330 



HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



March 6, 1839, t'icd January 28, 1859 ; and 

 Sarah B., born July 23, 1841. The niotlicr 

 of these children died March 22, 1853. Air. 

 Cope afterward married Elizabeth Kile, 

 by whom he had three children : Charles, 

 born December 17, 1856; Annie E., born 

 September 30, 1857, died May 18, 1858 ; and 

 Mary Alice. To Mr. and Mrs. Void have 

 been born thirteen children, as follows: 

 Bertha C, born July 14, 1882, died August 

 22,, 1894; Charles C, born January 17, 

 1884; Elsie C, born June 12, 1885; Mable 

 C, born October 9, 1887, died December 22,, 

 1887 ; Edith C, born October 3, 1888 ; Wel- 

 lington C., born December 8, 1889; Agnes 

 C, born December 6, 1890; Delia C, born 

 August I, 1893, died May 25, 1894; Harry 

 C, born June 24, 1895 ; Edna C, born Jan- 

 uary 23, 1897, died September 14, 1897 ; 

 Florence C, born December 7, 1898; Helen 

 C, born October 19, 1903; and one that 

 died in infancy. 



DR. WILLIAM RIDGE COOPER, of 

 Point Pleasant, Bucks county, Pennsyl- 

 vania, was born at Point Pleasant, August 

 26, 1862, and is a son of the late Dr. 

 Alfred M. and Elizabeth (Ridge) Cooper. 



The great-great-grandfather of Dr. Al- 

 fred M. Cooper was a native of Stratford- 

 on-Avon, England. William Cooper, the 

 great-grandfather, settled in Tinicum town- 

 ship and his son, James Cooper, was born 

 and reared there. William B. Cooper, son 

 of James, was born in Tinicum, Decem- 

 ber 24, 1807, and came of English Quaker 

 ancestry. He became an extensive land- 

 owner in Tinicum township and died there 

 December 12, 1854. He married Elizabeth 

 Meyer, born May 9, 1807, died December 

 4, 1871, daughter of John Meyer, who was 

 born June 22,, '^^773, and died September 9, 

 1823, by his wife Eve Fry, and granddaugh- 

 ter of Henrv Meyer, who was born in 

 Montgomery county, in 1750, married Susan 

 Smith, and settled in Plumstead townshin, 

 Bucks county. Henry Meyer, the father of 

 the last named Henry, was a son of Hans 

 Meyer and came to America with his pa- 

 rents at the age of one year about 1720. 

 He inherited the homestead of his father, 

 Hans Meyer, in Upper Salford, Montgom- 

 ery county, and died there about 1800. His 

 wife. Barbara Miller, came from Germany 

 at the age of eighteen years, in 1738, and 

 was a niece of Anna (Miller) Leisse, who 

 married Jacob Stout, the pioneer ancestor 

 of the Stout family in Bucks county. John 

 Meyer, above mentioned, and his brother 

 Henry followed teaming between Philadel- 

 phia and Pittsburg when much of the inter- 

 vening country was a wilderness. On one 

 of their trips John was taken sick and died 

 and his brother Henry buried him in the 

 wilderness. William B. and EHzabeth 

 (Mey-er) Cooper were the parents of eleven 

 children: Lavina. born Julv 15. 1826, died 

 December 24, 1893, married John H. Wat- 

 son ; Rebecca, who died young; Dr. Alfred 



M. ; Clara, living in Philadelphia unmar- 

 ried; Rachel and Jane, who died young; 

 Eve, who died in January, 1899; James B., 

 born August 11, 1842, killed at a barn rais- 

 ing in Tinicum, October 5, 1875 ; Caroline,, 

 born January 14, 1845, married Eli Siga- 

 foos, of Easton ; Newton R., born August 

 26, 1848, died June 14, 1865 ; and Justus,, 

 born July 28, 1851. 



Dr. Alfred M. Cooper, eldest son of 

 William B. and Elizabeth (Meyer) Cooper,, 

 was born in Tinicum township, Bucks coun- 

 ty, September 15, 1830, and was reared on 

 a farm to the age of nineteen years. He 

 received a good common school education 

 and taught school for five years. At the 

 age of twenty-three years he began the 

 study of medicine and graduated at Jeffer- 

 son Medical College, March 10, 1856. He 

 located at Point Pleasant and began prac- 

 tice the same year, and was considered one 

 of the leading physicians of Middle Bucks, 

 being highly respected in the community 

 for his many excellent qualities. He prac- 

 ticed at Point Pleasant until his death,. 

 September 15, 1898, after a continuous- 

 practice there for forty-two years. He was 

 a member of the State Medical Society, 

 the Bucks County Medical Society, the Le- 

 high Valley Medical Society, and the Hun- 

 terdon County ( N. J.) Medical Society. 

 He married, March 21, 1861, Elizabeth 

 Ridge, daughter of Will'am and Catharine 

 (Wyker) Ridge, of Point Pleasant, and a 

 descendant of Edward Marshall, the 

 Walker of 1737. Dr. and Mrs. Cooper were 

 members of the Baptist church of Point 

 Pleasant, of which the former served as 

 deacon and elder for many years. He alsc^ 

 took an active interest in educational mat- 

 ters and served several years as school di- 

 rector. Dr. and Elizabeth (Ridge) Cooper 

 were the parents of three children: Dr. 

 William R., the subject of this sketch; J. 

 Howard Cooper, M, D., now practicing- 

 medicine at Middle Bush, New Jersey ; and 

 Katherine E. C, wife of William S. AcufY, 

 a lawyer of Ambler, Pennsylvania. 



William R. Cooper was reared at Point 

 Pleasant and attended public school there 

 and later the First Pennsylvania State Nor- 

 mal school at Millersville, Pennsylvania. 

 He studied medicine with his father for 

 two years and then entered Jefferson Medi- 

 cal College, from which he was graduated 

 April 2, 188=;, and began to practice the 

 same year as an assistant to his father. 

 Five years later he established an office of 

 his own. On the death of his father he re- 

 moved to the old homestead, in the spring 

 of T899, where he has since resided and 

 continued the practice of his profession, 

 retaining practicallv all the practice of his 

 honored father. He is a "member of the 

 American Medical Association, the State 

 Medical Society, the Bucks County Medical 

 Society, and the Lehigh Valley Medical 

 Association. He is a member of the Point 

 Pleasant Banti=t church, of which he is a 

 trustee. Dr. Cooper married, March 20. 

 1890, Marv Smith Shaddinger, daughter ot 



