Cooper, David, 1725-1795

p.215. Whereas David Cooper of the township of Bedford in the county of Gloucester in New Jersey, son of John Cooper late of the same place deceased and Sybil Matlack daughter of Timothy Matlack of the city of Philadelphia in the province of Pennsylvania having declared their intention of marriage with each other before several monthly meetings of the people called Quakers at Philadelphia... this twenty-third day of the second month in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and forty seven...

COOPER, David, 1724-1795.
b. 13 I 1724, near Woodbury, N.J., s. John and Anne
(or Ann) Cooper.
m., 1747, Sybil Matlack (d. 1759).
Elder. Was a peace-maker. 1756, appointed member of
Mtg. for Sufferings.
Requested a plain funeral and desired burial before
funeral meeting, also that the money so saved should be
handed to some poor person.
Author: Another mite cast into the treasury.
d. 5 Nov. 1795, near Woodbury, N.J., in his 71st year.

p.371. A Testimony from Woodbury Monthly Meeting concerning David Cooper. David Cooper son of John and Ann Cooper, was born near Woodbury in Gloucester County New Jersey, the 13th of the 12th month 1724... he was a useful member in the community at large, and in the neighborhood where he lived; being frequently applied to for advice in cases of difficulty, and employed as a peace-maker... He was a firm advocate for the Black People, and liberal promoter of Schools... His last illness being very trying, his petitions were to the Almighty that he would be with him to the end; and we have reason to believe his humble prayers were answered; and that he departed in peace with the Lord, the 5th of the 11th month 1795 in the 71st year of his age; and was interned at Woodbury, in a plain way, agreeable to his own direction...

<p>David Cooper (December 12, 1724 – April 1, 1795) was an American farmer, Quaker, member of Society of Friends, a pamphleteer and an author of abolitionist ideals in the latter 1700s. A native of New Jersey, he lived the greater part of his life in and around Gloucester and Salem, New Jersey. Cooper was outspoken on the issue of slavery and was devoted to the abolitionist movement before, during and after the American Revolution. As a devoted Christian and Quaker, he made numerous comparisons between abolition and Biblical thought in his writings, orations and orations. By submitting pamphlets and petitions, Cooper appealed to and encouraged George Washington and the Congress to make efforts to abolish slavery. He is noted for writing a 22-page anti-slavery tract addressed to the "Rulers of America", which was distributed to members of Congress, a copy of which Washington signed and kept in his personal library.</p>

<p>David Cooper was born in Woodbury, New Jersey located along the Delaware River, close to Philadelphia, on December 12, 1724. His father was John Cooper; his mother, Ann Clarke. David married Sybil Matlack Cooper. They had at least two children who survived their childhood: Amos Cooper and Martha Allinson. David's father, John, received a sizable inheritance from his grandfather. John Senior died in 1730, when David was six. Subsequently, David and his siblings were raised by their mother who was a devoted Quaker. The community he was raised in was also largely devoted to the Quaker ethic. David's maternal grandfather, Benjamin Clarke, was among the first Quaker abolitionists in colonial America. David in turn received an inheritance from his late father, which included a plot of land; he used his inheritance to launch a successful business, for which he felt he was blessed.</p>

<p>David's older brother, John, died in 1728 at the age of ten. A year later David's parents gave birth to another son whom they also named John, who lived to adulthood. i.e. John Cooper, David's younger brother, became a notable figure during the American Revolution, and was the author of the New Jersey Constitution of 1776. He was also elected to the Second Continental Congress in 1776, but never attended.</p>

<p>On October 22, 1777, in the aftermath of the Battle of Red Bank, the Coopers were driven from their homes in Woodbury when the British took control of the entire area on their way to Philadelphia, with General Cornwallis occupying the home of David's brother John, using it for his headquarters for a period of ten months.</p>

<p>In his memoirs, Cooper documents his early life, family history, marriage, the birth of his children, his involvements with the Quakers, and the various struggles he faced with his faith. He also recounts his work as a New Jersey representative in 1761, along with an account of his participation at Quaker Meetings. He wrote the manuscript during his final years, for his children, when his health was failing, so that they would have a personal record of his life and work after he had died. David Cooper died in 1795, at age 70, in Gloucester County, New Jersey.</p>

<p>Brought up in a household that condemned slavery, David came to regard slavery as an institution contrary to natural law. His sense of the injustice of slavery, which largely arose from the injustices and inhumanity involved with the Atlantic slave trade, became evident in his 1772 correspondence with Granville Sharp, a leading and outspoken English abolitionist. As a dedicated Quaker and a staunch abolitionist Cooper petitioned Congress three times in his effort to advance abolition legislature and abolish slavery, lobbied President George Washington, and wrote about these prospects at length in his diary and other writings. He also directed his criticism of slavery against the British Crown, Quakers were pacifist and were opposed to violence during the American Revolutionary War.</p>

<p>For eight years, beginning in 1761, Cooper served in the State of New Jersey as an elected member of the New Jersey House of Assembly.</p>

<p>In 1772 he wrote and published Mite cast into the treasury: or, Observations on slave-keeping, which was coauthored by Anthony Benezet another leading abolitionist. As a Christian and Quaker, Cooper made numerous references and parallels to Biblical thought throughout his book. In the introduction Cooper definitively summarized his position regarding prejudice and slavery:</p>

<p>"The power of prejudice over the minds of mankind is very extraordinary; hardly any extremes too distant, or absurdities too glaring for it to unite or reconcile, if it tends to promote or justify a favorite pursuit. It is thus we are to account for the fallacious reasonings and absurd sentiments used and entertained concerning negroes, and the lawfulness of keeping them slaves"</p>

<p>In 1785 Cooper, along with other Quakers, like Samuel Allinson, submitted petitions to the Legislature for purposes of enacting emancipation legislation. The bills failed but the Legislature instead passed a law the next year that helped expedite manumissions, which stipulated that slave owners provide education for their slaves. The law also added penalties for any abuses to slaves, while also outlawing the slave trade.</p>

p.21. Births: David Cooper son of John and Ann Cooper was born the 9th day of the 12th month 1724/5.
Martha Cooper daughter of David and Sybil Cooper was born the 31st of the 10th month 1747.
Amos Cooper was born the 1st day of the 10th month 1749.
Elizabeth Cooper was born the 9th day of the 10th month 1751.
Paul Cooper was born the 11th of the 1st month 1754.
Ann Cooper was born the 18th day of the 7th month 1756.
William Cooper was born the 21st of the 6th month 1758.
Burials: Sybil Cooper departed this life the first day of the fifth month 1759.