A Stevens, Tomes, and Nash Family History
The Cooper Family Story
For the earliest parts of our Cooper family story, you will need to travel to the small towns of St Ives, Colne, and Pidley in the Huntingdonshire district of England.
The Early Days of St. Ives: Stephen and Mary Cooper
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Our earliest records trace our family to the marriage of Steven Cooper and Mary Wakefield on October 3, 1773 in St Ives. Their honeymoon must have been quite fruitful, for they welcomed their first child, Wakefield Cooper, on July 13, 1774. He was Christened in St Ives on August 5, 1774. Two more sons would shortly follow--John Cooper (b. 1776) and Steven Cooper (b.1778). Virtually nothing is known of Steven and Mary beyond this, largely owing to their common names, and poor rural record-keeping. What little we can deduce is that they likely spent their entire lives in St. Ives,, and small town in Huntingdonshire (not to be confused with the western Cornish town of St. Ives).
Life in Huntingdonshire: Wakefield and Alice Cooper
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A little more is known about their eldest son Wakefield--for whose unique name modern genealogical researchers are terribly grateful. Wakefield never strayed too far from home, staying in the rural town of St. Ives as he grew to be an adult. On November 1, 1803, Wakefield Cooper married Alice Beck (b. 02 Mar, 1783 in nearby town, Pidley). They had five children in quick succession:
1. Mary Cooper (b. 24 Dec, 1805)
2. Joseph Cooper (b. 27 Sep, 1807)
3. Wheeler Cooper (b.18 Mar, 1808??)
4. Anne Cooper (b. 7 May, 1810)
5. John Cooper (b. 07 Jan, 1813)
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During these child-bearing years, the Cooper family of St Ives never moved far from home, possibly partially due to a lack of financial mobility. By the time the couple had reached their 70s, poor Wakefield was still listed as a pig farmer, and in 1851 was also granted the designation of "pauper" according to a national census. One can only theorize that maybe this inspired their youngest child to move away from Huntingdonshire, and England on the whole, while still young.
Despite the financial struggles of their lives, the Coopers lived to a surprisingly late age. Though the dates of their deaths are not precisely known, both are recorded to have survived to at least 1861 or beyond, making them both at least 80 years of age--quite remarkable for the time period and their economic status.
Life at the St. Ives Union Workhouse: Joseph's Story
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Wakefield was not the only family member struggling in St. Ives. His second son, Joseph Cooper, also had his share of misfortune. Sometime around 1832, he married a young woman named Hannah (surname unknown). The two immediately started conceiving what would become a very large brood. Starting in 1834, and every two years after that, the couple produced a new child. By 1841, they were living on South Street in Woodhurst with children:
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1. George Cooper (b. 1834)
2. Eliza Cooper (b. 1836)
3. Rebecca Cooper (b. 1838)
4. Harriet Cooper (b. 1840)
5. Joseph Cooper, Jr. (b. 1842)
6. Edward Cooper (b. 1844)
7. Susannah Cooper (b. 1846)
8. Stephen Cooper (b. 1848)
By 1851, though, wife Hannah was pregnant again, and the family was struggling to survive. About that time, Joseph moved his family to the St. Ives Union Workhouse, where he became an inmate.
This was a pauper's house where families were separated by gender and age in to different living quarters. Children above the age of two were typically not allowed to stay with their mothers--it was presumed that by
accepting aid from the government in this manner, inmates and spouses forfeited their children. Living conditions were likely miserable, and in some cases the only provisions for hygiene consisted of a bucket in the center of each room. Children and adults typically would not have had beds.
So it is no wonder that by the time Joseph decided to move his family into the workhouse, eldest children George and Eliza went to live
elsewhere--perhaps with family, or as servants in another house. Fourth child, 11 year-old Harriet, was also not living in the workhouse. If she was still alive, she was likely living with family members.
A modern day view of the St. Ives Workhouse
Daughter Sarah Cooper (b. 1851) was born to Joseph and Hannah during their time at the workhouse. After that, their procreation understandably took a pause for a few years.
By 1861, the family had found a way to upgrade their circumstances and had established their own home at 38 Church Street in Woodhurst. There they resided with kids Susannah (age 15), Sarah (age 10), and newcomer--because a rough life can't keep a fertile woman down!--Benjamin Cooper, who was born in 1859, presumably after the married couple was able to reunite post-workhouse.
