HENRY CLAY COOPER, a prominent citizen of Jefferson township, is a son of Erasmus Cooper, who was born in Allegheny county, Penn., and was united in marriage with Elizabeth Patterson, daughter of James and Sarah Patterson, who came to Washington county at an early day. He ( James Patterson ) purchased a farm of William Wells, who laid the foundation of the town of Wellsville. Their children were James, William, John, Hugh, Elizabeth (Mrs. Erasmus Cooper), Mary (wife of William Moore) and Sarah (Mrs. Robert Pogue). To the union of Erasmus and Elizabeth (Patterson) Cooper children were born, of whom the following grew to maturity: William (living in this county), John (born February 15, 1836, residing in Eldersville), Robert ( living in Drakesville, Davis Co., Iowa), and Henry C. (subject of this sketch). The mother died in 1846, and was buried at Perrysville, Allegheny Co., Penn., leaving her youngest child but eighteen months old. In 1855 Mr. Cooper, accompanied by his sons, William and John, moved to Iowa and purchased a large tract of land, on part of which now stands the city of Des Moines. This property was sold in 1887 for $200 per acre. For his second wife, Erasmus Cooper married a Miss Logan, of Canonsburg, one daughter being born to their union--Mary Bethel (now living in Des Moines). Mr. Cooper died in 1856 at the age of fifty-five years. He had three brothers and one sister, viz.: John (killed by a fall), James, George Fitch and Sarah. Of the sons of Erasmus and Elizabeth (Patterson) Cooper, William came to Washington county, Penn., in 1863 having previously kept "bachelors' hall" together with his brother John in Iowa. Since returning to this county, William Cooper has been interested in the development of the Allegheny county oil field, with the Pioneer Oil Company, and is now living near Eldersville. Henry Clay Cooper was born May 5, 1845, in Allegheny county, Penn., and upon the death of his mother, he and three brothers (John, William and Robert) were brought to Washington county, where he found a home with an Aunt Mary, the others being cared for in different families. Young Henry received a good common-school education, and on May 1, 1867, he formed a partnership with his brother John in mercantile business at Eldersville. The firm continued under the style of J. & H. C. Cooper until April 19, 1891, when our subject retired from active business. On December 18, 1889, he was married to Carrie V. McCarrell, daughter of Thomas R. and Elizabeth McCarrell, old settlers of this county. Thomas McCarrell, grandfather of Mrs. Henry C. Cooper, was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1745, and when seventeen years of age came to America, and to Pennsylvania, making his first settlement near Philadelphia. Afterward he moved to York county, same State, and while there participated in the war of the Revolution, and married Eleanor Rusk, a native of that county. In 1793 they came to Washington county, making their final home near Eldersville. Their children were: Mary (wife of Robert Cresswell, a soldier of the Mexican war), Jane (Mrs. James Moore, of Muskingum, Ohio), Samuel (married to Elizabeth McConnell, of Hanover township), Margaret (unmarried) and Thomas Rusk. The father of this family died on the home farm in this county in 1835, the mother in 1845, both aged ninety years, and both are buried in "The Tent" cemetery. Mr. McCarrell was a Democrat in politics, and in religious faith a member of and for many years an elder in the Seceder Church of Brooke county, W. Va., known as "The Tent." Thomas Rusk McCarrell was born August 3, 1795, in Jefferson township, Washington Co., Penn.,. and received his primary education in the subscription schools of the vicinity, later attending an educational establishment in Ohio. While in that State he taught school about ten years. Returning to Pennsylvania, he married Ruhamah Kincaid, of Brooke county, W. Va., and one child, Ruhamah J., was born to them. This wife dying, Mr. McCarrell, eleven years later, married Elizabeth McComb, of Brooke county. W. Va., a daughter of Capt. John McComb, a native of County Down, Ireland, who came to this country when a young man. He became a noted Indian fighter, and was a Revolutionary soldier. In 1840, at the age of about eighty-seven years, he passed from earth, a lifelong Democrat, and a ruling elder in "The Tent" Seceder Church of Brooke county. The children born to Thomas and Elizabeth (McComb) McCarrell were Rachel E., Thomas A. and John A. (all three deceased), Elizabeth M., John T.H. (deceased) and Caroline V. (Mrs. Henry C. Cooper). The parents both dies at the home place at the age of eighty-two years. Mr. McCarrell was a stanch Democrat, and was a member of "The Tent" Church in which he was a ruling elder for about fifty-five years. Henry Clay Cooper is one of the best known business men in the western part of the county. His store in Eldersville is well filled with the various articles needed in a farming community, and his patrons are scattered throughout the county, many of his customers also residing in West Virginia.

Text taken from page 363 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed March 1997 by Jack McNatt of Valrico, FL as part of the Beers Project. Published March 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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