MARK COOPER
Page 563
MARK COOPER
Page 563
 MARK COOPER, who is now successfully engaged in farming on section 26, Sherman Township, has for many years been prominently identified with the history of Mason County, and his name is inseparably connected with the growth and development of some localities. He came here in an early day, and has always borne his part in advancing the best interests. A native of Yorkshire, England, he has born May 13, 1844. His parents, Mark and Jane (Lascelles) Cooper, were also born in England, and the father was of Scotch descent, while the mother was of French lineage. They were married in their native land, and there resided until 1857, when they crossed the Atlantic to America. In July they came to Mason County and located two and a-half miles south of Bath, where they made a permanent home. The father died June 17, 1863, and the mother died in 1877. She was a member of the Methodist Church. In the Cooper family were ten children, seven of whom are yet living, Mrs. Ann Fletcher, of Lynchburg Township; John, who resides in Bath Township; Mark, of this sketch; Henry, who makes his home in Coffey County, Kan.; Robert, resident of Kippeha, Neb.; Mrs. Mary Jane Samuels, of Sherman Township, and Mrs. Elizabeth Patterson, of Mason City Township. Mark Cooper was only thirteen years of age when with his parents he came to the New World. At the age of eighteen he responded to the call of his adopted county for troops, enlisting in the Union service, July 15, 1862, as a private of Company F, Fifty-first Illinois Infantry. He joined the camp at Chicago, was sent to Iuka, then to Tecumseh, and later to Decatur, Ala. He went to Nashville with the command of John M. Palmer, and after the battle at that place marched to Mitchellville, Ky., where he met the army of General Rosecrans. Returning to Nashville, his regiment afterward participated in the battles of Murfreesboro and Stone River, and the engagement at Columbia, Tenn., under General Sheridan. Going to Bridgeport, he crossed the river to Chattanooga, and participated in the battle of Chickamauga on Saturday afternoon, September 19, 1863. He was there struck in the head behind the left ear by a slug, and ten minutes later a bone in his right leg was shattered by a minie ball. He was carried to the field hospital and was captured the next day by rebel cavalry, but after thirteen days was paroled and taken to Chattanooga. Later he was conveyed across the mountains in a wagon train to Stevenson, Ala., and from there by railroad to Nashville, where he remained in the hospital for two weeks. He was afterward in the hospital at Louisville, Ky., where a bullet was taken out of his head, thence went to New Albany, Ind., and on to Evansville, where he was granted a sixty days' furlough. On the expiration of that period he returned to Evansville, and after four days was sent to the United States Hospital in Springfield, Ill., where he was discharged June 29, 1865, and on the 4th of July reached home. He now draws a pension of $6 per month. For a year after his return, Mr. Cooper engaged in farming on the old homestead, and in the fall of 1866 rented a farm on section 25, Sherman Township. Two years later he purchased land. In 1868, he married Miss Lilley J. Patterson, who was born in Mason County December 13, 1844, and was a daughter of William and Sabina (Moore) Patterson, Her father was a native of Ireland, bur during his infancy was brought to America, and became one of the early settlers of Mason County, where he still makes his home. To Mr. and Mrs. Cooper were born three children, two yet living, Minnie, wife of Wylie Elmore, who resides on section 26, Sherman township, and Lillie Jane, wife of David Van Ettan, a farmer living on section 23, Sherman Township. The mother of this family died in 1871, and for his second wife, Mr. Cooper chose Isabel Waterworth, who was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1850. This marriage occurred December 18, 1873. Her parents, James and Nancy Waterworth, came to America in 1857, and located in Havana Township, Mason County, where the mother is still living. The father has now passed away. From the time of his first marriage, Mr. Cooper resided on section 25, Sherman Township, until 1881, when he removed to his present farm. In that year he built a comfortable residence at a cost of $1,300, and put up barns and other outbuildings to the value of $2,200. His home farm comprises four hundred and three acres of rich land, all of which is under a high state of cultivation. In addition he owns one hundred and sixty acres in Allen's Grove Township. In 1889, he erected a house and other necessary buildings on a farm on section 28, Allen's Grove Township at a cost of $1,750. He has ever been a progressive and practical farmer, and the improvements which he has made have done much toward the development of the county. In politics, Mr. Cooper is a Republican, has served as School Director for a number of years, was Justice of the Peace seven years, served as Township Supervisor and Collector, and was Drainage Commissioner for five years, during which time $140,000 were spent on the work of draining in the district. Socially, Mr. Cooper is connected with J. Q. A Jones Post, G. A. R., of Havana, and with the Modern Woodmen of America. |