Henry Allen Cooper
Henry Allen Cooper | |
---|---|
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 1st district | |
In office March 4, 1921 – March 1, 1931 | |
Preceded by | Clifford Ellsworth Randall |
Succeeded by | Clinton Babbitt |
In office March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1919 | |
Preceded by | Thomas Ryum Amlie |
Succeeded by | Clifford Ellsworth Randall |
Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 3rd district | |
In office January 3, 1887 – January 5, 1891 | |
Preceded by | Charles Jonas |
Succeeded by | Adam Apple |
District Attorney of Racine County, Wisconsin | |
In office January 1, 1881 – January 1, 1887 | |
Personal details | |
Born | September 8, 1850 Spring Prairie, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Died | March 1, 1931 Washington D.C., U.S. | (aged 80)
Resting place | Mound Cemetery, Racine, Wisconsin |
Political party | Republican |
Other political affiliations | Progressive |
Spouse | Sara Amelia Phillips |
Parent |
|
Alma mater | Northwestern University |
Committees | Insular Affairs, Rivers and Harbors |
Henry Allen Cooper (September 8, 1850 – March 1, 1931) was an American lawyer and progressive Republican politician from Racine County, Wisconsin. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 1st congressional district for 18 terms, spanning from the 1890s to his death in 1931. He earlier served in the Wisconsin Senate and was district attorney of Racine County.[1]
Early life
[edit]Cooper was born in Spring Prairie, Wisconsin, son of former Free Soil Party State Representative Joel H. Cooper, a physician. In 1851 the family moved to Burlington, Wisconsin. Their house was a station of the Underground Railroad, and in 1852 sheltered fugitive slave Joshua Cooper on his way to Canada. Henry Cooper graduated from Burlington High School in June 1869. After school, Cooper attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated in 1873. He then attended Union College of Law, then the legal faculty of Northwestern University and graduated there in 1875.[2] He was then admitted to the bar, practiced in Chicago until 1879 and then commenced practice at Burlington.
Cooper was elected district attorney of Racine County in November 1880 and moved to Racine in January 1881. In 1882 and 1884 he was reelected as district attorney without opposition.
Political career
[edit]In 1884, Cooper served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, a tradition he would continue in 1908 and 1924. He was subsequently elected to the Wisconsin Senate in 1886 and served in the 1887 and 1889 legislative sessions. He represented Wisconsin's 3rd State Senate district, which then comprised just Racine County. During his time in the State Senate, he authored a bill to introduce the secret ballot in Wisconsin. In 1890 Cooper unsuccessfully ran for election to the fifty-second Congress.
In 1892, Cooper was elected to the fifty-third Congress, running on the Republican Party ticket in Wisconsin's 1st congressional district. He assumed on March 4, 1893. During his time as Congressman, Cooper served as the chairman of the Committee of Rivers and Harbors for the fifty-fifth Congress and the Committee on Insular Affairs for the fifty-sixth Congress through to the sixtieth Congress.
He was also the author of the Philippine Organic Act (1902), and read out the poem Mi último adiós by José Rizal as part of successfully persuading his fellow congressmen to vote for the act. Cooper provided key support for the 1910 bill authorizing construction of the Lincoln Memorial.[3]
On April 5, 1917, he was one of 50 representatives who voted against declaring war on Germany. Partly due to his opposition to American involvement in World War I, Cooper failed to gain reelection to his seat in 1918, finishing his term on March 3, 1919. Overall serving from the Fifty-third Congress to the Sixty-fifth Congress.
After missing a term of Congress, Cooper was once again elected to represent Wisconsin's 1st district in the Sixty-seventh Congress in 1920 and to the five succeeding Congresses. He served until his death in Washington, D.C., on March 1, 1931, which came before he could start his new term (in the seventy-second Congress). He was buried in Mound Cemetery, Racine, Wisconsin.
