Mary Cooper (abt. 1621 - aft. 1635)

Born about 12 Aug 1621 in Olney, Buckinghamshire, England

Died after 1635 after about age 13 in Lynn, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

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Mary Cooper migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Mary Cooper, daughter of John Cooper and Wibroe (Griggs), was bpt. 12 Aug 1621 in Olney, Buckinghamshire, England. She was age 13 when she traveled on the Hopewell with her parents from England to Massachusetts in 1635. There is no further record for Mary and she was not named in her father's 1662 will.^[1]

Research Notes

Disputed Spouse

In some online trees and family genealogies, Mary Cooper is shown as the wife of Thomas Burnett Jr.. However, according to Anderson and other quality sources, Mary Cooper, daughter of John Cooper was last heard of in 1635 when the family traveled to New England. Thomas Burnet will be removed as her spouse pending quality sources being added to this profile in support of their marriage. See this profile for Thomas Burnett's wife, Mary (Unknown) Burnet

Alleged Marriage of Thomas Burnet and Mary

1. Torrey New England Marriage entry shows a Mary _______ married Thomas Burnett by 1655 at "Lynn?",^[2] However, the only marriage anywhere in Massachusetts for a couple with similar names, was for "Thomas Burnitt" and "Mary Peerson", who married at Lynn, Massachusetts, December 3, 1663.^[3] No evidence was found in Massachusetts vital records for Mary Cooper marrying anyone in the correct timeframe.
2. According to a different source, Thomas Burnett married first Mary, and second, Mary Pierson, probably daughter of John Pierson.^[4] The problem with this is that the Lynn Vital Records incorrectly used the name Thomas Burnitt instead of Thomas Burnap, who is actually the one who married Mary Pierson at Lynn in 1663. ^[5] The result of this error is that - based solely on this source - Thomas Burnett is then left with only a wife named Mary ______; no evidence was found in the Burnap-Burnett source for a marrage between Thomas Burnett and Mary Cooper.
3. The attached image from The Holly and the Horn - Genealogy of the Burnett of Leys says that Thomas Burnett and Mary Cooper married in 1645 in Lynn, Massachusetts. No marriage records were found in Lynn for Thomas Burnett (using a variety of spellings), and a Mary, as discussed in bullets 1 and 2 above. As shown above, the name on this record was incorrect and Thomas Burnitt should have been Thomas Burnap.
4. This source says that Thomas Burnett's wife's name was Mary _______, on page 3. ^[6]

Theory about Mary Cooper's marriage to Thomas Burnet

An author, citing correspondence with another person by the name of James Fina, came to the conclusion that Thomas Burnet married Mary Cooper based on several suppositions, some of which are supported by conceivable - but not directly relevant - records.^[7] These are the author's statements supporting their marriage:

1. Based on Thomas' wife being named Mary, this was possible evidence he married Mary Cooper
2. Based on John Cooper being in Southhampton, probably along with his daughter, Mary, this was possible evidence that she was in the right place to be the Mary who married Thomas in Southampton, New York [rather than Lynn, Massachusetts] by approximately 1650. [It should be noted that no marriage records were found for Thomas Cooper in New York in the time period between 1640 and 1655.]
3. Based on the inventory of John Cooper taken in 1678 in which a bed is included in John's inventory, accompanied by the following statement: "...[illegible short word, could be one] bed of Mary's given by her father", the author surmises that this bed belonged to John's sister, Mary Cooper. [It should be noted that John Cooper had a daughter named Mary, so perhaps it was her bed...? It should also be noted that his inventory was taken almost 30 years after his sister, Mary, would have married Thomas Burnet, which leads one to wonder why John would have kept his sister's bed while she was married with children of her own.] Links to the inventory of John Cooper:^[8]
4. Mary was left out of her father's will;^[1] the author indicates that this is likely because she married Thomas Burnet against his wishes. [The author does not offer any specific sources to back up his supposition.]
5. There were several charges of battery in Southampton made by Thomas Burnet against both John Cooper Sr., and John Cooper, Jr. The author indicates that this supports his conclusion that Thomas Burnet and the John Coopers did not like one another due to Mary having married Thomas.^[9]
6. A land deed dated December 26, 1700, after the death of Thomas Burnet, was made covering the transfer of propery between Mary (Cooper) Burnet and Thomas Cooper Sr. (Mary's supposed brother); the author supposes that this indicates that Mary and Thomas Cooper were brother and sister. The deed is recording a transfer of land "part of which did belong to my deceased husband, and part exchanged with Lieut. Thomas Cooper, deceased" to her son Dan Burnet, because "it was his father's desire that he should have the same [land], though forgotten to be willed unto him."^[10] [It should be noted that Thomas Cooper had died by 1684, thus this exchange was not with Thomas Cooper, her supposed brother; rather it was between Mary Burnet and her son Dan Burnet. It should also be noted that in Southampton deeds there are several transfers of land between Cooper and Burnet familes and others, so this is not an anomaly.]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Anderson, Robert Charles and George F. Sanborn, Jr., and Melinde Lutz Sanborn. The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume II, C-F, Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001. Link at AmericanAncestors ($)
2. ↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015. Volume 1, page 250 via American Ancestors $Subscription. citing Southampton 206; Holman Ms: Burnett; Holman Ms: Fithian 3
3. ↑ Massachusetts: Vital Records, 1620-1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2001-2016). Reference Lynn Volume 2, page 77 via American Ancestors $Subscription
4. ↑ Howell, George Rogers, The early history of Southampton, L. I., New York : with genealogies, published 1887. Reference page 206
5. ↑ Belknap, Henry Wyckoff, The Burnap-Burnett genealogy, published 1925. Reference page 31
6. ↑ Burnett, Claire. Descendants of Thomas Burnett, MA. Wayback Machine, archived pate 28 Dec 2013
7. ↑ Schneider, Jim S., Burnet - Ferguson - Schneider, published 2013. Reference pages 39-60, especially 57-60 NOTE: The referenced James Fina has posted his theories on Genealogy.com where he shares much of the same information. He also states, "there [is] no direct evidence proving she [the wife of Thomas Burnett] was Mary Cooper per se"
8. ↑ New York Probate Records, 1629-1971, "Albany Inventories 1600" reference images 145-150
9. ↑ Schneider, page 59
10. ↑ The Sixth Volume of Records of the Town of Southampton being abstracts of Vol II Deeds in the Town Clerk's office with additional unrecorded deeds with indexes of names and localities. John H. Hunt, Printer, Sag Harbor, New York 1915. Reference pages 138-9

• Cooper, Thomas W., "The Cooper-Pierson-Griggs Connection" The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) Reference volume 69 (1989) pages 152+ via American Ancestors $Subscription. Shows that Mary Cooper was not the spouse of Henry Pierson, but rather they were half-siblings