COOPER, JAMES OSCAR (1830 ~ 1920). James Cooper, a private in the Confederate Army, was born October 3, 1830 in Mauro County, Tennessee. Not much is known about his early life. He had three children by his first wife, Mary Underwood. Underwood died October 30, 1873. Cooper had two children by his second wife, Jane Mackey, who also predeceased him.
James Cooper enlisted in the Confederate Army May 21, 1861. He was a Private in Company E of the 3rd Tennessee Infantry, also known as Buckner's Brigade. On February 8, 1862, the 3rd Tennessee Infantry reached Fort Donelson, Tennessee, on the Cumberland River. On February 16, 1862, Cooper's regiment surrendered and he was taken as a captive to Camp Douglas, Illinois.
The intense cold of Camp Douglas, located on Lake Michigan, near Chicago, took a heavy toll on the prisoners of war. Cooper survived and after seven months was paroled and exchanged at Vicksburg, Mississippi. The last military record of Cooper shows him on an undated list of men acting as guards at General Hospital in Shelby Springs, Alabama.
Cooper moved to Texas in 1881 and was a farmer. He belonged to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Upon applying for admittance into the Confederate Home he was a widower for the second time. Cooper entered the Confederate Home on August 11, 1910, and by his own request left the home a year later. He listed his year of birth on the application as 1828, making him two years older than he actually was. Cooper returned to the Home April 1, 1912, where he lived until his death on February 10, 1920. He was buried in the Texas State Cemetery shortly after.
Information taken from records provided by Cooper's descendants, roots.web.com, Confederate Muster Rolls and the Confederate Home Roster. |
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