Electoral history
[edit]U.S. House of Representatives (1890–1930)
[edit]Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1890[4] | General | Nov. 4 | Clinton Babbitt | Democratic | 14,532 | 48.13% | H. A. Cooper | Rep. | 14,209 | 47.06% | 30,191 | 323 |
Stephen Favill | Proh. | 1,316 | 4.36% | |||||||||
1892[5] | General | Nov. 8 | Henry Allen Cooper | Republican | 20,222 | 52.26% | Clinton Babbitt (inc) | Dem. | 16,449 | 42.51% | 38,692 | 3,773 |
T. C. Murdock | Proh. | 2,021 | 5.22% | |||||||||
1894[6] | General | Nov. 6 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 21,972 | 56.70% | Andrew Kull | Dem. | 12,334 | 31.83% | 38,749 | 9,638 |
Hamilton Utley | Peo. | 2,828 | 7.30% | |||||||||
Alex S. Kaye | Proh. | 1,615 | 4.17% | |||||||||
1896[7] | General | Nov. 3 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 28,235 | 64.11% | Jeremiah L. Mahoney | Dem. | 14,723 | 33.43% | 44,042 | 13,512 |
George W. White | Proh. | 1,084 | 2.46% | |||||||||
1898[8] | General | Nov. 8 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 19,887 | 61.51% | Clinton Babbitt | Dem. | 11,447 | 35.41% | 32,329 | 8,440 |
John C. Huffman | Proh. | 995 | 3.08% | |||||||||
1900[9] | General | Nov. 6 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 28,256 | 64.09% | Gilbert T. Hodges | Dem. | 14,556 | 33.01% | 44,091 | 13,700 |
John R. Beveridge | Proh. | 1,279 | 2.90% | |||||||||
1902[10] | General | Nov. 4 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 20,437 | 60.69% | Lewis C. Baker | Dem. | 12,122 | 36.00% | 33,672 | 8,315 |
Thomas W. North | Proh. | 1,111 | 3.30% | |||||||||
1904[11] | General | Nov. 8 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 25,125 | 59.52% | Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 13,379 | 31.69% | 42,212 | 11,746 |
Jacob W. Born | S.D. | 2,461 | 5.83% | |||||||||
Henry H. Tubbs | Proh. | 1,235 | 2.93% | |||||||||
1906[12] | General | Nov. 6 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 16,226 | 61.11% | John J. Cunningham | Dem. | 8,818 | 33.21% | 26,553 | 7,408 |
Moses Hull | S.D. | 1,504 | 5.66% | |||||||||
1908[13] | General | Nov. 3 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 26,728 | 60.58% | Henry A. Moehlenpah | Dem. | 14,018 | 31.77% | 44,117 | 12,710 |
William A. Jacobs | S.D. | 1,791 | 4.06% | |||||||||
J. H. Berkey | Proh. | 1,576 | 3.57% | |||||||||
1910[14] | General | Nov. 8 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 15,096 | 57.22% | Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 8,606 | 32.62% | 26,384 | 6,490 |
Michael Yabs | S.D. | 1,860 | 7.05% | |||||||||
Hans H. Moe | Proh. | 820 | 3.11% | |||||||||
1912[15] | General | Nov. 5 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 18,914 | 53.15% | Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 13,816 | 38.82% | 35,586 | 5,098 |
Joseph Orth | S.D. | 1,523 | 4.28% | |||||||||
Marcus S. Kellogg | Proh. | 1,333 | 3.75% | |||||||||
1914[16] | General | Nov. 3 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 16,547 | 58.18% | Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 9,911 | 34.85% | 28,439 | 6,636 |
John P. Fennell | S.D. | 1,077 | 3.79% | |||||||||
Truman Parker | Proh. | 902 | 3.17% | |||||||||
1916[17] | General | Nov. 7 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 24,851 | 61.56% | Jay W. Page | Dem. | 12,587 | 31.18% | 40,367 | 12,264 |
William J. Hensche | Proh. | 1,491 | 3.69% | |||||||||
Michael Yabs | S.D. | 1,434 | 3.55% | |||||||||
1918[18] | Primary[19] | Sep. 3 | Clifford E. Randall | Republican | 8,295 | 50.51% | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Rep. | 8,113 | 49.41% | 16,421 | 182 |
General | Nov. 5 | Clifford E. Randall | Republican | 13,177 | 42.28% | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Ind. | 7,718 | 24.77% | 31,164 | 4,159 | |
Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 9,018 | 28.94% | |||||||||
Michael Yabs | S.D. | 1,242 | 3.99% | |||||||||
1920[20] | Primary[21] | Sep. 7 | Henry Allen Cooper | Republican | 15,282 | 37.63% | Clifford E. Randall (inc) | Rep. | 13,896 | 34.21% | 40,614 | 1,386 |
Charles D. Rosa | Rep. | 7,437 | 18.31% | |||||||||
F. C. Adams | Rep. | 3,999 | 9.85% | |||||||||
General | Nov. 2 | Henry Allen Cooper | Republican | 51,144 | 75.88% | Andrew F. Stahl | Dem. | 13,661 | 20.27% | 67,400 | 37,483 | |
Samuel S. Walkup | Soc. | 2,585 | 3.84% | |||||||||
1922[22] | Primary[23] | Sep. 5 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 27,633 | 68.59% | Lawrence C. Whittet | Rep. | 12,656 | 31.41% | 40,289 | 14,977 |
General | Nov. 7 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 37,958 | 94.44% | Niels P. Nielson | Soc. | 2,179 | 5.42% | 40,191 | 35,779 | |
1924[24] | Primary | Sep. 2 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 36,513 | 62.68% | Charles H. Pfennig | Rep. | 21,738 | 37.32% | 58,251 | 14,775 |
General | Nov. 4 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 60,770 | 71.97% | Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 23,612 | 27.97% | 84,433 | 37,158 | |
1926[25] | General | Nov. 2 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 50,531 | 99.95% | 50,555 | 50,507 | ||||
1928[26] | Primary | Sep. 4 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 41,914 | 82.68% | Richard A. Williams | Rep. | 8,780 | 17.32% | 50,694 | 33,134 |
