History of Nathaniel Cooper

My grandpa, Nathaniel Cooper, the son of James Michael Cooper and Mary Henrie Cooper was born in Panguitch, Utah on July 2, 1892.  He was the oldest of four living children.  His older brother, James Ephraim, died before he was born.  He had two younger brothers:  Jed and Joseph Traverse "Trav", and a younger sister Christena "Ena."  

Mary and James Michael Cooper    

Than, Trav and Ena

When Than was 13 years old, his father died of pneumonia.  His father had been sick for about three days when he died on December 21, 1905, four days before Christmas.  Pneumonia was one of the main causes of death at the time.  His father's death left his mother with four children ages 13, 10, 5 1/2, and 2 1/2.  What a sad Christmas it must have been that year for their family.  Grandpa had to quit school and go to work as a sheep herder to provide for their family.  His mother, Mary was quite sickly and had poor eyesight.  She came from a large family.  Her father James Henrie, had 3 wives and 28 children.  I think it is likely that she had some help from her family with the children because the US Census reports from 1910, 1920 and 1930 show Mary and the children often lived near her parents or near my grandpa.  By 1910, his brother Trav must have joined him in the sheep herd because the 1910 Census shows that Trav's occupation was also a herder. 

 
He was 21 when he married my grandma, Isabell Church on July 4, 1913.  Grandpa and Grandma had grown up together.  In fact, they were baptized in the Sevier River the same day.  They made their home in Panguitch.  Their first child named Thad, was stillborn some nine months later.  They were very sad to lose their first little child.  Grandpa must not have been home at the time of the birth, because Grandma's brother, George Church, signed the death certificate as a witness.  The death certificate says that the baby perished at birth and no physician was present.  Eleven months later, their daughter Grace was born.  Grandpa and Grandma were blessed with seven more children:  Grace, Gwen, Jim, Jean, Grant, Mae and Fae Ann.  They were all very dear children and musically talented.  They were very proud of them.  As his own family grew, Grandpa continued to provide for his mother, brothers and sister.  He did this for many years, until his brothers and sister graduated from school and married.  His mother then lived with his brother Jed. 

The 1920 Census shows that the family lived between 2nd-3rd East Street.  It says that they owned the home and had two children who would have been Grace 4 years old, and Gwen 2 years.  Grandpa's mother, Mary lived next door.  She was 53, Trav 24, Jed 16.  Also living with her were Ena - age 20, and her husband, Thomas Schow.

Grandpa registered for the WWI Civilian Draft when he was 24.  I believe this was in June 1917.  The registration card says that he was married and had two children.  He listed his employment as a farmer and livestock worker and his employer the Henrie Brothers.  The Henrie Brothers were his mother's father and sons (her brothers).  James Henrie brought the first herd of sheep into Garfield County and that herd continued on the range there for about eighty years.  Grandpa indicated that he was exempt from the draft because he was the only support for the family.  Grandpa later worked for Scotty Haycock.

The 1930 Census shows that Grandma and Grandpa lived on East Main Street.  The Census also says that they owned their home that was valued at $1500.  Grace was listed as 15, Gwen 13, Jim 9, Grant 6, and Mae 4 1/2.  Grandma would have been pregnant with my mom, Fae Ann, at the time.  The East Main Street description could have meant homes that were in the area of East Main.  I doubt that they were actually living on Main Street at that time because my mother was born in a red brick house at 294 East 100 North.  There are no addresses listed on the census so it's hard to determine where anyone lived. 

Grandpa and Grandma were away from each other a great deal of their married life.  Grandpa was a sheepherder and spent most of his time at the sheep herd.  He would be gone for long periods of time, staying with the sheep in the mountains during the summer and at a lower elevation in the winter.  Grandma would take the children and spend most all of their summers at the herd with him.  Grandma wrote in her history that he was a good, hard-working man, and a good husband and father.  There are very few women who loved their husbands any more than Bell Cooper loved Than.  She thought he was so handsome and she loved him dearly.

