Rollin Charles Cooper was born in a little farm home near Ann Arbor, Michigan, September 29, 1845 to Thomas and Caroline Baker Cooper. This family was not rich in this world's goods, but was able to sustain food to build strong bodies. This family had 11 children.
Rollin reached almost his full stature by the time he was twelve years old, when he hired out to a neighbor for a full season's work at $8.00 a month and €˜Keep.€™ When he received his $32.00 in a lump sum it seemed like a king's ransom to a boy who had never had 500 at a time. The next year he left home to start a life of his own, under the sponsorship of Thomas J. his brother, in Red Wing, in 1858.
Rollin and T. J. tried mining and farming. The crops were poor and they spent a winter eating corn meal and moldy salt bacon.
Rollin married his wife Emma Hutchin in September 14, 1870. He was 25 and she was 19. They began their married life in Pueblo, Colorado, where he and Henry were tinners. Tin roofs were common then. In ten years they sold the tinners shop and Rollin went mining. He made a strike, which he sold for $10, 000, then went into cattle buying and selling. He and T. J. became interested in the Northern Pacific land-grant lands offered to the public for nominal prices, so together they set out for North Dakota.
R. C. Cooper followed the Sibley Trail across Barnes County to the sod house of Ed Ladbury near Sibleys old camp Corning. There was no room for him in the house so he slept in a haystack. No one suspected that this large bearded man of 35 carried on his person $25,000 to invest in new land.
He wanted to farm on a large-scale - the bonanza way, so this meant the prairie where others had not dared to locate. Cooper did not need the River valley for protection. He was a rich man and could build protection for his animals and his men. He knew from his own experience the value of grass, water, fuel and protection, as he was experienced in farming, mule freight hauling, mining, and cattle raising.
Thomas J. Cooper invested in land and Rollin in equipment. T. J. bought 10,400 acres from the Northern Pacific Railroad on November 27, 1880, at a cost of $21,314.00 or $2.05 an acre.
A "squatter" could select his land, do some breaking and build a house, then file when the survey was completed. This offered the chance Mr. Cooper was looking for for his out of state friends and himself. He could buy odd numbered Sections of land at less than preemption costs from Northern Pacific then buy additional homesteads adjoining this land after their final proof. Several of the young men who came with Cooper took pre-emptions on good land on even numbered Sections adjoining Cooper's railroad land. They worked for Cooper. For these Cooper paid from $500 to $800.00 and their pre-emption costs of $400.00 per 160 acres.
Thomas Cooper's son, Charles L. had secured power of attorney to obtain "additional homesteads" for a veteran, or his widow, all duly described in the document issued before the Townships were Sectionalized. One was dated August 24, 1878, and five in 1880 from January 21, to September 14, all before Cooper had seen the land.
R. C. knew exactly what he was getting when he located his own homestead and his brother's tree claim as he talked to Township line surveyors. On November 27, 1880, only one month later he began building his barn and 'boarding house' for the men on a protected southern slope of a glacial hill, this was on T. J. 's tree claim.
As only Township lines were marked, Cooper used a compass and a wheel with a marker to survey his own land. T. J. 's son Charles rode the buggy and counted the turns. It proved to be only a few rods from surveyor's line.
It is estimated that the Cooper Brothers either owned or controlled close to 20, 000 acres.
The Coopers had 15 carloads of lumber shipped to Sanborn and from there had to haul to the farm-site. They used 75 teams to haul this lumber, general supplies and merchandise. The farmers nearby were also hired to make these trips and earn money. Later that fall they hauled 1000 bushels of oats. Coopers freight line was continually hauling for their Bonanza farm. The halfway house where they camped was managed by William Glass at that time.
In 1886 when the partnership of T. J. and R. C. was liquidated, R. C. bought from T. J. 7000 acres of land, which carried a mortgage of $25,000. He also rented 4,400 acres on a cash rental basis.
After the dissolution of the partnership, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper kept 100 to 200 head of cattle for a period of years. About half were assessed to each.
Cooper was the largest pioneer hog raiser in Griggs County. In 1886, one of his mortgages included 400 hogs as security. At one time he had 700 hogs. One year the market was very poor. The men butchered 500 hogs, froze them, piled them like cordwood in hayracks on runners and took them to Hope with mule teams. They sold for 21/20 a pound.
In 1888, Cooper along with the other farmers suffered a great loss as a result of the "big freeze.€œ Poor yields and low prices had been bringing on the ''big Squeeze.€ The Coopers were going broke and had to mortgage as did most of the farmers who stayed in Griggs County. Times improved again and in 1903 Cooper got his last mortgage.
Cooper was a large man and very strong. The Courier at that time called him a 'genial giant.€™ He would have sacks of seed filled and extra men along the edge of the fields to fill the drills during planting. R. C. could reach down from his horse, pick up a 150-pound sack of grain and lay it over the horse. Money talked too. He was always sure pay, and many pioneers would have had to give up if they couldn't have worked on the Cooper ranch to earn money to 'tie them over.€™ Cooper liked people. He was naturally friendly. The Valley City Times Record described him as "Generous to a fault.€
The Masonic Temple in Cooperstown, the pride of Masons in this town and over the state, was built mostly by funds given by R. C. Cooper.
In September 1920, seventy-five guests helped Mr. and Mrs. Rollin Cooper celebrate their fiftieth Wedding Anniversary. The program consisted of a greeting by W. H. Butler, presenting baskets of roses and chrysanthemums to the couple. There were two vocal solos by Hattie Smith and a reading of "That Old Sweetheart of Mine" by Mildred Udgaard. Mrs. J. N. Brown recalled incidents in the lives of the couple.
There was a meeting called by the county clerk of Griggs County on February 9, 1888 at 2 PM for organizing Township - 146-59 also known as Cooperstown Township.
The first Township meeting was held February 23, 1888. The first election board was paid November 19th, 1888: T. E. Warner (Clerk) - $2, F. L. Cowen - $2, Jas. Allen (Judge) - $2, C. W. Hodge (Judge) - $2, Jas. W. Christie (judge) - $2. Cooperstown and Cooperstown Township had the same board. First Township records had been destroyed.
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 264