Fleet Cooper

1721 - 1795  (74 years)

• Name	Fleet Cooper  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14]
  Birth	1721	Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania   [3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14]
  Gender	Male
  Politics	North Carolina
  Residence	1783	Duplin, North Carolina   [7]
  Religion	Between 1785 and 1787	North Carolina
  Residence	1790	Sampson, North Carolina   [6]
  Burial	Jul 1795	Salemburg, Sampson, North Carolina   [12]
  Death	2 Jul 1795	Sampson, North Carolina   [3, 4, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14]
  Notes	After the Coopers arrived in what is now Sampson County, they were members of Coharie Baptist (Rowan) Church, which was founded near Clinton in 1749. We do not know when he became a minister, but he was pastor of the Coharie Baptist Church from 1785 to 1787. Civil Officer: Judge , Court of Common Pleas, First Court in Sampson: Signer of Oath of Allegiance and Abjuration for Duplin County. Cooper Family History and Genealogy A signer of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence. bFleet Cooper Sr - Last Will and Testament /biIn the name of God, Amen/i i I, Fleet Cooper, Senior, of the county of Sampson and State of North Carolina, being of sound mind and memory, calling to mind the mortality of my body, do make and ordain this, my Last Will and Testament in the following manner and form./i i First: I give to the estate of my son bJohn Cooper/b, deceased, one cow and calf, he having received part of his legacy in his lifetime./i i Likewise to my son bFleet Cooper/b 136 acres of land where he now lives./i i Likewise to my son bWilliam Cooper/b 150 acres of land where he now lives and all the land I own on Sheppards Branch./i i Likewise to my son bCoore Cooper/b the tract of land that I bought of James Bennett and Henry Easterling and 150 acres joining the same; and 150 acres of land at the White Pond and head of the Great Branch./i i Likewise to my daughter bElizabeth Wiggins/b I give five shillings, she having already received her legacy./i i Likewise to my daughter bMary Peterson/b I give five shillings, she having already received as aforesaid./i i Likewise to my daughter bGrace Holmes/b I give five shillings, she also having received as aforesaid./i i Also to bPolly Holmes/b, daughter of the said bGrace Holmes/b, seventy five acres of land where the said Grace now lives, the right vested in the said bPolly/b after the death of her mother, the said bGrace/b, who is to have her lifetime on the said land./i i And the rest of my property I leave to my son, bCoore Cooper/b; and each legacy to each of the legatees as before mentioned, to them, their heirs and assigns forever./i i And I, the said Fleet Cooper, Senior, acknowledge this and no other to be my Last Will and Testament./i i In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal; this day 2nd day of July, 1795/i i (Seal of Fleet Cooper)/i i (witnesses)/i i Fleet Cooper Jr/i i William Cooper/i i Abner Fort/i bCivil Officer, Judge, Signer of Oath of Allegiance of Duplin County. /bFleet Cooper Sr. , son of Bejamin and Elizabeth was born in Philedalphia; moved with his family to Isle of Wight County Virginia in 1725; spent his youth in Louden County where in 1747 he married Marguerite Coore; and on January 21 ,1764 was a resident of Dobbs County, North Carolina, when he bought 100 acres on Great Coharie, Duplin County. Later aquired much additional land on the west side of the "Great Cohera". Received 640 acres by land grant No. 281 on October 26,1767, He was 17th of 21 signers of the Duplin County Oath of Allegiance and Abjuration passed by the General Assembly at New Bern, November 1777. The Governor appointed 12 men as Justices of the newly formed county of Sampson, including Fleet Cooper. His will, dated July 2, 1795 was proved by his son Fleet, Jr. in November Court 1801 but was not recorded until 1828. In his will he mentioned his son John (deceased), Fleet Jr., William, Coore, Elizabeth Wiggins, Mary Peterson and Grace Holmes. His children had private teachers and were well educated. A historical sketch of Great Cohers Church lists Fleet Cooper as pastor 1785-1787 A bronze plaque at Concord Crossroads on Highway 24, 6 miles west of Clinton reads: " Fleet Cooper,Sr. 1722-1795: Civil Officer: Judge , Court of Common Pleas, First Court in Sampson: Signer of Oath of Allegiance and Abjuration for Duplin County: Wed