Cooper, Peter

Life Span
to
    Full name
    Peter Cooper
    Place of Birth
    Birth Date Certainty
    Exact
    Death Date Certainty
    Exact
    Gender
    Male
    Race
    White
    Sectional choice
    North
    Origins
    Free State
    No. of Spouses
    1
    No. of Children
    6
    Family
    Sarah Radnor Bedell (wife), Edward Cooper (son), Sarah Amelia Cooper (daughter)
    Occupation
    Businessman
    Scientist or Inventor
    Relation to Slavery
    White non-slaveholder
    Church or Religious Denomination
    Unitarian or Universalist
    Political Parties
    Greenback
    Other Affiliations
    Abolitionists (Anti-Slavery Society)
    Other
    Other Affiliation
    Indian Reform Movement
    Government
    Local government

    Peter Cooper (American National Biography)

    Scholarship
    Cooper had a long history of public service. He served on the Board of Aldermen of New York City (assistant alderman, 1828-1831, and alderman, 1840-1841), becoming a tireless advocate of municipal innovations such as professional police and fire departments, public education, and a clean water supply for the city. Becoming conversant with economic issues in his later years, he even ran for president in 1876 as the candidate of the Greenback party.

    Cooper was a prolific inventor. In addition to his work on the steam engine and cloth-shearing machine, he also obtained patents on items as diverse as a musical cradle, an endless chain device for towing boats, and an egg desiccator. He was hampered by his lack of formal education, however, and his lack of a scientific background led him to waste much time on inventions that were unworkable or at least impractical. Realizing the deficiency of his education, he sought to help other working-class people better themselves.
    Edward L. Lach, Jr., "Cooper, Peter," American National Biography Online, February 2000, http://www.anb.org/articles/10/10-00328.html.
    How to Cite This Page: "Cooper, Peter," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/21575.