Across the Ocean: The Journey of John and Rebecca Cooper
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Wakefield's youngest son, John Cooper, found a bride in the neighboring town of Colne. On November 15, 1836, at the age of 23, John married Rebecca Graves (b. August 2, 1814). The two briefly settled in their hometown area and began a family:
1. William Cooper (b. 1837)
2. Hannah Cooper (b. 10 Feb, 1839)
3. John Cooper, Jr. (b. 19 Mar, 1841)
At about this time, though, the young couple were making plans to leave England and sail to America, leaving their families behind, no doubt after seeing other family members--Joseph!--struggle to make ends meet. By 1842, the couple and their three tiny children successfully made the voyage all the way to New Jersey, which must have been a harrowing, exhausting, and very dangerous journey given the era and conditions of sea travel at the time.
The journey would have likely taken between 60-80 days, during which--given their likely meager budget--the family would have lived in tight quarters with rats, disease, and inadequate food rations. Remember, this was the same era in which the Irish Potato Famine launched "coffin ships" along a similar route.
The family luckily made the trek successfully, and settled in Woodbridge, New Jersey, where they added two more children to the family:
4. Sara Elizabeth Cooper (b.1844)
5. George Cooper (b. 1846)
For the next decade or so, the family lived quietly in New Jersey. It wasn't until 1856 that the next upheaval came, when John and Rebecca decided to move their brood to E. Nissouri, Ontario--perhaps a wise move, considering the family would have become embroiled in the American Civil War, had they stayed, and they had three sons who would have been of fighting age.
At the time of the move, Rebecca was quite pregnant with her sixth and final child, Mariah Cooper (b. April 7, 1856).
According to an 1861 Canadian census, John worked as a farmer to support his family, and likely did so for the rest of his life. Although not much else is currently known about their lives in Ontario, eldest son William must have found the society at least somewhat appealing, as it was there he quickly met a young Sarah T. Baker, whom he married in 1860.
John and Rebecca remained in Ontario for the rest of their lives. Rebecca lived to the age of 63, passing on February 17, 1877, and leaving John a widower. John expired at age 70 on October 2, 1883. Both are buried in an unknown location near the town of Blanshard, Ontario.
The Puzzling Lives of William and Sarah
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William Cooper and his bride, Sarah T. Baker (who was born in Yorkshire, England and immigrated with her family in about 1840) tied the knot in Ontario on July 16, 1860. The marriage was witnessed by a "John Nash", and one cannot help but wonder if this witness might be of the same Nash family (from neighboring London, Ontario) into which their daughter would eventually marry. Records show that the witness could have been John Wesley Nash, age 25 at the time of this marriage, of our Nash line. Given the name, date, and proximity, one could guess that just maybe the families had become friendly shortly after settling in Ontario a few years before, leading to the connection between William's daughter and Benjamin Nash's son--but perhaps that is wishful speculation, and the witness name may be sheer coincidence. And it's certainly jumping ahead in our story.
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The history of William and Sarah's life together is a bit spotty--again, owing largely to the common nature of their names, and the inconsistencies of mid-19th century record keeping. What we do know is that the couple had between six and seven children. We know of:
1. Flora Jane Cooper (b. 1856)
2. Mary Elizabeth Cooper (b. 1861)
3. Hannah Marie Cooper (b. 1863)
4. Clara Rebecca Cooper (b. 1865)
5. William James Cooper (b. 1872)
The birth years create quite the mystery, though, since records show the couple married in 1860, but Flora was born in 1856. Could it be that Flora came from a previous, short-lived (and undocumented thus far) marriage? Her birth records have not yet been discovered.
The Mystery of Melissa, Anna, The Boy, and The Photo
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There was also, possibly, a daughter named Anna Cooper born in 1867 who lived to the age of 2-14. We only know of her from a single census record in 1871. There may have even possibly been a daughter named Melissa, though this is completely unverified, and only stems from the photo at right, which presents its own puzzle.
The photo at right was taken at J.L. Wilson Photography in St Mary's Ontario (over McCallum's Drug Store). It can be reasonably assumed that the little girl on the right, leaning her head to the side, is deceased. It was not uncommon during this era to take "post-mortem" photos to preserve images of the dead, especially given the likelihood that no other photos existed of the subjects. On the back of the photo is
what appears to be original scrawling that reads, "the little girl leaning her head to be taken only".