Marguerite Coore 1747 and had issue: John, Fleet, Jr., William, Coore, Elizabeth, Mary and Grace." Abstract of will: I give to the estate of my son John Cooper , dec,d, one cow and calf, he having received part of his legacy in his lifetime.... to my son Fleet Cooper 136 acres of land where he now lives and all the land I own on Sheppards Branch....to my daughter Elizabeth Wiggins. five shillings...to Polly Holmes, daughter of said grace Holmes, seventy five acres of land... set my hand and seal...this 2nd day od July 1795. Signed; Fleet Cooper. The Reverend Fleet Cooper, Sr. "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore The Rev. Fleet Cooper, Sr., (1722-1795) was a pioneer Baptist minister in Sampson and Duplin Counties and was a prominent political figure during the American Revolution. According to a reliable genealogist, the Coopers were descended from at least four of the Barons who signed the Magna Carta and Fleet Cooper was descended from a brother of Anthony Ashley Cooper (Earl of Shaftsbury), who was one of the Lords Proprietors who were granted the Carolinas in 1663 by Charles II. The first Cooper to come to America was James Cooper, a son of George Ashley Cooper. He came from Stratford on the Avon and landed in Philadelphia in 1682. James Cooper was a member of the Society of Friends. He married and had two daughters and four sons: Isaac, Samuel, William and Benjamin. Benjamin Cooper (1701-1776) was married in 1720 to Elizabeth Kelly and in 1725 he moved to Isle of Wight County, Virginia, and then to Loudon County, Virginia. They had several children among who was Fleet Cooper, the subject of this article. Fleet Cooper was born in 1722 in Philadelphia and spent his youth in Virginia. We know nothing about his early education but he was married in 1747 to Margaret Coore of Loudon County, Virginia, whose father, Thomas Coore, later move to Northampton County, N.C. He moved first to Dobbs County, and in 1764, he received a grant of land on Coharie Swamp in Sampson County. Later he received grants for more than a 1,000 acres of land. This was located at Concord, six miles west of Clinton on Highway 24. After the Coopers arrived in what is now Sampson County, they were members of Coharie Baptist (Rowan) Church, which was founded near Clinton in 1749. We do not know when he became a minister, but he was pastor of the Coharie Baptist Church from 1785 to 1787. At the beginning of the American Revolution Fleet Cooper, Sr. signed the "Oath of Allegiance and Abjuration" (1777). This qualified descendants for memberships in the Daughters of the American Revolution or Sons of the American Revolution. In 1784, when Sampson County was established, Fleet Cooper, Sr., was one of the 12 justices appointed to the Court of Pleas and Quarterly Sessions. The Coopers had the following children: John; Fleet, Jr.; William; Coore; Elizabeth; Grace; and Mary. Fleet Cooper, Jr., (1750-1828) was also a pioneer Baptist minister. He married Sarah Scott in 1777 and had the following children: Mrs. Elizabeth Pope (1779-1848); Wilson (1780-1857); John (1782-1832); Jacob (1783-1826); Daniel (1785-1851); Mrs. Nancy Blackburn (1793-1878); Mrs. Penelope Howard (1797-1881); Mrs. Dicey Howard (1798-1879); Mrs. Rhoda Bennett (1802-1862); Mrs. Sarah Porter; and Mrs. Mary Butler Sessoms. Grace Cooper married Lewis Holmes, a brother of Governor Gabriel Holmes and moved south. Elizabeth Cooper married a Mr. Wiggins. Mary Cooper married a Mr. Peterson. Many of the descendants of Fleet Cooper had been doctors, lawyers, and teachers and have been political leaders. The descendants are scattered all over the United States. They hold an annual family reunion in Salemburg, N.C. Sources of Information: Mary John Parker and Mamie Chambers Sawyer. bFleet Sr's Patriot Service /blast half of 18th century , Duplin/Sampson NC Cooper, Fleet Sr, Material Aid, Patriot Service Although we found no record of specific military service for him, we believe he contributed generously in material goods for the military cause. Men have been accepted into the Sons of the American Revolution based on Fleet Sr's name. He was born about 1721 in Philadelphia, Pa. Moved to Isle of Wight County, Va, in 1725 and spent most of his youth in Louden County, Va., where he married Margaret Coore in 1747. Fleet Sr was among the Civil officers and other prominent persons who signed the Oath of Allegiance in late 1777. This is on file in the Clerk's