Two Civil War Soldiers

The Conestoga Area Historical Society

NOTE: My thanks to Delores Myers of CAHS who acquired the pension papers of Sarah Cooper, the mother of Simon/Samuel Cooper. These pension papers provided much interesting information on Simon/Samuel’s life and death.

On July 29, 1861, Simon Cooper left his home in Conestoga to enlist in Company B of the 99th Pennsylvania Volunteers. Three weeks later, August 21st, his neighbor, Jacob B. Warner left Conestoga and went to Philadelphia to enlist in Co. E of the 99th Pa Volunteers. What distinguishes these two men from the thousands of others who enlisted at that time was that they were African Americans and they enlisted at a time when African Americans were not permitted to enlist in the Pennsylvania Militia.

In 1838 Pennsylvania’s new constitution denied African Americans the right to vote. In the 1840s Pa. militia law was modified, in the section that defined who was subject to the militia law, the word white was inserted. It read "All white men between the ages of 18 and 45..."¹ thus eliminating African Americans from serving in the militia. I believe the United States Colored Troops was created because Pa. and other states wouldn’t allow African Americans to serve in the militia.

When Simon enlisted he used the name of Samuel Cooper on his enlistment papers, no doubt using the first name of his step father, Samuel Harley.

In the first incarnation of this page I painted Simon Cooper as a great innocent, as it turns out I was wrong. On March 1, 1856 Simon Cooper was arrested for breaking in to the clothing store of Herman Kuhns at Safe Harbor and stealing two coats. Simon was arrested for the crime and committed to the county prison by the local justice of the peace, but was later released on bail, the $300 bond was posted by his step father Samuel Harley² At the time of his trial Simon failed to appear, along with a second defendant in the crime, Wm. Jackson. Samuel Harley, Simon’s stepfather, lost his $300 bail which was, at that time, about a years wages. Its unclear what happened to Simon over the next two years, we don’t know if he was caught and returned to Lancaster or if he turned himself in, but on April 21, 1858, over two years after the crime, Simon was tried and convicted in Quarter Sessions Court³, and sentenced to 18 months in the Lancaster County Prison. According to newspaper accounts, Simone claimed he was drunk and fell into a snow bank and someone ran past him and threw the coats over him.

At the Lancaster County Historical Society they have the prison description docket which gives a good physical description of Simon. There were no photographs in that period so I imagine this was to be used to identified the prisoner should he escape.

LANCASTER COUNTY PRISON DESCRIPTION DOCKET 1851-1887

SIMON COOPER

DATE: April 21, 1858
NUMBER 12
NAME Simon Cooper
Age 22
Nativity Lancaster Co.
Occupation: Forgeman
Complexion Yellow
Color of eyes Black
Color of hair Black
Stature 5 ft. 11 1/4 inches
Length of foot 12
Marks
Single,
can read and write,
scar on left wrist under side of arm,
letters S.C. on left arm with indelible ink,
scar on his forehead commencing at the hair
(Signed SIMON COOPER)
Crime Larceny
Sentence 18 months, fine $1.00 costs $50.00
Number of Conviction 1
When discharged Oct. 21, 1859
How Discharged By H.S. Gara, Inspector
Remarks No Property

Biographical

Simon Cooper was the son of Washington Cooper and Sarah Sidney, Simon was born about 1833. It was Sarah who filed for a pension because of her son’s death. She claimed that her husband had deserted her years ago and Samuel was her sole support. The truth is that Sarah deserted her husband, Washington Cooper, and lived with Samuel Harley. A notice in the Columbia Spy of November 19,1836 states:

"Whereas my wife Sarah has left my bed and board without any just cause, this is to caution all persons from trusting her on my account as I am determined to pay no debts of her contracting after this date.
Washington Cooper

Sarah and her sons John Wesley and Simon show up in the 1850 census with the surname Harley, living with Samuel Harley. In 1860 Sarah is still listed as Harley but John Wesley and Simon are listed with the surname Cooper.

Simon enlisted in the Pa. militia on August 31, 1861, Bates' in his History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers identifies the 99th as being stationed at Falmouth until April 30th so its possible Samuel took sick in April and died on May 9th, 1863, of Consumption (Tuberculosis⁴) near Falmouth, Virginia. According to his pension file he was buried at Conestoga, in the African Methodist Cemetery, on May 21, 1863⁵, only two weeks after his death.. At the time of his death, he was unmarried and had no children. The pension file further states that his parents, Washington Cooper and Sarah Sydney, were married December 24th, 1831 at Lancaster by a Justice of the Peace named Martin.

Jacob B. Wanner

Jacob B. Wanner/Warner is a little easier to track. He is listed in the 1850/1860 and 1870 census for Conestoga, he was born in 1832 and was the son of John and Susan Wanner.. While he was living in Conestoga he was always listed as Mulatto but after moving to Lancaster in 1878 he was listed as White. In the 1880 census Jacob is living with Harriet Sweeney, the powwow Doctor of Conestoga, Harriet is listed as Black while Jacob is listed as White. Its unclear if Jacob's racial identification was by his own design or if it was the choice of the census taker. While living in Conestoga, where people knew him and his family, he was always identified as Mulatto.
Jacob shows up on the Pa. Archives web page as being 30 years old and enlisting on Aug. 21, 1861 . He is listed in Bates, "History of the Pa Volunteers" in the 99th and again in the 25th U.S. Colored Troop In 1890 Jacob shows up on the special census for Veterans and Widows of the Civil War, in Ward 4 of Lancaster City, page 10. He identifies himself as having served in Co. E of the 99th Pa. Volunteers from August of 1861 until Dec. of 1863. In the remarks column the census taker notes that he couldn't read the days but could read the month and year. This shows that Jacob presented his discharge papers to the census taker, proving his service in the 99th in 1861. Jacob died in 1908 in Lancaster, his funeral notice is listed below.

The Inquirer
Lancaster, Pa.
January 2, 1909
Warner, Jacob B., a union soldier for 4 1/2 years, died Dec. 28, 1908, in this city, in his 76th year; was a native of Conestoga Centre.

Jacob is buried at Woodward Hill Cemetery.

We don't really know why Jacob Warner and Samuel R. Cooper enlisted in the 99th Infantry, if they were caught up in the excitement and desire for glory that prompted so many small town soldiers or if they had a higher purpose, to free the slaves. James McPherson notes that "The organization of black regiments marked the transformation of a war to preserve the Union into a revolution to overthrow the old order"⁶2. Samuel R. Cooper and Jacob B. Warner were early soldiers in that revolution.

¹The Columbia Spy
April 12, 1845

"The militia law and its supplements, also provides: that all free able bodied white male persons between the ages of 18 and 45 years, who have resided within this Commonwealth, one month, shall be subject to do militia duty, anything in any former laws to the contrary notwithstanding, &c.
James Patton
Brigade Inspector

² Lancaster County Quarter Sessions Records, 18__ -18__ p.

³ Lancaster County Quarter Sessions Records, 18__ -18__ p.

⁴Pension file, Box # 3N72 Certificate # 14020, also available at the Conestoga Area Historical Society

⁵Pension file, Box # 3N72 Certificate # 14020, also available at the Conestoga Area Historical Society

⁶Battle Cry of Freedom, The Civil War Era, by James M. McPherson, Oxford University Press, 1988, page 565.

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