From Martha Jane Becker's book: Bramwell - The Diary of a Millionaire Coal Town"... What John Cooper started in 1884, those who followed him into the Cooper-Bramwell-Freeman triangle helped develop into one of the most unusual of all coal fields towns. He was born in South Staffordshire, England on November 14, 1842. His parents were too poor to send him to school, so at the age of six years he was taken by his father to start his life in the mines. He continue to study on his own and worked in the mines to gain experience and strength, so by the time he came to the United States in 1862 he had held about every position in the mines, except that of mine foreman. He came to the United States at the age of nineteen. He stayed in Pennsyvlainia until 1873 when he moved to Fayette County, WV. John Cooper married Maria Padbury (1844-1920). They were married on December 17, 1866 in the Church of St. Edmund Dudley, Staffordshire Co., England. He brought his wife to the United States in 1867. They arrived in Port of New York on January 16, 1867. The ship was the Edinburg. They had nine children. In 1884 John Cooper arrived in Mercer County and made his first lease with then the Bluestone Land Company. Mr. Cooper made a fortune in the coal mines of southern West Virginia and it is said that he left a honored name in the history of West Virginia. According to the great grandson of John Cooper he died on 6 December 1899. Ms. Becker's book on Bramwell's history futher details the life of this Bramwell legend and gives John Cooper's death date only as 1898. John Cooper's mine in Cooper section of Bramwell shipped his first coal from W. Virginia's valuable Pocahontas Coalfield over N&W Rail Road on Nov. 4, 1884. The Coaldale, Caswell Creek & Booth-Bowen mines were operated by Cooper, Jones, Freeman, Booth & Bowen. These were pioneer mines in the field. The Flat Top Coal Land Assocociation which later was named the Pocahontas Coal & Coke became the coalfield's largest landholder in the area. History reveals that Bramwell's John Cooper, who founded the Cooper's Mill Creek Coal and Coke Company; making his Mercer County operations the first mine in West Virginia in the Pocahontas Coalfields. EDWARD COOPER - U.S. Representative from West Virginia 5th District, 1915-19 Edward Cooper was the son of John and Marie (Padbury) Cooper and built the historic Cooper House that remains in the Cooper family today. He was born On Feb. 26, 1873 in Treverton, PA. He represented the 5th district of West Virginia in Congress during the time of WWI. He was also a lawyer from schooling. However, he spent many years of his life working as a coal in the Pocahontas Coal Field operator as did his father before him. Cooper, Edward (1873-1928) — of Bramwell, Mercer County, W.Va. Born in Trevorton, Northumberland County, Pa., February 26, 1873. Republican. Lawyer; coal mining business; delegate to Republican National Convention from West Virginia, 1912; U.S. Representative from West Virginia 5th District, 1915-19. Presbyterian. English ancestry. Member, Freemasons; Elks. After graduating from Washington and Lee University in 1892, he was admitted to the bar and establised a legal practice in Bramwell, West Virginia. He eventually took over the management and development of his father's coal properties in West Virginia. He was elected to the United States Congress from West Virginia and served from 1915 to 1919. Following his service in Congress, he returned to the management of his coal companies. Edward Cooper died in Bluefield, Mercer County, W.Va., March 1, 1928 (age 55 years, 4 days). Entombed at Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Va. Relatives: Son of Maria (Padbury) Cooper and John Cooper (1848-1898); married, October 5, 1895, to Frances Douglas Smith.            Edward Cooper was the second child of six children. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1893. After receiving his law degree he worked as a lawyer in Bramwell for a couple years. Following the death of his father, John Cooper, Edward and his brother, Thomas H. Cooper operated the coal properties at Cooper, WV. Edward Cooper married Frances Douglass Smith, of Lexington, Virginia, daughter of James K. and Fannie (Douglass) Smith. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper had two children, Edward, Jr, 1897, and Frances Douglass, born 1902. His son, Edward Cooper, Jr. was once a member of the town council of Bramwell.  EDWARD COOPER - U.S. Representative from West Virginia 5th District, 1915-1919, THOMAS HENRY COOPER Thomas Henry Cooper ( July1, 1869 - March 23, 1911 ) --- He was a son of John and Marie (Padbury) Cooper of Bramwell, Mercer County. Thomas Cooper married Mary Ella Busey Baritz of Salem, VA on June 6, 1893. He was also a very successful coal baron. THOMAS HENRY COOPER . He moved his family to Salem, VA in 1904 and lived there until his death in 1911. In 1897 he was elected manager of the McDowell Coal & Coke Company and managed this company until his death. Thomas Henry Cooper Event Type: Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Occupation: Coal Operator Burial Place: Salem, Va. Death Date: 23 March 1911  Burial Date: 24 March 1911 MARY ELLA BUSEY BARITZ COOPER & THOMAS HENRY COOPER They were married on June 6, 1893. Mary was the daughter of Judge William M. Barnitz of Salem, Va. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.They had eight children: - Edward Cooper - Thomas H. Cooper - Elizabeth May Cooper - John Cooper - Ruth Cooper - Blanche Cooper - Mary Barnitz Cooper - Maria Cooper THOMAS COOPER FAMILY MAUSOLEUM, SALEM, VA.

