My Genealogy Hound

Alvah L. Cooper, farmer and stock raiser, and the recently appointed postmaster of the thriving little city of Mammoth Spring, was born in Tompkins County, New York, April 1, 1842, and was the fourth of ten children, eight now living, born to Laban D. and Sarah M. (Woodin) Cooper, both of whom were born in Dutchess County, N. Y., the former in 1780, and the latter in 1812. In the primitive days of the Republic, the Coopers were among its most valiant defenders. In the gloomy days of 1778, when the notorious Tory refugee, John Butler, defeated his cousin, Col. Zeb Butler, and so unmercifully massacred the inhabitants of Wyoming, Penn., the paternal grandfather became one of the victims. Laban Cooper was of English descent, and a soldier in Gen. Scott’s brigade, receiving four different gun-shot wounds. At the memorable battle of Lundy’s Lane or Bridgewater, he was wounded twice, one of which was received while assisting Col. Miller in his historical charge on the British batteries on the heights, the key to the British position. In the no less eventful battle of Chippeway he was wounded. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant for services rendered during the war, and as his wife is still living, she now receives a pension. She resides at Mountain Lake, Penn., at the age of seventy-seven years. Alvah Cooper’s youth was spent in Bradford County, Penn., and his education was there received in the public schools. He and two of his brothers served nearly four years each in the late Rebellion. Alvah enlisted May, 1861, in Company F, Sixth Pennsylvania Reserve Corps, was elected captain and transferred to Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-Second Pennsylvania Volunteers of the Second Army Corps. From the battle of Bull Run to the closing scene at Appomattox, he was in all the principal battles in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, never receiving a wound. Mr. Cooper has been in the employ of the Government as special pension examiner and other positions almost continually since the war, and has ever been a consistent, hard-working Republican. It was in recognition of his services and abilities as a political organizer that he was recently appointed postmaster at Mammoth Spring. He is thoroughly imbued with the principles of the Republican party, and is an indefatigable political worker, and has probably done more than any other single man toward organizing the Republican party of this part of the State. He was one of the first to join the G. A. R., and has held many offices of trust in that order. Before coming to this State he was elected commander of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ encampment of Bradford County, also chairman of the Bradford County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monumental Association, for three years. On leaving his native State he resigned both positions, but was held in such high esteem by his comrades that his resignation was not accepted, and he continued to hold his office until the expiration of his term although out of the State. For a number of years he was a director of the Agricultural Society of Bradford County. In 1866 he was married to Miss Sarah Ann Larcom, a native of Bradford County, Penn., born in 1843, and dying in 1883; to them were born these children: Mintie M., wife of F. L. Sayles; Elmer C., Woodard C., killed when fourteen years of age; Gracie, Fred. C., Nellie, Warner and Grant. In 1886, like many of the hardy sons of the East, desiring a more congenial clime and soil in which to care for his family, he started toward the “Sunny South’’ to try his fortunes. The woodland of Arkansas pleased him. He and his son each homesteaded 160 acres, and have purchased 240 acres in addition, making in all a ranch of 560 acres of land. In everyday life Mr. Cooper is looked upon as an energetic, honest citizen. He spends his time closely in building up his farms and superintending the post office, and if fortune continues to smile on him, in a few years he will be one of the most prosperous as well as one of most prominent citizens of North Arkansas.