James Fairlie Cooper (September 2, 1814 – October 14, 1869) was an American minter and soldier.

Biography

Cooper was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

on October 2, 1814. He was an alumnus of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

at West Point; graduating in 1834 as 17th out of 36. Commissioned into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

he served in the 3rd U.S. Infantry as a second lieutenant; doing topographical surveys and being stationed in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. Cooper resigned his commission in 1837. By 1843, he had become the (third) superintendent of the

Dahlonega Mint The Dahlonega Mint was a former branch of the United States Mint built during the Georgia Gold Rush to help the miners get their gold assayed and minted, without having to travel to the Philadelphia Mint. It was located at (34°31.8′N 83°59.2 ...

in Georgia and remained in the position until 1849. Forty-four percent of the mint's coinage was struck during his tenure. When the

American Civil war The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

started in 1861, he briefly served in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

from May to December as lieutenant colonel of the 7th Georgia Infantry Regiment. Afterwards, he became a civil engineer and surveyor. He died in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, on October 14, 1869, and was buried there on Oakland Cemetery.

References

External links

* United States Military Academy alumni Mints of the United States Confederate States Army officers 1814 births 1869 deaths Burials at Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta) {{US-gov-bio-stub