office in Duplin County. Immediately after the surrender of the British Army at Yorktown he was among those who worked to establish Sampson County and became one of its first justices of the court of pleas and quarter sessions in 1784. He held that position until ill health forced him to retire. His will went to the court for pobate in Nov, 1801. Fleet Sr's son John (1748-1792) was a Capt. in the NC militia, his son William was a Lieutenant in the 5th Continental Line, and his son Fleet Jr (1750-1828) is said to have fought in the Revolution but no records have been found. bSource: Revolutionary War Records Duplin/Sampson by V.L. Bizzell and O.M. Bizzell pgs 68-69. /bNotes for Fleet Cooper, Sr.: Source: "The Heritage of Sampson County, North Carolina, 1784 - 1984," published by the Sampson County Historical Society, pp. 375- 376, #564. " Fleet Cooper, (1721-1795) one of the original Justices of the Sampson County Court when Sampson became a county in 1784, had a rich heritage. His fifth great-grandfather was John Cooper, Esq. of County Hants in England. John's son, Richard Cooper, owned large estates in Suffolk and Southampton and was allowed to purchase the Manor of Paulett in the 23rd year of Henry VIII (1532). He married June Kingsmill, daughter of John Kingsmill (died 1509) and Joan Gifford, and died 8 May 1566. Wurts, in his seven volume work on the Magna Charta Barons, their ancestors and descendants, traces her descent from John Lackland (King John) and the Plantagenets, Sveide the Viking, and at least four of the Magna Charta Barons elected by the English people in 1215 to see that King John kept his promises made in the Magna Charta. They were Will de Mobray, Robert de Roos, Gilbert Clare, and his father, Gilbert Clare, both barons. "Richard and June had a son, John Cooper, member of Parliament 1586, who died 1610 having married Martha, daughter of Anthony Skutt. They were parents of Sir John Cooper, Baronet, who married Ann Ashley (died 20 July 1628), daughter and sole heiress of Sir Anthony Ashley and his firs wife Okeover, and died 23 March 1681. Ashley had been knighted for his capture of Callis as Knight of Wemborne, St. Giles, County Dorset, served as Secretary of War under Queen Elizabeth, and Secretary of the Privy Council in the reign of James I. John and Ann's son, Anthony Ashley Cooper, was one of the Lords Proprietors to whom Charles II gave the Carolina Charter in 1663, 'one of the ablest and most prominent statesmen of his time.' He left no heirs. "His brother, another son of Sir John Cooper and Ann Ashley, was George Ashley Cooper, who was born 22 July 1621 and died 28 Jan. 1682. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Oldfield, Alderman of London. (a) "Their son James Cooper of Stratford-on-Avon immigrated to America in 1682 and died in Philadelphia 4 Dec. 1732. He married first Hester and second Mary. James was a first cousin of Judge Cooper of Burlington, N. J. who was father of the author, James Fenimore Cooper. Tradition says that James was a minister and signed a note with some of his parishioners. It was a bad crop year, and they were unable to pay, and the creditors looked to him. At that time in England, when one could not pay a debt, he was put in prison. Out of respect for him, the authorities gave him the choice of coming to America. Tradition further states that he was visiting an old friend, Edward Byllinge, who carried him around and showed him several sites, watching to see which one appealed to him most, then gave him the deed to it the next day. Whether that story be true or not, we do not know, but the deed, dated 21 Sept. 1682, reads: 'Edward Byllinge to James Cooper 50 Acres, consideration ' out of good will and kindness for ye truth's sake he beareth unto you said property.''