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This has been handed down to me as a copy, and the only indication I have of it's author, is as you can see below, it has the name of "Thomas M. Leeper" noted in two places. I have copied it as best I can with the exception of the subnote's I have inserted to do with my personal info.
Click here for a descendants list for John Leeper, who was the father of Henry, Andrew, and William Leeper.
Family Record of GEORGE DANNER EYSTER COOPER
(Marion County)
(*** Denotes my line)
***GEORGE E. COOPER - Jan. 21, 1849 - Jan. 2, 1929
***FLORA Lavina (Leeper) COOPER(My Great Grandmother) - Feb 8, 1852 - Oct. 6, 1942
EVA M. COOPER - Aug. 15, 1872 - Jan. 4,1955
CLARENCE FRED COOPER - Aug. 15, 1873 - Dec. 1, 1894
SARAH E. COOPER - Jan. 7, 1875
LAMBERT M. COOPER - April 9, 1878
PIERRE CORNELIUS COOPER - March 1, 1880
ALVA ERNEST COOPER - Jan. 4, 1882
JAY COURTNEY COOPER - Nov. 5, 1883 - Aug. 7, 1965
***MARY REBECCA COOPER - Aug. 16, 18B6 - Jan. 12, 1959(My Grandmother)
BASIL ARNO COOPER - Dec. 12, 1888 - July 23, 1967
MAGGIE WINNIE COOPER - Sept. 18, 1891 -
LEEPER HISTORY
Tradition says that in the latter part of the 17th Century, 1675 to 1695, there lived a large family of brothers in Ireland, who were very athletic and engaged in the sports of boxing, wrestling, running, and Jumping. They attended the Irish fairs and other gatherings where men and boys competed for prizes, and their fame spread far and wide as great "Leapers" for they nearly always won all the prizes in any and all kinds of jumping contests. They kept themselves in condition by training whenever possible. They were always ready to compete with anyone and defended their laurels against all comers. They often did things to attract notice and attention. At one time, when one of them was walking along a street in Dublin, there was a butcher's cart drawn by two dogs directly in the path. Instead of walking around it, he leaped over it.
Their father and mother each had descended from families who had vigorously resisted the rule of Cromwell and his Ironsides.
They became so proficient and noted in their acts of jumping, or leaping as it was then called, that they were called the Leapers and their proper name of Doan or Done was not used and Leaper became the family name. A generation or two down one of the descendants became an Irish nobleman and he changed the spelling of the name to Leeper, and then all the Leapers became Leepers.
The Irish law allowed the oldest son of a family to be the heir to the estate of the father, so the other members of a family had to look out for themselves, and the Leeper family was no exception from the rule. The Leepers married and scattered to many places. One of them settled in Donegal County, which is in the northwestern part of Ireland adjoining Donegal Bay, and raised his family there. Like the majority of Irish families, there were several children, among them being Henry, Andrew, and William.
***Henry was born in 1770 and with two of his brothers, Andrew and William, came to the United States about 1789 or 1790.
They stayed in Virginia for awhile; then William married and settled on the Mohaning River in Pennsylvania where he raised a large family. One of the sons, William, became a noted Methodist preacher and preached for years with firey eloquence in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia. He, William the 2nd, married and raised a large family, and one of his daughters married the celebrated singer, Ira D. Sankey, who led the singing for years for the celebrated Reverend Moody, the great Evangelist who held meetings in different states from 1870 to 1885. William's descendants scattered over many states and may still be found in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. There is a town in Pennsylvania named Leeper after one of them.
Andrew never married and spent a part of his time in Virginia with Henry and part of his time with William in Pennsylvania. He died near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Henry first settled in Londin County, Virginia, where he married Mary Hyers, and their first child, William, was born there March 22, 1795. In 1796, Henry, his wife, and son came with all their goods on horse back through the forest and settled in a log cabin on the hill above Monongah where the Radio Tower now stands. It was Harrison County, Virginia then.
In this new home two other sons, John and Andrew, and three daughters, Sarah, Margaret and Elizabeth were born. This section of Virginia at that time was thinly settled and the roads were only trails and bridle paths. They camped by the trail each night until they got to their new home.
