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.

 

North Dakota History and its people said that:

"Hon. Rollin C. Cooper, who has represented his district in the house of representatives and in the state senate and who has for more than a third of a century been closely and prominently associated with the agricultural development of Griggs county, his home being now at Cooperstown, was born September 30, 1845, in Washtenaw county, Michigan, a son of Thomas and Caroline Cooper, who were natives of Vermont. Their marriage was celebrated in the Green Mountain state and in 1832 they removed westward to Michigan, casting in their lot with the pioneer settlers, after which the father devoted his attention to farming for many years, contributing in substantial measure to the development of his district. There he reared his family of eleven children. "

"Rollin C. Cooper, the ninth in order of birth, was a lad of thirteen years when he went to Minnesota, in which state he resided for a few years, but removed to Colorado in 1861. There he engaged in mining and also was successful as an agriculturist. In 1880 he arrived in Griggs county, North Dakota, and the following year settled upon the present site of Cooperstown, which he platted and which was named in honor of himself and his brother, T. J. Cooper. On removing to Griggs county Rollin C. Cooper at once began farming and grain buying and as his intelligently directed labors brought to him success he added to his acreage until he became one of the most extensive landowners and grain buyers of the state, having in all fourteen thousand acres, of which nine thousand acres were under cultivation, mostly devoted to the production of wheat. "

In Colorado, in 1870, Mr. Cooper was married to Miss Emma C. Hutchins. a native of Ohio and a daughter of Henry and Ella Hutchins. They had two children who died in infancy and they adopted a daughter, Florence, who passed away at the age of twenty-seven years. Mr. Cooper is an exemplary member of the Masonic fraternity and has taken the degrees of the Lodge of Perfection of the Scottish Rite. During territorial days he was appointed by Governor Ordway a member of the board of county commissioners of Griggs county and so continued to serve by successive reelections until 1898, doing splendid work in that connection. It is well known that he stood by the state most loyally in the darkest hours of its history, assisting the commonwealth in passing over a period which threatened bankruptcy. He never lost faith, however, and he passed by no opportunity that would enable him to further the best interests of North Dakota. He is an extremely modest man, entirely free from ostentation and display, but the specific office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments but rather to leave a perpetual record establishing his position by the consensus of public opinion on the part of his fellows. This opinion was expressed in 1904, when Mr. Cooper was chosen to represent his district in the state legislature, and again four years later, when he was elected a member of the state senate. In the house he was a member of the committee on railroads and several other important committees. His colleagues at that period and his acquaintances through all the long years of his residence in the state have nothing but good to say of Rollin C. Cooper.

 

Rollin moved to Red Wing, Minnesota in about 1857 and worked as a farmhand.  His sister Julia, almost 20 years older than Rollin, was living in Red Wing, Minnesota.

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. 

Add mining details here..

Add cattle buying in Kansas City here...

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

 

Sources:

  1. North Dakota history and people; outlines of American history