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DR. WILLIAM RIDGE COOPER

DR. WILLIAM RIDGE COOPER, of Point Pleasant, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, was born at Point Pleasant, August 26, 1862, and is a son of the late Dr. Alfred M. and Elizabeth (Ridge) Cooper.

The great-great-grandfather of Dr. Alfred M. Cooper was a native of Stratford-on-Avon, England. William Cooper, the great-grandfather, settled in Tinicum township and his son, James Cooper, was born and reared there. William B. Cooper, son of James, was born in Tinicum, December 24, 1807, and came of English Quaker ancestry. He became an extensive landowner in Tinicum township and died there December 12, 1854. He married Elizabeth Meyer, born May 9, 1807, died December 4, 1871, daughter of John Meyer, who was born June 23, 1773, and died September 9, 1823, by his wife Eve Fry, and granddaughter of Henry Meyer, who was born in Montgomery county, in 1750, married Susan Smith, and settled in Plumstead township, Bucks county. Henry Meyer, the father of the last named Henry, was a son of Hans Meyer and came to America with his parents at the age of one year about 1720. He inherited the homestead of his father, Hans Meyer, in Upper Salford, Montgomery county, and died there about 1800. His wife, Barbara Miller, came from Germany at the age of eighteen years, in 1738, and was a niece of Anna (Miller) Leisse, who married Jacob Stout, the pioneer ancestor of the Stout family in Bucks county. John Meyer, above mentioned, and his brother Henry followed teaming between Philadelphia and Pittsburg when much of the intervening country was a wilderness. On one of their trips John was taken sick and died and his brother Henry buried him in the wilderness. William B. and Elizabeth (Meyer) Cooper were the parents of eleven children: Lavina, born July 15, 1826, died December 24, 1893, married John H. Watson; Rebecca, who died young; Dr. Alfred M.; Clara, living in Philadelphia unmarried; Rachel and Jane, who died young; Eve, who died in January, 1899; James B., born August 11, 1842, killed at a barn raising in Tinicum, October 5, 1875; Caroline, born January 14, 1845, married Eli Sigafoos, of Easton; Newton R., born August 26, 1848, died June 14, 1865; and Justus, born July 28, 1851.

Dr. Alfred M. Cooper, eldest son of William B. and Elizabeth (Meyer) Cooper, was born in Tinicum township, Bucks county, September 15, 1830, and was reared on a farm to the age of nineteen years. He received a good common school education and taught school for five years. At the age of twenty-three years he began the study of medicine and graduated at Jefferson Medical College, March 10, 1856. He located at Point Pleasant and began practice the same year, and was considered one of the leading physicians of Middle Bucks, being highly respected in the community for his many excellent qualities. He practiced at Point Pleasant until his death, September 15, 1898, after a continuous practice there for forty-two years. He was a member of the State Medical Society, the Bucks County Medical Society, the Lehigh Valley Medical Society, and the Hunterdon County (N.J.) Medical Society. He married, March 21, 1861, Elizabeth Ridge, daughter of William and Catharine (Wyker) Ridge, of Point Pleasant, and a descendant of Edward Marshall, the Walker of 1737. Dr. and Mrs. Cooper were members of the Baptist church of Point Pleasant, of which the former served as deacon and elder for many years. He also took an active interest in educational matters and served several years as school director. Dr. and Elizabeth (Ridge) Cooper were the parents of three children: Dr. William R., the subject of this sketch; J. Howard Cooper, M. D., now practicing medicine at Middle Bush, New Jersey; and Katherine E. C., wife of William S. Acuff, a lawyer of Ambler, Pennsylvania.

William R. Cooper was reared at Point Pleasant and attended public school there and later the first Pennsylvania State Normal school at Millersville, Pennsylvania. He studied medicine with his father for two years and then entered Jefferson Medical College, from which he was graduated April 2, 1885, and began to practice the same year as an assistant to his father. Five years later he established an office of his own. On the death of his father he removed to the old homestead, in the spring of 1899, where he has since resided and continued the practice of his profession, retaining practically all the practice of his honored father. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the State Medical Society, the Bucks County Medical Society, and the Lehigh Valley Medical Association. He is a member of the Point Pleasant Baptist church, of which he is a trustee. Dr. Cooper married, March 20, 1890, Mary Smith Shaddinger, daughter of Andrew and Martha (Smith) Shaddinger, of Point Pleasant, and they are the parents of two children, Lloyd Napier, and Dorothy S.

Text taken from p 330

Davis, William W. H., A. M. History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis PublishingCompany, 1905] Volume III

Transcribed May, 2002 as part of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html

Published May 2002 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks