Duncan Brown Cooper (abt. 1844 - abt. 1922)

Born about 21 Apr 1844 in Maury, Tennessee, United States [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died about 4 Nov 1922 at about age 78 in Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

Duncan Brown Cooper was born April 21, 1844, in Tennessee, and died Nov 4, 1922, in Nashville, Tennessee,^[1] according to his state death certificate. His tombstone at Zion Prebsy. Church Cemetery, Maury Co., TN, says born April 21, 1845 and died Nov. 4, 1923. The 1900 US Federal Census also says he was born April 1844.

Duncan married 19 Oct 1865, in Maury County, Tennessee, USA, Florence Fleming^[2].

After her death, he married Mary P Jones^[2] on 18 Jan 1877, in Maury County, Tennessee, USA.

Mr. Cooper was mentioned in a letter of Fernie Stanley while in France during the war. Fernie had met his son Capt. Cooper brother of Robin. See link below.

Birth

Date: 21 APR 1845

Source: #S61

Death

Date: 4 NOV 1923

Source: #S61

Military Service

Military Service: Colonel, CSA

Source: #S61

Marriage

Husband: Duncan Brown Cooper

Wife: Florence A. Fleming

Child: Florence Cooper

Child: Flavel Fleming Cooper

Child: Matthew Delamere Cooper

Marriage:

Date: 19 OCT 1865

Source: #S56

Page: Main-76, 296E

Husband: Duncan Brown Cooper

Wife: Mary Polk Jones

Child: Sarah Polk Cooper

Child: Robin Jones Cooper

Child: Duncan Brown Cooper

Child: Mary Jones Cooper

Child: William Frierson Cooper

Marriage:

Date: 18 JAN 1877

Source: #S56

Page: Main-76, 296E

Parents Marriage

Husband: Matthew Delamere Cooper

Wife: Mary Ann Witherspoon Brown

Child: Martha Ann Cooper

Child: Duncan Brown Cooper

Child: Alice Jane Cooper

Child: Addison A. Cooper

Child: Emma Sweet Cooper

Child: Susan Eloise Cooper

Child: Fannie Cooper

Marriage:

Date: 24 JUN 1841

Source: #S56

Page: Main-35

Burial

Place: Zion Cemetary, Maury Co., TN

Source: #S61

Note: Confederate Soldiers Buried in Zion Cemetery

The following has been compiled from "History of Maury County, Tennessee," by William Bruce Turner, from indication of Confederate service in listing of burials at Zion Presbyterian Church Cemetery in "Maury County, Tennessee Cemeteries," compiled by Fred Hawkins in 1989, and from personal notes taken at Zion Cemetery.

COOPER, Duncan Brown, Colonel, CSA, 21 Apr 1845 - 4 Nov 1923.

Zion Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Zion, Maury County, Tennessee, USA. ^[3]

Find A Grave: Memorial #8517501 for Col Duncan Brown Cooper.

Find A Grave: Memorial #8517501 for Florence Fleming Cooper.

Note

Note: The Coopers, 1859-1975

In 1859, the house was sold to William Frierson Cooper a member of the influential Cooper family of Columbia. He changed the name to Riverwood since it sat upon bluff's overlooking the river. A respected lawyer and politician Cooper was a member of the committee who wrote the Tennessee state codes. He later became chief justice of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. Although he remained a bachelor his entire life, he invited his brothers and their wives to share the home with him since the family had become increasing involved in the politics of the state and needed a home for conducting their entertaining in Nashville.

In the late 1880-90's the house went though another extensive remodeling at which time, plumbing and electricity was added. At that time, the dining room was extended and the two houses were joined, creating an additional room on the second floor directly over the downstairs portion of the addition. From that time however, no other major work was done on the interior or exterior of the house, and it has remained virtually untouched.

Upon his death, William deeded the house to his brother Duncan Cooper, an influential lawyer and politician who gained notoriety during the Civil War as a cavalryman under Nathan Bedford Forrest. He was know as the "Francis Marion of the Confederacy" and was an affective guerrilla leader in Middle Tennessee until he was captured in 1864. After the war, he returned to Nashville and engaged in a number of pursuits: adventurer, businessman, railroad engineer, newspaperman and politician. National notoriety came to him in 1908 as a personal dispute with Edward Carmack ended in the controversial shooting and death of Carmack in the streets of Nashville.

He retired from public life in 1909 and on the death of his wife, Duncan Cooper's daughter Sarah became mistress of Riverwood helping raise her younger siblings. When he died, Miss Sadie inherited the house and surrounding property. Sarah married Dr. Lucius Burch, a renowned surgeon and dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and lived in the house until her death in 1975.

The Burches were famous for their once a year Christmas Dinner, as all of the elite of Nashville vied for an invitation. Once given the invitation was for life and hundreds of friends streamed to the mansion throughout the day. Sarah and Dr. Burch opened their house to many of the young students at Vanderbilt and Robert Penn Warren spent a summer in one of their cottages during his stay at Vanderbilt university.

Throughout the years, Riverwood was used extensively for entertaining and for political gatherings for the Cooper-Frierson clan and their friends and business acquaintances. The Cooper family papers describe the many affairs with guest lists that include seven presidents, numerous foreign dignitaries and many distinguished visitors.

Riverwood has been referred to as one of Nashville's grandest homes. It was lavishly decorated and filled with magnificent furnishings and works of art. The home was recognized as a seat of Southern hospitality for over a century and a half and throughout the years, was the scene of lavish parties honoring many of the South's most famous and prominent figures. Family records indicate that presidents Jackson, Polk, Pierce, Johnson, Cleveland, Roosevelt, and Taft and Vice President Adlai Stevenson were personal friends with the Coopers and were entertained at Riverwood. And the Nation's first Poet Laureate, Robert Penn Warren, spent a summer at Riverwood when he was a visiting Professor at Vanderbilt.

(http://www.riverwoodmansion.com/history.htm)

Note: During the temperance and Prohibition movements perhaps the main issue in Tennessee politics during the early 1900's was the liquor problem. The first law prohibiting selling whiskey in Tennessee territory was passed by the North Carolina legislature in 1785. Later, other attempts, such as licensing innkeepers, were made to control the sale of whiskey, but were not effective. Temperance movements had large and dedicated memberships but, again, the results were disappointing to those who wished to check the sale of whiskey. In 1907, the legislature passed the Pendleton Law, which prohibited the sale of whiskey in all but four locations in the sate: Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and La Follette. Those towns were known as "wet". while those where sales where prohibited were know as "dry."

Patterson was in favor of a "local option" solution, which would allow each community to decide the question for itself. Carmack argued that absolute prohibition. The candidates debated the issue, sometimes for hours, before packed audiences. In the primary election that followed. Patterson was the victor and, later in the year, defeated his Republican opponent, George Tillman. Carmack became the editor of the Nashville Tennessean. Carmack did not drop his fight against legalized whiskey. Through the columns of his newpaper he attacked those who supported the whiskey business, especially Duncan Cooper, a close ally of Governor Patterson. In November of 1908, Cooper and his son Robin met Carmack on the street in Nashville. Shots were fired and Carmack was killed.

Both Coopers were arrested, tried, and found guilty, but the charges against Robin were later dropped. Following the elder Cooper's conviction, he was pardoned by Governor Patterson. The incident caused problems for over fifty years. In 1909, the legislature passed a statewide prohibition law which was vetoed by Governor Patterson. However, there was enough legislative support to override the veto. Ten years later, in 1919, the United States Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment made it illegal to manufacture of sell whiskey anywhere in the country. The amendment , ratified by the people of Tennessee, was later repealed.

ref: A History of Tennessee Weeks & Womack (note: This is a Tennessee School Book.)

Source: #S128

Sources

1. ↑ Certificate of Death, State of Tennessee. Col. Duncan Brown Cooper, Nov 4, 1922.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Ancestry.com. Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002. Nashville, TN, USA: Tennessee State Library and Archives. Microfilm.
3. ↑ "Find a Grave", database and images accessed 06 February 2021) memorial page for Col Duncan Brown Cooper (21 Apr 1845–4 Nov 1922), Find A Grave: Memorial #8517501, citing Zion Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Zion, Maury County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by Mary Bob McClain (contributor 46546099).

Source S56

Author: Meade Frierson III, Esq.

Title: America's Friersons Ancestry Book

Abbreviation: America's Friersons

Publication: A.F.A.B.

Italicized: Y

Paranthetical: Y

• Letter of Fernie Stanley https://cdm15138.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15138coll26/id/10910