What's in a name? A heritage of caring

My cousin's middle name is Cooper. He has always wondered where it came from. Our family names are passed down over many generations, but "Cooper" is not one of them. I never figured it out until I overheard a chance remark during the most recent family reunion. 

"You know, they're buried at Coopers."

Coopers—Cooper? Is that the connection? Turns out.

In the AL Censuses, Moses D. Pinson's branch of our family shows up in Chilton County's Chestnut Creek area. Son Tom and daughter-in-law Rebecca ("Lizzie") are buried  in the Chestnut Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Verbena, Chilton County. The church was at one point starting to fail, but a determined group cared enough to revive and rebuild it, and now it's as vibrant as ever. Find their Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/chestnutcreekchurch/

We'll come back to them in a minute.

Wikipedia says:

"Today, Verbena is a quiet community on the outskirts of Clanton. The town is located on U.S. Route 31 nine miles south of Interstate 65 exit 205. It has a USPS Post Office (ZIP Code 36091), several small specialty stores, and numerous churches...Other communities in the area that are typically considered to be a part of Verbena are Cooper (pronounced 'Coopers' by many locals)..."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbena,_Alabama

So there's actually a physical connection between our family and Cooper/Coopers, because of the kin buried there. 

But who was Cooper?

Answer:

"Verbena, Town Long Famous For Its Culture, Hospitality and Refinement Of Its Citizens

Written by Chilton County News

(This article appeared in the Chilton County News first in February of 1931 and again in a reproduction of that issue in November of 1983.) "...Among the early white settlers, after the Indians had been driven from this par of Alabama in 1938, were the following: The Coopers, Dennis, Nelsons, Price, and Poseys {BTW, Dennises and Poseys are also related to us}... ...Peter Cooper owned most all the land on which Verbena is now situated... ...Mr. Cooper was known as the wealthiest man of his county. He owned more than a thousand acres of land, and had a sufficient number of slaves to operate all the machinery on his farm, including his saw mill, grist mill, and ginnery, located on Chestnut Creek, near the junction of Sandy and Chestnut Creeks. He lived to a ripe old age and died at his home in 1884, after rearing a large family..."

https://web.archive.org/web/20110728154607/http://verbenahistoricalsociety.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53:verbena-town-long-famous-for-its-culture-hospitality-and-refinement-of-its-citizens&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=50

Moses D. named his youngest son Peter Cooper Pinson. The families are not related, but Moses D. obviously cared about his Chilton County neighbor. 

Peter Cooper Pinson became a salesman with J.C. Penney and worked his way up. As the company flourished, he flourished and became wealthy. But he never forgot his family or where he came from. When Tom died in a railroad accident, P. C. sent money to Lizzie every month, and eventually he bought her a house. 

Remember the Chestnut Creek Baptist Church? When the Church needed money for a Sunday school building, Peter Cooper sent it. When the roof needed replacement in 1931, he paid for that, too. And he helped so many other Alabama folks that there's an arch in the CCBC cemetery commemorating his good works—even though he's buried elsewhere. 

My cousin's mother greatly admired Peter Cooper, but she had other plans for his first name. Hence "Cooper" as his middle name. 

Mystery solved. 

Right now my cousin is helping to care for his mother. And so the heritage of caring continues with the person who currently bears the name "Cooper." 

I think the earlier Cooper men would be pleased by that.