- Job Adams Cooper
Infobox Governor
name = Job Adams Cooper
order = 6th
office = Governor of Colorado
term_start = 1889
term_end = 1891
lieutenant = William Grover Smith
predecessor = Alva Adams
successor = John L. Routt
birth_date = birth date|1843|11|6|mf=y
birth_place =Greenville, Illinois
death_date = death date and age|1899|1|20|1843|11|6
death_place =
party = Republican
spouse =
profession =
religion =Job Adams Cooper {
November 6 ,1843 -January 20 ,1899 ) was a U.S. Republican Party politician. He served as sixth Governor of theState of Colorado from 1889 to 1891.Early life
Job Adams Cooper was born in
Greenville, Illinois , to Charles and Maria Hadley Cooper, one of seven children. The future Governor attended Knox College inGalesburg, Illinois , but took a leave of absence to fight in theAmerican Civil War for theUnion Army . Cooper enlisted as a sergeant in the137th Illinois Volunteer Infantry , and was stationed inMemphis, Tennessee , during the Confederate raid on the city by troopers under the command of GeneralNathan Bedford Forrest . Following the war, he returned to complete his studies. Upon graduation from Knox College in 1867, he returned to his hometown of Greenville and was admitted to practice law inIllinois . That same year, he married Jane O. Barnes, the daughter of a prominent minister, and they had four children together. Leaving his family behind in 1872, he accompanied A. C. Phelps on a westward journey hoping to find entrepreneurial opportunities, and eventually settled inDenver, Colorado , where they started the law firm of Phelps and Cooper. In between 1872 and 1888, Cooper expanded his business interests to includeinsurance ,bank ing,mining , and thecattle industry.Governor of Colorado
In 1888, Cooper was nominated for Governor, and went on to defeat
Rocky Mountain News editorThomas MacDonald Patterson . Following his inauguration as the state's sixth Governor in January, 1889, he signed legislation that created thirteen new counties, including: Baca, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Montezuma, Morgan, Otero, Phillips, Prowers, Rio Blanco, Sedgwick, and Yuma. Furthermore, he opened a state orphans home in Denver and a statereformatory in Chaffee County.Retirement
Cooper declined to seek reelection in 1890, and returned to his law practice. He later formed a construction business and built Denver's Cooper Building, which is considered an architectural gem to this day. From 1893 to 1897, he served as President of the local
Chamber of Commerce . He died at the relatively young age of 55 and is buried in Denver's Riverside Cemetery.External links
* [http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/govs/cooper.html Governor Job Adams Cooper Collection at the Colorado State Archives]
*findagrave|7363026 Retrieved on2008-02-14
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