William F. Cooper
Pima County
Arizona, The Youngest State, 1913

Judge William F. Cooper has the distinction not only of being 
the first judge of the superior court of Pima County but was 
also the first superior judge sworn in after the admission of 
the state.  

Judge Cooper is a native of Wayne County, Indiana, born 
August 6, 1858 and to the public school system of that 
state he is indebted for his early educational opportunities.  
He was graduated from the high school at Richmond Indiana and 
afterward entered  the Peekskill Military Academy at Peekskill 
New York, there completing the classical course by graduation 
in June 1877.  At the early age of eight years he began work 
during his school vacations in a country newspaper office and 
served his apprenticeship as a printer, and in after years 
worked as a compositor on many of the lading daily papers 
of the United States.  He had been a member of the Typographical 
Union since 1884.  He had determined however to make the 
practice of law his life work and after his graduation 
returned to Richmond, Indian where he began his reading 
in the office and under the preceptorship of Judge W.A. 
Peele.  As the result of too close application to his 
studies he suffered a very severe physical breakdown and 
was compelled in the latter part of 1879 to abandon his 
work and seek health out west.  After two or three years 
service as a cowboy he regained his strength and resumed 
his studies.  He was admitted to the bar of the district 
court in Arizona in October 1894 and to the supreme court 
in December of the same year and was licensed to practice 
before the superior court of Los Angeles in 1895.

Judge Cooper first visited the Pacific coast in 1879 but 
returned to the east in 1884 and did not make a permanent 
settlement in Arizona until 1892.  For a time he was at 
Kingman, in Mohave County and also spent a brief period in 
Phoenix.  He afterward became editor and proprietor of the 
Florence Tribune at Florence Arizona and in 1896 removed to 
Tucson where he continued his connection with journalism as 
editor of the Tucson Citizen, remaining in that connection 
until March 1897, when he became a stenographer in the 
office of S.M. Franklin.  It was in the same year that he 
was appointed secretary of the territorial board of 
equalization which position he acceptably filled during 
the administration of Governor McCord.  In 1898 he was 
elected district attorney of Pima County being the first 
republican ever chosen for that office in the county.  So 
creditable was the record which he made during his first 
term that he was reelected and continued in the position 
for four years.  In the latter part of 1903 he went to 
Nogales where he continued in law practice for one year 
as a partner of Frank J. Duffy.  In 1904 he returned to 
Tucson and was appointed court reporter by Judge Davis, 
was reappointed by Judge John H. Campbell and continued 
in that position for five years.  In 1909 he was elected 
probate judge on the republican ticket and in 1911 he was 
elected the first judge of the superior court of Pima 
County.

In 1894 Judge Cooper was married to Miss Elizabeth A. 
Douglass, a native of Arizona and a daughter of James s. 
and Melquaides (Elias) Douglass, the former a Scotchman.  
To Judge and Mrs. Cooper have been born six children: John 
D., Vida E., Orville W., Xulla M., William F. Jr. and Mary 
Eileen.



USGenWeb Project NOTICE: 
In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the 
internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as
long as this message remains on all copied material. These 
electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for
profit, nor for commercial presentation by any other 
organization. 

Persons or organizations desiring to use this material 
for purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express 
writtenpermission from the author, or the submitter and from 
the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.