wife died in 1918.

Result: NULL ON ALL FOUR, and (a) and (d) are the ones that count because they are complete. (a) FIND A GRAVE HAS NO GEORGE COOPER OF HIS AGE WHO DIED IN CALIFORNIA IN 1925 - "No matches found", not a long list to filter. (d) FIND A GRAVE HAS NO COOPER AT ALL IN BOSQUE COUNTY WITH A DEATH IN 1923-1927 - also "No matches found". (b) and (c) are long alphabetical lists dominated by English memorials and only their first pages were read, so they are partial. ⇒ He has no memorial, in either state, under either form of his name. Per the standing caution, that is "no memorial located", NOT "not buried there" - Find a Grave's coverage of 1920s San Bernardino Co. burials is not established, and an industrial accident death far from home is exactly the kind that leaves no stone. WHAT WOULD ANSWER IT: the California death certificate behind [F.367], which names the place of burial, or a San Bernardino Co. / Ontario-Upland cemetery index.

findagrave 2026-10-04 · William Cooper, b. 1875 +/- 1, Texas (12 results); George Cooper, b. 1875 +/- 1, d. 1925 +/- 1, all locations (3).

Searched for: William Cooper, b. 1875 +/- 1, Texas (12 results); George Cooper, b. 1875 +/- 1, d. 1925 +/- 1, all locations (3).

Result: No memorial for him under either name (Texas Williams are other men; the Georges are English/Tennessee). SUPERSEDED by the 2026-10-16 re-run above, which had the death date and county this pass lacked.

familysearch tree 2026-10-04 · William Cooper, b. 1874-1877, father Joseph, mother Sarah (10 results).

Searched for: William Cooper, b. 1874-1877, father Joseph, mother Sarah (10 results). (link)

Result: 27C3-YVB George William Cooper, 21 Dec 1875 Waco - 16 Apr 1925 San Bernardino; m. Rosa Caroline Leonard (1877-1918) 19 Sep 1900 Bosque Co.; parents Joseph Benjamin Cooper KGSC-LNP and Sarah Harriett Starr KVJV-2TV. Lead - drove the newspaper search.

newspapers com 2026-10-04 · SIGNED IN. "George W. Cooper", California, 16 Apr - 15 May 1925 (6 matches).

Searched for: SIGNED IN. "George W. Cooper", California, 16 Apr - 15 May 1925 (6 matches).

Result: FOUND: Redlands Daily Facts 17 Apr 1925 p. 7 'Second Death In Upland Well' [J.402], downloaded - George William Cooper, 49, widower recently from Texas, with son Joseph. Ontario Daily Report 17 Apr pp. 3 and 6, Pomona Bulletin 19 Apr and Bakersfield Californian 20 Apr not opened.

ancestry all 2026-10-04 · Not run separately this pass.

Searched for: Not run separately this pass.

Result: Not run - the California Death Index 1905-1939 row is the next check (see todo).

genealogybank 2026-10-04 · Not run separately this pass.

Searched for: Not run separately this pass.

Result: Not run.

Documents

D.273 1900 US Federal Census, Justice Precinct #2, Hamilton Co., TEXAS (ED 83, Sheet 14B) - two adjacent Cooper households: Joseph B. Cooper (dw.246) + his son Egbert B. Cooper (dw.247).
G.130 Find a Grave memorials 15136843, 42112931, 37389902 and 15136864 - Joseph Benjamin Cooper (West End Cemetery, Stephenville, Texas) and his sons James Henry, John Luther and Frank E. Cooper
J.402 Redlands Daily Facts (Redlands, Calif.), Friday 17 April 1925, page 7 (Second Section), "Second Death In Upland Well"; newspapers.com image 994549384.
D.676 1910 U.S. census, Precinct No. 3 (part of), Bosque Co., Texas, ED 8, sheet 2B, lines 52-56 (dwelling 29) — NARA T624
A.214 Bosque Co., Texas, County Court probate minutes 1917-1923 (vol. U-V), pp. 240-241: Estate of Mrs Rosa Cooper, No. 1420, application for community letters, order appointing appraisers and bond, 9 September 1918
D.784 1920 U.S. census, Justice Precinct #3, Bosque Co., Texas (outside Walnut Springs city limits), E.D. 38, sheet 1A, lines 1-4
D.663 1880 U.S. census, Walnut Township, Butler Co., Kansas, ED 108, page 13 (stamped 216), lines 17-21 (dwelling 108, family 114) — NARA T9
B.130 WWI draft registration card (Third Registration), order number 1779, Local Board Bosque County, Clifton, Texas, 1918 - George William Cooper (P.M.G.O. Form No. 1 (Red); registrar's report stamped 42-1-10-C)
C.153 Texas county marriage index, Bosque County, 20 September 1900 - G W Cooper and Rosa Leonard (FHL film 989188) - INDEX ONLY, no image
F.367 California Death Index, 1905-1939, bound typed index, page 2180 (COOPER, Ezekiel-Harry), one line - George W Cooper, age 49, county code 36, died 4-15-25
F.368 Texas State Board of Health standard certificate of death, Bosque County, registered no. 63, state file no. 6039, B.O.V.S. Form D, filed 5 March 1918 - Mrs Caroline Cooper of Eulogy
J.555 The Daily Report (Ontario, California), Thursday 16 April 1925, page 1, column 1 - 'Upland Well Claims Life of George Wm. Cooper When Machine Breaks'
J.556 The San Bernardino County Sun, Friday 17 April 1925, Section Two, page 11 - "'Death Shaft' Claims Second At Upland Well"
J.557 The San Bernardino County Sun, Saturday 18 April 1925, page 14 - item in the 'Seeing Ontario in Five Minutes' column