Henry A. Cooper

Henry Allen Cooper (September 8, 1850 – March 1, 1931) was an American lawyer and progressive Republican politician from Racine County, Wisconsin. He served 36 years as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 1st congressional district from 1893 until his death in 1931. He earlier served in the Wisconsin Senate and was district attorney of Racine County.

His father, Joel H. Cooper, served in the Wisconsin State Assembly during the 1852 term, and was a prominent abolitionist who participated in the Underground Railroad. Cooper famously gave shelter to Joshua Glover on his journey to freedom in Canada, but was not one of the abolitionists prosecuted in the related Ableman v. Booth court cases.

Early life Cooper was born in Spring Prairie, Wisconsin, son of former Free Soil Party State Representative Joel H. Cooper, a physician. In 1851 the family moved to Burlington, Wisconsin. Their house was a station of the Underground Railroad, and in 1852 sheltered fugitive slave Joshua Cooper on his way to Canada. Henry Cooper graduated from Burlington High School in June 1869. After school, Cooper attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and graduated in 1873. He then attended Union College of Law, then the legal faculty of Northwestern University and graduated there in 1875. He was then admitted to the bar, practiced in Chicago until 1879 and then commenced practice at Burlington.

Cooper was elected district attorney of Racine County in November 1880 and moved to Racine in January 1881. In 1882 and 1884 he was reelected as district attorney without opposition.

Political career In 1884, Cooper served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention, a tradition he would continue in 1908 and 1924. He was subsequently elected to the Wisconsin Senate in 1886 and served in the 1887 and 1889 legislative sessions. He represented Wisconsin's 3rd State Senate district, which then comprised just Racine County. During his time in the State Senate, he authored a bill to introduce the secret ballot in Wisconsin. In 1890 Cooper unsuccessfully ran for election to the fifty-second Congress.

In 1892, Cooper was elected to the fifty-third Congress, running on the Republican Party ticket in Wisconsin's 1st congressional district. He assumed on March 4, 1893. During his time as Congressman, Cooper served as the chairman of the Committee of Rivers and Harbors for the fifty-fifth Congress and the Committee on Insular Affairs for the fifty-sixth Congress through to the sixtieth Congress.

He was also the author of the Philippine Organic Act (1902), and read out the poem Mi último adiós by José Rizal as part of successfully persuading his fellow congressmen to vote for the act. Cooper provided key support for the 1910 bill authorizing construction of the Lincoln Memorial.

On April 5, 1917, he was one of 50 representatives who voted against declaring war on Germany. Partly due to his opposition to American involvement in World War I, Cooper failed to gain reelection to his seat in 1918, finishing his term on March 3, 1919. Overall serving from the Fifty-third Congress to the Sixty-fifth Congress.

After missing a term of Congress, Cooper was once again elected to represent Wisconsin's 1st district in the Sixty-seventh Congress in 1920 and to the five succeeding Congresses. He served until his death in Washington, D.C., on March 1, 1931, which came before he could start his new term (in the seventy-second Congress). He was buried in Mound Cemetery, Racine, Wisconsin.

Electoral history

U.S. House of Representatives (1890–1930)

Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality 1890 General Democratic 14,532 48.13% Rep. 14,209 47.06% 30,191 323 Proh. 1,316 4.36% 1892 General Republican 20,222 52.26% Dem. 16,449 42.51% 38,692 3,773 Proh. 2,021 5.22% 1894 General Republican 21,972 56.70% Dem. 12,334 31.83% 38,749 9,638 Peo. 2,828 7.30% Proh. 1,615 4.17% 1896 General Republican 28,235 64.11% Dem. 14,723 33.43% 44,042 13,512 Proh. 1,084 2.46% 1898 General Republican 19,887 61.51% Dem. 11,447 35.41% 32,329 8,440 Proh. 995 3.08% 1900 General Republican 28,256 64.09% Dem. 14,556 33.01% 44,091 13,700 Proh. 1,279 2.90% 1902 General Republican 20,437 60.69% Dem. 12,122 36.00% 33,672 8,315 Proh. 1,111 3.30% 1904 General Republican 25,125 59.52% Dem. 13,379 31.69% 42,212 11,746 S.D. 2,461 5.83% Proh. 1,235 2.93% 1906 General Republican 16,226 61.11% Dem. 8,818 33.21% 26,553 7,408 S.D. 1,504 5.66% 1908 General Republican 26,728 60.58% Dem. 14,018 31.77% 44,117 12,710 S.D. 1,791 4.06% Proh. 1,576 3.57% 1910 General Republican 15,096 57.22% Dem. 8,606 32.62% 26,384 6,490 S.D. 1,860 7.05% Proh. 820 3.11% 1912 General Republican 18,914 53.15% Dem. 13,816 38.82% 35,586 5,098 S.D. 1,523 4.28% Proh. 1,333 3.75% 1914 General Republican 16,547 58.18% Dem. 9,911 34.85% 28,439 6,636 S.D. 1,077 3.79% Proh. 902 3.17% 1916 General Republican 24,851 61.56% Dem. 12,587 31.18% 40,367 12,264 Proh. 1,491 3.69% S.D. 1,434 3.55% 1918 Primary Republican 8,295 50.51% Rep. 8,113 49.41% 16,421 182 General Republican 13,177 42.28% Ind. 7,718 24.77% 31,164 4,159 Dem. 9,018 28.94% S.D. 1,242 3.99% 1920 Primary Republican 15,282 37.63% Rep. 13,896 34.21% 40,614 1,386 Rep. 7,437 18.31% Rep. 3,999 9.85% General Republican 51,144 75.88% Dem. 13,661 20.27% 67,400 37,483 Soc. 2,585 3.84% 1922 Primary Republican 27,633 68.59% Rep. 12,656 31.41% 40,289 14,977 General Republican 37,958 94.44% Soc. 2,179 5.42% 40,191 35,779 1924 Primary Republican 36,513 62.68% Rep. 21,738 37.32% 58,251 14,775 General Republican 50,531 99.95%--unopposed-- 50,555 50,507 1928 Primary Republican 41,914 82.68% Rep. 8,780 17.32% 50,694 33,134 General Republican 46,272 95.65% Dem. 2,102 4.35% 48,374 44,170