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"Let the record be made of the men and things of to-day, lest they pass out of memory to-morrow and are lost. Then perpetuate them not upon wood or stone that crumble to dust, but upon paper, chronicled in picture and in words that endure forever." --Kirkland

MEMOIRS OF LAURA COOPER GONNAM
Written by Laura Cooper Gonnam 1957-1964

Transcribed by Kerry L. Gonnam 1994

Part 1 -- Part 2 -- Part 3

LONG AGO SUNDAY SCHOOL PICNICS-------

There were many celebrations in neighboring towns, but several of the church families with small children did not care to attend them, so would go to each others homes and put their picnic dinners together and visit and let the children play.  We always had some fire crackers to shoot and there was always 2 or 3 freezers of homemade ice cream and all the lemonade we could drink and the day passed very pleasantly and no danger of any accidents or runaway horses to watch out for on the way home.  We had a minister by the name of Albert Burton who had been raised on a farm and also his wife, so he suggested the S. School go to someone's home and have a picnic, so my Father said, "Come to our place."  We had a big yard and large walnut trees to put up swings in and several brought long wooden tables only used at threshing time and about 80 people gathered with well filled baskets of fried chicken, baked ham, baked beans, fresh homemade rolls, cottage cheese, pies of all kinds, also cakes and cookies and doughnuts and at least gallons of pickles and cooked vegetables, jam and jelly of all kinds and several freezers of homemade ice cream and milk cans full of real lemonade.  We young folks played games, some had brought croquet sets, some tennis, others took to the swings and the mothers set the tables and the babies lay on blankets or comforters in the shade.  The men visited and kept an eye on everything.  What a scramble there was when the word, "Dinner" was called.  Many a boy took his favorite girl and helped her fill her plate and then spread clean newspapers in a secluded spot and got his own plate and sat down to eat with her.  There are several pictures among my treasures of several different gatherings. 

Zion Church was a flourishing and well attended church then and people came for miles around to attend services, no matter if they were held in the daytime or at night the church was filled.  As my memory wanders back I can see the different families seated together and the choir up on the south side platform and the young lady who played the organ which was later replaced by a piano and can hear the loved voices singing the old hymns, now have all passed away and I hope are singing up in heaven as beautiful as they did down here so long ago.  There were three special days we celebrated in S. School: Easter, Children's Day, and Christmas.  We never could have a big program at Easter as it was impossible to get the children to practice, but each teacher gave out verses to be memorized and given on Easter Sunday and the choir had prepared special music and the teachers had pretty book marks and candy Easter eggs for gifts to the small ones and everyone was remembered some way.  Often the older children received bibles and were promoted to a larger class, sort of graduating one might say.  I can remember one spring, we had all been sick so much that Mother and I had not had a chance to get to town to get us a new hat; so we sat up after all had gone to bed and used black liquid shoe polish on our old last year's hats and colored some pale pink and white flowers with liquid blueing (used to make clothes white) and ironed out some ribbon and trimmed our own hats and wore them proudly to services the next day and got a lot of compliments on them.  We never told they were our old last year's hats fixed up.  Mother said, "What they don't know won't hurt anybody." and that was that.  They looked new anyway.

Children's Day services was a different program. We had to go to the church for 2 or 3 Saturdays before and learn songs and how to march up on the platform and recite our many recitations and group plays.  The last practice we brought arm loads of flowers and pretty vines and trimmed the church and fixed bouquets to set on the steps leading to the platform and wrap the front railing with various kinds of vines.  Anyone with a singing canary would bring them in cages to sit on the window sills and when we sang the birds sang also.  Every girl had a new white muslin dress and new shoes and the ones with straight hair had done up curls with rags to make curls and were very proud of their looks. The boys all had new suits or their old ones cleaned and pressed to look new.  After the services were over, bouquets were made up to send to anyone in the community that was sick and unable to attend.  One year a bunch of boys went down along the river in boats and got pond lilies.  The church was filled with the gorgeous perfume from the roses and the lilies.  One year Leda Winsor and I were sitting together and Ed Reeves and Billy got up and pinned the most beautiful red roses on each of us.  We were about the proudest girls there to think the two most popular boys had picked us.  Later on we four were married; Billy is gone now but Ed and Leda are still here in 1962.  Soon we will all go to meet Billy and be together again.

Christmas always was a grand time.  A large evergreen tree was put up in the front and was trimmed with popcorn and cranberries and fancy cookies and there the small packages were tied to the branches and the large ones piled under the tree.  There were always dolls sitting up on the branches waiting for eager little girls and sleds for the little boys.  Santa Claus always came with a big clothes basket full of sacks of nuts and candy for all and then he left to go somewhere else and different teachers gave out the gifts.  Of course we always had a nice program before Santa came.  Once I remember he came riding in a big toy wagon drawn by a billy goat.  He said the reindeer got sick and a kind man loaned him the goat, but he had had so much trouble with the ornery critter he would walk the next time he came if the reindeer got sick again.  Some of us recognized his voice as Herbert Vanderpool and the goat and wagon was for his only son Ray we learned later on.  I could write for days and never tell all the good times we had at Zion Church and the dear friends we knew long ago that have gone across the river we sing about.  Oh, to be a child again among them all once more.

Birthdays among our different friends were often observed and several families would get up a basket dinner and go to a friends house and spend the day visiting and playing games and all eat together.  Many times the person whose birthday was being celebrated had forgotten all about the day and was really surprised.  We seldom took gifts unless it was some of our close relatives.  One time several neighbors went to the Reniff home in Norman Twp. in March, as was Herman's birthday.  It was a stormy day, but, we went in the big lumber wagon as was very muddy and there were no gravel roads as there are now.  Mother had stewed 2 nice fat hens and had made a chicken pie (She used a large round milk pan 12 or 14 inches across and 4 inches high and put the hot thickened chicken and gravy in it and covered it with real baking powder biscuits.) and when it was all done and just out of the oven we were ready and started out.  Father was driving a large farm team that went very slowly on account of the roads, and before we reached the Reniff home Mother called out from the back of the wagon where she sat watching her pie, "Bruce, if you don't hurry up this chicken pie will be stone cold and won't be fit to eat."  "Well," said Father, " I guess it can't be helped. My team is all lathered up now and I don't want to stay up tonight caring for horses with the colic."  At last we got there and the pie was still warm enough to eat.  Uncle Herman, as we children called him, grabbed his plate and helped himself to a generous helping and very generously covered his whole plate with granulated sugar to our amazement.  Mother laughed at our open mouths and said, " Oh, he always does that, come get yours now, but don't put any sugar on yours since you may not like it as well as he seems to."  Uncle Herm was not our real uncle, but my Father's first wife was his youngest sister and died when their baby was born.  My Mother and Father were married four or five years later and Mother always said it was because they did not have a real Dr. when the young lady became sick, but had a mid-wife, or a lady who went and helped sick folks when ever needed.  My Father was away helping thresh oats for neighbors when they came for him and he went for a Dr. at once, but it was too late when the Dr. got there.  Both she and the baby were dead.  In those days there were no telephones and Drs. were in large towns and rode horseback to their country patients.  Always after that my Father went for a Dr. at once whenever we were taken sick.  He never forgave his young wife's folks for not getting a Dr. and depending on an old lady's help.  No wonder there were so many home remedies used in those long ago days that people laugh about now.  But, simple though they were, they often helped, at least till a Dr. could be consulted.

