The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1883-04-18
PETER COOPER.

lnStoh-EmmeCs appear In COurt-Unde
all the Presidents.
Peter Cooper was the most affable of me1
He was easily approached, and delighted t
hat with friends. III all the interviews b a
with him by newspaper reporters wert
printed thy would fill large volume
His words were always well chosen, Hi
eyes sparkled as he looked back into tn
past, and 1t was one of his most joyou
times when some man of the ney
New York would ask him to tai
about politics. 81 have lived under the ad
ministration of all the Presidents of the Re
public" he would exclaim, gleefully. Z"
have met most of the prominent men of tn
country, the famous statesmen; 1 have seer
all the great actors and actresses and heard
all the great singers None of the playmate
of my boyhood are living" he said, recently
''Rev. DR.. Bellows was my pastor. useC
to attend his Church down in Murray street
Before 1 attended Mr.. Dewy's Church Oh
Broadway, the same which Mr.. Stewar
turned into Theater. When 1 was borr
there were only $1,000 people in this city
now stands st. PauPs Church, Broadway
Vesey and Fulton streets, and she re-
membered the old stockade built to
keep out the Indians l remember the
post and rail fence around the negro burial
ground where Stewards wholesale store was
broadway and Chambers street. l heard
| Thomas Adds Emmett, whose monument is
| in 81. Paufs Churchyard, speak in Federal
| Hall, at what is now Nassau and Wall
streets, for three hours in case in which g
man brought suit as claimant for this land,
and, in fact, for several scres, extending to
! Diane and Chatham streets. Emmett was so
eloquent that he carried the Jury by storm.
The Judge-Judge Spencer, think it was
had an idea of the equity of the case, and
on account of the overpowering force of
Emmets eloquence the first words OF his
charge to the Jury were: Gentlemen of the
Jury, you must remember that lawyers are
paid for talking" Emmett won his case
He was no doubt honest in his belief in his
clients claims. but within fortnight after
ward it was found that the man who had OBJ
tanned title to the land had secured il by
forged papers, and he was sent to Prison.
remember was about nine years old at the
time when Washington was buried. That
is, he was buried at Mount Vernon; but we
h Ad a funeral service in old st. Paul's.
stood in front of the Church, and recall the
event we'll on account of his old white horse
and its trappings.
Il owe any success which may have been
NINE" continued Mr.. Cooper. largely to
my attitude in regard to the banks. l
would not put myself in their power by
running in debt had learned three trades
by the time | was twenty-one years old
one of them on what is now the corner OF
Broadway and Chambers street l could
make every part of hat, and for several
wears worked in an ale brewery with my
father. In my seventeenth year | entered
as an apprentice to the coach-making bust
ness, in which | remained four years till 1
became of age l luade for my employer a
machine for mortiSiDg the hubs of carriages,
which proved very profitable to him, and
was, perhaps the first of its kind used in
this country. When 1 was twenty-one years
old my employer offered to build me shop
aud set me up in business, but as always
had horror of being burdened with debt,
and having ne capital of my own l declined
his kind offer. He himself became bank
rupt. 1 have made it rule to pay every
thing as CO. Ii. in the course of business,
anything is due from me TO any one and the
money is not called for, make it my bust
ness on the last Saturday before Christmas
to take it to his business place"
Mr.. cooPER's RELIGIOUS VIEWS.
Rev. Dr. Robert Collyer said to Mail and
Express reporter that he had known Mr..
Cooper a number of years intimately, and
although his death was great shock, it was
no surprise to him. About Mr. Cooper's
life L have little TO say" added DR.. Collyer;
'he lived so much in the broad light of q
philanthropist, and was known so well 10 all
classes of people that were j to talk about
his history / could tell you little that is new.
He was wonderful man and very good
His stock of stories and bis
recollections of old New York were
very interesting, and to his friends he was
willing to talk hour after hour of his early
life. Last February l attended a birthday
dinner gwen By Nv. Cooper's family in his
honor. Then he was as cheerful and as fall
Of life as l had ever seen him. There wss
no indication that year bad passed since l
dined at a previous birthday dinner. He
seemed in remarkable health and was the |
very life of the gathering. He never, in the |
numberless conversations We have had to- |
eether, complained of feeling i'll or anxious |
about his health. Mr. Cooper was a regular |
listener to the services of All Souls Church. |
OF which DR.. Bellows was the pastor for a
long time. He and William Cullen Bryant |
were always seen at the morning service, |
and before Mr.. Cooper passed his ninetieth |
year he was always to been seen in his pew |
on Sunday, whether it were the morning or
tue evening SeINlCc. Auu uc WINS buc Oc>t |
listener / ever knew. He seemed so in
terested In what the preacher said that it
was a great pleasure to see him
before Lee, with his brow knit and |
his head bent forward with thought. |
Some little time ago l called on him at his |
house, and in the course of our conversation |
the subject OF age was discussed. Said he: |
Il would be glad to have four more years of
life given me, for / am anxious to make |
some improvements In Cooper Union, and |
then part of my life-work would be COM |
plete If could only live four years longer |
would die content l suggested to him
that were his desire vouchsafed him he |
would at the end of the time see other i'm |
and desire mere time. He
answered that he thought not, but that he
was ready to be called any moment If such
were the Almighty's will. And he was. for |
be was prepared for death If ever man was.
"Iremem Der talk had with him not long
ago, in which he said that a Presbyterian
minister of great reputation and ability, but
who has since died, had called upon him |
one day and among other things discussed
the future life They were old and tried |
friends, the minister and Mr.. Cooper, and |
when the celebrated clergyman began to |
question Mr.. Coopers belief, he said: 1
sometimes think that if one has too good a |
time here below, there is less reason for him |
to 90 to Heaven. have had good time,
but know poor creatures whose lives have
been spent in a constant struggle for exist |
ence. They should have some reward here |
after They have worked here; they should
be rewarded after death. The only doubts |
hat have about the future are VIII eth