Norris Cooper was born in 1872 in the Oklahoma Territory to Henry Cooper (1839-1894)and Rebecca Coley (1839-1894).
He and a few others were accused of murdering J. B. Drake in Oct 1896.
Inmate #2969 Leavenworth Federal Prison
Rec: 7 May 1902
Crime: Murder
Term: Life
Commuted to a 15 year term by the President on 3 Sep 1908.
He was 26 years old and a widower and a farmer, with a daughter named Maude Cooper born 1897.
Girard Daily Press
Girard, Kansas
01 Oct 1896, Thu • Page 2
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33254493/norris_cooper/
Looking on the National Archives web site I found Norris leavenworth records and attached them to the tree I made him on Ancestry. I looked for all the men mentioned in the article and only found Isaac King.
Here are only a few of Norris prison documents.
Notice he said he was accused and he plead not guilty. I am not sure what the circumstances were or who J. B. Drake was, but there's a lot more to this story I want to know.
I dug around in the newspapers for the other names of the accused and I found some.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20854863/isaac_king_murder_trial/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20854915/arkansas_democrat/
Norris & Isaac were pardoned, Norris was released 30 May 1912.
After Norris was released from prison he married again to Willie Campbell (1895-1980) and had 2 more daughter:
Avalena Gladis Cooper 1914-1991
Esther Jewell Cooper 1916-2006
Norris died 2 Jan 1952 in Kinta, OK
I made him a tree on Ancestry and there are a couple other trees for him and they all added the Leavenworth index to his tree but no story or newspaper articles or the prison documents. I am hoping they get hints they look at and attach the records and mugshot of him to their trees. This looks to be the only photo of Norris.
He and a few others were accused of murdering J. B. Drake in Oct 1896.
Rec: 7 May 1902
Crime: Murder
Term: Life
Commuted to a 15 year term by the President on 3 Sep 1908.
He was 26 years old and a widower and a farmer, with a daughter named Maude Cooper born 1897.
Girard Daily Press
Girard, Kansas
01 Oct 1896, Thu • Page 2
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33254493/norris_cooper/
Looking on the National Archives web site I found Norris leavenworth records and attached them to the tree I made him on Ancestry. I looked for all the men mentioned in the article and only found Isaac King.
I dug around in the newspapers for the other names of the accused and I found some.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20854863/isaac_king_murder_trial/
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/20854915/arkansas_democrat/
Norris & Isaac were pardoned, Norris was released 30 May 1912.
After Norris was released from prison he married again to Willie Campbell (1895-1980) and had 2 more daughter:
Avalena Gladis Cooper 1914-1991
Esther Jewell Cooper 1916-2006
Norris died 2 Jan 1952 in Kinta, OK
I made him a tree on Ancestry and there are a couple other trees for him and they all added the Leavenworth index to his tree but no story or newspaper articles or the prison documents. I am hoping they get hints they look at and attach the records and mugshot of him to their trees. This looks to be the only photo of Norris.
Interestingly, Norris Cooper goes on to kill Cole Shoemake in 1920 in Kinta, Oklahoma. Cole was also in Leavenworth at the same time as Norris. Cole was Leavenworth inmate 4815. Norris is sentenced to 6 months and $500 for killing Cole who had broken out of jail and was wanted. Norris was almost immediately pardoned by the Oklahoma Governor, Robertson.
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