Agriculture along with cattle and sheep were the main industries in Panguitch at this time.  The herder lived in a sheep wagon wherever the sheep were grazing.  This meant enduring the cold of winter, and it is especially cold in Panguitch in the winter.  It can even be cold in the summer.  The sheepherder's life was not an easy one living year round out in the elements and being away from home for lengthy periods of time.  My cousin told me during the depression Grandpa was watching a few other men's herds of sheep in addition to his own.  These men owed money to the government and so the government came and took away all the sheep, including Grandpa's.  This was very hard for the family.  They had very little as it was, but to lose all his sheep meant no income for them.

Another explanation of this situation comes from a book that was written in 1949 by the Daughters of Utah Pioneers.  Following is an excerpt:  "During the terrible Depression that followed World War I, about 1921, the "State Bank of Garfield" closed its doors and ruined the sheep and cattle industry in Panguitch for years.  Many of the livestock men had borrowed money and mortgaged their herds, and they lost them.  Until this happened, Panguitch was the richest little town in the State per capita.  After this for a year or so everyone was broke.  Then in 1924, a group of public spirited men who were descendants of the faithful old rugged pioneers decided to try a new bank.  This was called "The Panguitch State Bank."  This bank functioned for six or seven years then closed its doors in 1930-31.  This left the people and the sheep and cattle men flat broke.  In the good old days before this happened it was a common thing for the sheep men to get $6000 and $8000 for their lambs and wool each year and everyone was prosperous and happy."

I remember that Grandpa rolled his own cigarettes.  One cousin described it this way:  "I was always fascinated when I watched him roll his own cigarettes.  From a small cotton bag with a draw string he would pinch out some tobacco, spread it on top of a small, white, thin paper and roll the paper up in his rough, brown fingers, lick one end with his tongue, like Elmer's glue it stuck.  Then he would reach in his shirt pocket, pull out a stick match, strike it on the heel of his boot, and "light 'er up."

I remember him sitting in the corner chair of the parlor rolling then smoking his cigarette.  I don't know what year he quit smoking, but I know that he quit "cold turkey" at some point when I was a child and didn't pick it back up.  That must have been hard for him since he smoked most of his life.  He also quit drinking after he retired.

When I was going through Mom and Dad's things I found a letter that Gram had written to my brother Lynn after he had his back operation.  He had just been made a deacon and she was congratulating him.  She told him that grandpa had been just about Lynn's age when he had to quit school and go to work in the sheep herd.  She told him that he was around lots of men who were probably not a good influence, but she said, "I think he did pretty well for himself, don't you?"  It was a sweet letter confirming what I always knew, that she loved my grandpa.

When Mom and I were in Panguitch in 2009 for her 60th Class Reunion, we ran into a man who told Mom that he had been up to the sheep herd with Grandpa and how much he liked him.  He said that Grandpa was a lot of fun, and that he was a very good cook.  He said that they had some pretty good meals while he was staying with him.  This pleased my mother to have someone say some kind words about her father.

Grandpa was a small man, probably 5'9 or so.  He had small hands and feet.  I think his shoe size was a 6 1/2.  He had brown eyes and brown hair (his draft card says black)  His skin was tanned and weathered from spending so many years out of doors.

When Grandpa retired from being a sheep herder, he became the caretaker of the Panguitch City Cemetery.  He took much pride in making the cemetery beautiful.  When he first took over the maintenance of the cemetery, it wasn't much more than a field of sagebrush.  He turned it into a beautiful place of rest for the dead.  Grandpa was known to have an excellent sense of humor.  He said of his job at the cemetery, "I never knew I'd be so successful, who would have known I'd have so many people under me?"
 

I remember when we were visiting my grandparents in the summer, on a hot day Grandma would say that we should take a milkshake out to Grandpa working in the cemetery.  So we would go down to the local drive-in and get him a milkshake then drive out to the cemetery to take him his treat.  In my memory I see him in his overalls and hat standing out in the cemetery near the little white storage shed leaning on a shovel.  He would see us coming and have a big smile on his face.  When we greeted him he would probably tell us some news he'd heard and gladly accept his frozen treat.
 

Grandpa and Grandma enjoyed sharing their last years together after his retirement from sheep herding.  They had spent so much time apart during their married life, it was nice to spend the "golden years" together.  When Grandma broke her leg while getting off a horse at the sheep herd, Grandpa bought her a car, a little 1957 Chevrolet so that she would be able to go places.  Grandpa drove a pickup and it would have been difficult for her to get in and out of the truck.  He called the car "the little red wagon."  Both Gram and Grandpa were pretty proud of that little car.

