Edward Everett Cooper, who died at the age of 77 on October 10, 1942, was an acknowledged leader in Warren political and agricultural circles for over 40 years. When he died, the Courier News wrote that “Cooper lived his life to the fullest – all of it in the interest of the public good.” His death, added the newspaper, “leaves a void for he was a man of kindness, service and humbleness.” Son of John and Susan Newman Cooper, a farmer in South Stirling, Cooper was born on March 17, 1865, educated at the Mount Bethel school and became a farmer like his father “but of the modern, progressive type,” in other words, open to new methods and practices. His dairy farm on Mountain Avenue, north of the Wagner farm (since replaced by modern houses) was a model for his neighbors. An invoice dated 1912 reveals that Cooper sold hardwood, loose hay and straw in addition to milk. He married Julia Bowers in 1889. A
Republican in a town that was then solidly Democratic, Cooper turned to
politics in 1898 when he was elected to the State Assembly. Re-elected in
1899, he ran for and was elected County Sheriff in 1904, serving for three
years. For the rest of his life, he was popularly known as Sheriff Cooper.
As sheriff he was instrumental in convincing the county freeholders to build
a modern jail, one that still stands as part of the county complex in
Somerville.
After his term as sheriff, Cooper returned to his dairy farm and milk route,
remaining active in political and farming matters until his death. He served
as County GOP chairman for 15 years, was a member of the Township Board of
Education, founder and past master of the township’s Grange, from 1916 to
1934 a member of the County Board of Taxation (a political plum) and,
importantly, for 35 years president of the Somerset County Board of
Agriculture, a key post in an era when farming was the leading industry in
Somerset County. He also served a term on the State Board of Agriculture in
1935. At the annual meeting of the County Board of Agriculture held at the
County Courthouse in January 1904, President Cooper read his annual address,
“which advocated the more liberal education of farmers’ sons and opposed the
killing of robins,” according to the Bound Brook Chronicle.
Apparently robins were considered pests by some but a benefit by farmers as
the County Board instructed its representative to the State Board to oppose
the killing of robins. Cooper’s remarks about education drew no response.
Frank Freehauf remembered Sheriff Cooper as a stalwart of the Mount Bethel
Baptist Church. “He always sat in a pew on the right side of the church
where my grandfather and other elders also sat,” wrote Freehauf. “Sheriff
Cooper looked the part of a successful person. He was always well groomed in
a blue serge suit with vest and gold chain.” Other church members, wrote
Freehauf, treated Cooper with respect, a sure sign he was “an important
person.” Cooper and his wife, who died in 1940, are buried in the Mount Bethel Baptist Cemetery.
[Ref: Bound Brook Chronicle, 1/15/1904; Legislative Manual, 1899, 1900; “A farmer becomes a political power” by Jessie Havens, 9/28/1994; Courier News, 3/18/1935, 10/12/1942; Meeker, New Jersey: A Historical, Commercial & Industrial Review, 1906]
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