Daniel Cooper (ca. 1719-1776)

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This white person has 2 related events in the database, listed at the bottom of this page.
Identifier
NJS-PER-04396
Given Name
Daniel
Family Name
Cooper
Birth Date
1719
Death Date
1776
Sex
Male
Occupation
Transportation
Biographical Description
Daniel Cooper (d. 1776) was an 18th-century ferry operator on the Delaware River across from Philadelphia (present-day Camden). His ferry terminal was located at the foot of present-day Federal Street.

Daniel's family had been in the ferry business since the 1690s, and the waterfront area of present-day Camden was known as Cooper's Ferry during the colonial era. Daniel's father, William Cooper, operated the ferry terminal at the foot of present-day Cooper Street, while his father's first cousin, Benjamin Cooper, operated a ferry terminal at Cooper's Poynt. Daniel purchased 100 acres of riverfront property from his father in 1744 and established a third ferry terminal shortly thereafter. In the 1760s, Daniel Cooper's ferry terminal became a major site of slave trading activities for the region.

Additionally, Daniel Cooper held several people in bondage in his household. The exhibit "Enslaved Africans of Pomona Hall" at the Camden County Historical Society highlights the following people who had been enslaved by him: Rose, Sylvia, Will, and Jack (who were part of his estate when he died in 1776), and Able Mitchfield, who eventually gained freedom. Images of documents related to some of these people are included in the exhibit.
Keywords
white person
enslaver
Places
Federal Street Ferry, Camden (Daniel Cooper's Ferry)
Camden
Newton (Gloucester & Camden County)
Child of
William Cooper (1694-1767)
Parent of
William Cooper (1740-1787)
References

Garry Wheeler Stone, Coopers Ferry During the American Revolution, Report to the American Battlefield Protection Program, the National Park Service, September 28, 2015, https://www.camdennj.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Coopers-Ferry-during-the-American-Revolution-2015.08.17.pdf.

“Enslaved Africans Sold Here,” Camden County Historical Society, accessed January 23, 2025, https://cchsnj.org/enslaved-africans-sold-here/.

“Enslaved Africans of Pomona Hall,” exhibit researched and curated by Bonny Beth Elwell with artwork by Erik James Montgomery (Camden County Historical Society), https://cchsnj.org/online-exhibits/.

This person is represented on the following page(s):
WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Cooper-7112
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Linked Events

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Resource class
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