JOHN COOPER, TEACHER AND BLACKSMITH, THIRD CHILD AND SECOND SON OF HIS Capt. Robert Cooper and Jane Hamilton AND THE FIRST CHILD TO HAVE BEEN BORN ON FISHING CREEK IN THE OLD CAMDEN DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA. HIS FATHER DIED WHEN HE WAS FOURTEEN AND A FEW YEARS LATE HE LEFT FISHING CREEK WITH HIS BROTHERS WILLIAM GILL AND HAMILTON COOPER. THEY SETTLED IN DAVIDSON COUNTY JUST OUTSIDE OF NASHVILLE AT THE LITTLE TOWN OF HAYSBOROUGH. HERE HE TAUGHT SCHOOL.
IN 1805, AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-ONE, HE MARRIED JENNETT CAMPBELL WHO WAS FROM SOUTH CAROLINA, AND PROBABLY FROM THE JOHN CAMPBELL FAMILY OF FISHING CREEK. THEY MOVED TO WILLIAMSON COUNTY AND THEN TO MAURY COUNTY, TENNESSEE AND HE CONTINUED TO TEACH IN EACH COUNTY. HOWEVER, HE WAS ALSO A BLACKSMITH, FOLLOWING THE TRADE OF HIS FATHER.
FINDING THIS TO BE MORE PROFITABLE IN MAURY COUNTY HE DEVOTED HIS FULL TIME TO IT. HE LIVED THAT PORTION OF MAURY COUNTY WHICH LATER BECAME LEWIS COUNTY AND IT WAS HERE HE HAD HIS BLACKSMITH SHOP WHICH WAS TO BECOME A HISTORICAL SPOT. IT WAS IN THIS SHOP IN 1809 THAT HIS BROTHERS, HAMILTON AND ROBERT MELVILLE COOPER FORGED THE NAILS FOR THE CASKET OF MERIWETHER LEWIS. THE NAILS WERE LATER USED TO IDENTIFY THE REMAINS OF LEWIS WHEN THEY PLACED BENEATH THE MONUMENT ERECTED TO HIM THE MERIWETHER LEWIS NATIONAL PARK OF THE OLD NATCHEZ TRACE.
He was married to Jane Jennett Campbell.WAR RECORD: PRIVATE - WAR OF 1812
CAPT. WM. SPENCER'S CO, LT. COL. GEORGE
HENRY NIXON'S REGIMENT, MISS. MILITIA
WAR RECORD: WAR OF 1812: PRIVATE IN CAPT. JOHN BOND'S CO. OF MISS.
CAPT. WM. SPENCER'S CO., T. GEORGE HENRY NIXON'S REGIMENT, MISS. MILITIA. SERVED IN SAME COMPANY WITH HIS BROTHERS, WILLIAM GILL COOPER AND HAMILTON COOPER. SERVED FROM
MAY 16, 1814 - OCTOBER 7, 1814 AS A BLACKSMITH. DISCHARGED AT FORT CLAIBORNE ON THE
ALABAMA. ON DAILY DUTY AS A BLACKSMITH FROM JULY 11, 1814 - SEPTEMBER 27, 1814.