Cooper, James, 1810-1863

James Cooper was born in Frederick County, Maryland on May 8, 1810. He lived much of his life in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and was its Speaker for a year. He represented Pennsylvania in both the United States Senate and the U.S. House.

When the American Civil War started, Cooper raised a brigade of volunteers in Maryland and was appointed brigadier general of volunteers in May 1861. His brigade served in Franz Sigel's division during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. In poor health, he was assigned as commandant of Camp Chase, a military staging, training and prison camp near Columbus, Ohio, where he died in 1863.

James Cooper is buried in the Mount Olivet Cemetery, near his birthplace in Frederick, Maryland.