Another time we entertained the Reniff family on one of their birthdays and Mother roasted the hens and made bread dressing.  It almost seems I can smell that delicious odor yet for whenever she opened the oven door it filled the room and how hungry it made all of us.  Uncle Herm took twice of the dressing and his wife, Aunt Mercy said, "Can you taste the sage in it?"  "There is no sage in this.", he said.  "But there is.' she said, "I saw Molly put it in and fine cut up onion, too."  Then he asked Mother and she told him yes, but that she didn't use too much of either, just a tiny bit.  He said, "Well, there are no sticks in the dressing and I just can't believe it's true."  "Well, there is and you don't need to only eat a little; eat all you want." she said.  "All right", he said and grabbed the dish for a third helping.  Mother was a splendid cook and could get a good meal with the most common of foods.  She was never extravagant, but, we always had plenty.  She baked bread twice a week, many times 6 to 8 loaves; and one dish Father and Grandfather loved was dried bread dipped in hot stewed chicken gravy piled high on a large platter.  Grandfather often said, " This is a meal fit for a king."  and it was.  My Grandfather sure loved to eat and seemed to enjoy his food.  He was not a large eater or ate too much, even if  he was a large man.

SPRING RAIN------

One spring we had so much rain that the creek called Hog Run that went thru our timber was water from hill to hill and stayed flooded for several weeks.  We had a young man from Morris helping with the farm work and cutting firewood with Father by the name of Trace Hall.  He loved to roam around the woods and sometimes he fished or hunted squirrels or rabbits and anything he got that was to eat he always dressed it and brought it to the house ready to cook.  Sunday was strictly a day of rest at our home and the whole family attended church and S. School.  No farm work was done and the team we drove to services was not the one used for farm work and all the ones used during the week went out into the pasture to rest.  Neither was food cooked, but was prepared on Saturday and warmed up for Sunday meals.  Meat was roasted or hams boiled, large pans of baked beans were made, pies and cakes baked, brown bread and white bread made were all prepared on Sat. that with fresh tea, coffee, or huge pitchers of milk was drank.  At that time Zion and Verona churches had the same minister and for 6 months services at Zion were in the morning and for the next 6 months they were in the afternoon.  This particular morning we had all gone to services but Trace, and he took his gun and fishing rod and went to the timber.  When we got home at  noon he was back with 2 of the nicest pink fish.  Each must have weighed 5 or 6 lbs and he had them all dressed and ready to cook and as we did not have ice or refrigeration like we have today, Mother said they must be cooked at once, so our dinner that day was entirely different from other Sunday dinners as we had fresh cooked fish and fresh fried potatoes and hot coffee.  Trace said the fish were salmon, but we never saw any more in our creek like them.  However, we often caught catfish or brook trout, but when the factories began to run their waste and the towns their sewage into the Illinois River it killed all our fish.  We burned wood in all our stoves at that time so the winter months were spent in cutting trees and getting it to the house to be sawed up later to use.  Sometimes several farmers would come to help with the sawing and then Father would go and help them and people would come to our timber and cut trees and haul them as far as Verona each winter.  Some farmers had bought 2 or 3 acres of timberland when they bought their farms in the prairie and came to work in their timber lots on nice days, so when Father bought the home farm he also bought the timber lots from the others as many were now using coal to burn.  Now very few use coal for heating as they do not want to carry out the ashes or fix the fires any more.  I wonder if the bottled gas or electricity failed, what would people do for fuel, but no doubt there will be something invented by that time.  Anyway, there is so much eaten out of cans that is already cooked they won't lack for food.

ABOUT MEN THAT HAVE HELPED US ON THE FARMS----

One man that came to help my Father was a young Norwegian by the name of John Hoy.  His folks had come from Norway and had gone to work for people north of Morris.  He had 1 sister who married a man named Eng and they were all born in Illinois.  There are quite a few of her sons in and around Morris, but I do not know any of them.  John  was a large strong young fellow and was a great help to my Father.  He was always pleasant to both Mother and I and always spoke to us both when he came in to meals.  He always called her Mrs. Cooper, but had a strange little name for me; we never understood what it was, so it must have been in the Norwegian language.  Whenever I would ask him what it was, he would laugh and say, "It's just  a nice name for a red-headed girl." and to this day I have never found out what it was or meant.  I have asked other friends of that nationality, but they cannot help me.  John stayed for about 4 years, year 'round, then he went to Chicago with a cousin with the same name.  He got work as a street car motorman in Joliet and married a very pretty young woman, much younger, by the name of Edna.  She was just out of school and worked in some novelty store.  They came down to visit my folks real often and she seemed such a nice girl.  They had one son a few months younger than our first son, Harvey, who was born in Marseilles on Dec. 1 while Billy was taking care of the livery barn for Dr. Butterfield.  Johns' called their boy Ellwood.  He was a nice fat baby and so pretty, but died when he was about 7 months old from infantile paralysis.  John was heartbroken, but Edna seemed to be relieved of the babies care and began to go out more each day with her former friends.  They came down to see my folks and us several times and Billy asked me, "What was the matter with Edna that she did not act like she used to, did not seem to be very friendly or want to visit about anything?"  I could not tell him anything, but I too did not understand why there could be such a difference in her as she did not seem to grieve over the baby's death as John did.  The apt. where they lived in Joliet was quite large and they had one bedroom rented to a young man that worked where John did.  I do not know when John discovered that things were not right at his home.  He worked an early run and came home in the early PM, and the other man went to work just before John got home, on a different run.  Edna never got up and got John's breakfast because he could get rolls and coffee across the street from the car barns, but would come home early for evening dinner.  One morning he got up, dressed, and went downstairs; but took off his shoes at the door and made quite a noise unlocking the door and shutting it as if going out, but hid in the dark entrance.  In a few moments he saw Edna go into the roomers room, so he went up carefully and opened the door and found Edna sitting on the edge of the man's bed in her night clothes talking to him.  I guess that just about killed John for he told the man he could have Edna and everything in the apartment, that he was getting out and getting a divorce and that was just what he did and came down to my folks again as his parents had both passed away and his sister had a big family of her own.  He stayed with my folks and helped get the crops in the ground and then went back to his job as motorman.  I do not know what became of Edna and have never seen nor heard from her to this day, for John drew his savings out of the bank and left at once.  Well, she had all the furniture and household things and the rent was paid for 2 months he told my folks and she had picked her man so what more could he do?  He worked as a motorman until the city got rid of the streetcars and put in busses, but he had never learned to drive a car so could not drive a bus and was out of a job in Joliet.  He had met and married a very nice woman about his age whose name was Ivy.  She lived with her Mother and Aunt, both real old.  Her Father had passed away just after they were married.  He had been a government man of some kind in Mexico City and was retired.  Ivy could speak Spanish, also Mexican, real well and had a good job.  We all liked her very much, but they never had any family.  John had joined the Order of Moose and Ivy belonged to the woman's auxiliary of the Moose, so they were both interested in the same things.  John had made all arrangements to go down to Florida to the Moose Lodge Home at Orange Park, Fla. and had made arrangements for her Mother and Aunt to go also and get rooms near the home; but Ivy dropped dead on Christmas morning just before they were to leave.  Again John was heartbroken.  He could not take the 2 older women with him as only wives were allowed, so he put them in a nursing home in Joliet and went to Florida by himself.  He was getting very old and feeble by that time, but they sent him out to the farm run by the order and he worked there for several years.  Billy and I often visited him, both at the farm and later when he went on what was called the sunshine list, on our way home from spending the winters in Florida.  John passed away in May 1955 just after we had come home from seeing him in late March.  He was buried in the Moose cemetery from the Methodist church he joined when he went down.  He was a good man and everyone seemed to like him for he was kind and honest and never said mean things about others.  Our last winter in Florida was 1956 and 1957.  Billy passed away May 30, 1957 and the next winter my brother Howard and his wife Hazel Cooper went down with me and I have not gone since and doubt if I ever will, writing this on Feb. 21, 1963.

