Compiled and written by David R. Schleper, 2023

Josiah Cooper was born August 31, 1828 in New Paltz, New York, child of Josiah (1785-1855) and Hannah Ellis Cooper (1784-1870). Little is known about his family; he is believed to be the youngest of their five children, according to Arlene Gable, in a family history sketch sent to Don Wagner at the Shakopee Heritage Society in 2002. Arlene is the great-granddaughter of Josiah Cooper, and her research was used in this brochure.

Josiah’s early years were spent on a farm in New York. In 1846, Josiah, at age 18, went to New York City to serve as an apprentice cabinetmaker.

In August 1848 at the old Frederick homestead near Harrimans (Turners), New York, Josiah Cooper married Harriet Frederick. He was then 20 years old; she was 17. Harriet was born on May 9, 1831 in Harrimans, New York, the youngest child of Jacob and Catherine Stevens Frederick.

Josiah and Harriet’s first child, Jane Ann, was born in 1849 on the Frederick homestead. In 1851, the family moved to Pennsylvania, probably because Josiah had a job as a cabinetmaker there. Their second child, Catherine Emma, called Kate, was born there. They moved back to New York, and in September of 1855, Josiah and Harriet had a son, James. It was clear that they waited for the birth of the child before moving west.

The treaties forced upon the Indians opened up southern Minnesota for the colonist-settlers, who moved from the east to the area, which family lore called “the wilds of Minnesota.” Harriet’s father, Jacob Frederick also had some Bounty Land for service in the War of 1812. So around 1855, Josiah and Harriet headed to Minnesota. Harriet’s brothers, Francis W, Frederick, Albert Frederick, Jacob Frederick, and sister Polly Ann Frederick Ferrill and their families, as well as Harriet’s parents, Jacob and Catherine Stevens Frederick, all made their way to Minnesota.

Family lore noted that in October of 1855, after the birth of James, they travelled by “train and ferry to the end of the line” in Shakopee, to Harriet’s brother, Francis W. Frederick, who had land about three miles from Shakopee, which has become Valleyfair. One eastern relative who stayed behind said that they left by oxcart to the west.

In 1855, it seems likely they travelled by train to Albany, New York, or perhaps up the Hudson River by riverboat that far, thence through the Erie Canal to the Great Lakes, through the lakes to Milwaukee or Chicago, overland from Milwaukee to Minnesota, or if from Chicago by canal or overland to the Mississippi and then north on the Minnesota River to Shakopee, said Arlene Gable.

Josiah and Harriet arrived as settler-colonists in Shakopee in October of 1855, which was not the best time for people to arrive. Perhaps they did not know about the rigors of a Minnesota winter, or maybe they had to because they wanted to wait until James was born, but luckily, they had a place waiting for them with Harriet’s brother. They set up their own home nearby, and by November 7, 1856, James Cooper died there. Charles Henry Cooper was born in 1857, and in 1860 Jacob Fred Cooper was born on land near that later became Valleyfair.

It was in 1860 that records show that Josiah and Harriet received patents for bounty land that was reassigned to him in Eagle Creek Township. The land is just south of the Minnesota River and a short distance southeast of what was later Valleyfair. Jacob Frederick Jr, Harriet’s father, and Nathaniel Ferrell owned land that was now part of Valleyfair. The land was very poor, and Josiah could not find work as a cabinet maker in Shakopee, so he made ax handles, and did other work in Shakopee, in addition to farming.

On August 15, 1862, Josiah volunteered for three years in military service in the Civil War. Josiah was 34 years old. The military allowed the volunteers to gather their crops before they were mustered out, but once the U.S.- Dakota War broke out, they abandoned the crops and headed to Fort Snelling. Josiah Cooper joined Company I, Ninth Infantry of Minnesota Volunteers.

He remained at Fort Ridgely until the summer of 1863, when he proceeded to St. Paul and acted as provost guard until ordered south in October 1863.

While Josiah was away, Harriet and the children lived with Harriet’s parents in Shakopee. Eliza Stella Cooper was born in December 1862 while Josiah was in Fort Ridgely.

Josiah Cooper was appointed corporal on September 30, 1862, and served as a carpenter in the quartermaster department. He was promoted to sergeant on December 1, 1863, and he drilled the troops. Josiah was 5’6” tall with fair complexion, light hair, and hazel eyes. He headed to Rolla, Missouri for seven months, then headed to St. Louis and ultimately to the Battle of Guntown, Mississippi on June 10, 1864, where they were defeated.

During this battle, Josiah was double tapping to the front when he suffered sunstroke and fell out. The intense heat in Mississippi made him fall off his horse. Josiah was sitting beside the road with his head in his hands by two buddies, William Dean and Fred Merrill, as they were retreated. “Leave me alone!” said Josiah, but they did not. One carried the gun and the other dragged him along.

Josiah mustered out of the infantry on August 24, 1865 at Fort Snelling. He was nearly 37 years old.

In the Spring of 1866, Josiah Cooper and Jacob S. Frederick went to Ashley Township in Stearns County, Minnesota and picked out homesteads.

They returned to Shakopee and brought their families back to Ashley in covered wagons drawn by oxen and wagons drawn by horses. Josiah worked as a cabinet maker in Sauk Centre. Their last child, Rosa Zaddie Cooper, was born in 1872.

The family moved to town in 1873 so that the children could receive the benefits of an education. The Sauk Centre Herald, on June 21, 1873, noted “the tide of immigration is flowing northwest and westward in a continual stream,” with trains of travelers moving through town. Eliza Stella Cooper died in Sauk Centre in 1874 of bronchitis.

Josiah died on November 3, 1905, at age 77. Josiah always smoked a pipe and eventually had a rose-like growth on his cheek. It was cancer, which had begun on his lip. He was buried at the Greenwood Cemetery in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. Josiah’s wife, Harriet, died on July 3, 1929, of old age, and was buried next to her husband in Sauk Centre.

Bibliography

Sauk Centre Herald, 21 June 1873.