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Major Cooper As announced last week, Major Stephen Cooper died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. J.R. Wolfskill, near Winters, May 16th, at the advanced age of ninety-three years. Sunday morning last his body was taken to Colusa for interment in the plot where are buried the remains of members of his family who have gone before, the funeral services being conducted at the Christian church by Rev. Mr. Blake. Many relatives and friends from Oakland, Winters, and other parts of the State were in attendance, the church and town bells were all tolled, and a man known and beloved throughout the length and breadth of the whole State was consigned to his last narrow bed. Major Cooper was among the last of the hardy frontiersmen who did so much to mold the destinies of this nation. He was one of the twelve veterans remaining of the War of 1812, as he told us only a few days before his death. He had a remarkably good constitution, and up to within a few days of his death was very active. Play: The
Battle of New Orleans
Saturday, May 24, 1890 Winters ExpressMajor Stephen Cooper and Captain
E.J. Von Pfister, historical pioneers, located in Benica this year; and
I say historical, for Cooper was the first hotel keeper and magistrate,
and Von Pfister was the first merchant of the county. John R. Wolfskill and David D.
Dutton antedate all of the California pioneers living in Solano county.
Wolfskill reached Los
Angeles in 1836 and Dutton, Fort Ross, Sonoma county, in 1840. But few
pioneers of the State can claim a longer residence than these two
estimable citizens, who are passing into the sear and yellow leaf, and
who will soon be gathered to their fathers and be buried within our
borders. George A.Gillespie January 24, 1891 Winters Express
See: COOPERS,
WOLFSKILLS, AND BOONES
It has been told that the original family member to reach California came by ship around the Horn to San Francisco. It is not known for certain when the original Hemenway first came to California. "Around 1878, [one] Harvey Hemenway and his family homesteaded 500 acres in the area now known as Canyon Acres, building a two story home on the corner of what is now Arroyo Rd. and Canyon Acres Drive. It is said that he was "shanghaied" in San Francisco, jumped ship off Laguna Beach, and swam ashore. He had the one room school house, which had been built at the Mormon settlement moved to his property across the street from his home, and it stood at the corner of Canyon Acres Drive and Laguna Canyon Rd. where it served as the school for Laguna Beach for a number of years, until about 1905. He also was the head of the school board." from a History of Laguna by Belinda BlacketerNathaniel Cook, eldest son of
Ezra and Permelia Cook, bought
land near Kelseyville, Lake County in 1872. It is likely that he was
influential in persuading Edwin and Dwight Hemenway to move to
California in the early 1880's. Edwin and Dwight settled there first.
Younger brother George and his family followed in 1887, after
homesteading in Kansas for several years.
This photo is of the Cooper/Hemenway family.
In the center are William Braxton (Billy) Cooper
and his wife Ella Hemenway Cooper to the right, and next to her is
Sarchel Cooper. Chester Hemenway is third from the left on the top row.
Eva May Cooper is second from left top row. Fred C. Hemenway is
second from left in the front row. "Bird" Cooper is second from
right front row. Fred and Ella, born in Chicago, were the children of
George W. Hemenway and Anna Persis Filer. "An identification with the material development of the west, that began during the year 1849 and has continued to the present time, furnishes the foundation of the success achieved by two generations of the Cooper family and gives them ample reason for maintaining a high opinion concerning the possibilities of the west. The original representative in California and the honored pioneer of 1849 was Humphrey Jackson Cooper, a man of sterling worth, possessing the dauntless courage and quiet endurance to existence upon the frontier. The trip across the plains tested both his courage and his endurance. It was his task, in the division of the work among the emigrants, to drive a flock of sheep from the east. While engaged in this work the Indians shot at him and he had a very narrow escape. His cousin was less fortunate, for the savages shot him with bow and arrows, inflicting a mortal wound. When the unfortunate victim of their malice had passed away his companions buried him and started on, but the Indians dug up the body for the blankets. Again the emigrants made a grave and interred the remains, but again the Indians brought the body to the surface of the ground and robbed it of the blanket used for a shroud. A third internment was made by the emigrants and on this occasion the body was allowed to lie undisturbed." Sutter's Fort
Various activities, incident to the development of a new country engaged the attention of Humphrey Jackson Cooper after his arrival in California. For many years he cultivated a farm in Yolo county near Woodland and there occurred the birth of his son, William B., March 10, 1865. There the boy attended the public schools and there he was instructed in the details of ranching.
After having worked as foreman on a fruit ranch and thus gained considerable experience in the fruit industry, eighteen years ago William B. Cooper bought twenty-six acres of land in Solano county near the village of Winters. Under his capable management the property has been brought to a high state of development. A vineyard covers eight acres and the balance of the land is in peaches and apricots, both being young orchards just ready to come into bearing. The first crop of apricots was harvested in 1910 and brought excellent returns. During that same season twenty-five hundred crates of grapes were shipped from the farm. In addition to his vineyard and orchard Mr. Cooper has a small tract of land for his stock, consisting of a few head of horses, cattle and hogs. As the years pass by he is more and more pleased with the outlook in Solano county. His farm is paying large dividends on the original investment. The soil is rich, the climate pleasant, the schools excellent, and in the Presbyterian Church at Winters he and his wife have a congenial church home."
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Stephen
Cooper was a son of 
Upon
starting out for
himself when about twenty-one years of age, William B. went to Texas
and secured work in the cattle country near the southwestern border of
the state. For six years he remained there, but deciding the region to
be far inferior to California he returned to the west. Since then he
has lived either in Yolo or in Solano county. 