MY FIRST CAKE I EVER BAKED------

When I was about seven years old my Grandfather Cooper went to Chattanooga, Tenn. to see my Aunt Esther Haymond.  She was his oldest daughter and they were running the large hotel on the top of Lookout Mtn.  Aunt had not been very well so he went down on the train and planned to stay a month.  He left in April and would not be back by May 11 or his birthday, so one day I told Mother I wanted to make a cake so when Grandfather came home I could make one and we would celebrate our birthdays with it.  Mother said, "You can't make a cake now and expect it to be good by June."  I told her, "No.  I only wanted to learn how so I'd know how by June."  About that moment my Father came in and wanted to know why I looked so sad, and when Mother explained he said, "Oh, let her try.  She won't spoil it too bad and she has to learn some time."  So Mother gave in and told me what to get ready to make the cake.  She said, "Get a clean newspaper and sift 2 level cups of flour with 1 level teaspoon of baking powder, twice.  Next put 1 cup of granulated sugar in a mixing bowl and add soft butter the size of an egg and 1 egg.  Cream all this together and add 1 cup sweet milk.  Stir it all together real good and add the sifted flour and baking powder and flavor all with vanilla.  Next, grease a 9 x 12 pan 2" high and pour the batter in it, spread it around and bake about a half hour in a moderate oven."  So , I did as I was told and "low and behold" it came out delicious and I have used the same recipe all these years.  The one I made for Grandfather turned out just fine.  I made so many cakes Father said he didn't think he would need any more cake for a whole year or till our birthday next year.  Sometimes Mother had me take out some of the batter and mix it with melted chocolate and put it in small spoonfuls around in the creases of the white dough making a marble cake.  Some times she had me add spices to the extra dough taken out and again she had me mix cut-up walnuts (as we had lots of those trees in our barnyard) and again raisins.  So I learned how to make many kinds of cake using the same "standard" recipe.  I sometimes made 2 layers and again cupcakes in the gem pans.  I do not know just who in our family was the proud one when Grandfather came home. He said my cake was the best he ever ate.  He enjoyed his visit in Tennessee and took long walks in the woods and brought back a walking stick or cane of cucumber wood.  It is among some of my keepsakes out at the old home place where Jesse lives, because I left several things out there in the storeroom upstairs.  Mother asked if my cousins Edith and Ina helped their mother bake but Grandfather said no, she had 2 Negro women to help her, but the girls waited on the tables and Frank, their brother, helps them as often there were 30 people to feed and the girls were in school most of the time.  Uncle John Haymond had several teams of large mules to bring the guests from the railroad up to the hotel and the road was often so muddy he had to put on 4 mules tandem to make the trip.  But while Grandfather was there the hotel owners and the town had the roads graveled and that helped alot.  When Aunt Esther was taken sick they left the hotel and moved to Ashville, N.C. and all went to work at various things and Aunt had a Negro woman to help her with the housework.  Aunt died about 4 years after Grandfather passed away.  Also, Uncle John had died, too.  We never hear from any of the family.

The Henry Warning mentioned earlier that Billy first worked for died several years ago; but March 10, 1963 Henry's wife died in a nursing home in Ottawa.  She was 93 years old.

TRIP WITH MOTHER WHEN 5 YRS OLD----

When about 5 years old I made a trip with my Mother to the Funk and Stubblefield Reunion.  (I was 81 on June 28, 1963.)  We were visiting Mother's Mother near Wing, Ill. and word came that there was to be a reunion down near Bloomington at Funks Grove on the following Saturday, and as that was Grandfather Funk's people (he had passed away years before)  Mother insisted that we go.  Her bachelor brother William took us and Grandmother to the Wabash train at Wing and left his team in the livery stable there and went with us.  We reached a small train stop and on getting off found a colored man waiting to take us to the picnic grounds.  There did not seem to be any real roads, but a wagon track along a fence.  There were gates to open and the colored man gave the lines to Uncle and got out and opened and closed the gates each time.  At last we got to a beautiful timber and a huge crowd of people were sitting around while colored people were setting food on long tables and smaller colored folks were waving green branches to keep the flies away.  Soon, we were called to eat and such wonderful food: delicious platters of ham, roast beef, fried chicken, and dishes of vegetables cooked many ways, salads of various kinds, pickles, jams, jellies, and fresh breads and hot buns and beverages  of all kinds; milk, lemonade, cold tea and coffee.  I had never seen so much food, or so many strange people, and the colored folks kept passing more food and one real old man said to me, "Honey child, you are not eating very much.  You sure never will grow to be a big lady unless you eats more than 'dat."  So I began to eat and Mother said I did very well.  Sometime during the afternoon a boy a little older than I was who had sat near us at the table at noon came by and told me that the old Negro man we had seen at the table was serving watermelon, so I went with him to get some; for if there was anything I liked better than ripe, juicy watermelon, it was just more and more of it.  We each got a nice big new-moon shaped piece and sat down to enjoy it.  Well, well.  I had on a nice white dress, white stockings, black shoes, white knitted mitts, and a white straw hat trimmed in blue forget-me-nots with blue ribbon ties under my chin and that juice was all over me.  When Mother found me later I was sure a mess, but as she always carried a spare outfit for me we departed for an outside washroom and she stripped me and I got the thrashing of my life and a new outfit of clothes.  She sure laid the law down to me and it was soon time to go to the train to go back to Wing where Uncle had left his team of cream colored horses.  I never saw him drive any other color, nor do I believe he ever owned any other color.  I do not believe I ever enjoyed watermelon as much as I did that day and I love it just as much now as then and I am 81 years old as I write this.  Just last Saturday, August 21, 1963 Wilha and Jack Shellman stopped here on their way home from the 79'th reunion.  I may be able to go next year, at least I hope so.

