Daniel C. Cooper
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Daniel C. Cooper (November 21, 1773 — July 13, 1818) was an American surveyor, farmer, miller and political leader.


Biography

He was born in the
Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...
Valley at Long Hill, Morris County, New Jersey, the son of wealthy farmer George Cooper (20 August 1745 — 20 September 1801) and Margaret Lafferty. George’s father Daniel was born at sea on the voyage from
Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...
about 1695. Educated as a surveyor, when Daniel C. Cooper was about twenty years old, he went west to Fort Washington near
Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...
to look after the interests of
Jonathan Dayton Jonathan Dayton (October 16, 1760October 9, 1824) was an American Founding Father and politician from the U.S. state of New Jersey. He was the youngest person to sign the Constitution of the United States and a member of the United States Hou ...
, who owned lands and was otherwise interested in the " Symmes Purchase." This gave Cooper employment in his occupation as surveyor, and was also a favorable opportunity for observation and selection of lands for himself. Judge
John Cleves Symmes John Cleves Symmes (July 21, 1742February 26, 1814) was a delegate to the Continental Congress from New Jersey, and later a pioneer in the Northwest Territory. He was also the father-in-law of President William Henry Harrison and, thereby, th ...
, a land speculator from
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, initiated much of southwestern
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
's settlement and in late 1795, he sold Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the Northwest Territory, General James Wilkinson,
Israel Ludlow Israel Ludlow (1765 – January 1804) was a government surveyor who helped found Cincinnati, Dayton and Hamilton in southwest Ohio. Early life Israel Ludlow was born near Morristown, New Jersey in 1765. Greve 1904 : 165 In 1786, each of the ...
and New Jersey Congressman Jonathan Dayton the land that became known as the "Dayton Purchase." The four men paid $0.83 an acre for 60,000 acres (240 km²) at the confluence of the Great Miami and Mad rivers. Israel Ludlow named the village after his friend Jonathan Dayton, who ironically never set foot in the town. Ludlow also laid out the streets, which at four poles (66 ft) were wide enough to "turn a coach and four." Daniel Cooper headed the team that surveyed the land and laid out the town site in 1795. In 1796,
Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...
Township, a large area containing parts of current Montgomery,
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,
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
,
Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...
,
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, Logan, and Shelby Counties, was formed. Daniel Cooper was appointed tax assessor. The highest tax assessed was Daniel Cooper's $6.25, which included the
gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separat ...
he operated. In 1797, Daniel Cooper laid out the Mad River Road, the first overland connection between Cincinnati and Dayton. This opened up the "Mad River Country" at Dayton and the upper Miami Valley to settlement. When Symmes later failed to meet his financial obligations to the federal government, Ludlow, St. Clair, Wilkinson, and Dayton waived their right to purchase the property from the government. In 1800, the United States Government offered to sell the property to the residents at the rate of $2.00 an acre, but this was far beyond the means of the inhabitants - and at a higher price than they had already paid Symmes. Some families left instead of paying the fee, and many potential settlers migrated to other locations. By the time the matter was settled in 1802, only five families resided in Dayton. Daniel Cooper petitioned the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
, describing the town's land-title plight: Would it be right, he asked, to dispossess these settlers after they had worked so hard clearing land and raising cabins? The government named Cooper proprietor of the town. He paid the federal asking price of $2 an acre purchasing more than 3,000 acres (12 km²) of the land, including the town site. He replatted the town using the original survey with minimal alterations. Clear titles were passed to the original settlers who were once again given an "inlot" within the city and an "outlot." When original owners left the property, new settlers were required to pay $2.00 an acre and $1.00 for the city lot. In addition, Cooper donated properties for two churches to be built at Third and Main Streets, a cemetery on the block along Fifth Street between Ludlow and Wilkinson Streets, and the block known as Cooper Park bounded by Third, St. Clair, and Second Streets "to be an open walk forever." He also donated the land at Third and Main for a county courthouse to be built. The original two-story brick courthouse was replaced in 1850 by the limestone structure that rests there today. Daniel Cooper had a 1,000 acre (4 km²) farm south of the town. He brought an
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
female servant to his farm in 1802, the first African-American woman of record in the area. In the Population of Record, the woman was recorded as "Black Girl." While her name is not known, her children, Harry Cooper, born in 1803, and Polly Cooper, born in 1805, were documented. The children became
indentured servant Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensation or debt repaymen ...