MILL CREEK COAL &COKE CO. TIPPLE HISTORY

Funeral announcement for John Cooper from Bluefield Daily Telegraph - Dec. 8, 1899

John Cooper & Family Members - Thomas Park Section of Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Bluewell, Mercer County, WV.

John Cooper story By Buddy French The community of Coopers The community of Coopers is located on the former Norfolk & Western Railway, Bluestone branch line where Mill Creek empties into the Bluestone River. It's situated midway between Bramwell, West Virginia and Pocahontas, Virginia and was founded by John Cooper. Cooper opened his first mine in 1884 near the headwaters of Mill Creek. As time and finances permitted, he began building a community along the banks of the Bluestone River where he and his family would live. A company store, employee housing, a church and train station soon dotted the landscape. A few private businesses also sprang up. A barber shop, three story boarding house, 'Poppy' Perdue's restaurant and Williams general store were located across the tracks and alongside the Bluestone River. At its peak, Coopers was bustling with activity from mining operations, passenger train service and passing coal trains. Its convenient location enabled one to make a quick trip by train to Bramwell, Pocahontas or Bluefield. Today, Coopers is a quiet and sparsely populated little hamlet with an illustrious past that has slowly faded into history. For the most part, it's only recognized by railroad and coal field history buffs for its significant contribution to the development of the Great Flat-Top Pocahontas Coal Fields. John Cooper…The Making of a Coal Baron Having learned his trade in the school of hard knocks, John Cooper's life was truly a story of rags to riches. He was born to a very poor family on Nov. 14, 1842, in Pensnett, a village in Staffordshire County, England. His father was a coal miner and by the age of six, John also began working in the mines to help with the family finances. His first job was a "trapper", one who opened and closed ventilation doors. He couldn't afford to go to school but was a regular attendant at Sunday school where he acquired the basics of reading and writing. He had a tremendous appetite for learning and collected old newspapers and discarded books, staying up late at night reading them. When his father was killed in the mines he continued working there into his teenage years. He gained experience in just about every position in the mines but saw little opportunity for advancement. Upon hearing of the booming young coal industry in America, he and his mother and two brothers began making plans to come to this country. With the combined income of his brothers who also worked in the mines, they saved every penny they could over the next two years to pay for their voyage to the land of opportunity. In June 1862, they arrived in America and settled in the anthracite coal fields of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. John immediately applied for his naturalization papers so he could become an American citizen. While working in the Pennsylvania mines, he quickly advanced up through the ranks into management positions. In 1866 he returned to his hometown in England and married Maria Padbury and then returned to Pennsylvania with his new bride. Thomas, their first child was born there in 1869. Over the next three years Maria gave birth to two daughters, Annie and Sallie. In 1873 John moved to the New River Gorge coal field of West Virginia where he established residence at Quinnimont. That same year saw the birth of his fourth child and second son, Edward. He was confident that the newly developing coal field would give him access to new opportunities. John began working with Joseph L. Beury who had just recently opened the first coal mine in the New River Gorge field. There are historical references that Cooper was involved in other mining operations in this field, but only the more notable information will be listed here. While at Quinnimont, John gained valuable experience in developing and operating a mine. A short while later he acquired a small coal lease several miles down the New River Gorge near Hawksnest. It was a low coal seam measuring about thirty-six inches and very difficult to mine. Shortly after opening this mine, the coal fields were hit hard by a recession. In 1877 at the age of thirty-four and with no buyers for his coal, he closed his mine and found himself practically broke. Over the next few years, he became very discouraged and was barely able to feed and support his family. In 1882, a German friend back in Pennsylvania heard of his misfortunes. He offered to lend money for train fare back to Pennsylvania for him and his family for which he was about ready to accept. At about the same time and at the height of his discouragement, he was contacted by the firm of Echols, Bell and Catlett of Staunton, Virginia. They advertised and offered to the public, investments in their company so they could buy up coal land in the New River coal field. Coal leases were then offered to those who could be trusted to open and successfully develop mines in return for a percentage of the profit. Being acquainted with John, they recognized the strong work ethic and keen business savvy he possessed. The market was recovering from the recession, and he was offered a lease in a 55-inch coal seam and $4000 to develop it. The mine was located just a short distance up the New River Gorge at Elm Station and his mine became known as the Elm Colliery. From that point on, John saw his life literally go from rags to riches as this was the catalyst that launched his business career to unimaginable new heights. It is presumed that in 1882, Cooper was also keeping up with the news of a coal seam measuring twelve-foot thick, that had recently opened just across West Virginia's southern border at the present-day site of