THE FIRST FIREWORKS I EVER SAW-------

When I was a small child Wauponsee Station was a real town, small of course, but grew by leaps and bounds for awhile.  There was a large grocery store that anyone could get just about anything needed in the home or on their persons or any of the common well known remedies used in those days because Drs. were so far away and used a horse and buggy or rode a horse.  So travel was slow and not like 1963 methods of travel as no matter what is the trouble, help can reach the distressed in moments; either Dr., ambulance, or neighbors, where it took hours before.  At the top of the large grocery store was an apartment and generally the family of the man who worked for Mr. Henry Gorham and Mr. Gardie Newport, the owners, lived up there.  There was no modern plumbing.  All water used was carried up a long flight of stairs and carried down again.  There was a long stairs on the south side and another on the north side of the building.  This 4'th of July I remember my Mother and I sat on the steps on the south side and all the steps were full of women and children and the horses and mules and buggys and wagons were put in a large lot or pasture on the north side of the store so not to frighten them when the fireworks went off over in a field south of the K & S RR track.  This railroad went from Seneca to Kankakee and there were 4 trains a day, which was only 2 trains that went up and back and hauled grain and stock and people either way to reach another railroad going to Chicago and other large cities.  Of course we were visiting among ourselves when a large long streak of colored light flew into the air and lighted up the whole place.  There was a loud bang and dozens of pretty star-like lights flew every way.  It sure was a lovely sight and some men told us it was called a sky rocket and that there would be more of them later on.  There were pretty wheels with all kinds of colored lights and loud banging noises that were nailed to posts and trees and lots of firecrackers, some so loud you wanted to hold your hands over your ears, and a never ending of those beautiful sky rockets.  I think it lasted perhaps a half hour, then they passed around ice cream in little paper cups and our Mothers had brought along spoons; then they passed cake and cookies to eat with the ice cream and it was all homemade.  Every family had brought something and also their lanterns and they were hung around on the buggies or on the fence posts so it was light as day.  After the older folks had visited awhile, all went home happy and the little ones asleep and still dreaming of the sight of their first fireworks.  Wauponsee had a nice band that played many well known songs and marches of the day.  There was no jazz or wild discording music as there is today and whenever they played a song that the crowd knew the words of, everyone sang and the band played more softly.

In this small country town there were 15 houses, a depot, lumber yard, ice house, blacksmith shop, grain elevator, coal sheds, a church, a post office, and a park.  People came for miles to trade and worship and no one in the surrounding community worked on Sunday as they do now in 1963, as it's hard to tell what day of the week it is as you drive thru the farming country.  Now there is nothing left of Wauponsee Station but the shell of the old store building as the inside was taken out to make a shelter for cattle and weeds are higher than a mares head.  All the houses are gone, the church burned down, also the grain elevator and the last remaining house burned several years ago.  The railroad has been torn up and the land is now farmed where it was.  There was a small store built where the depot stood, but that failed to draw any trade and has been sold and turned into a home.  All of the former residents of the old town have passed away and Wauponsee Station is only a memory, but what happy ones they are.  I am one of the very few left any more.  There is one left living near there now; the son of the man that was the K & S agent by the name of Roy Johnson.  He has a garage and car and tractor repair service back of his house.  He never married and lived with his Mother who was one of the Esgar daughters who married Wesley Johnson, the oldest son of J.K. Johnson, a good carpenter who built nearly all the houses around the neighborhood, also the Zion Methodist Church 1/2 mile north of Wauponsee Station.  He used to say he loved to build houses but it was so hard to please the women. "First they wanted a window here, then moved over there, then put back in the first place chosen and it made him so much extra work he sometimes wished he had never learned the carpenter trade."  He was a small man and moved about very quickly and was a very friendly person.  The name Wauponsee was an Indian name, but the first name given to the little town was Hill Park, then Hill Station and then Wauponsee.  I do not know if the post office was at any of these names other than Wauponsee.  The church there was Universialist and one of the store owners wives, Rev. Alfreda Newport, was the minister.  Her husband was co-owner of the store and elevator and Post Master.  They had 2 children, one a little girl who died in infancy and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery at Morris and her monument is a figure of a little girl, the only monument of that kind in the cemetery, very different but beautiful.  Lightning struck the church and burned it down one stormy night so all the members went to Verona where there was another church of the same denomination.  Rev. Newport was a very gifted woman and sang beautifully, also played the violin and piano.  They had a son who was a gifted painter and was living in California in 1962, but never comes back to visit.

A very sad thing happened to the other owner of the store, Mr. Henry Gorham.  His mother was living with them and the ladies took daily buggy rides around the countryside and often into Morris.  One day they were ready to start and in fighting the flies the horse got the lines caught under her tail and onto the buggy thill, causing her to turn around and around and upsetting the buggy.  Miss Jessie Gorham had jumped out with one of the children in her arms and laid it down and Grandma threw the other one to her just as the buggy went over and Grandma was thrown out and hit her head on a stone and was killed instantly.  Then the horse fell down and could be stopped.  Everybody loved Grandma as she was such a lovely lady and the entire community mourned for years for her.  As long as she had lived she had helped everyone in sickness or trouble and shared food and clothing with the needy and helped care for the sick no matter who or where they lived in the community.  She always went prepared to bathe the sick one and change the bed and feed them broth or gruel she had brought and the Drs. often said Grandma Gorham's way of care often healed the sick where their pills and plasters failed.  She was a wonderful person and was missed by more than her own family. Her son Henry had 2 children, Mable and Harry, and I went to school with Mable.  Both have passed away now, for both have left several grandchildren who are making good in schools and colleges.  I remember Rev. Mrs. Newport so well because she gave dramatic lessons and at that time the W.C.T.U. was holding speaking contests, giving silver and gold medals for prizes.  I entered several but never won a medal.  At the Universialist Church once, during one of these contests, I had a very long and very dramatic speech.  I got thru the first part very well of two pages, but all of a sudden I could not think of anything, so, catching my breath, I started on the last page and left out about 1 1/2 pages of a very dramatic part.  The story was about a ship on fire at sea, and my story came out very well, but I didn't get any medal.  I never tried to give any more recitation.  No one but Rev. Newport and I knew I had forgotten my part.  She said later on that I never showed anything was wrong and it was not until I had left the stage that she found out my mistake.  She was a very gifted and understanding person and did not scold me.  My folks did not know that I had made a mistake and had not recited all of my recitation as I should and Mrs. Newport said, " You did so well.  I do not think it is necessary for you to tell them about it.  But if you feel you want to, that is alright with me."  After they left Wauponsee Station to live they moved next door to my parents in Morris, just south of Chapin Park and the two families were together nearly every day.  At last the Newports sold their morris home and moved to California to live and at one time had a small stationery and gift store.  After my Father and brother had passed away my Mother and her sister Aunt Lida Marsh went to Calif. and visited the Newports.  But now in 1963 all of the above mentioned have passed to the better land and I do not know anything about Harold, the Newport son.  There is a cousin of his that lives near Belvidere, Ill. who married Ruby Aker and have a large family, now all married and in homes of their own except the youngest son.  But I do not see them very often so know little about the relatives left in the Newport family.  My sister-in-law Hazel Green Cooper is also a cousin of Harolds, but the last time I asked her about him she said she never heard from him.  But he was always a quiet retiring person and kept to himself from a tiny child, not having any real boy friends while living in Illinois that she knew, not even her younger brother.