. (b) In December 1684 James patented a lot on Chestnut St. between 4th and 5th Sts. in Philadelphia, across from where the old marble customhouse would later be built. (c) He died in 1732 leaving an incomplete undated will which was allowed to be probated. In it, he mentions wife Mary, daughters Esther Hussey and Rebecca, and sons Isaac, Samuel, William, and Benjamin. (d) Most of their names appear in the records of the Philadelphia Meeting between 1705 and 1729. (e). " Benjamin Cooper was born in Philadelphia 1701 (a); bought from his father for 40 pounds 300 acres 18 Jan. 1720 (e); and married 28 Nov. 1720 Elizabeth Kelly. (f) Murphy Rowe Cooper, in his book on the Cooper Family, says: 'Benjamin was a visionary man to whom success was always just around the corner. He was on the move seeking greener pastures. In 1725 he moved to Isle of Wight County, Va. Later he moved to Loudoun County where they were living when his son, Fleet, married Marguerite Coore. Still later he moved to Kentucky where he died in 1776.' (g) " Fleet Cooper was born in Philadelphia 1721; moved with his family to Isle of Wright Co. 1725; spent his youth in Loudoun County where he married 1747 Marguerite Coore; and on 21 Jan. 1764 was a resident of Dobbs Co., N.C. when he bought 100 acres on Great Coharie in Duplin County. (h) He was 17th of 21 signers of the Duplin County Oath of Allegiance and Abjuration passed by the General Assembly at New Bern November 1777. (i) The Governor appointed 12 men as Justices of the newly formed county of Sampson, including Fleet Cooper. At the first session, 21 June 1784, the Court Minutes recorded: 'The Governor's Commission was read appointing the several magistrates to administer Justice in said county, and the following persons...Fleet Cooper...have taken the oath required by law.' (j) His will, dated 2 July 1795, was proved by his son Fleet, Jr. in November Court 1801 but was not recorded until 1828. He mentions son John, deceased, Fleet, Jr., William, Coore, Elizabeth Wiggins, Mary Peterson, and Grace Holmes. (k) A bronze plaque at Concord Crossroads on Highway 24, 6 miles west of Clinton reads: 'Fleet Cooper, Sr., 1722-1795; Civil Officer; Judge, Court of Common Pleas, First Court in Sampson; Signer of Oath of Allegiance and Abjuration for Duplin County; Wed Marguerite Coore 1747 and had issue: John; Fleet, Jr.; William; Coore; Elizabeth; Mary; Grace.' "Sources: (a) Wurts: Magna Charta Vol. 7 p. 2114; (b) Gloucester Deeds, Trenton, N.J. #1 p. 77-79; (c) Pennsylvania Patent Book A-1 and Philadelphia Exemplification Book 1 p. 65; (d) Philadelphia Will Book E p. 291 #296; (e) (SIC) Hinshaw: Encyclopedia of American Genealogy --- Philadelphia Monthly Meeting; (f) Record of Marriages in Christ Church, Philadelphia; (g) Cooper: The Cooper Family p. 74; (h) Sampson Deed Book 1 p. 103; (i) Wheeler: N.C. Sketches, p. 138-139 also McGowan: Flashes of Duplin's History and Government, p. 43; (j) Minutes of Sampson County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions June 1784; (k) Sampson Will Book 8 p. 255. ----Mamie C. Sawyer" OTHER NOTES: On April 20, 1776, Fleet Sr. enlisted in the Revolutionary War and was given an honorable discharge 2 1/2 years later. Taken from the Religious Herald, February 22, 1828, pg 27: "Died, in Sampson county, NC, after a few days' illness, the Rev. Fleet Cooper, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. The deceased had been an advocate for the doctrines of the cross in the Baptist church for fifty years, left behind him an unblemished reputation, and died in the full assurance of a glorious immortality. 'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, for the rest from their labors and their works do follow them.'" ********** The following is taken from the Goshen Baptist Association Minutes, 1828 (NC). " Resolved that these Minutes contain an obituary notice of the death of Elder Fleet Cooper, of Sampson County, who rested from his labors in the month of March last. Brother Cooper was a faithful Minister of the Gospel, incessantly toiling for the salvation of his fellowmen. Few, if any, within our knowledge, have borne the burden and heat of the day more emphatically than brother Cooper. His circle of religious acquaintance was very large, in which he was much beloved. Thus the routine of Ministerial and Christian duty ran round in the midst of wearisome fatigue and privation, for about fifty years; and it was remarkable that his eyes were not dim, nor his force abated, relative to the great concern of Religion, to the close of his toilsome pilgrimage. The subject of this notice, as a man, appeared somewhat blunt in his manners, on a superficial acquaintance; but was found to be essentially kind and polite on further intercourse. His was that love which was free from his simulation. His public discourses, in the judgment of the worldling, were often a little rigid, but strictly scriptural in the opinion of the Church, generally doctrinal, though he chiefly excelled in practical and experimental preaching, the impressions of which will long remain on the hearts of many