Alexander Sisson Cooper (1854-1927) Part 2

Alexander Sisson COOPER is my great grandfather. My favorite photo of him is holding his grandson, Stanley Gibson COOPER, my father, born 1924, in New York City.  I find him, age 51, in the U.S. Census record in 1910 as a boarder with his youngest son, Alex S. Cooper, Jr., age 19, in Manhattan. This document tells me that both father and son immigrated to the U.S. in 1905. My next step is to find the passenger ship that brought them to America. 

They left Liverpool on 13 May 1905 on the SS Etruia. 

Alex Jr. is age 11 and father is 47. Alex Sr. is a bookkeeper who can read and write. He is Irish from Dublin. Their destination is Brooklyn and he has paid for both of their tickets. He had $31 cash in his pocket. The next line told me that he had been to the US before! Both in 1881 and 1886. He is meeting his brother-in-law, J. E. Edmonds of 450 52nd St. of Brooklyn. 

Year: 1905; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 0576; Line: 25; Page Number: 104 Ancestry.com. New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

This document raises more questions for me to answer.

• Who is J.E. Edmonds?
• Why would he come to U.S. in 1881 and 1886?
• Why is “US Citizen” written over “Self and $31” in columns 13 and 14? 

I recently found an attempt for U. S. Citizenship with his Declaration of Intention dated 29 Jul 1907. The U.S.1910 Census states he is in Pa (Papers process). 1920 Census states both immigration year and US citizen status as Unknown. At least, Alexander, Sr., made the attempt.

 New York, State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1940. Circuit Court, Southern District. Vol 015-017 , 11 July-7 Sept 1907 (No. 6994-8487). Alexander Sisson Cooper, No. 7412. 29 Jul 1907. Ancestry.com. [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Naturalization Records. National Archives at New York City, New York, New York : accessed 30 Dec 2016

Alex, Sr., with son, Jack, out fishing with a bunch of buddies. This photo in possession of my aunt. Love the comments written in blue pen!

I find Alexander’s death certificate. He died in Brooklyn on 28 March 1927. He is widowed. His occupation was an office clerk. He was born in Ireland. His parents are listed as Austin D. Cooper and Elizabeth Gibson, both born in Ireland. He died of pancreatic cancer. 

New York. Brooklyn County. New York City. Death Certificates. 1795-1949  Microfilm 2,048,713 : accessed Jul 2003.

Family history was given as “Austin Damer Cooper” as my 2nd great-grandfather. After connection with my distant cousin, Richard Austin-Cooper, he stated that Austin Damer COOPER was (the first cousin of MY Austin COOPER) the son of Rev. Austin COOPER, the younger brother of Samuel COOPER. I will go into further detail of this COOPER line in the future. I crossed out the “D.” Alex is buried at Evergreen Cemetery of Brooklyn, New York. This was the first time for me looking at death certificates on microfilm. I did not know to look at the next page to see who provided the derivative information. I will have to look at this document again.