We visited a cemetery Five Miles in Livingston County and I got quite a lot of dates of my Mother's folks so will write it down here before the papers are mislaid or lost.  Grandfather James Funk was 52 years old when he died of pneumonia near Wing, Ill in 1867.  Grandmother Sarah Ross Funk died in 1910 and was 88 years old.  She had a sun stroke several years before and was like a little child much of the time and lived with her son William near Wing.  Mother's brother Riley was 52 years old and died in 1910 at Aunt Ellen Brydia in Okla.  Another brother Ross died in 1909 and his wife Sadie in 1910 in Wing where he operated a livery stable.  Their daughter Nellie was killed by her husband in 1921 in Wing and then he killed himself.  She was his second wife and his small son found them both dead when he came home from school.  Nellie was a very kind and friendly person and Mr. Green was very jealous and criticized her every move but his children all loved her.  He was caretaker of the grain elevator in Wing.  She was of a large family and all are dead but one brother Chester and a sister Sarah.  Now both are near 75 years old. I will now begin my new book.  This is the 27th of November, 1963 and I am 81 years old.  I hope the various little remembered stories I have written will be enjoyed by my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren because we are living so differently now than when I was a child.  Our President John Kennedy was shot and killed Nov. 23'rd in Dallas, Texas.

LOOSE PAGES

Although at the end of Book 2 Laura said she would begin a new book the only thing I have in my possession is some loose sheets.  Either she started a book and tore these pages out or there is another book somewhere.  If anyone would happen to have a third book I would most appreciate borrowing it to transcribe. KLG.

ZION S. SCHOOL 4'TH OF JULY PICNICS-------

One year it was decided to have the celebration at our home.  Long tables were set up out in the yard in the shade and different women brought out table cloths and Mother got out all of ours and many brought chairs and Father went to the church and got all that was there so everybody could sit up and be comfortable when they ate. (That was before the addition was built on the north side of the church for all such gatherings during Mr. Buxton's stay as minister.)  I think every family brought fried chicken, scalloped potatoes, and potato chips as we had just learned to make those dishes; and various garden vegetables prepared as their families liked them best.  Also a big freezer of ice cream.  I have a picture of that years' group of 50 people and ten are still living in 1964.  After dinner we had a program.  We sang songs, some recited poems, then had games for everybody to join in and prizes of cake or pie or cookies were given and an extra dish of ice cream.  Everyone had a wonderful time.  I think that was one of the very best picnics we ever had.  Another time we put the tables down in our 2 basements as it had rained and the ground was too wet to go outside.  We had about the same amount of people each year.  One year we went to John Winsor's, another to Jim Winsor's, to Herbert Vanderpool's, and to the Cooper's several times.  As the children grew older they wanted to go to some town to celebrate and so the S.S. ones were discontinued.  Many of the older folk met at different homes.  Sometimes Reniffs, Coopers, or Winsors; and enjoyed their dinners and visits together. Some times at night fireworks were enjoyed at Verona or Wauponsee Station.  But we never failed to celebrate the 4th of July.

At last a group of people from Verona and surrounding country went to Harford's Grove (now Malmquist's) and put up stands where soft drinks, ice cream, candy, fruits, and CrackerJack were sold and families brought their well filled baskets and ate on the ground under the trees.  Mother would spread a table cloth down and we would all sit around it and the food was put in the middle and each one helped himself to what he wanted and passed it on to the next.  Our plates were kept filled till most of the food was gone.  There were always baseball games and some of the young folks brought tennis sets and croquet sets and played all P.M.  Some would go home from each family and get the night chores done and then come back for fireworks.  A wonderful day to remember.

HOW I LOST MY FIRST FINGER ON MY LEFT HAND-----

In the summer and fall of 1886 my Grandfather had a large new barn built on the home farm.  Some hay was put into it from the big stacks out in the hay lot just to see if the big fork at the north end of the barn and the long steel track that ran through the entire barn roof and a large rope at the south end that was fastened to a singletree and a horse hitched to it and it pulled the hay up into the barn and a small rope, when pulled, unloaded the fork of its load of hay onto the loft floor.  Of course I wanted to watch everything as any child would so I was outside with my Father or Grandfather nearly all the time.  Grandfather was not a very young man and not very well, so Father kept a man to help with the farm work.  In those early days we had bad snow storms and many days roads were closed so the cattle were kept in the barn lots and fed on the straw stacks, often eating on the sunny side of the lots and eating so far in it looked like a cave.  This made it a warm place to stay in and still eat, but the snow on the tops of the stacks often melted and caused the roof of straw to fall in and one March night that was what happened at our home and was discovered as soon as the men went to get the cows to do the milking.  Hurriedly getting forks and shovels they soon got the cattle and hogs out and while several were lame for weeks, none died.  Then the men decided to put the best of the straw into the barn, so a hay rack was loaded up with nice clean straw and taken to the barn.  Grandfather hitched his old driving horse, Old Kate, to the rope at the south end of the barn and Father got the fork full ready at the north end and the man went up in the hay loft to pile the loads back as they were brought up into the barn.  I was of course watching and Grandfather told me to stay back and not touch anything; but childlike I saw Old Kate was having a hard time to start the load, so I decided to help.  I grabbed the big rope and my left hand was dragged into the wooden pulley and I screamed and Grandfather stopped the horse and ran back to me.  I had got my hand free when the rope slacked up and of course ran home to Mother.  She had heard me and was making doughnuts and came out with her hands all flour; but, when she saw the blood she screamed for Father and took me into the kitchen.  Of course he and Grandfather and the man all came running to see what had happened and Father jumped on his riding horse and went to Verona for the Dr.  It did not take very long before they were back again and Dr. Elliot was caring for me.  He told Father to hold me on his lap and turn me around so I would not see what he was doing.  He had to cut my mashed first finger off my hand and sew the next two up and pull the skin over the exposed bone and sew it also.  He had put something in the water he used to wash my hand and I did not feel anything.  In all he took about 40 stitches to close the wounds.  He put something more on and a salve to help heal it and wrapped me up in a big bandage.  All the time he was working he told me stories to get my mind off myself.  He was just a real young man, just out of college, but Drs. of today said it was a very splendid job and it soon healed up.  It was several weeks before i knew I had lost a finger because my hand was in a bandage for several months.  We learned later the Dr. had used Carbolic  acid in the water he washed my hand in.  We often drove to Verona where he would put new dressings on it.  I was 4 years old and it all happened on March 27th.  I went to school next fall at the Gorham School south of Wauponsee Station because my Aunt Lida Funk taught and stayed with us.  I was 5 in June and started in the fall in Sept.  There was no law then about age limit.  I had a baby brother born in May so Mother was glad to get me in school for my little brother had colic so bad and was so fat. He died the next winter or spring with the croup.  They called it Membraneous Croup.  My hand healed very nicely but I had to be very careful not to hit it on anything; but I learned to play the organ and later the piano.  But no teacher ever tried to teach my left hand.  I used it the best way I could.