Pocahontas, Virginia. Named the Pocahontas No. 3 seam, this coal bed extended over into a large area of southern West Virginia. Its low ash and sulfur content earned it the reputation of "smokeless coal" and was soon to become known as one of the highest grade of coal in the world. Recognizing the remarkable potential in this new field, John Cooper left the New River Gorge field and moved to Mercer County in early 1884. He quickly took up the business of securing a 1000-acre coal lease from the Bluestone Land Company. This land company would be taken over by the Flat-Top Coal Land Association which eventually evolved into the Pocahontas Land Corporation. His coal lease was located about three miles east of Pocahontas on the West Virginia side of the state line. Coopers Sterling East and West Colliery was located at the base of Flat Top Mountain. It was the first to open in southern West Virginia's famous Flat-Top Pocahontas Coal Field. His first coal shipment was on November 4, 1884, after the Norfolk & Western Railway constructed a branch line from its Flat Top Extension, up Mill Creek to his mining operation. His mine originally opened under the name of John Cooper & Company, but on May 27, 1891, it was incorporated under the name of the Mill Creek Coal & Coke Company. The Norfolk & Western Railway continued building its line down the Bluestone River and later named it their Bluestone Branch. In 1885, the N&W had begun developing plans to tunnel through Flat Top Mountain near the headwaters of Mill Creek and very close to Cooper's mining operations. From there, the N&W could extend its mainline down the Elkhorn Valley into McDowell County and on to Ohio. In 1886 and within just a few hundred feet of Cooper's coal tipple, the Norfolk & Western Railway entered a contract for construction of a tunnel. It would follow the contour of the Pocahontas No. 3 coal bed through Flat-Top Mountain and was completed and ready for use by 1888. The new single-track tunnel measured 3,014 feet long by the time it exited the western slope of the mountain. Early N&W maps referred to it as the Flat-Top Tunnel but by 1890, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph newspaper called it the East End Tunnel. The N&W then changed the name to Elkhorn Tunnel, but it eventually became more locally known as the Coaldale Tunnel. In 1888, John Cooper soon began preparations for developing a new mine near the railroad tunnels western entrance at the headwaters of Elkhorn Creek. It was incorporated under the name Coaldale Coal & Coke Company and began production circa 1890. Cooper quickly set out to build a community for his miners and their families and named it Coaldale. Coaldale, West Virginia ca. 1910 Although it once consisted of approximately forty to fifty homes, a church, company store and an N&W power plant, there are few traces left of the old Coaldale community. Only a concrete water tank foundation and the collapsed entrance of the original N&W Coaldale Tunnel remain today. There's an archaeological gold mine of ruins for the Coaldale mining operation. Just a few hundred feet around the mountainside from the old Coaldale Tunnel entrance, one will find the site of the railroad load out yard for the Coaldale tipple. Also, there's a wall constructed of hand cut stone and the remains of brick tipple foundations. Just beyond the tipple site are remnants of 110 partially covered beehive coke ovens extending several hundred feet around the hillside. Some are still accessible where you will find chunks of coke lying on the oven floors. John Cooper had a lengthy last will and testament drawn up and dated the 13th day of August 1894. He listed his wife Maria and seven children, Thomas, Annie, Sallie, Edward, Emma, Mary, and Kate as heirs to his wealthy estate. In 1899 Cooper had become ill and must have known he was dying. He had a codicil drawn up to amend his last will and testament dated the 1st day of August 1899. The reasons given in the will, and I quote were, "the business conditions of affairs have changed in such a way that I deem it inadvisable to direct that my Executors shall make division of my estate at the time and in the manner provided in clause "Sixth" of my said Will". Courtesy of Eastern Regional Coal Archives. The changes were apparently made to adjust for the business climate to be more advantageous to his heirs. After John's passing in 1899, Thomas and then Edward continued to manage the Mill Creek operations until 1926 when William C. Atwater & Company bought the Mill Creek Coal & Coke Company but retained its famous name. The small coal mine John Cooper opened with a mule and borrowed harness in 1884 expanded many times over and played a significant role in supplying coal for the growth of industry in America. When the Mill Creek Corporation was dissolved in 1953, the Mill Creek Company mines had produced 24,022,000 tons of high-quality coal. It's unfortunate that the little six-year-old boy who worked in the mines in England as a "trapper" would never live to see the tremendous success of the coal mining empire he had created. John Cooper died at home on Dec. 6, 1899, at the age of fifty-seven. Buddy French Copyright © 2011

FEATURED ON FIND-A-GRAVE SITE:

John Cooper (1842–1899)

Parents:

Sarah Snead Cooper (1803-1870)

Spouse:

Maria Padbury Cooper (1845–1920)

Siblings

Samuel Cooper (1830–1906)

Job Cooper (1841–19160

Children :

Thomas Henry Cooper (1869–1911)

Edward Cooper (1873–1928)

Mary Padbury Cooper Shanklin (1878–1946)

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COAL BARON JOHN COOPER STORY VIA AUDIO
( TWO SEPARATE AUDIO MESSAGES - ON A DIFFERENT SERVER - MATERIAL IS FROM HISTORIC BRAMWELL)

JOHN COOPER PASSPORT

COAL BARON - THOMAS HENRY COOPER

JOHN COOPER - FIND-A-GRAVE

JOHN COOPER'S COAL MINING EMPIRE

COAL BARON - JOHN COOPER HOUSE

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