Henry had acquired his large farm before he left Louden County. Henry's son, ***William, married Nellie Miller, daughter of Peter Miller who had been a soldier in Washington's Army and had fought through the Revolutionary War. They had six children one of which died in infancy. The others were Henry Perry, Hannah Elma, Sarah Ann, Dorcas, and ***Lambert Myers Leeper. Nellie Leeper died. Then William married Sarah Davis, daughter of Joseph,and Pamelia Davis, and had two children, Joseph A. and Alcinda. The second wife and step-mother made it hard for the first wife's children and ruled them with a rod of iron. Henry Perry left home before he was 20 and did for himself. However, he undertook and successfully executed a remarkable trip to Iowa on a business trip for his brother. There were no railroads out there then, so he did most of it on foot. He walked to the Ohio River at the mouth of Fish Creek, took a boat down the Ohio to the Mississippi, then up it to St. Louis. Then he got off and walked the rest of the way to Iowa. He was a small man weighing about 135 pounds. He was gone about two years, sold a farm that had belonged to Little Ben Veach, put the money in a silk hankerchief, tied it around his shoulder, and brought it safely home.
After coming back home, he married Sarah Palmer and had six children, four of whom died while young. The othet two grew up. Virginia died at 22, John William learned the printing trade and had the distinction at one time of being the fastest type setter in the world. He was wild and restless, married three or four times, had only one child and that by his first wife. Will walked all over the United States. His daughter, Gertrude, had a home for awhile with her Grandfather, Henry Perry" in Monongah. She went to Washington when about ten years old, went on the stage, became an actress of note, went to London and England for some time, became an Art Critic. While touring the Continent, she met a Russian Baron, who came to New York after she came back to the United States, and they were married there so she became Baroness Gertrude De Peckendorf. Her husband started back to Russia at the breaking out of World War I, and she hever heard of him again. She has her home in New York City. Her father, John William, died in New York in 1922.
After his first wife died, Henry Perry married Eliza Ross and she died in Monongah. Henry Perry died in Baltimore, his body was sent here, and buried on the hill in the old Leeper Cemetary. (He was a Methodist Preacher).
Hannah Elma, oldest daughter of William and Nellie Leeper, married Isaac Hill, who moved his family to Caroll County, Missouri, in 1855, where they lived ten years, then moved to a farm in Cooper County, Missouri, where they both died. Their children were Rufus, Virginia, Nettie, George, Sidona, James, and Maude. All except the last three named, mariied and raised families. Rufus became a wealthy land owner, stock raiser, and farmer. Maude, the youngest, became the first woman president and general manager of a telephone company in Missouri and was a success. Isaac Hill was a noted Confederate soldier during the Civil War and was widely named "Red Jacket", because he wore a red warmer part of the time. He was captured in 1864, held prisoner until the war closed, came to West Virginia in 1865 on his way to Missouri, went home and never came back here. Dorcas J. Leeper never married, was a nurse in a Union hospital during the Civil War, and died in Grafton, West Virginia.
***Lambert Myers Leeper married Rebecca M. Bowman, granddaughter of Captain Nathaniel Cochran who was captured by Shawnee Indians on Booth Creek on June 16, 1778, sold to the English, taken to Quebec, Canada, kept there until the Revolutionary Was was over, and then returned here. Lambert and Rebecca had ten children.
*** (My Great Grandmother)Flora Lavina., the oldest, married George Eyster Cooper and moved to Calhoun County, West Virginia. Their children were: Eva, who married-Leonard Hicks and had a large family. One of her girls, Georgia Smith, was a leading teacher in schools of Calhoun and Roane Counties. Fred died at 21; Lambert married Rebecca Mollahan, moved to Clay County where he raised a family of ten girls, three boys; Nelia died at 25; Ernest, Courtney, and Arno married and raised families in Calhoun County; while Winnie married and went to California.
(Subnote)My records have as children of George Eyster Cooper and Flora Lavina Leeper as follows:
Eva M., Clarence Fred, Sarah E., Lambert M., Pierre Cornelius, Alva Earnest, J. Courtney, ***Mary Rebecca, Basil Arno, and Maggie Winifred.(End Subnote)
William Bruce Leeper married Melissa A. Witkins and had four children. His granddaughter, Irene Vincent, has been principal of Lumberport School for years.
Ruhamee Leeper died at 16. Lizzie C. Leeper married J. H. Hill, moved to Indiana, then to California. They had two boys and two girls. One boy and one girl died. A granddaughter, Louise Hill, went to Berkeley College where she graduated at the head of her class, speaks and reads seven languages, and is a teacher of language in Berkeley College.
Thomas M. Leeper married Martha J. Nay. She, with Ocie and Clark, are dead, leaving only Harry T. who has been a member of East Side Fairmont High School Faculty fo 23 years.
Darius J. Leeper married Gurty Shrack in Indiana and had two boys and one girl, Dorothy, who married Paul Holt, a mail carrier, and lives with her family of six at LaFayette, Indiana.
