Henry Allen Cooper (September 8, 1850 – March 1, 1931) was a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Early life

Cooper was born in Spring Prairie, Wisconsin, son of former

Free Soil Party The Free Soil Party was a short-lived coalition political party in the United States active from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party. The party was largely focused on the single issue of opposing the expansion of slavery int ...

State Representative Joel H. Cooper, a physician. In 1851 the family moved to

Burlington, Wisconsin Burlington is a city in Racine and Walworth counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, with the majority of the city located in Racine County. The population of the city was 11,047 as of the 2020 census. History Prior to the arrival of Europea ...

. Their house was a station of the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. ...

, and in 1852 sheltered fugitive slave Joshua Cooper on his way to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Henry Cooper graduated from Burlington High School in June 1869. After school, Cooper attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

, and graduated in 1873. He then attended

Union College of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law sch ...

, then the legal faculty of

and graduated there in 1875. He was then admitted to the bar, practiced in

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until 1879 and then commenced practice at Burlington. Cooper was elected District Attorney of Racine County in November 1880 and moved to

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditi ...

in January 1881. In 1882 and 1884 he was reelected as District Attorney without opposition.

Political career

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

District 3 District 3 can refer to: *III District, Turku, in Finland * District 3, Düsseldorf, in Germany *District 3, Grand Bassa County, in Liberia * District 3, Malta, an electoral district of Malta *District 3, a police district of Malta * Wiedikon, als ...

of the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

for the term 1887 to 1889 and 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 as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Congressman to the fifty-third Congress, an office he assumed on March 4, 1893, that year. He represented

Wisconsin's 1st congressional district Wisconsin's 1st congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in southeastern Wisconsin, covering Kenosha County, Racine County, and most of Walworth County, as well as portions of Rock Count ...

. During his time as Congressman, Cooper served as the chairman of the Committee of Rivers and Harbors for the

fifty-fifth Congress The 55th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1897, to M ...

and the Committee on Insular Affairs for the

fifty-sixth Congress The 56th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1899, ...

through to the

sixtieth Congress The 60th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1907, to M ...

. He was also the author of the

Philippine Organic Act (1902) The Philippine Organic Act (c. 1369, ) was a basic law for the Insular Government that was enacted by the United States Congress on July 1, 1902. It is also known as the Philippine Bill of 1902 and the Cooper Act, after its author Henry A. Coope ...

, and read out the poem

Mi último adiós "Mi último adiós" ( en, "My Last Farewell") is a poem written by Filipino propagandist and writer Dr. José Rizal before his execution by firing squad on December 30, 1896. The piece was one of the last notes he wrote before his death. Another ...

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. 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 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, 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

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on March 1, 1931, which came before he could start his new term (in the

seventy-second Congress The 72nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1931 ...

). He was buried in Mound Cemetery, Racine, Wisconsin.

Sources

Cooper, Henry Allen
- Wisconsin Historical Society {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Henry Allen 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

Early life

Political career

See also

Sources