General | Nov. 6 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 83,064 | 80.17% | William C. Kiernan | Dem. | 20,539 | 19.82% | 103,612 | 62,525 | |
1930[27] | General | Nov. 4 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 46,272 | 95.65% | William C. Kiernan | Dem. | 2,102 | 4.35% | 48,374 | 44,170 |
See also
[edit]- List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)
- List of Speaker of the United States House of Representatives elections § December 1923
References
[edit]- ^ "Cooper, Henry Allen 1850 - 1931". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "COOPER, Henry Allen | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
- ^ "Washington Letter". The Sandusky Register. February 28, 1931. p. 4. Retrieved May 18, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1891 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1891. p. 572. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1893 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1893. p. 620. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1895 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1895. p. 658. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1897 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1897. p. 652. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1899 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1899. p. 744. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1901 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1901. p. 722. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1903 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1903. p. 1073. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1905 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1905. pp. 1065–1066. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1907 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1907. p. 1116. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1909 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1909. p. 1084. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin 1911 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1911. p. 728. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Biographical Sketches". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1913 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1913. p. 630. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Election Statistics". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1915 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1915. p. 229. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Election Statistics". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1917 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1917. p. 288. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Election Statistics". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1919 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1919. p. 154. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Congressmen, September Primary, 1918, Republican". Wisconsin State Journal. September 20, 1918. p. 13. Retrieved March 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Election Statistics". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1921 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1921. p. 222. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Congressional District Result". Kenosha News. September 8, 1920. p. 1. Retrieved March 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Election Statistics". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1923 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1923. p. 572. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Cooper Renominated by Record Majority". Kenosha News. September 6, 1922. p. 1. Retrieved March 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Election Statistics". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1925 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1925. pp. 486, 569. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Election Statistics". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1927 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1927. pp. 501, 581. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Election Statistics". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1929 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1929. pp. 741, 822. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ "Election Statistics". The Wisconsin Blue Book 1931 (Report). State of Wisconsin. 1931. pp. 560, 563. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
External links
[edit]- United States Congress. "Henry Allen Cooper (id: C000752)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Cooper, Henry Allen Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine - Wisconsin Historical Society
- 1850 births
- 1931 deaths
- District attorneys in Wisconsin
- Republican Party Wisconsin state senators
- Northwestern University alumni
- Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni
- Union College (New York) alumni
- People from Burlington, Wisconsin
- Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin
- Illinois lawyers
- People from Spring Prairie, Wisconsin
- Deans of the United States House of Representatives
- Burials at Mound Cemetery (Racine, Wisconsin)
- 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature
- 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives