Henry Allen Cooper | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromWisconsin's1st district | |
| In office March 4, 1921 – March 1, 1931 | |
| Preceded by | Clifford E. Randall |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Ryum Amlie |
| In office March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1919 | |
| Preceded by | Clinton Babbitt |
| Succeeded by | Clifford E. Randall |
| Member of theWisconsin Senate from the3rd district | |
| In office January 3, 1887 – January 5, 1891 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Jonas |
| Succeeded by | Adam Apple |
| District Attorney ofRacine County, Wisconsin | |
| In office January 1, 1881 – January 1, 1887 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 8, 1850 |
| Died | March 1, 1931(1931-03-01) (aged 80) Washington D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Mound Cemetery,Racine, Wisconsin |
| Party | Republican |
| Other political affiliations | Progressive |
| Spouse | Sara Amelia Phillips |
| Parent |
|
| Alma mater | Northwestern University |
| Committees | Insular Affairs,Rivers and Harbors |
Henry Allen Cooper (September 8, 1850 – March 1, 1931) was an American lawyer and progressiveRepublican politician fromRacine County, Wisconsin. He served 36 years as a member of theU.S. House of Representatives, representingWisconsin's 1st congressional district from 1893 until his death in 1931. He earlier served in theWisconsin Senate and wasdistrict attorney of Racine County.[1]
His father,Joel H. Cooper, served in theWisconsin State Assembly during the1852 term, and was a prominent abolitionist who participated in theUnderground Railroad. Cooper famously gave shelter toJoshua Glover on his journey to freedom in Canada, but was not one of the abolitionists prosecuted in the relatedAbleman v. Booth court cases.
Cooper was born inSpring Prairie, Wisconsin, son of formerFree Soil PartyState RepresentativeJoel H. Cooper, a physician. In 1851 the family moved toBurlington, Wisconsin. Their house was a station of theUnderground Railroad, and in 1852 shelteredfugitive slave Joshua Cooper on his way toCanada. Henry Cooper graduated fromBurlington High School in June 1869. After school, Cooper attendedNorthwestern University inEvanston, Illinois, and graduated in 1873. He then attendedUnion College of Law, then the legal faculty ofNorthwestern University and graduated there in 1875.[2] He was then admitted to the bar, practiced inChicago until 1879 and then commenced practice at Burlington.
Cooper was electeddistrict attorney ofRacine County in November 1880 and moved toRacine in January 1881. In 1882 and 1884 he was reelected as district attorney without opposition.
In 1884, Cooper served as a delegate to theRepublican National Convention, a tradition he would continue in 1908 and 1924. He was subsequently elected to theWisconsin Senate in 1886 and served in the1887 and1889 legislative sessions. He representedWisconsin's 3rd State Senate district, which then comprised just Racine County. During his time in the State Senate, he authored a bill to introduce thesecret ballot in Wisconsin. In 1890 Cooper unsuccessfully ran for election to thefifty-second Congress.
In 1892, Cooper was elected to thefifty-third Congress, running on the Republican Party ticket inWisconsin's 1st congressional district. He assumed on March 4, 1893. During his time as Congressman, Cooper served as the chairman of theCommittee of Rivers and Harbors for thefifty-fifth Congress and theCommittee on Insular Affairs for thefifty-sixth Congress through to thesixtieth Congress.
He was also the author of thePhilippine Organic Act (1902), and read out the poemMi último adiós byJosé 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 theLincoln Memorial.[3]
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 inWorld War I, 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 theSixty-fifth Congress.
After missing a term of Congress, Cooper was once again elected to represent Wisconsin's 1st district in theSixty-seventh Congress in 1920 and to the five succeeding Congresses. He served until his death inWashington, D.C., on March 1, 1931, which came before he could start his new term (in theseventy-second Congress). He was buried in Mound Cemetery,Racine, Wisconsin.
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | General[4] | Nov. 4 | Clinton Babbitt | Democratic | 14,532 | 48.13% | H. A. Cooper | Rep. | 14,209 | 47.06% | 30,191 | 323 |
| Stephen Favill | Proh. | 1,316 | 4.36% | |||||||||
| 1892 | General[5] | Nov. 8 | Henry Allen Cooper | Republican | 20,222 | 52.26% | Clinton Babbitt (inc) | Dem. | 16,449 | 42.51% | 38,692 | 3,773 |
| T. C. Murdock | Proh. | 2,021 | 5.22% | |||||||||
| 1894 | General[6] | Nov. 6 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 21,972 | 56.70% | Andrew Kull | Dem. | 12,334 | 31.83% | 38,749 | 9,638 |
| Hamilton Utley | Peo. | 2,828 | 7.30% | |||||||||
| Alex S. Kaye | Proh. | 1,615 | 4.17% | |||||||||
| 1896 | General[7] | Nov. 3 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 28,235 | 64.11% | Jeremiah L. Mahoney | Dem. | 14,723 | 33.43% | 44,042 | 13,512 |
| George W. White | Proh. | 1,084 | 2.46% | |||||||||
| 1898 | General[8] | Nov. 8 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 19,887 | 61.51% | Clinton Babbitt | Dem. | 11,447 | 35.41% | 32,329 | 8,440 |
| John C. Huffman | Proh. | 995 | 3.08% | |||||||||
