HMC Family Association

About Thomas Cooper

Thomas C. Cooper*abt. 1705-1785
Mary Unknown*abt. 1710-abt. 1791
(Continued from March 2008)

[9] James Cooper Living near Job and Joel Cooper in Carter County, Tennessee, was a widow, Patience Cobb Cooper [abt.1745-1804]. Her husband, James Cooper, may have been a son of Thomas and Mary Cooper. Born about 1740, he predeceased Thomas and therefore would not have appeared in his 1785 will. A Benjamin Cobb also lived in the area. He was probably Patience Cooper’s father or brother.

James, while living in Virginia, had served in the colonial Virginia Militia under George Washington [Tennessee During the Revolutionary War, by Samuel Cole Williams, Tennessee Historical Com-mission, 1944, p.18] By 1775 he and Patience had settled on the Watauga River in what is now Carter County, TN. We find the tax bill listed under her name that year.

When the Revolution began, the Indians mostly allied themselves with the British and began to attack frontier settlements like the one in the Watauga Valley. James joined the North Carolina Militia to fight Indians and was one of the almost 100 men who signed the “Watauga Petition” to become part of the state of North Carolina. [Also signing it were John Sevier and David Crockett.] By the time that the North Carolina Provincial Council saw the peti-tion on August 22, 1776, James Cooper was already dead. [North Carolina Colonial Records X-711]

The eastern division of the Cherokees, under Chief Old Abraham of Chilhowee, followed the Wa-tauga River along the foot of the mountains toward Fort Caswell, which lay on the river. James Cooper was stationed there and the women and children were “forted up” there also. The fort was under the command of Col. John Carter, assisted by Capt. James Robertson and Lieut. John Sevier [who would gain lasting fame in that region]. The Indians made a fierce assault on the fort on the morning of July 21, 1776, but the 75-man force was able to repel the at-tack. The Indians then laid siege to the fort.

During the siege, James Cooper and a boy named Samuel Moore went out of the fort to get boards with which to cover a small cabin within the enclosure. When near the mouth of Gap Creek, they were attacked by the Indians. Cooper leaped into the river and, by diving, hoped to escape their arrows and bullets, but the water became too shallow and he was killed by them and scalped. The firing by the Indians and the screams of Cooper were heard in the fort, and Lieut. Sevier attempted to leave to rescue Cooper and the boy, but Capt. Robertson saw that the Indians were superior in force to that within the fort and held Sevier back, stating that he needed all the men inside the fort to protect the women and children. He said that he thought the firing and screaming were being done by the Indians as a feint to draw the troops outside the fort. By then Cooper was probably beyond rescue. The Moore boy was taken back to the Cherokee town and tortured to death. [Williams, pp. 45-46]

By December 20, 1776, the North Carolina Provincial Council, newly renamed the House of Repre-sentatives, was well aware of Cooper’s death and the plight of his widow Patience. On that date they passed the following resolution:

The House being informed of the distressed situation of Patience Cooper of Watauga, with eight small children, whose husband was lately killed in a scouting party against the Indians:

Resolved: that the said Patience Cooper be allowed the sum of 100 pounds for subsistence of herself and her children; that the treasurers, or either of them, pay her the same and be allowed in their accounts with the public…

[North Carolina Colonial Records, X-978]

Patience was now better off than she had ever been with James. In the 1778 tax list, she was taxed on an estate of 408 pounds and was taxed on a 400-acre “manor plantation” in 1779. In 1784 she re-ceived a 300-acre bounty land claim for her hus-band’s Revolutionary War service. [North Carolina Grants in Tennessee 1778-1791, p.24] From 1778-1788 Patience was involved in four litigations; she won at least three of them, and in February of 1789, the enterprising widow was given permission to open “a house of public entertainment,” which was probably something like a road house.

Probably working for her mother at the road house was a daughter, Mary Cooper, about fifteen, who gave birth in 1790 to a “base-born child” by John Dasey Boring. Boring was ordered to pay maintenance on May 11, 1790, in the Washington County Court. [Carter County hadn’t been formed yet.] [Washington County, TN Court Minutes, Book 1, Page 440] Mary appears to have been tainted by this occurrence because she never married and was disinherited by her mother.

Patience and James’ son, Joseph Cooper [abt.1775-1828], married Elizabeth Taylor, daughter of Andrew Taylor.  Job Cooper witnessed a deed for Andrew Taylor, which indicates a connection be-tween the family of James and Patience and our Coopers.[Deed Book A, Pages 471-472] Patience’s farm lay right on the Watauga River and was inhe-rited by Joseph. She died in 1804, the same year as Job Cooper. Her executors were Pharoah Cobb and Andrew Taylor.

Other children of James and Patience were Izza-bella Cooper[22 Nov 1769-9 June 1849], who mar-ried Andrew Taylor, Jr., [1765-22 Oct 1847], buried Taylor Family Cemetery, Taylortown, TN; Charlotte Cooper, born abt. 1770, who married Archer Evans 19 Sept 1787; Ruth Cooper, born abt. 1772; John Cooper, born abt. 1765; William Cooper, born abt. 1763; and Catherine Cooper, born 1776, who married Unknown Clowell. [Allen Papers, McClung Collection, Knoxville, TN Library]

By Jerry Lee Fleming

I am Jerry Lee Fleming, oldest child of Donald Elmo and Betty [Mowery] Fleming. My great-great-grandparents were Joseph Isaiah and Sarah [Cooper] Kirkwood. Joseph Isaiah Kirkwood was the son of Joseph and Louisiana Kirkwood. He was married twice before moving to Colfax, Washington, where he married his cousin once removed, Sarah Margaret Cooper-Russell on February 4, 1879. My Grandfather Archie Fleming was a grandson of Joseph and Sarah. He told me many stories about Joseph and his family. I wish I had paid more attention to these stories but as a young man many passed right on through. Because some were told to me many times I did soak them up. Mel Moss, Elly Newbell and Frank Stiles have also relayed some other information.

