Harry H. Cooley (November 13, 1893 – October 21, 1986) was a Vermont teacher, farmer and public official who served in the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives ar ...

and as Secretary of State.

Biography

Harry Hale Cooley was born in

Georgia, Vermont Georgia is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,845 at the 2020 census. Geography The town occupies the southwest corner of Franklin County, bordered to the south by Chittenden County. The western border of th ...

on November 13, 1893, the son of William A. and Anna (Hale) Cooley. He was educated in the elementary and high schools of

Essex Junction Essex Junction is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population was 10,590. It was municipal incorporation, incorporated as a List_of_municipalities_in_Vermont#Villages, ...

, and graduated from the Vermont School of Agriculture and Normal School (now

Vermont Technical College Vermont Technical College, commonly shortened to Vermont Tech, is a public technical college in Vermont with its main campuses in Randolph Center, Williston and Norwich. In addition, there are regional campuses in Brattleboro and Bennington, ...

) in 1913. After graduating, Cooley taught agriculture, including terms at the high school in

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. From 1926 to 1946, he was a member of the faculty at the Vermont School of Agriculture, and taught agricultural science. Cooley was a resident of Randolph, and operated a farm. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

in an era when the Republican Party dominated Vermont politics, Cooley was active in local politics and government, and served as Randolph's town meeting moderator and lister, in addition to serving on the school board. Cooley also served as chairman of the

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

Democratic Committee. From 1941 to 1958, Cooley was supervisor of the White River Soil

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, and he was president of the White River Dairy

Cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

from 1950 to 1960. He served in the

from 1959 to 1961. In 1962 he was an unsuccessful candidate for the

Vermont Senate The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-m ...

. In 1964, Cooley won election as Secretary of State as part of that year's Democratic landslide; his victory marked the first time Democrats had ever won the Secretary of State's office. Cooley was reelected in 1966, and served from January 1965 to January 1969. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1968. After leaving office, Cooley served as a volunteer with the federal

VISTA Vista usually refers to a distant view. Vista may also refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 * VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) ...

program; he taught agriculture and helped supervise farm projects in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

before returning to Vermont in 1970. Long active with Randolph's historical society, in 1978 Cooley authored a book, ''Randolph, Vermont: Historical Sketches, to Which Are Appended Reminisces of the Author''.

Death and burial

Cooley died in Randolph on October 21, 1986. He was buried at Randolph Center Cemetery in Randolph.

Family

In 1916, Cooley married Gertrude E. Small, also a graduate of what is now Vermont Technical College and a teacher. She died in 1955; in 1957, Cooley married Bernice Lane, who died in 1962. With his first wife, Cooley was the father of two sons and three daughters: Charles, John, Idora, Ruth, and Marion.

References

Sources

Internet

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Books

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Newspapers

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooley, Harry H. 1893 births 1986 deaths People from Randolph, Vermont Democratic Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives Secretaries of State of Vermont Burials in Vermont 20th-century American politicians