| 1900 | General[9] | Nov. 6 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 28,256 | 64.09% | Gilbert T. Hodges | Dem. | 14,556 | 33.01% | 44,091 | 13,700 |
| John R. Beveridge | Proh. | 1,279 | 2.90% | |||||||||
| 1902 | General[10] | Nov. 4 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 20,437 | 60.69% | Lewis C. Baker | Dem. | 12,122 | 36.00% | 33,672 | 8,315 |
| Thomas W. North | Proh. | 1,111 | 3.30% | |||||||||
| 1904 | General[11] | Nov. 8 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 25,125 | 59.52% | Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 13,379 | 31.69% | 42,212 | 11,746 |
| Jacob W. Born | S.D. | 2,461 | 5.83% | |||||||||
| Henry H. Tubbs | Proh. | 1,235 | 2.93% | |||||||||
| 1906 | General[12] | Nov. 6 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 16,226 | 61.11% | John J. Cunningham | Dem. | 8,818 | 33.21% | 26,553 | 7,408 |
| Moses Hull | S.D. | 1,504 | 5.66% | |||||||||
| 1908 | General[13] | Nov. 3 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 26,728 | 60.58% | Henry A. Moehlenpah | Dem. | 14,018 | 31.77% | 44,117 | 12,710 |
| William A. Jacobs | S.D. | 1,791 | 4.06% | |||||||||
| J. H. Berkey | Proh. | 1,576 | 3.57% | |||||||||
| 1910 | General[14] | Nov. 8 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 15,096 | 57.22% | Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 8,606 | 32.62% | 26,384 | 6,490 |
| Michael Yabs | S.D. | 1,860 | 7.05% | |||||||||
| Hans H. Moe | Proh. | 820 | 3.11% | |||||||||
| 1912 | General[15] | Nov. 5 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 18,914 | 53.15% | Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 13,816 | 38.82% | 35,586 | 5,098 |
| Joseph Orth | S.D. | 1,523 | 4.28% | |||||||||
| Marcus S. Kellogg | Proh. | 1,333 | 3.75% | |||||||||
| 1914 | General[16] | Nov. 3 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 16,547 | 58.18% | Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 9,911 | 34.85% | 28,439 | 6,636 |
| John P. Fennell | S.D. | 1,077 | 3.79% | |||||||||
| Truman Parker | Proh. | 902 | 3.17% | |||||||||
| 1916 | General[17] | Nov. 7 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 24,851 | 61.56% | Jay W. Page | Dem. | 12,587 | 31.18% | 40,367 | 12,264 |
| William J. Hensche | Proh. | 1,491 | 3.69% | |||||||||
| Michael Yabs | S.D. | 1,434 | 3.55% | |||||||||
| 1918 | Primary[18] | Sep. 3 | Clifford E. Randall | Republican | 8,295 | 50.51% | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Rep. | 8,113 | 49.41% | 16,421 | 182 |
| General[19] | Nov. 5 | Clifford E. Randall | Republican | 13,177 | 42.28% | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Ind. | 7,718 | 24.77% | 31,164 | 4,159 | |
| Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 9,018 | 28.94% | |||||||||
| Michael Yabs | S.D. | 1,242 | 3.99% | |||||||||
| 1920 | Primary[20] | Sep. 7 | Henry Allen Cooper | Republican | 15,282 | 37.63% | Clifford E. Randall (inc) | Rep. | 13,896 | 34.21% | 40,614 | 1,386 |
| Charles D. Rosa | Rep. | 7,437 | 18.31% | |||||||||
| F. C. Adams | Rep. | 3,999 | 9.85% | |||||||||
| General[21] | Nov. 2 | Henry Allen Cooper | Republican | 51,144 | 75.88% | Andrew F. Stahl | Dem. | 13,661 | 20.27% | 67,400 | 37,483 | |
| Samuel S. Walkup | Soc. | 2,585 | 3.84% | |||||||||
| 1922 | Primary[22] | Sep. 5 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 27,633 | 68.59% | Lawrence C. Whittet | Rep. | 12,656 | 31.41% | 40,289 | 14,977 |
| General[23] | Nov. 7 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 37,958 | 94.44% | Niels P. Nielson | Soc. | 2,179 | 5.42% | 40,191 | 35,779 | |
| 1924 | Primary[24] | Sep. 2 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 36,513 | 62.68% | Charles H. Pfennig | Rep. | 21,738 | 37.32% | 58,251 | 14,775 |
| General[24] | Nov. 4 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 60,770 | 71.97% | Calvin Stewart | Dem. | 23,612 | 27.97% | 84,433 | 37,158 | |
| 1926 | General[25] | Nov. 2 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 50,531 | 99.95% | --unopposed-- | 50,555 | 50,507 | |||
| 1928 | Primary[26] | Sep. 4 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 41,914 | 82.68% | Richard A. Williams | Rep. | 8,780 | 17.32% | 50,694 | 33,134 |
| General[26] | Nov. 6 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 83,064 | 80.17% | William C. Kiernan | Dem. | 20,539 | 19.82% | 103,612 | 62,525 | |
| 1930 | General[27] | Nov. 4 | Henry Allen Cooper (inc) | Republican | 46,272 | 95.65% | William C. Kiernan | Dem. | 2,102 | 4.35% | 48,374 | 44,170 |
| Wisconsin Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theWisconsin Senatefrom the3rd district January 3, 1887 – January 5, 1891 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromWisconsin's 1st congressional district March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1919 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromWisconsin's 1st congressional district March 4, 1921 – March 1, 1931 | Succeeded by |
| Public Buildings and Grounds (1837–1947) |  | |
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| Rivers and Harbors (1883–1947) | ||
| Roads (1913–1947) | ||
| Flood Control (1916–1947) | ||
| Transportation and Infrastructure* (1947–) | ||
| Note | * Alternately namedPublic Works in 80th through 93rd Congresses andPublic Works and Transportation in 94th through 103rd Congresses. | |
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| Other | |
