Cooper, Peter
manufacturer, philanthropist, was born Feb. 12, 1791, in New York city. He was apprenticed to a coach maker; then he manufactured machines for shearing cloth; then made furniture; then conducted a grocery; and then began the manufacture of glue and isinglass, which he continued for fifty years. He also erected iron mills, and manufactured railroad iron and architectural beams, and built the first locomotive engine in America. He became wealthy and built the Cooper institute. He was one of the six capitalists who formed the first Atlantic Telegraph company in 1854. He was the author of Ideas for a System of Good Government; and Financial Opinions, with Autobiography. He died April 4, 1883, in New York city.