The Cooper family is of noble English decent. The name derives from the trade of making and repairing barrels, casks, etc.

It will take time before we locate all the ancestors that will complete the link back to England but we will someday.  As of this date, we have solid links going back to Washington A. Cooper who was born in Georgia around 1798.  The census dates vary so the exact date is unknown.  Hopefully, with continued research, we will discover the exact date of his birth and his parent's names.

In the 1850 Federal Census, for Holmes County, Florida, it is written that Washington was a Millwright.  The fact that Washington was a Millwright might be the reason that he and his son's family moved, in the mid 1800s, to the Milton area of Florida because of the booming timber industry in that area.  We do know that John Jordan Cooper and some of his sons had some involvement in the timber industry.  The fact that their land surrounded part of a basin off the Blackwater River would have made it easy for them to enter logs into the water and float them up or down river to the nearest mill for processing.

Although some of the family members have moved to different parts of the country, the majority of our family still lives in west Florida where our ancestor, John Jordan Cooper, put down roots a 152 years ago.  Since his time, when farming and logging was our family’s primary means of survival, our family members have branched out into many professions: accountants, airline attendants, artist, carpenters, entrepreneurs of many types, government employees, locomotive engineers, military, ministers, paramedical professionals, physicians, plumbers, poets, preacher, priest, professional speakers, professors, taxidermist, teachers, technicians, writers, and many more.  To date, I have collected the names of over 1672 family members and the number continues to grow.

It is my hope, that by compiling the genealogy of our family, through diligent research of documents, recording the stories that have been past down and the annual Cooper Family reunion, we will honor our ancestors and keep them alive in our hearts.