James P. Cooley Biography


	This biography appears on pages 797-798 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. I (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	JAMES P. COOLEY, who is a representative of Bon Homme county in 
the state senate at the time of this writing, is one of the leading 
citizens of the county mentioned and his precedence and personal 
popularity are indicated in the important office to which he has been 
called and in which he is serving his constituency and the state with 
signal ability.  

	Mr. Cooley is a native of the state of Maryland, having been born 
in Cecil, Cecil county, on the 26th of February, 1845, one of the eight 
children of Corbin and Mary (Shaw) Cooley, and being the eldest of the 
four surviving, the others being as follows: Mary S., who is the wife 
of Robert Christy, of Cecil county, Maine; and Charles and Emma, who 
are twins, the former being a prominent physician of Madelia, 
Minnesota, while the latter is the wife of David W. Hutchinson, of East 
Dowington, Pennsylvania. The father of the subject was born in Hartford 
county, Maryland, on the 12th of August, 1799, being a son of Samuel 
Cooley, who was a valiant soldier in the Continental line during the 
war of the Revolution, the family name having been long identified with 
the annals of American history. Daniel and Charles Cooley, sons of 
Samuel, also served their country with distinction, having been active 
participants in the war of 1812, and they were in Fort Henry at the 
time when Key and another prisoner there composed the famed national 
ode, "The Star Spangled Banner." The father of the subject passed his 
entire life in Maryland, where he died at the age of seventy-six years. 
He devoted his life to agricultural pursuits, and was a man of marked 
intellectuality and individuality, his scientific methods of farming 
having placed him far in advance of his time, while he was a successful 
grower of live stock and a man of influence in his community, his 
advice being frequently sought by his neighbors in regard to business 
affairs and matters of local concern in a public way. His wife passed 
away at the age of eighty-two years.  

	James P. Cooley, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared 
on the homestead farm and under the direction of his able and honored 
father gained that knowledge of business principles which has so 
signally conserved his success in temporal affairs, while his 
educational training was secured in the common schools and in the 
academy at West Nottingham, Cecil county, Maryland. He continued to 
reside in his native state until the year 1870, when he came to what is 
now the state of South Dakota, becoming one of the pioneers of Bon 
Homme county, where he has ever since maintained his home. Here he took 
up a preemption claim of one hundred and sixty acres, while later he 
added homestead and timber claims, while he has since added to the area 
of his landed estate by purchase of adjoining tracts and is now the 
owner of ten hundred and forty acres in the home farm, while his 
holdings in the county include an additional two thousand one hundred 
and fifteen acres, so that he is one of the extensive landed 
proprietors of this favored section of the state, the property last 
mentioned being eligibly located near the town of Springfield, while 
his fine home farm is located ten miles from Tyndall, the county seat. 
He raises cattle upon an extensive scale and has been most successful 
in his operations in connection with this important line of industry, 
being a man of indefatigable energy and one whose policy is ever a 
progressive one. He is one of the heavy stockholders in the Security 
Bank of Tyndall, and a member of its directorate, while his course has 
been such as to retain to him the highest measure of popular confidence 
and esteem in the county and state in which he has so long maintained 
his home.  

	Mr. Cooley is endowed with fine mental powers and marked business 
acumen, and he has ever shown a definite interest in public affairs. He 
gives his allegiance to the Democratic party but is liberal in his 
political views and ever shows the courage of his convictions, in which 
he is amply fortified. He served as a member of the territorial 
legislature of 1872-3, and in 1902 he was elected to his present 
dignified office as a member of the state senate. He is in no sense a 
politician but is intrinsically loyal to the duties of citizenship and 
is thus ready to serve the public with fidelity and to the full extent 
of his powers, while his present official preferment shows the 
appreciative estimate placed upon his services by the people of the 
county. He was a member of the board of county commissioners for four 
years, and no resident of the county is better known or held in more 
uniform respect.  

	In March, 1872, Mr. Cooley was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
McCollum, of this county, whither she came with her parents from Coon 
Rapids, Iowa, where she was born and reared. Of the twelve children of 
Mr. and Mrs. Cooley all but two are still living, and of them we enter 
the following brief record: Jessie remains at the parental home; Emma 
is the wife of C. C. Torrence, of Tabor, this county; Mary is at the 
present time a student in Vermilion University; Lucille is the wife of 
Lewis Barber of West Point, Nebraska; Addie is likewise C! student in 
Vermilion University, as is also Ralph; and Corbin, Morris, Charles and 
George are still beneath the parental roof