When I went to Panguitch to visit in the summers, quite often Grandma and Grandpa would meet us at the intersection of I-15 and Hwy 20, the road that goes from I-15 to Hwy 89.  They would be waiting in the little '57 Chevy watching for us to come so that they could take us the rest of the way to Panguitch.  Our family had one car at the time and Dad was headed to Cedar City to spend time with his mother, so my Grandma and Grandpa would pick us up so that Dad didn't have to drive to Panguitch.

Grandpa often kept a few sheep in the yard after he retired from being a sheepherder.  As a result there were always sheep droppings on the lawn and the grass was purposely not mowed.  It was left for the sheep to eat.  Every spring when we would go to visit, there would be new baby lambs.  The lambs were cute but we did not like the big sheep so much.  In fact, Grandpa told us to stay away from them, so it wasn't much fun playing in the yard when he had sheep.

One cousin recalled, "One spring we went up to his sheep camp, and he gave me a lamb of my very own.  I held the lamb on my lap as we drove back to Grandma's house where Grandma fixed a bottle of warm milk with a black nipple, and it was my responsibility to feed the little thing.  He was so soft and scared.  I think Grandma let him be the lawn mower that summer, and I don't know what happened to him after that.  Don't know if I want to think about it."

Grandpa had a barn, corral and chicken coop in the back of the lot.  I remember a time that he had a big pig.  We liked to stand on the boards of the fence and look at it since that was quite a novelty to us.  We liked to throw things into the pen for the pig to eat.  It seemed he would eat almost anything.  One time my brother threw a smoke bomb in the pen and the pig ate it.  We thought it was funny but Grandpa didn't.  He told us to stay away from the pig.  Also out back by the barn was the outhouse that the family had used before they built a bathroom inside the house.  We thought that was pretty interesting too.  Grandma kept chickens in the chicken coop and gathered eggs daily.

There was an irrigation ditch that ran across the yard dividing the barn area from the house area.  There was a little bridge that went over the ditch because water was running through the ditch most of the time.  Once a week or so, Grandpa would put a board in the ditch to make the water flood into his yard.  This was the way he watered his lot.  He paid to have a share of water which allowed him to have the water for a certain number of hours once or twice a week.  After the water had flowed into the yard flooding the grass area, he put the board back  in the ditch returning the water to the main irrigation ditch.

Grandpa got up early and went to bed early.  It had been that way all his life.

Every day he wore the same basic clothes:  denim overalls, a long sleeve shirt, work boots and a Stetson hat.  He owned one for summer and one for winter.  Under the overalls and shirt he often wore long-handled (long sleeve and long leg) underwear.  It didn't matter if it was the middle of July, he wore his long sleeve shirt and overalls.  He'd often say, "God, ain't it hot outside!"  No wonder he was hot!  He never changed his clothes to compensate for the weather.  He wore the same pair of overalls for months.  He didn't like it when Gram washed them.  I guess he liked them stiff and dark indigo blue.  He drove an old Chevy pickup.  I remember seeing him drive around town, very slowly, hat on, with his arm resting out the window.

Grandpa would always mutter, "You betcha!"  That was the one thing you could count on hearing him say.  He would go about whatever he was doing and periodically say, "You betcha!"  He was also hard of hearing, so you had to talk loudly to him.  My grandma loved him dearly.  She thought he was the most handsome man.  Everything she said about him was good.  I knew my grandma loved my grandpa.
 

A cousin recalled a story about Grandpa when she was there visiting.  "One Sunday morning the boy gathering fast offerings - his name was Jack - came to Grandma's.  Grandpa was sitting in his chair and saw little, shy Jack standing in the doorway, waiting for Grandma to get her money for the envelope.  Grandpa said, and I quote - "Well, for God's-sake Jack, come on in!  Don't stand there in the door looking like a jack-ass."  Jack replied, "Thank you, Mr. Cooper," and took one small step inside the house."
 

