United States, and settled in Northumberland, Pa., where he practised law. He became a strong democrat, and violently attacked the administration of John Adams in the Reading “Advertiser” of 26 Oct., 1799. This led to his being tried for libel under the sedition act, and he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment, with a fine of $400. In 1806 he was appointed a land commissioner and succeeded in overcoming the difficulties with the Connecticut claimants in Luzerne county. Later he was made judge, but, becoming obnoxious to the members of his own party, he was removed in 1811 on a charge of arbitrary conduct. From 1811 till 1814 he held the chair of chemistry in Dickinson college, Carlisle, and from 1816 till 1821 filled a similar place in the University of Pennsylvania. In 1819 he was called to the College of South Carolina in Columbia, of which, from 1820 till 1834, he was president, and at the same time professor of chemistry and political economy. On his retirement in 1840 the revision of the statutes of the state was confided to him. President Cooper was eminent for his versatility and the extent of his knowledge. In philosophy he was a materialist, in religion a free-thinker, and in the nullification contest an ultra state-rights man. He was a vigorous pamphleteer in various political contests, and a frequent contributor to newspapers and magazines. From 1812 till 1814 he edited two of the five volumes of “The Emporium of Arts and Sciences” in Philadelphia, and also Thomas Thomson's “System of Chemistry” (4 vols., Philadelphia, 1818). He published “Letters on the Slave-Trade” (London, 1787); “Tracts, Ethical, Theological, and Political” (1790); “Information concerning America” (1790); “Account of the Trial of Thomas Cooper, of Northumberland” (Philadelphia, 1800); “The Bankrupt Law of America Compared with that of England” (1801); “Introductory Lecture at Carlisle College” (1812); “An English Version of the Institutes of Justinian” (1812); “Tracts on Medical Jurisprudence” (1819); and “Elements of Political Economy” (Charleston, 1826).
COOPER, Thomas Apthorpe, actor, b. in
London, England, in 1776; d. in Bristol, Pa., 21
April, 1849. He received a good education, and,
on the death of his father, was adopted by Thomas
Holcroft and William Godwin. His first appearance
on the stage was with Stephen Kemble's
company in Edinburgh, and later he acted at
Covent Garden, London, with great success as
Hamlet and Macbeth. In December, 1796, he
made his first appearance in Philadelphia as
Macbeth at the Chestnut street theatre, and in August
of the following year played in the Greenwich
street theatre, New York, as Pierre in “Venice
Preserved.” He returned to England in 1802, and
for several years held a foremost rank on the
English stage. In 1804 he returned to New York and
soon afterward, for a long time, became lessee of
the Park theatre. Later he again visited England,
but soon returned to the United States, where he
continued to play until advanced in years. His
daughter having married the son of President
Tyler, he held various public offices, among which
were that of military storekeeper in Frankford,
Pa., during 1841, and later the office of surveyor to
the ports of New York and Philadelphia. Cooper
had great natural endowments of person and voice,
but did not excel as a student. His acting was of
the school of John Philip Kemble, whom he bid
fair to rival in his early days.
COOPER, William, clergyman, b. in Boston,
Mass., in 1694 ; d. there, 13 Dec, 1743. He was
graduated at Harvard in 1712, and his leisure dur-
ing his college years was given to the study of the
Bible. After his graduation, being then only
eighteen years of age, he continued his studies
until 1715, when he began to preach. In August
of that year he was invited to become the col-
league of the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Colman, but his
ordination was deferred until 23 May, 1716. He
continued with the Brattle street Congregational
church until his death. In 1737 he was chosen to
the presidency of Harvard, but declined it. lie
participated actively in the great revival of 1740,
and said, toward the close of his career, that
"since the year 1740 more people had sometimes
come to him in concern about their souls in one
week than in the preceding twenty- four years of
his ministry," In 1742 he became involved with
the Rev. Jonathan Ashley, of Deerfield, in a dis-
pute concerning the revival, and a long newspa-
per and pamphlet controversy ensued. Besides
numerous published sermons, he was the author of
"A Tract defending Inoculation for the Small-
Pox" (1720), and " The Doctrine of Predestination
unto Life indicated in Four Sermons " (Boston,
1740; London, 1765).— His son, William, b. in
Boston, Mass., in 1720; d. there, 28 Nov., 1809,
was distinguished for his patriotic services during
the revolutionary war, and for forty-nine years
was town clerk of Boston. — Another son, Samuel,
clergyman, b. in Boston, 28 March, 1725; d. there,
29 Dec, 1783, studied at the grammar-school in
Boston, and was graduated at Harvard in 1743,
He studied theology and became his father's suc-
cessor and an associate to the veneral)le Dr. Col-
man. He was elected to the colleagvie postorate
on 31 Dec, 1744, and ordained on 21 May, 1746.
His ministry with the Brattle street church con-
tinued until his death. In 1767 he was elected a
member of the Harvard corporation, in which
office he remained during his lifetime, and in 1774
was chosen president ; but, like his father, he pre-
ferred the active duties of the ministry. He took
a prominent part in politics, and in 1754 published
" The Crisis," a pamphlet in opposition to the ex-
cise act, then in contemplation. From the time of
the stamp-act some of the best political articles in
the " Boston Gazette " were written by him. The
letters of Gov. Hutchinson were sent to him by
Dr. Franklin, with an injunction not to allow their
publication. These he placed in the hands of a
friend, whose disregard of the prohibition, though
a breach of confidence involving serious conse-
quences, was a great public benefit. In the spring
of 1775, with other distinguished patriots, he was
lampooned by the British officers in an oration de-
livered on State street. Afterward he made him-
self particularly obnoxious to the authorities, in
consequence of which he withdrew from Boston
just before the battle of Lexington. From April,
1775, till March, 1776, his church was used as a
barracks for the British troops. Dr. Cooper was
the intimate friend of John Adams and Benjamin
Franklin, who, during their residence in France,
i"ecommended to his care many of the prominent
French visitors to America. He was also an es-
teemed correspondent of distinguished Europeans,
and in 1767 was honored by the University of
Edinburgh with the degree of D. D. He was a
member of several religious and scientific socie-
ties, and was the first president of the American
academy of science and arts. Besides his political
writings he j^ublislied numerous sermons. His
" Discourse on the Commencement of the New
Constitution of Massachusetts " (1780) is the most
finished of all his literary productions.
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