James Cooper Sr. (abt. 1735 - aft. 1800)

Born about 1735 in Ireland

Descendants

Died after 1800 after about age 65 in North Haven, Hancock, Maine

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Biography

Lt. James Cooper, Sr. was born about 1735 in Ireland. James married Huldah Blackmore (aka Blackmer) of Marshfield, Massachusetts Bay. [Note: A marriage between James Cooper and "Hannah" (not Huldah) Blackmore was recorded in Brimfield, Massachusetts Bay on August 16, 1757. But because James and Huldah began their family with their first child born in 1755, this marriage is likely not James and Huldah's marriage though this marriage event is often cited for them. Of course, this could also mean that their recorded (hand scribed) date of marriage is in error or the birth dates of their first two children are in error.]

James and Huldah may have resided first in Marshfield, a town in close proximity to Rochester, where Huldah's family had moved and where Huldah and James had their son Thomas C. (b. abt. 1755), then, removed to Brookfield, Worcester, Massachusetts Bay where they had their their daughter, Eunice (b. December 1755). A large community of Scottish and Irish residents occupied the Worcester area at this time and would be a familiar culture and community to her Irish-born husband James, which may have included extended family members.

[Of note: Fifty or more Irish and Scottish families, who arrived on five small vessels from Ulster, (Northern) Ireland, anchored in the Boston Harbor on August 4th, 1718. They were part of the company of Reverend William Boyd and immediately located to Worcester, Massachusetts Bay where they settled (Alexander, pp.1-5).

Sometime in the 1760's, but before 1766, James Sr. and family removed to the Maine coast and resided in Vinalhaven (of which North Haven was then a part--see Research Notes section below), Hancock (now Knox), Province of Maine (now State of Maine) per the 1800 Census record. The 1800 Census record documents that James immigrated from Ireland. James Sr. and Huldah continued to bear and raise their family there. In the 1790 Federal Census James Sr.'s residence neighbors his son James, Jr., his son Thomas Cooper, and daughter Sarah "Sally" (Cooper) Douglas who is enumerated within the household of husband Robert Douglass Jr., which, in turn, is adjacent to his father Robert Douglass, Sr.

James Sr. passed away in North Haven after the 1800 Federal Census. He appears in the Vinalhaven 1800 Census record, but not the Census of 1810. The only "Cooper" recorded in the 1810 Census is son Thomas.

Research Notes

From Wikipedia/History of North Haven: "As early as 3300 BC, the island [North Haven] was visited by the Red Paint People. Later it became part of the territory of the Penobscot Abenaki Indians, who hunted and fished in canoes along the coast. Captain Martin Pring, the explorer from Bristol, England, "discovered" North Haven and Vinalhaven in 1603. He called them the Fox Islands, a name which survives on the Fox Islands Thoroughfare, a strait separating the towns which provides passage for boats crossing Penobscot Bay. Settled in the 1760s, North Haven was originally the North Island of Vinalhaven, from which it was set off and incorporated on June 30, 1846 as Fox Isle. It was changed to North Haven on July 13, 1847. An act was passed by the state legislature in 1850 which gave the majority of island inhabitants "the right to have such roads as they deemed fit." The majority thereupon decided to have no roads at all, or else roads obstructed with gates or bars at the discretion of landowners. Not surprisingly, the minority of inhabitants petitioned to amend the act. Fishing and farming became chief occupations. The surface of the town is even, and farmers produced hay as a staple crop. Boatbuilding became an important industry, and even now the community has two boatyards. But many inhabitants were fishermen who caught lobsters, scallops and oysters" (see source/link below).

Sources

• Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1621-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). Rochester, vol. 1, page 38: Huldah, d. William and Sarah [dup. Sary] Jan. 6, 1735-6.

• 1790 United States Federal Census for James Cooper, Sr. and Household, Maine, Hancock, Vinalhaven. [Repository: Ancestry.com. 1790 United States Federal Census (database on-line, Frame #1 of 3). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: First Census of the United States, 1790 (NARA microfilm publication M637, 12 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.] (residence and household details)

• 1800 United States Federal Census, Maine, Hancock, Vinalhaven. [Repository: Ancestry.com. 1800 United States Federal Census (database on-line, frame #8 of 8). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Second Census of the United States, 1800. NARA microfilm publication M32 (52 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Second Census of the United States, 1800: Population Schedules, Washington County, Territory Northwest of the River Ohio; and Population Census, 1803: Washington County, Ohio. NARA microfilm publication M1804 (1 roll).]

• 1810 United States Federal Census, Maine, Hancock, Vinalhaven. [Repository: Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census (database on-line, frame #3 of 9). Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Third Census of the United States, 1810. (NARA microfilm publication M252, 71 rolls). Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

• Alexander, De Alva Stanwood, The Alexanders of Maine, Buffalo, NY: The Peter Paul Book Co., 1898 (enlarge): http://rs5.loc.gov/master/gdc/scdser01/200401/books_on_film_project/loc06/200606300018al.pdf

• Wikipedia on North Haven History: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Haven,_Maine