s to Cooper until they were twenty-one and eighteen, respectively. Harry learned farming and milling while Polly trained in housekeeping. In 1803, Cooper resolved to marry and live in town. He sold his farm to
Robert Patterson Robert Patterson (January 12, 1792 – August 7, 1881) was an Irish-born United States major general during the American Civil War, chiefly remembered for inflicting an early defeat on Stonewall Jackson, but crucially failing to stop Confede ...
, a Revolutionary War veteran and founder of Lexington, Kentucky and grandfather of John H. Patterson, founder of the
National Cash Register Company NCR Corporation, previously known as National Cash Register, is an American software, consulting and technology company providing several professional services and electronic products. It manufactures self-service kiosks, point-of-sale termin ...
. The land was incorporated into Patterson’s farm, "Rubicon." In 1803, Mr. Cooper married a woman in Cincinnati, whose maiden name was Sophia Greene (August 25, 1780 — May 11, 1826), the young widow of G. W. Burnet, a young lawyer of Cincinnati. Sophia was born in
Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
, the daughter of Charles Greene, a member of the
Ohio Company The Ohio Company, formally known as the Ohio Company of Virginia, was a land speculation company organized for the settlement by Virginians of the Ohio Country (approximately the present U.S. state of Ohio) and to trade with the Native Ameri ...
who had removed to Marietta in 1788. Daniel Cooper built his "elegant mansion" of hewn logs and lined with cherry planks on the southwest corner of Ludlow and First streets in Dayton, and there he lived with his family until his death. After Daniel Cooper's death, Mrs. Cooper married Gen. Fielding Lowry. Daniel and Sophia Cooper had six children, all of them dying in childhood except David Zeigler Cooper, who was born November 8, 1812, married Miss Letitia Smith in
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, and died in Dayton, December 4, 1836. Cooper helped found the Dayton Academy, Dayton's first school to educate the boys of the town, by donating the land and bell in 1807. He operated a general store, and, when troops were stationed in Dayton during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...
, organized the idle soldiers to build a levee at the turn of the Great Miami River to protect the village from flooding. From about 1805 and for many years, he operated gristmills,
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...
s and a carding and
fulling Fulling, also known as felting, tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelled waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven or knitted cloth (particularly wool) to elimin ...
mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...
in Dayton. He donated the land for the Dayton
Hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...
, which became the waterpower source for early manufacturing in the town. Daniel C. Cooper was politically active from the time he became Proprietor until his death. Cooper represented Montgomery County in the Third General Assembly of Ohio convened at Chillicothe the first Monday in December 1804. He was elected to the Sixth Assembly convened at Chillicothe December 7, 1807, was elected to the Ohio State Senate from the district composed of Miami, Montgomery and Preble Counties to the Seventh General Assembly, convened at Chillicothe December 5, 1808, and was re-elected Senator to the Eighth Assembly, convened at Chillicothe the first Monday in December 1809. In 1810, he was President of the Select Council of Dayton. As representative of the county, he was a member of the Twelfth Assembly, convened at Chillicothe December 6, 1813. He was Senator in the Fourteenth Assembly, convened at Chillicothe December 4, 1815, and was re elected to the Fifteenth General Assembly, convened at
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
the then-new capital of the State December 2, 1816. In May 1815, Daniel Cooper laid out the lots to the east of Dayton, including today’s Oregon District. He was appointed a Trustee of
Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the ...
on February 15, 1815. In June 1818, Daniel Cooper and John Piatt, of Cincinnati, developed an overland freight line running between Cincinnati and Dayton with various stops. The first bell for the First Presbyterian Church arrived in Dayton in July 1818. Daniel Cooper loaded it on a wheelbarrow and wheeled it to the church. The exertion was too much for him; he ruptured a blood vessel and died July 13, 1818. He is buried in
Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum (200 acres), located at 118 Woodland Avenue, Dayton, Ohio, is one of the oldest garden cemeteries in the United States. Woodland was incorporated in 1842 by John Whitten Van Cleve, the first male child born in D ...
.


References

* ''The History of Montgomery County, Ohio''. Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1882. * Steele, Robert W. and Mary Davies. ''Early Dayton''. Dayton, Ohio, 1896. * Edgar, John F. ''Pioneer life in Dayton and vicinity, 1796-1840''. Dayton, Ohio: W.J. Shuey, United Brethren Publishing House, 1896, 307 pages. * Conover, Charlotte Reeve. ''Concerning the Forefathers''. New York: Winthrop Press, 1902, 503 pages. * Conover, Charlotte Reeve. ''Dayton and Montgomery County''. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co, 1932.


External links


Dayton's Historic Oregon District
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Daniel C. 1773 births 1818 deaths Members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio state senators Politicians from Dayton, Ohio Burials at Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum Miami University trustees