Paul, the older boy, is an expert bookkeeper and has his home in Cleveland, Ohio, where he and his wife live but have no children.
Noel, the youngest, went through World War I, married, and has one girl and is post master at Selma, Indiana.
Joseph J. Leeper married Ida T. Fisher and had two boys and two girls. One boy died at 5; Albert S. Leeper married.
Albert S. Leeper married Alcinda Brumage and had three boys and one girl. He was killed in a mine accident when the children were small. The three boys volunteered in World War I. One of them, Wolfe, was wounded in France, was gassed several times, came home, married, and died suddenly. The oldest boy married and died in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, and left his wife and a boy and a girl. The youngest one, Oscar, married, has two sons, and keeps the liquor store in Fairmont.
Robert Samuel Leeper married Jeanette Arnett. He was an expert Accountant and Auditor, was taken sick and died in a few minutes. All of Lambert M. Leeper's family are now dead except Thomas M., and he is now past 90 years of age.
William and Nellie Leeper's Daughter, Sarah Ann, married John Garder, lived in Ritchie County, West Virginia, and had several children, among them being Madison, Lambert, Leonard, Emma, Susan, Della, and Flora. All are married and settled in different places. Lambert became a noted United Brethren Preacher. He was a fine speaker and did most of his work in Ritchie, Tyler and Wirt Counties.
William Leeper's son, Joseph H., half-brother to Henry P. and Lambert M., was at home when war broke out between North and the South. He enlisted in the Confederate Arymy and was a member of Co., A, 31 Regiment, Virginia Infantry, Barleys Brigade, Everals Division, Jackson Corps., Army of Northern Virginia, until after the Battle of Gettysburg. He was elected First Lieutenant of Co., B, 20th Regiment, Va. Cavalry, Ramseys Brigade, Lamor Division, and served with same until Lee surrendered at Appomatax Courthouse in 1865. After Lee surrendered, Joseph returned home and in September 1860 married Mary B. Jones, daughter of J. W. and Barsheba Jones of Harrison County. Their family consisted of Arthur, Ashley, Cecil, William. and Frederic. All except Arthur died young. Arthur went to Mexico, married a Mexican girl, and became a Mexican citizen.
He was in business in Tampico when Poncho Villa came and burned the town. He lost all he had and had to flee to Florida. After he went back, he lost his mind and died.
Joseph A. 's first wife died in 1884 and in 1888 he married Eveline D. Rinahart. They had one girl who married and moved to Ohio. William's daughter, Alcinda, sister to Joseph A., married Isaac. They had one son, Claude, who married Estella Davis, and then both died.
John, the second son of Henry Leeper, married Sarah Davison of Taylor County, West Virginia, and lived near Pruntytown, for some years. He was appointed on of the first Justices of the Peace in Taylor County and served with distinction.
In 1852; he moved with his family to Schuyler County, Missouri, where he lived on a large farm until 1864. In that year Jim Layne and his Jayhawkers took the old man out in his yard, struck him to death with their bayonets, burned all his buildings, drove his horses and cattle away, and left the family without a home. Soon his wife and some the children started to go to California to make a home with Dolly, the oldest daughter, who had married a Baptist Preacher by the name of Ogle, but when they got to the Shake River, William Leeper fevered and died leaving the children strangers in a strange land.
Of John's family, Marshall, the son, was a railroad engineer and lived in St. Louis. Joh Calvin was a Colonel in the Cm1federate Army and was murdered by the home guards in 1864.
Grandville and Charley went to Dallas, Texas, and made a home there for their families. Sarah married John Galbraith and lived at Boothany Bay, North British Columbia, until he died. Then she made her home at Victoria on Vancouver Island. Laura married Mr..
Hodgekinson and lived in Portland, Oregon.
When John was killed and their house burned, Jim was a small boy and he hid in the weeds near by and saw his father murdered.
After his mother died, he made his way back to Missouri and having no home, joined Juantrell's band of Guerrillas who fought on the side of the Confederates. Then he joined the James and Younger Brothers and helped to rob trains and banks and spent the rest of his life in hunting and killing Jim Layne's men. Most of Laynes men were from Schuyler and Jackson Counties and Jim knew many of them. He made many trips between Missouri and Texas and had friends to help him get away. He had many narrow escapes, but was never caught. He was never known to laugh after seeing his father killed. He said he would kill a hundred men to pay for the killing of his father. Marshall told Joseph A. Leeper in Denver that Jim had killed 80 men. Jim died in Dallas, Texas of T.B. before he was 22 years old.
