Cooper, Jonathan K.

Born: 1814-11-09 Cumberland County, Pennsylvania

Died: 1884-11-22 Peoria, Illinois

Flourished: 1854-09-28 Peoria, Illinois

Cooper graduated from Jefferson College in 1835 and briefly taught classics before studying law. He earned admittance to the Illinois bar in 1839 and started a practice in Peoria, Illinois, that same year. In November 1845, Cooper married Sophia Rogers in Peoria County, Illinois. In 1850, Cooper was practicing law and owned $7,000 in real estate. He continued in the legal profession for the remainder of his life, although he served as mayor of Peoria in 1852. Politically, Cooper supported the Whig Party. By 1860, Cooper had amassed $16,000 in real estate, with a personal estate valued at $4,000. Cooper was also an elder of the First Presbyterian Church for eighteen years.

Portrait and Biographical Album of Peoria County, Illinois (Chicago: Biographical, 1890), 656-59; The History of Peoria County, Illinois (Chicago: Johnson, 1880), 453; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Peoria County, 6 November 1845, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Peoria, Peoria County, IL, 144; Petition of Jonathan K. Cooper and Others to Abraham Lincoln; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Ward 4, Peoria, Peoria County IL, 284.