The first response to these requests came in the form of a notice that read, "No file was located for soldier, Henry Cooper." Thus, the following is all that I currently know about this soldier: Affidavit of Jane Wells, dated 30 January 1865
"She further states that she was informed of his death by Henry Cooper of the same Company who lives near her· Cooper brought her a few last lines from the said deceased husband."

Affidavit of James B. Tisdell and James Johnson, dated 9 February 1865
"... that Jane Wells is still the widow of Francis H. Wells who was a Private in Co. I or K in the 7th Regiment of Michigan Volunteer Infantry and who died at Andersonville, Georgia on the 4th day of September 1864 of diarrhea and starvation as they believe from hearing the account from Henry Cooper of the same company, a fellow prisoner at said Andersonville and who is now at home on furlough."

Affidavit of Henry Cooper, dated 5 July 1865
"I further state that ... I was a fellow prisoner with him, and belonged to the same Company, being now at home in very poor health on furlough."

Having taken note that Mr. Cooper was not only "on furlough" in July of 1865, but also "at home in very poor health," (coupled with the fact that no pension was filed at a later date), leads me to believe that, Henry Cooper died soon after his return home. If this Henry Cooper did not have a wife or other dependents at the time of his death, it would have been very unlikely that a pension would not have been tiled. On the other hand, being in such "very poor health" upon his return to Michigan, had he lived long afterwards, he would most certainly have filed for some type of compensation, as his fellow soldiers were doing at that time.

Additional Notes Pertaining to Private Henry Cooper:

While searching for additional information on this Henry Cooper, I was able to establish the following facts:

"Henry Cooper enlisted in Co. I of the 7th Michigan Infantry at Bronson, Branch County, Michigan at the age of 26 years."

Special thanks to Patrick S. McCleary from Petoskey, Michigan who submitted this important data. Patrick's discovery of this information was during his search for his ancestor's records. Patrick's ancestor, Francis "Frank" Wells, spent time in Andersonville Prison with Private Byron Churchill and Private Henry Cooper.

Main St Joseph County Page        Main Military Page

Click on any of the logo's below to go to there home pages.

Jan Cortez, MI State Coordinator 

 This page was last modified <Saturday, 05-Aug-2017 19:54:53 MDT >

This website is created and copyrighted 2004 by Dannielle Thomas