The area where my Great-great-grandfather homesteaded is in the Southwestern part of Stevens County in the state of Washington and was settled for several reasons. There was farming in the valley that was later called Prince Valley. Another reason was that soldiers from nearby Fort Spokane (20 miles away) decided to stay in the area when mustering out of the service instead of returning to their hometowns. Probably the most prominent reason was towards the end of the 18th century silver, copper and magnetite (used to harden steel) were discovered in the mountains around Prince Valley. With the manpower needed to mine in those days, many small towns, such as Deer Trail, Cedarville, and Turk, sprung up in the mining area. From Deer Trail to Turk was only 2 to 3 miles with Cedarville in the middle.

Deer Trail was the biggest because of the mill for processing the ore. Deer Trail supported a hotel, stores, tavern, post office, cookhouse, bunkhouse, and other specialties that miners needed. Since Joseph was a blacksmith, with the multitude of mines in the area, it was like turning a child loose in a candy store.

Joseph and Sarah had two children, Grace and Fred, both born in Colfax. From Colfax they moved to Davenport, Washington. When they moved from Davenport they first settled in Cedarville. About 1895, they moved a half-mile down the road to the area that would become, but now abandoned, the town of Turk, Washington.

Grace was nicknamed “Grams” and Fred “Hardrock”, with Fred being the most colorful of the group. [More of Fred’s (Hardrock) antics later.]

One of the things that my grandfather Archie told me about his grandfather (Joseph) was his love of animals which is obvious when you see pictures of Joseph and Sarah — there is nearly always a dog or cat in the picture. I guess it runs in the family because we all love animals.

Sarah (Cooper) Kirkwood died in 1922 due mainly to stomach cancer and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery near Hunters, Washington. Joseph continued to live in Turk till he got sick in 1936 and his daughter Grace and grandson Archie moved him to Benton City, Washington. He died there in 1946.

Frank Stiles, mentioned earlier, was born at Turk in 1916 and was Joseph’s neighbor and knew him quite well. In 1928, Frank Stiles broke a blade on his pocketknife. Attesting to Joseph’s skill as a blacksmith, Frank says that Joseph learned the knife’s condition and told Frank to bring the knife to him for repair. As it goes Frank said that Joseph fixed his knife and it worked ‘good’ for years.

I wish I could tell you more about Joseph or Sarah, but for some reason the conversations always seemed to end up about Fred (Hardrock) Kirkwood; the most colorful member of the family.

Fred was born in Colfax County and moved around with his father and mother until they settled in at Turk. Fred was a slender man and many would attest to the fact that he could out walk almost anything. When working in the mines the other men would take a wagon and horse or Model A to work. Fred would walk over the mountain and would always be waiting for them.

Hardrock would walk to Davenport, Washington (a town about 40 miles east) to catch the stage (bus). There is one story that while going to catch a stage a man in a wagon stopped and asked if he would want a ride. Hardrock’s reply was, “No thanks. I’m in a hurry.”

Fred would walk through Coyote Canyon and across the Spokane Indian Reservation. He had an Indian friend that would row him across the Spokane River (not taking the bridge) then through Sand Flats to Davenport. They say that Fred very seldom took the road unless it got in his way.

Hardrock seemed to pay attention to business working with the mining companies until about the middle age, when he acquired a taste for the demon rum. Now, Fred would work hard for months on end before he would fall off the wagon, but when he did he would try to make up for time lost. No one really knows why Fred took up drinking; maybe it was because it was against the law.

Fred was married once, but it was short lived. It must have happened during one of his thirsty moments. He had been known to take off for days on end when he was drinking. Anyway, from what I heard, she ran him off with a shotgun. That was Fred’s only try at marriage.

Fred (Hardrock) spent most of his time working for the different mining companies in the area and he must have been a valuable worker because he would go on the extended libations and be welcomed back when he returned.

During the Depression, times were tough and many would do anything to make a buck or get a drink. My grandfather Archie told me that he was walking past a saloon in Spokane when he thought he heard a familiar voice, so grandfather looked in and there was Hardrock, all duded up in a suit, vest, and gold watch chain. He was standing at the bar looking very distinguished. Fred was telling the crowd around him that he was a mining engineer and was hiring men to work a mine in South America. With Fred’s background in mining he could talk the talk and with the hard times the men were eager to be hired. What was the motive? The motive was free drinks. The men were buying Fred drinks to try and get hired. Fred was no dummy.

As I have said earlier, I wished that I would have paid more attention to the stories told to me, but I did soak up some of the information and hope that all who read this enjoy the material.

Footnote: In the second paragraph above Jerry states that Joseph was married twice before moving to Colfax. I believe the basis of this statement was the postings on Joseph’s family page in the Rachel Cooper Matheny archive.

Postings on the page list those two wives as 1. Madge Farr & 2. Bonnie Wallace. Also listed were 3 children in addition to Grace and Fred; Madge had a son named Robert; Bonnie had a daughter named Jean and a son named Thomas. Robert was listed as dying in October 1978 at 100 years of age

Following the 2007 reunion a Post-it note was found on the family page of Joseph Isaiah Kirkwood in the Rachel Cooper Matheny archive book. The note read, “Madge wasn’t 100 years when she died. I will get the data for you by next reunion.”

At this time the author of that note has not come forward with the promised data. My research indicates that the two wives and three children that are credited to Joseph Isaiah Kirkwood should have been listed as belonging to Joseph Edward Kirkwood, the son of Thomas Tillman Kirkwood. –Mel Moss