The Coopers before Cooperstown

Thomas Cooper was born about 1804 in Vermont. He married Caroline who was also born in Vermont about 1807.

Thomas and Caroline Cooper moved to a town called Lima in Washtenaw County, Michigan by 1850.

Their children were:

Their oldest sister, Julia, was married to T. J. Smith. She lived at Red Wing, Minnesota the greater part of her life and was a widow for many years.
James B. Cooper, the oldest son in the Cooper family, spent most of his life mining and lived in California. In September of 1974 a great-great-granddaughter of James Burnett Cooper wrote a letter from Florida. In her letter she states a distant cousin, Robert L. Cooper, who is a grandson of Henry Cooper, has two young sons, who are the last of Thomas and Caroline Cooper's descendants to bear the name of Cooper.
Thomas J. was born about 1831. He was the third child and the father of:
1. Charles L. Cooper who was associated with his father and uncle in the farming enterprise.
2. Julia Cooper Merriell.
Mary Elizabeth Cooper died at 8 years of age.
Eliza Jane (Lizzie) was born about 1835 and married Mr. Palmatier. They had one daughter. She lived in Colorado for a time.
Henry Harrison Cooper was born about 1840 and lived most of his life in Colorado. He had four daughters and one son.
Edwin was born about 1843. He was a twin brother of Nellie and he died at age 21.
Nellie was also born about 1843 and was a twin sister of Edwin. Nellie married Mr. Rice who lived only a few years. She then married George Barnard Sr., a widower. They lived in Griggs County and farmed on Section 28 in Washburn Township until the big freeze in 1888 caused them to quit farming.
Rollin C. Cooper was born about 1845 and was married to Miss Emma Hutchins. They had two children who died in infancy and they adopted a daughter, Florence, who passed away at the age of twenty-seven.
George Baker Cooper died at three months.
Arabella Jenny Cooper was born about 1851 and died at 17 years.

Rollin moved to Red Wing, Minnesota in about 1857 and worked as a farmhand.

Henry and Rollin moved to Pueblo Colorado and started a "tinning" business. It would probably be called a metal roofing and metal siding business today.

He married Emma in 1870 and shortly after that Henry and R. C. sold the tinning business.

Henry moved north to El Paso County in an area that would later become Colorado Springs. He purchased some land in 1872. The land was located just east of what is now the intersection of Interstate 25 and South Academy Boulevard .

Rollin and Emma moved to El Paso County the next year and purchased land about 10 miles southeast of Henry.

They got very poor crops and gave up on farming and went into the mining business.

Rollin and Emma moved to Chicago and lived with T. J. Cooper in 1880.

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