HAVING MOTHER'S FRIEND FROM NORMAL------

My Mother had gone to school with a family by the name of Lord.  One of the girls was named Louise and one of the boys was called Felstead.  He later became a minister and Louise married a butcher by the name of  Faunze, a German.  They had 3 children.  The oldest, a girl, died with T.B.  when she was 16 and the boy, Charles, was a helper in the butcher shop.  The youngest was a boy, Ralph.  Mrs. F. wrote to Mother and asked if she and Ralph and a girl to look after him, as he was only 3 1/2 years old, could come visit because she needed a rest.  My Father went to meet them at Gardner so to save them waiting for the K & S for 2 hrs; but the ride was a long one of almost 4 hours as it was a very warm day and the horses were slow.  At last they arrived and Mrs. Faunze was very tired and went right to bed, although it was only 4 o'clock in the afternoon and she told my Mother if it stayed that warm all the time she would want her bedding fresh every day and that she might want her meals brought to her in bed in case she had to stay in her room.  Mother told her that as long as she had brought the girl to look after Ralph she would have to take care of her also; that she and I were too busy with extra men and canning to take on any more work.  Mother came downstairs pretty well disgusted with her company.  So the lady got up and dressed and came down to supper and ate with the rest of the family.  Of course it must have been quite an effort for her, but I think she must have understood Mother meant every word she said and that all of them would have to wait on themselves just a little if things went smooth for the 2 weeks they planned to stay with us.  I had my doubts it would work out for we were always extra busy all summer for we always canned 400 to 600 quarts of fruit and vegetables every year, often adding some meats and we had wonderful meals all the year around.  We did not consider it a hardship to try and save what we raised in our gardens and orchards, as the women of today, now in 1964.  Well, to go on with Mrs. Fauntz, Nellie, and Ralph.  Our men were always up by 4 or 4:30 AM and after taking care of the livestock and milking the cows and getting the horses curried and harnessed ready to go to the fields as soon as they have had breakfast; Mother and I always had that ready as soon as they came in from the barns.  Of course our guests did not appear until about 9 or 9:30 so a second breakfast had to be prepared.  Nellie was so glad to get the ham and eggs and fried potatoes; the nice big dish of oatmeal cereal with real cream; and the homemade bread with real butter; cocoa made with milk and coffee for the older folks.  Ralphy tasted a little of this and a little of that and got down and went outside to look around with a cookie in his hand.  Mrs. Fauntz was sure he would get killed and poor Nellie had to leave her breakfast and run out to rescue him, so Mother sent me to watch him and let Nellie eat.  After awhile she came out and I got the fire going in the wash house as I knew I had to wash the beds as Mother said I should, and then help her with dinner for all.  About that time Ralph let off a yell and I ran to see what was wrong with him and found him in the backyard and my brother's little wagon up-side down near him and I got him up and asked where they were and he said he didn't know.  Just then Howard came out of the chicken house where he had been filling the water pans as he always did and Clinton came from the wood pile with an armful of wood for the big range in the kitchen.  By that time Mrs. Fauntz was sure Ralph was being killed or had been attacked by a bull or some other wild animal like an old Plymouth rooster.  By the time we had assured her he was not harmed in any way, that  he had rolled down the slope made by the cistern pump; a cookie made him happy again.  But it took both Mother and I to get Mrs. Fauntz onto the back porch and into a rocking chair Mother always kept on the porch to catch her breath whenever she had a chance.  With Nellie to watch Ralphy while my two brothers took fresh water to the men in the field and get the mail that one of them had gone a mile and a half to Langham for, I did the washing of their 3 beds and made up their beds as soon as the sheets were dry and then helped with the dinner.  Mrs. Fauntz had Nellie change Ralphy's clothes at dinner time and they were almost late for dinner.  Poor Nellie got scolded, but we knew it was not her fault because we could hear her trying to coax him to let her wash his hands and face.  What he needed was a real good scare and I decided to help her get him ready for supper and I did and we were not late.  But he did not eat much and Mrs. Fauntz was sure he was sick or had played too hard.

Well, we put up with them until the 2 weeks were almost ended.  Poor Nellie nearly run her legs off keeping Ralphy from being killed.  She had to be with him all the time when he was awake.  But he always took a nap in the afternoon and she got some rest, but Mrs. Fauntz always had a lot of things for her to do.  Mrs. Fauntz, or Aunt Lou as we were taught to call her, was not sick or need real bed care, but did not seem very well and wanted so many things done for her all the time: a drink of water, a fresh handkerchief, the shades lowered or raised, a fly killed, or a dozen other little things.  One day Nellie told me her older sister was the one who generally cared for Ralphy, but that she had gone to a church camp where Mrs. Fauntz's brother was a teacher for the two weeks and Mr. Fauntz was paying her entrance fee while there, so Nellie was taking her sister's place, but she would never do it again and she cried when out of Mrs. Fauntz's sight.  The crowning touch came when one evening my brothers were sent to feed the chickens and fill the water pans and gather the eggs and I had gone to put the apple and potato peelings and discarded cabbage leaves into a pan where an old sow and her 8 little pigs were.  I threw the leaves in and she began to eat, when Ralphy grabbed one of the little pigs that was by the fence and it squealed and he decided to climb in and get it.  He was on the other side of the pen from me; but I ran to him and grabbed his shirt to pull him out and the old sow came on the run and I grabbed a club and hit her over the head and grabbed Ralphy and threw him over the fence and kept hitting the sow and calling for my Father.  He came on the run and grabbed a big club and went into the pen and hit her on the nose till I could get out and then climbed out himself.  He grabbed Ralphy and turned him over his knee and gave him a good spanking and told him to get for the house and tell his Mother what he had done to him and said he would be up in a few minutes.  I don't think I ever saw my Father so mad.  He told me he was proud of the way I had tried to save Ralphy and told Nellie he was glad she had not tried to get in the pen as he was sure one of us would have been bitten badly and said the bite of a hog was very poisonous and that she might not have hit the sow as hard as I had and would have made her only madder.  We all went to the house and he went right out on the front porch where Mrs. F. and Ralphy were and told her the whole story and asked her when she was going home.  She said in a day or so and he told her he was taking her to the train station in Gardner the next morning at 7:30 to catch the 11 o'clock train.  He was afraid if they stayed longer Ralphy would either get killed or badly hurt, so they went home.  Nellie wrote me several times, but they moved away to California and I never heard from her again.  I have often wondered if she is still alive and where she and her family are now.  Ralphy went to school as soon as he was old enough and was killed crossing the street at the wrong time when about ten years old.  His Uncle Rev. Lord spent over Sunday with my folks and preached at both Zion and Verona and of course stayed with us and he said Ralphy did just as he pleased all the time and that caused his death.  I think the family must all be dead as have not heard from or about them for years.  I know Mr. Fauntz died and she was married to a Mr. Green as they visited Mother in the 1920's or shortly after my folks moved to Morris to live.  We entertained many people, but never any that caused us as much trouble as Mrs. Fauntz and Ralphy and we sure were glad to see my Father drive in and know he had seen them safely on the train and started for home.