who have been refreshed and built up by his searching addresses. But his Bible and pulpits are now exchanged, no doubt, for the sweet vision of eternal blessedness. The large Church on the coheries mourns the loss of so bright a pattern, and so good an earthly shepherd. 'Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his.'" ********** Source: Minutes of the Rowan Baptist Church, Sampson CO., NC. "We continued then some time without a parson though not altogether destitute of Ministerial helps. Till the Church though proper to call our Reverend Brother Fleet Cooper upon tryal of his ministerial qualification s and finding him as we trust by the grace of God faithful was on the 8th day of April ADO, 1785 ordained a minister and then the pastoral care of the church devolved to him." This was found in the Wake Forrest (NC)University Library. **********
  Person ID	I18091	McKenzie Genealogy
  Last Modified	30 Jul 2012

  
  

  Father	Benjamin Cooper,   b. 1697, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania d. 1776, Granville, North Carolina (Age 79 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Elizabeth Kelly,   b. 1700, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania d. 1 Jun 1780, Loudoun, Virginia (Age 80 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Marriage	28 Nov 1720	Christ Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania   [2, 3, 8, 11, 15, 16, 17]
  Family ID	F06892	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Margaret Coore,   b. 1725, Northampton, North Carolina d. 1795, Sampson, North Carolina (Age 70 years)
  Marriage	1747	Loudon, Virginia   [1, 2, 8, 11]
  Children	1. John Cooper,   b. 1748, Sampson, North Carolina d. 1 Jun 1793, Sampson, North Carolina (Age 45 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. Fleet Cooper,   b. Apr 1750, Duplin, North Carolina d. 28 Jan 1828, Sampson, North Carolina (Age ~ 77 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   3. William Cooper,   b. 1752, Sampson, North Carolina d. Dec 1821, Bogue Chitto, Lawrence, Mississippi (Age 69 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   4. Coore Cooper,   b. 1754, Duplin, North Carolina d. 4 Dec 1826, Henry, Henry, Tennessee (Age 72 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   5. Grace Cooper,   b. 1755, Duplin, North Carolina d. 1835, Sampson, North Carolina (Age 80 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   6. Mary Cooper,   b. 1758, Duplin, North Carolina d. 1 Jun 1834, Sampson, North Carolina (Age 76 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   7. Elizabeth Cooper,   b. 1759, Duplin, North Carolina d. 13 Jul 1825, Mexia, Monroe, Alabama (Age 66 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F08406	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	19 Aug 2011

  
  

• Sources

  [S008914] Moore, Lee, Chunn, Wiggins, Ronnlund, McMenamy, www.ancestry.com. QUAY 3 [S012013] U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, (U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.). ancestry.com [S005780] Edmund West, comp., Family Data Collection - Individual Records, (Name: Name: Name: Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2000;;;), www.ancestry.com. QUAY 3 [S005803] Family Data Collections - Deaths, (Edmund West, comp.. Family Data Collection - Deaths [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001.), www.ancestry.com. QUAY 3 ancestry.com [S005797] Family Data Collections - Births, Ancestory.com. QUAY 3 [S002062] 1790 United States Federal Census, (Ancestry.com. 1790 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.), www.ancestry.com. QUAY 3 [S009409] North Carolina Census, 1790-1890, www.ancestry.com. QUAY 3 [S008223] McChargue Family Tree, www.ancestry.com. QUAY 3 [S004874] Cooper Family History and Genealogy. [S011667] The Cooper family history and genealogy, 1681-1931, www.ancestry.com. QUAY 3 [S014023] Williams Family Tree. [S006057] FindAGrave.com. [S013033] U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, (Ancestry.com. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011 Ancestry.com. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-19). [S008211] Marvin McArthur, McArthur/Hendrix-Biggs-Chandler-Harrison-Morgan-McClure-Blair-and others. [S004882] Cooper Genealogy. [S006229] Genealogical and Family History of Central New York, Vol. III, (Go to Section: Central New York Family Histories.). [S004879] Cooper Family Tree.