Andrew Leeper, youngest son of Henry Leeper, married Anna McIntire, lived for several years here on a part of the old Leeper farm. Then in 1855 he went to Missouri and located between the Grand and Missouri Rivers in Carroll County where he, his wife, and one son died of malaria fever. The next year Billy and Celia were shipped back to West Virginia by Wells Fargo Express Co. by covered wagon to St. Louis, then by water down the Mississippi, up the Ohio to Wheeling, then by railroad to Fairmont. Lester remained in Missouri, was taken prisoner by the Yankees during the Civil War, and died in prison. Felix went into the Confederate Army and at the close of the Civil War, came back to Marion County, West Virginia, married Varsheby Snoderly, settled on a farm on White Rock and Buffalo Creek. His children were: Lee, who married Jane Smith and had several children, among them twin boys. One of Lee's girls married John Wolfe and had two girls and one boy. Eugene married Medora M. Mason, noted newspaper woman. Felix had two girls, Anna and Lillie and he died. Calvin and Fred died at the old home. Marshall married, went to southern West Virginia coal fields, and became one of the greatest mine men in that section. Marvin enlisted as a soldier in the Spanish War, then married as his brother William, and both became well known mine men in the Farming and Bankville field.
Andrew Leeper's son, Billy, was lame from childhood, but enlisted in the Union Army and fought through the Civil War, then married Emily Hall, had three girls and one boy. The boy
Clarence, was killed by a street car at Monongah. One girl married Charles Fullen and had one daughter. May married a Clayton, had one boy,then separated grom Clayton and went to New York to live. Armie married Jim Baydoah and had Buie and Pearle.
Buie was killed in France in World War I; Pearle was a teller in the Monongah Bank for some time, then married R. H. Vernon, and had one daughter, Nori, who died at 23. Celia lost her sight and for some years before she died was blind.
Sarah, daughter of Henry Leeper, married Jacob Veach and had three sons and two daughters. Silas, the oldest son, went to California by ox train from St. Louis and made his home there.
He came back to Marion County, West Virginia, in 1870, and spent three or four months here visiting. Cyrus, the second son, died single. Andrew, the third son, married twice, raised a large family, and died at, Mole Hill, Ritchie County, West Virginia.
One of his daughters, Margaret, married Bob Shepherd and had two sons and one daughter. Creed, the oldest son, became a Colonel in World War I, married Ocie Haverty of Mannington and had one daughter. The other boy, Andrew, died in camp during World War 1. The girl, Bessie, graduated from West Virginia University and a college in New York and was a high school teacher. Mana married Mr. Anderson and lived and died in Wetzel County, West Virginia. The other girl, Mahala Veach, died young and is buried in the old Leeper graveyard on the hill.
Henry Leeper's daughter, Margaret, married William Sinclair, lived at Grafton, West Virginia, where they raised a family of six. George, John, Polk, Harriet, Mary and Fanny. After the Civil War, the three boys went to Denver, Colorado, engaged in contracting and carpenter work and became wealthy. They had three children. Fannie Sinclair married James McGee and had three children. Mary Sinclair married J. Nicholas. He died and she married M. Wilcox. She had two children.
Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Henry Leeper, married Ira Tucker and began housekeeping at Monongah, moved from there to Affanoose County, Iowa, then to California. Sophrana who married a Mr. Russell and settled in Iowa. Virginia who married another Hr. Russell and moved to Marshall, Missouri where she lived to be over 100 years old. Her son, Dr. Russell, is well-known in Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas.
Elizabeth married and died in California. Melissa Tucker married Mr. Archer and raised her family in California. Virginia Russell was a wonderful woman.
Born at Monongah, she traveled in a covered wagon from Iowa to California, saw Indians, buffalo, wolves, and grizzly bears. Her mind and memory stayed good and she liked to tell of her travels.
I began keeping notes of the Henry Leeper family and descendants in 1875 and have recovered many things not mentioned in the record.
When Henry and family came to Monongah in 1796, this section of Virginia was very thinly settled. Very few acres of cleared land were in sight. Many wild beasts such as elk, deer, black bear, panther, wild cat, fox, wolfe, and turkey were found in the forests. One time after William, the oldest son, had married, built on the place about half a mile from his father's home and moved there, one night his brother Andrew, was coming home from a neighbor's when he was followed by a large, hungry panther. It was a bright, moonlit night. When the panther got close, Andrew turned. When he faced it, it would stop. Then it went ahead and climbed a tree to Jump on him, he went around it. When about 150 yards from William's house, he called him to bring him some fire and come to him. William made a faggot bit and went. The panther was standing with its front feet on a log about 40 feet away watching Andrew. It went a step, went about 20 feet up a crooked oak tree, turned and looked at them and its eyes shone like two coals of fire. While they were dividing faggot, it came down and they saw it no more. Wi11iam showed me more than once where it went up the tree.