HISTORY OF A PIONEER FAMILY
by
LAURA JEAN GONNAM
1941

The following essay was a history of the Cooper family written by Laura Jean Gonnam with the help of Laura Cooper Gonnam in 1941.  Jean states that she wrote the history for use in an exhibit of a log cabin owned by Harry Hough at the Grundy County Fair which originated in Mazon and was held there for years

Back in the years following 1800, everyone was talking of the West!  The place where the land was so rich; could be purchased for a low price; land of prosperity, promise , and adventure.  Why, yes, everyone was going to the great West.  It must have been exciting, the talk that passed form mouth to mouth of the pioneers as they conversed over corn cob pipes around a warm fire.

Gradually the fever crept upon family after family and of course it did not miss the Cooper family who was then living in Granville, Ohio.  They soon picked up all their worldly possessions and started toward the West, but they only went as far as Rockville, Ind. (slightly Northeast of Terre Haute, Ind.) 

Leaving his family in this little village, Reverend Samuel C. Cooper traveled from town to town, in that vicinity, carrying on his religious work.  He also attempted to raise money to finance the DePauw University, which was then just a struggling little institution.  Before the University was completely finished he died and his work had to be carried on by his son, Samuel T. Cooper

This boy who followed in his father's footsteps in the ministry was a great promoter of education.  He helped to found a Methodist College at Valparaiso, Ind. which is now one of the leading educational forces in the state.  Although the best efforts of his life were devoted to the advancement of the cause of Christianity, he also was the successful business man who founded the Cooper Wells & Company, knitting and spinning industry in St. Joseph, Mich.  It is believed that this company is still in operation, although the remaining relatives of the Cooper family have not heard of  it in recent years.  Reverend Samuel T. Cooper died on Feb. 3, 1892.

The other son, William, followed his greatest desire and moved from Indiana in the year 1852 with his wife, the former Frances A. Garrison, to Illinois.  For two years the happy couple lived near Ottawa, Ill.

Hearing of some more of that fine land, William finally purchased 220 acres of it in Grundy County.  As the little family bounced along in their horse-drawn wagon and stopped on their land what a proud feeling they must have had!  Suddenly, before their eyes the prairie and timber changed into fields with corn, oats, and wheat waving in the cool breeze; a large barn, crib, and other farm buildings; and a lovely white house.  Yes, their home--to be passed on to their sons!  What a happy moment!  But this was only a dream and there was much work to be done.

Slow but sure, the trees disappeared and a log cabin was built and other necessary buildings erected.  No, it was not their dream farm; but, in a few years when and if the crops were good, they could easily fill their wishes.

Neighbors were few and far between, the closest white neighbor being about five miles away.  Shabbona, the Indian chief, though, lived along the Illinois River and the Cooper family saw his tribe more often than their own white people.

The friendship between the Indian and Mrs. Cooper grew after they traded a loaf of brown bread for several prairie chickens and quail.  The Redman had become intoxicated by the delicious aroma and after much difficulty explaining, received what he wanted.  This was just the beginning of the trading that was transacted in the following years.

The Indians often added fresh meat of deer, squirrel or rabbit, fresh berries or rich maple syrup to the simple meal of cornbread and beans that the Coopers had cooked over an open fireplace.  This was the main food they had in those early days.

The nearest important trading post was Chicago, and once a year the Coopers would go with neighbors after supplies to carry them through another year.  All excess livestock was driven to Chicago to be traded for necessary supplies.  As a protection against bandits and roving Indians, Shabbona and his sons often accompanied the little band on this long six week journey.

As Mr. Cooper came from a strong Methodist family, he and his family attended the Methodist Services held in the schoolhouse built on Hog Run in Vienna Twp.  Feeling that a church was necessary, Mr. Cooper became one of the first founders of the Zion Methodist Evangelical Church, which is situated one half a mile north of Wauponsee Station.  At the present (1941) date both the school and church are used and little is changed, even after these many years of use.

Meanwhile, the little family had begun to continue their life dream.  The fertile land was cleared; a barn, crib, and other out buildings were built; and then began the building of the house.  Huge logs were exchanged for stone and dressed lumber, which had to be hauled from Joliet and Chicago.  The other buildings were made of rough lumber, but the house was to be the best.  But Mrs. Cooper never had the chance to live in the new house for she died in 1856 leaving 6 children for her husband to care for.  William Cooper carried on even though he missed his wife and finally completed the new home.  In 1892, William Cooper bid his little family farewell.

The children left home and went on to complete their desires.  Bruce Cooper remained on the farm after buying the land from the other heirs.  Samuel started for Nebraska where he spent his life farming.  A daughter, Esther, married John Hammond, and they went to Lookout Mountain, Tenn. where they ran a fashionable hotel for many years.  The boy, Ellis, died while very young and Frances and Mary both married neighbors and lived near the Cooper home, but both died while young.

Bruce Cooper married Mary Funk, of Livingston County, who was related to the people who own the present Funk Seed Corn Company.  This young couple had five children: Steven, William, Clinton, Howard, and Laura.  Steven and William died in infancy and Clinton died at the age of 31.   After farming for 35 years, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Cooper retired from the farm, bought a home in Morris, Ill and spent their remaining years comfortably.  The son, Howard, did not carry on farming, but married and went to Hastings, Neb.  where he became a garage owner.  This left the farm to the daughter, Laura, who married William Gonnam of Indiana.

The farm will never be carried on down through the years by the name of Cooper, but I am sure William and Frances Cooper would be proud if they could see it now.  with the addition of modern conveniences, the buildings have changed considerably when compared to the first home built on the land, but their life dream has come true. You see, I know, for my Mother was Laura Cooper and I have for the last sixteen years lived on the old Cooper Homestead.

Rev. Samuel C. Cooper was born of Methodist parents in the city of Baltimore, on the 17'th of May, A.D. 1799.  While he was but a child his parents removed to Ohio, where, in 1818, he was converted, and shortly after, received license to exhort, and felt that God had called him to the work of the ministry.  These impressions he then resisted.  He married and engaged in business, and for a time prospered.  From circumstances not necessary to mention, he found it necessary to wind up his business.  The companion of his youth died and left him with two small children.
After severe struggles of the mind, he yielded to his convictions of duty and engaged in the work of the ministry.  He was employed by the presiding elder, Charles Holliday, as assistant preacher on the Vincennes circuit.  In Sept. of 1827, he was received on trial in the traveling connection, and appointed to Lash River Circuit, in the state of Illinois.  In 1828 he traveled the Princeton circuit where he married her who has since shared his toils and sorrows, and now mourns his loss.
But we will not follow him through all his appointments as missionary and circuit preacher, often in hard and laborious fields, as presiding elder and college agent, both of which offices he filled with great efficiency and usefulness.  His last appointment in the conference was to the Greenfield circuit, where he labored till the second quarterly meeting, with more than ordinary success and usefulness , when he was reluctantly compelled, on account of feeble health, to give up his work.
He twice represented his conference in the General Conference.  His last service for the Church was in the last General conference, which he attended in very feeble health for a few days of the former part of the session, and then bid his fellow laborers in the Gospel field farewell, and went home to die.
He sunk gradually, till the evening of the 19'th of July, 1856, when he sweetly fell asleep in Jesus.  Everything was arranged; he was ready, and his last words to his companion were, "Well, I am going."
He was a good preacher; always systematic and clear.  He had great business capacities, was a safe counselor, and we, as his younger brethren in the ministry, and sons in the Gospel, loved to listen to his counsels and follow his advice.  His loss will be long and severely felt by his brethren of the North Indians Conference.
His funeral was preached in the college chapel, in Greencastle, before his family and a large congregation of his neighbors, by his last presiding elder, Rev. J.H. Hull, on the 14'th of September, and before the North Indiana conference, at Muncie, on the 28'th of September by Rev. C. Nutt.  Respectfully submitted

