Charles D. Cooper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Charles DeKay Cooper (1769 Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, New York - January 1831) was an American physician and Democratic-Republican politician.
[edit] Life
He was the son of Dr. Ananias Cooper and Elizabeth DeKay Cooper. He was studied medicine under Dr. Crosby in New York City, and became a physician, like his father. By 1791, Cooper had settled in Albany. In 1792 he began to practice medicine.
He married Margaret Vernor (ca. 1774-1860), the adopted daughter of the future Lt. Gov. John Tayler. They had many children, among them John Tayler Cooper (1798-1878), a lawyer who practiced in a firm with Francis Bloodgood, and Reverend Charles DeKay Cooper (1813-1902), who married Cornelia Lansing Sutherland, daughter of Justice Jacob Livingston Sutherland, and grand-daughter of Chancellor John Lansing, Jr.
In 1794, he was appointed Health Officer of the Port of Albany
In February 1804, Cooper attended a dinner party during which Alexander Hamilton spoke forcefully and eloquently against the Federalists' plan to nominate Aaron Burr as their candidate for Governor of New York. Cooper later wrote a letter to Philip Schuyler, Alexander Hamilton's father-in-law, in which he made reference to the "despicable opinion" Hamilton had expressed about Burr. The letter was published in the Albany Register, but was tame compared to other attacks on Burr in the press. Still, Cooper's letter proved the last straw in the ongoing rivalry between Burr and Hamilton. When Burr read the letter weeks later, shortly after his defeat in the governor's race, he was enraged by Hamilton's alleged remarks, and challenged Hamilton to a duel in which Hamilton was killed.
Later, Cooper was a judge of the Albany County Court, and in April 1817, while his father-in-law was Acting Governor, he was appointed Secretary of State of New York.
He was buried in the Dutch Church Cemetery at Albany.
[edit] Sources
- Barbagallo, Tricia (March 10, 2007). Fellow Citizens Read a Horrid Tale. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- [1] Political Graveyard
- [2] About his letter to P. Schuyler, at PBS
- [3] Obit of his son, spelling erroneously the name of Gov. John Tayler and confusing the names of the governor and Charles Cooper's brother John Tayler Cooper, in NYT on October 13, 1902
- [4] Bio at NYSM
- [5] Short bio, at Rootsweb
- [6] Bio of Margaret Vernor, at NYSM
| Preceded by Robert L. Tillotson |
Secretary of State of New York 1817 - 1818 |
Succeeded by John Van Ness Yates |
|
|||||||