Another time, on a Sunday evening, William went out on the point next to the River and was leaning against a big tree, When he heard what he thought was a woman away over the river calling her cow, in a spirit of fun he mocked her. He mocked the woman two or three times, then thought she was much nearer. Looking down through the woods, he saw a large panther with its head up coming straight toward him. He slipped behind the tree, he ran and jumped a fence into a fieid and ran his best for home. The panther followed him fast. William had two big dogs and he called them as he ran. His wife, hearing the racket, went to see what was the matter. At the corner of the yard was a set of bars with all down except the top one. He did not duck low enough, and hit that one with his head and was knocked out. His wife dragged him into the house while the dogs drove the panther away. He never tried to mock anyone again.
Sam, the youngest son of Lambert M. Leeper, died at his home in Fairmont on the night of March 17, 1929. C. E. Smith, Editor of the Fairmont Times, had this to say about him the paper the next day:
"Over at the Elks next'door they are flying their flag at half mast and in their hearts,the Elks are chanting requiems for the soul of Sam Leeper. In the passing of this man, who died in pain, the curtain has rung down upon an episode in the pagent of our lives that will not be shown again. Sam Leeper was almost the last of those ferranable men who took little from, but gave much to the world and who enshrined this towm in the hearts of the heart of the people everywhere. Sam Leeper was neither odd nor unusual, nor was he in any sense a "character" as striking people are generally designated. He will be remembered for two great qualities. His personality was so great that he had sought to enclose it in a crust of self-effacement'and his opinions of men and event, while hard to obtain, were almost infallibly accurate. He gave the impression that life was a path that men walked leisurely, taking time to admire the pretty things and hide the ugly. He was 59 years old, but could pass for a man of 30. His death was a great shock to the community but his friends were not prone to accept it as the inevitable. Men who discussed it sorrowfully offered many reasons why it should not have been, so they were prepared to suffer such a loss. Personally we knew Sam Leeper for more than 35 years. He did not seem a day older when he died than the day we first saw him as a boy on a high stool in the office of the old Barnsville Woolen Mill. And in thinking it over in our mind, we know of no one to take his place. He was SAM LEEPER and the niche he occupied was all his own."
(Thomas M. Leeper)
Albert S. Leeper, son of Lambert M. and of the tribe of William, had the one daughter, Gladys, who married Nelson Wright and had two boys, James (Jim), and Ernest, and two girls, Alma and Lethea. Alma was drowned in the Hest Fork River when 16. Jim was called into service early in World War II. He took a part of his training in Texas and then in California and went from there into the Pacific War area. He was in many battles in the terrible fighting on Saipan Island and was cited for bravery and efficient work. From Saipan he went to Okinawa and saw much fighting there. He threw a basket grenade in the mouth of a cave where snipers were picking off the Americans. The grenade blew the cave up killing several Japs and saved the Americans' lives. In one of the last battles on Okinawa a Jap threw a grenade that burst near Jim as he led a squad against them. He was badly wounded in the shoulder, neck and face. Put on a plane and sent to the hospital there, then sent by plane to the United states to a hospital. He was in a hospital in Ohio for awhile then in Michigan. He improved for awhile, then took worse suddenly and died. His body was sent home and given a military funeral. Then it was buried at Shinnston, West Virginia. A general favorite among his buddies and gave his life while fighting for his country.
Houris Leeper, son of Felix and of the tribe of Andrew, had a son, James W. Leeper, of Barrackville, West Virginia, who was called into the Armed Service in 1943 in World War II, soon sent with 'many others to France where he was elected Sergeant in his company. He was a good soldier and fought through several battles there, was wounded, sent to a hospital, recovered, sent back to the front line. In one battle' the captain ahd lieutenants of his company were killed. Then he took command, led his men to the attack and captured a humber of prisoners, was wounded again, but did not leave the field until relief came.
After being wounded four times and in hospitals each time, he was sent on to the front line in Italy where he took part in several battles and was wounded a fifth time there. This time he was so badly hurt that he never was sent back to the front. He lost one eye, a part of his skull, and the use of one arm and walks with a limp. He was sent from an Italian hospital to a hospital in the United States. He is a hopeless cripple, can't talk very much, and at times doesn't know much and is an object of pity. WhY he Was sent back into the front line after being wounded four times, to be wounded a fifth time is one of the mysteries of war. He makes his home with his father at Barracksville.
(Thomas M. Leeper)
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