Historical Notes Regarding Samuel C. Cooper

From  Index to Appointments of Methodist Episcopal Ministers in Indiana
      1800-1839
      Year  District          Church                  Minister
      1828  Wabash            Princeton               Samuel Cooper
      1830  Indianapolis      Crawfordsville          Samuel Cooper
      1831  Crawfordsville    Pine Creek              Samuel Cooper
     
      1832-1851
      Year  District          Church                  Minister
      1832  Missionary        Upper Wabash            Samuel Cooper
      1833  Vincennes         Rockville               Samuel Cooper
      1834  Crawfordsville    Rockville               Samuel Cooper
      1835  Vincennes         Otter Creek Mission     Samuel Cooper
      1836  Bloomington       (P.E.)                  Samuel Cooper
      1837  Centerville Ind. Asbury Univ.(agent)     Samuel Cooper
      1838  Bloomington Ind. Asbury Univ.(agent)     Samuel Cooper
      1839  Greencastle Ind  Asbury Univ.(agent)     Samuel Cooper
      1840  Greencastle Ind  Asbury Univ.(agent)     Samuel Cooper
      1841  Greencastle Ind  Asbury Univ.(agent)     Samuel Cooper
      1843  Greencastle Ind  Asbury Univ.(agent)     Samuel Cooper

From: DePauw Through the Years  Vol. 1   by Geo. Manhart
      1962 Depauw University, Greencastle, Ind.

"From the beginning it was the plan to finance the University chiefly from funds collected either for the endowment of professorships or for perpetual scholarships.  The collection of such funds was entrusted largely to agents, four of whom were appointed at the beginning.  These were Wm. Shanks, S.C. Cooper, Wm.A. Daily, and John A. Brouse, all  ministers of the Ind. Conference."

From: Ohio Marriages  extracted from the Old Northwest Genealogical Quarterly
      1980  Edited by Marjorie Smith

      1819, Aug. 19           Cooper, Samuel and Caroline Thrall
                        by Spencer Wright;  Justice of the Peace; Licking Co.

Rev. Samuel T. Cooper, son of Rev. Samuel C. Cooper, was born in Licking County, Ohio, June 11, 1824, and with the rest of his father's family removed West, and settled in Mount Carmel, Ill., while Samuel was yet a child.  His father was one of the mighty Western pioneer preachers, who reared his son in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
While yet a youth, the subject of this sketch was soundly converted to god, and at once became deeply moved, though but eleven years of age, to bring others also to repentance.  Soon after his conversion he was placed with Henry T. Sample, of Lafayette, Ind., where he learned the trade of tanner and currier.  When about twenty years of age, Samuel began holding prayer meetings and delivering exhortations to his young friends, and became even then a power for good among the young people.  In 1845 he was employed by Rev. Charles M. Holliday, Presiding Elder of the LaPorte Dist., and traveled as a supply, serving a part of that year on Sumption Prairie Circuit, in St. Joseph County, and the remainder of that year in Valparaiso Circuit, in Porter County.
At the session of the Annual Conference held at LaPorte, Ind., in 1846, he was admitted on trial and appointed to the Roseville Circuit, in Parke County, where he served as second man with Rev. Nelson Greene, preacher in charge.  In 1847, he was junior preacher on Greencastle Circuit, with Rev. Hezekiah Smith as preacher in charge.  On both these circuits he was very successful in his labors, especially among the young people; and during the time he served on the Greencastle work, in addition to his labors on the circuit, he studied hard and recited in the regular college classes in Asbury Univ. at Greencastle.  In 1848, he was appointed to Terre Haute Mission; and in the north part of that city, during the time, built a neat little frame church, adding all the territory to his Charge between the Wabash River and the Illinois state line.  In 1849-50, he labored in what was then called "West Mission" in the City of Indianapolis, but the people called it the "Depot Charge" because he preached and organized the society in the depot built by the Madison & Indianapolis Railroad Co.; and these were two years of marked success.  In 1851 he was stationed at Michigan City; and on Oct. 13, 1852 was married to Miss Mary Ward.  In the fall of 1852 he was appointed to Mishawaka Station, where he had a glorious revival and many souls were saved.  In 1853, he served as preacher at Roberts chapel, Indianapolis, during which year many were converted and added to the church.  In 1854 he served Richmond Station with his usual success.  In 1855-56, LaPorte Station; in 1857, Attica Station; in 1858-59, Valparaiso Station; in 1860, Valparaiso Circuit; in 1861, Westville; 1862, South Bend Station; for the next four years was Presiding Elder of the Valparaiso District.  For twenty-five years, while engaged in active service, he was uniformly successful in his work.  He was dignified in manner, chaste in style, apt in illustration, a forceful and impressive gospel preacher, with a remarkable gift in exhortation.  the pure and good man never made a failure in the work assigned him during his twenty-five years of active labor.  Early in 1868, he was thrown from his buggy, which resulted in a broken limb, by which, for a few weeks, he was unable to attend to the work of the District; and from 1868 to 1871, though having to go on crutches, such was his energy and conscientious efforts in the work of the Master that he scarcely ever failed to reach a Quarterly Meeting.  At the Conference of 1871, he was granted a Supernumerary relation.
In 1875, he settled his family at St. Joseph, Mich., where he and his sons went into business, and built up a large and remunerative industry; yet Samuel T. Cooper never forgot the vows of his early consecration, nor lost the spirit and piety of the minister and true man of God.  While prosperous and "diligent in business", he was "fervent in spirit" serving the Lord.  Prompted by the Spirit, he went out into the waste places, organizing societies, building houses of worship, contributing liberally of his own means, and thus winning multiplied hundreds of souls to Christ.
He was in revival work almost up to the hour of his death.  Having rendered effective service for two weeks or more in the protracted meeting among his old friends in Valparaiso, he returned to his home--his work was done, and on the 2nd day of February, 1892, from a sudden attack of apoplexy, his spirit was released to join the "innumerable company" above.  Leaving his family amply provided for, he did not forget the indigent worn-out preachers--widows and orphans--leaving by will a handsome sum for the needy and dependent of his Conference, which he loved so well.

So lived and thus died Rev. Samuel T. Cooper, whose name shall live in our memory, and the fragrance of whose successful life shall be as ointment poured forth; "for thousands have risen up to call him blessed," for having taught them the right ways of the Lord.  For is it not written that "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever?"