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Many decades after the photo was taken, some well-meaning family member used a blue ballpoint pen to scrawl on the back that the identity of the boy is a mystery and includes the names Mary, Melissa, Hannah, Flora, and Clara. Who is Melissa? The name does not exist as a first or middle name for any Cooper children on record. Was it a memory lapse? Or was there a Melissa?
Based on the historical records we have, it is fair to assume (as we are forced to do so often) that the actual identities of the children are as follows: (L to R, starting with the back row) _____, Flora, Anna, Mary, Hannah, and Clara.
If my assumptions are correct, and the dead little girl is the Anna mentioned in the census, then this dates the photo to about 1869, which matches up with the ages of the other girls and their clothing style. However, the census puzzles us further by suggesting that Anna was alive in 1871 (and swaps the birth years of Hannah and Anna). And who is the boy? Another sibling whom history and census records have forgotten? A cousin?
Eldest Girl, Flora​
Eldest child Flora Cooper waited until a little later in life to get married--relatively speaking for the time. Through most of her twenties, Flora worked as a tailoress. Then, at the age of 29, Flora married George William Chapman on September 23, 1885. They quickly had four children: Ethel, Hattie, Clara, and John. And then George went to serve in the Boer War by 1899. The couple lived well into advanced ages. Flora passed away on May 5, 1955 in London, Ontario.
Cooper Family Portrait:
(Back row, L to R) Mary, Hannah, Clara, and Will;
(Front row, L to R) William, Flora, and Sarah T. Cooper, 1887
Mary and Hannah Take the Name Martin
19 year-old Mary Cooper was the first of her siblings to marry, even before Flora did. On November 3, 1880, she wed Joseph H. Martin. They quickly had eleven children between 1882 and 1902. Perhaps there may have been even more children, but Joseph succumbed to typhoid fever in 1906.
Mary (Cooper) Martin's Family, 1896:
(Back row, L to R) Joseph, Melville, Flora, Clara, J. Franklin, Mary, J. Norman;
(Front row, L to R) Hannah, Frances, and William
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The lure of the Martin family was too tempting for Mary's younger sister, Hannah Cooper, who chose to marry Joseph's brother, David A. Martin on December 23, 1885, just a few short months after Flora was married. Their union produced fewer children, however. Between 1888 and 1902, we are only aware of four children born to the couple. Curiously, David A. Martin also passed away the same year as his brother, 1906. In his case he suffered from endocarditis. This left both Cooper/Martin sisters 40-something widows in the very same year.
Clara Rebecca's Marriages
At about the same time her sisters were getting married, Clara Rebecca Cooper fell in love with and married a local well-to-do carriage maker and widower named Benjamin J. Nash (read the Nash Family Story) on November 19, 1884 in London, Ontario. The 19 year-old went to the altar with a man who was 34. But theirs seemed to be a genuinely happy match.
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As told in the Nash Family Story, Benjamin had one child from his first marriage, and together they added four more children--two of whom survived childhood. Their happy family soon faced tragedy, when Clara lost her husband Benjamin in a freak tragic building collapse on January 3, 1898.
The violent and sudden loss of her husband must have been a terrible ordeal for the woman who was left a wealthy widow at the age of 33. Within four years, Clara married her deceased husband's business partner, James "Gyp" Blanchard, very much against the wishes of her family. Together they had one child, Grace Delight Blanchard (b. 16 Apr, 1906). Sadly for Clara, this was not a happy marriage and the two very deliberately led separate lives.
The Martin Boys and World War 1
By the time the first World War came around, Mary and Hannah's sons were of the right age to serve. We know that John Norman "Norm" Martin and Benjamin C. "Clarence" Martin both served. Sadly, Norm did not survive the war. The soldier who had worked as a teacher before enlisting died during the Passchendale Offensive at Ypres, Belgium on October 26, 1917. He was laid to rest at the Menin Gate at the Ypres Memorial in Belgium.
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(L to R) Benjamin "Clarence" Martin standing with Aunt Clara (Cooper) Blanchard,
and
John "Norman" Martin with his paternal grandmother, his mother Mary (Cooper) Martin,
and his grandmother Sarah T. Cooper, c. 1917 at a training camp for WWI
