Charles M. Cooper, US Congress

COOPER, CHARLES MERIAN was born in Athens, Georgia, January 16, 1856, being the son of CHARLES PHILIP COOPER and HESSE MILDRED (JACKSON) COOPER. His ancestors settled in early times in Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia, and the family has been long established in Florida and prominent in Florida affairs. His great-grandfather, Col. JOHN COOPER, was of that portion of Liberty County, Georgia, which would became McIntosh County, and was a distinguished officer of the American Revolution, having served throughout the war as Captain, Major and Lieutenant-Colonel of Georgia Troops, and a number of his exploits are mentioned in the histories of Georgia. His maternal great-grandfather, JAMES JACKSON, also served with distinction, as Major and Lieutenant-Colonel of Georgia troops in the Revolutionary war, and as Governor of Georgia, a member of the United States House of Representatives in the First Congress and as United States Senator from Georgia, dying at a comparatively early age while in the United States Senate. The maternal grandmother of CHARLES M. COOPER was MILDRED LEWIS COBB, who was of Virginia ancestry and related to George Washington. The two sons of Col. JOHN COOPER, namely, CHARLES M. COOPER, the first, and JAMES G. COOPER, removed from McIntosh County, Georgia, to Florida, while it was still a Territory. JAMES G. COOPER settled in Nassau County, and became a member of the territorial Council, served with distinction as Major of Florida troops in the first Seminole Indian war, and was a member of the State Senate and of the Secession Convention. He afterwards moved to Manatee county. His son, FRANCIS M. COOPER, was State Senator from DeSoto county, CHARLES M. COOPER, the elder, first acquired and settled on a plantation on the Suwannee River, but soon removed to Jacksonville, where he resided many years, being a leading citizen, and for some years Postmaster of that city. His son, CHARLES PHILIP COOPER, the father of the present CHARLES M. COOPER, as above mentioned, was one of the leading lawyers of Florida, and resided in Jacksonville for many years. From 1857 to 1861 he was General Agent of the United States Treasury Department, having supervision of customs from North Carolina to New Mexico. When the war between the States began, he was employed by the Government of the Confederate States to assist in the organization of its Treasury Department. In 1866 he represented Duval County in the Legislature. In 1884 he was a member of the Democratic Convention that first nominated Grover Cleveland for the Presidency. Nearly all his active life, however, was devoted to the practice of his profession, and it was as a lawyer that he was chiefly known and identified with the history of Florida. Another son of the first CHARLES M. COOPER was MERIAN R. COOPER, who entered the Confederate service at the age of sixteen years as a private in the Second Florida Infantry, and after being wounded in Virginia and discharged, enlisted in the Second Florida Cavalry. He was promoted and commissioned as Lieutenant for unusual gallantry at the Battle of Olustee, and was after commissioned Captain in the Confederate Army. After the war he was for many years county Judge of St. Johns County, Florida. CHARLES PHILIP COOPER left two sons, CHARLES MERIAN COOPER and JOHN COBB COOPER, both of whom reside in Jacksonville, Florida. JOHN C. COOPER is a leading lawyer of the State, whose prominence and ability in his profession has been long and universally recognized. He is Chairman of the Board of the Florida Branch of The Federal Reserve Bank, located at Jacksonville, and is a Director in other large corporations. CHARLES M. COOPER also is a lawyer. He was admitted to the bar in 1877. In 1880 he was married to ROSA LEONARDI. In 1881 he was a member of the House of Representatives of the Florida Legislature from St. Johns County, and in 1884 was State Senator from that County. In 1884 he was appointed Attorney General of the State by Governor Perry, and served for four years. In 1889 he was appointed one of a Commission of three which revised the Statutes of the State of Florida, which Revised Statutes went into effect in 1892. In 1892 he was elected a Representative in the Congress of the United States from the Second Congressional District of Florida, and was re-elected in 1894, and served until March, 1897. Since that time he has continued to reside in Jacksonville, and to practice his profession.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Merian_Cooper