Lillie Viola Howard was born to George Washington Howard and Evelyn Powell in 1881. She does not appear in the 1880 census so we know her birth year was incorrect. It is assumed her actual birth year was 1881, based on the birth pattern of her siblings. It's believed she "adjusted" her birth year in 1900 so that she could marry without parental consent, which was needed if you were under the age of 21.

Lillie married a man named with the alias of Albert Lee Cooper. He was born Allen L. Jordan in 1869 to James Ervin Jordan and Sarah Jane Cooper of Lamar County, AL. Allen was sentenced to life in prison for murder in 1894 based off of one man's testimony. He escaped in 1899 and changed his first name, kept his middle name and took his mom's maiden name to become Albert Lee Cooper.

One year after he escaped, the man who accused Allen of murder admitted that he lied and after admitting he was guilty of the murder, he proclaimed Allen's innocence. We will never know if Allen (living as Albert by this time) knew about his exoneration.

He met Lillie in 1900 in AL or MS and they moved to TX, where they had their first child in 1901 and where they lived for the rest of their lives.

The hunt for Albert's past took four years and DNA tests from Albert's grandson and two great granddaughters (descendants of Albert and Lillie's daughter Ruby Cooper Vaughan).

The discovery was made in March of 2024 and came as a shock to the whole family. Nobody knows how much Lillie knew, but they went on to have six children and live a happy life together. Albert (Poppa Cooper) was well loved and it saddens our family that an innocent man was forced to flee his home and all those he loved, but we are proud of his courage and hope that by reuniting him with his family, we offer him the justice he wasn't afforded.

Albert and Lillie had six children:

Robert Lee Cooper

Clyde Cooper

Ruby Beatrice Cooper

Sam Bronson Cooper

Johnnie Houston Cooper

William "Bill" Woodrow Cooper