About William Barkley Cooper, Governor

Description: Ex-Governor Cooper Dies at Laurel Home.

Date: May 4 1849

Newspaper published in: Philadelphia

Source: newspapre archives/bank

Page/Column: Delaware State Journal Special

Laurel, Del., May 1, 1849

Ex=Governor William B. Ccooper died suddenly on the 27th ult, at his residence near Laurel, Delaware. He was a highly esteemed gentleman in his 78th year.

[ William Barkley Cooper was born December 16, 1771 to Isaac and Comfort Barkley Townsend Cooper at Laurel, Sussex county, Delaware. He was the 32nd Governor of Delaware, serving one term, 1841 until 1847. He was a member of the Whig political party of Delaware and had held political seats in the county and state since 1797. His maternal grandfather, Barkley Townsend, originally from Dorchester county Maryland, was a large property owner in the lower part of Delaware. His father and a brother, Thomas, also held political positions in the state. Nancy Jones was his first wife and they had one son, William T. After Nancy's death, he remarried twice, to Nelly Warren in 1816 and last to Jane Townsend Palmer, in 1828 but had no more children.
William Barkley Cooper was a Methodist and lived in Laurel at the corner of 4th and King streets. His military service was with the Delaware Militia as Captain of the 3ed Brigade of the Troop of Horse. It is known that he was a good conversationalist, but with a high temper and was in the habit of hard swearing when angry.
The son, William T., left Delaware for the South during the Civil War and fought with the Confederates, being captured and held in the Fort Delaware prison camp.]