Another cousin said, "I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa when Mom would go out of town for a couple of days.  I remember Grandpa being very kind to me.  He was always joking and funny, and always pleasant.  He would go to bed early - before dark and he was an early riser.  Grandma always fixed breakfast for us.  There were three meals a day and usually a dessert of some kind.  Breakfast was usually homemade bread warmed in the oven with butter, eggs and oatmeal.  Lunch was the largest meal of the day which was usually steak or hamburger and potatoes, and cake or pie or cookies.  Dinner was a light meal around 4:00 in the afternoon.  Mother and I would go to the cemetery often and visit Grandpa.  He kept the cemetery looking great.  He enjoyed that job.  He usually had little Puddles, his dog with him.  If I remember correctly, Puddles came up missing a couple of days before Grandpa passed away.  We also went to the sheep herd often to visit Grandpa and sometimes Grandma was there also. Mom and I would go to their house often and Mom would play the piano and we would all sing.  Grandpa always enjoyed that.  Sometimes when I would go uptown, Grandpa would be there visiting with people.  I can just see him in Uncle Jed's store, the S&C Mercantile.  I never remember hearing anyone saying a bad word about Grandpa.  I always felt that he was well liked.  He was a character and that's what I think people thought about him.  My memories of Grandpa are very fond ones."

As I said before, Grandpa went to bed early.  Sometimes he would watch the "fights" on television then he would turn in for the night.  After that we would have to be quiet so that we would not disturb him.  I don't know why since he could hardly hear us when we talked to him when he was awake.  One cousin said that Grandpa loved boxing.  He loved to discuss it and often listened to matches on the radio, or watched them on television.
 

Another cousin recalled, "I remember as a little girl Grandpa coming up to Salt Lake to see the boxing matches at the Utah State Fairgrounds.  He would get all dressed up in a suit and white shirt, no tie and his brown hat.  His forehead was as white as snow, contrasting with his brown leathery face, a result of wearing hats 24/7.  He was amazed at all the traffic, and swore, literally swore; he couldn't figure out how everyone knew where they were going."

She also said that, "Grandpa would make STRONG coffee in an old beat-up percolator, with egg shells, coffee grinds, and who knows what else.  He would pour it in his old cracked coffee mug, and then lay a spoon on top to see if it was strong enough.  It really looked like the spoon was floating on top of the coffee, it was so strong, but in actuality he was balancing it on the opposite edges of the mug."
 

One aunt told me that whenever Grandpa got a letter in the mail which he had to sign and mail back, he would sign it, "Oblige Than Cooper."

Many of my cousins said that they had been up to the sheep herd to see Grandpa.  One cousin said that once he met Grandpa up on the river that runs from Panguitch Lake.  Grandpa brought the sheep down to water and they had a picnic there at the river.  He said they were there most of the day.  He said Grandpa was a good grandpa and he enjoyed being with him.

Although I don't have many memories of being with my grandpa, I remember being in my grandparent's house and being around my grandpa.  He was a loving, funny, and sometimes grumpy old man who swore frequently frequently but it was just the way he was because of the life he had lived.

He didn't care much for religion and complained when the widows in town went to the temple after their husbands died, had their temple work done and were sealed to them.  He loved my grandma.  He always called her "Ma."  He worked hard to provide for his family and for his mother, brothers and sister.  Although he had some weaknesses and faults, I have to give him credit for taking that responsibility of providing for his mother for so many years.
 

I remember going on outings to Zion's at Easter and Grandpa turning the crank on the ice cream maker.  He was always glad to have us come and visit.  I remember him sitting in his overstuffed chair in the corner of the living room reading his paper or smoking a hand-rolled cigarette.  I remember him sitting at the table in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee.  I was 14 years old when he died and I am grateful that I knew him the little that I did.  I loved my grandpa.

Grandpa died of a heart attack in the Panguitch Hospital on August 23, 1970.  We had been there visiting them a week or so before he had the attack, and had returned home because the new school year was going to start.  He had not been feeling well for a couple of days before the attack.  He was nauseated and Gram was worried about him.  Before he died, my mom called Gram on the phone and asked how Grandpa was.  She replied, "Just as handsome as ever."  Gram was devastated when he died.  Not many women loved their husband like Bell Cooper loved Than.  They endured all the years of being apart from each other, endured times when money was scarce, and enjoyed their last years together.  Grandma lived another nine years without him until she died on March 22, 1979.  They are buried in the same Panguitch City Cemetery that my grandpa cared for.