James P. Cooley, born on February 26, 1845, in Cecil, Maryland, represents Bon Homme County in the South Dakota State Senate. He is one of eight children of Corbin and Mary Cooley, and the eldest of the four surviving siblings. Cooley moved to South Dakota in 1870, becoming a pioneer of Bon Homme County. He acquired extensive land holdings, totaling over 3,000 acres, and successfully engaged in cattle raising. A dedicated Democrat, he served in the territorial legislature (1872-3) and was elected to the state senate in 1902. Cooley married Mary McCollum in 1872, and they had twelve children, ten of whom survived.
James P. Cooley, who is a representative of Bon Homme county in the state senate at the time of this writing, is one of the leading citizens of the county mentioned and his precedence and personal popularity are indicated in the important office to which he has been called and in which he is serving his constituency and the state with signal ability.
Mr. Cooley is a native of the state of Maryland, having been born in Cecil, Cecil county, on the 26th of February, 1845, one of the eight children of Corbin and Mary (Shaw) Cooley, and being the eldest of the four surviving, the others being as follows: Mary S., who is the wife of Robert Christy, of Cecil county; Elaine; and Charles and Emma, who are twins, the former being a prominent physician of Madelia, Minnesota, while the latter is the wife of David W. Hutchinson, of East Downington, Pennsylvania. The father of the subject was born in Hartford county, Maryland, on the 12th of August, 1799, being a son of Samuel Cooley, who was a valiant soldier in the Continental line during the war of the Revolution, the family name having been long identified with the annals of American history. Daniel and Charles Cooley, sons of Samuel, also served their country with distinction, having been active participants in the war of 1812, and they were in Fort Henry at the time when Key and another prisoner there composed the famed national ode, “The Star Spangled Banner.” The father of the subject passed his entire life in Maryland, where he died at the age of seventy-six years. He devoted his life to agricultural pursuits and was a man of marked intellectuality and individuality, his scientific methods of farming having placed him far in advance of his time, while he was a successful grower of livestock and a man of influence in his community, his advice being frequently sought by his neighbors in regard to business affairs and matters of local concern in a public way. His wife passed away at the age of eighty-two years.
James P. Cooley, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared on the homestead farm and under the direction of his able and honored father gained that knowledge of business principles which has so signally conserved his success in temporal affairs, while his educational training was secured in the common schools and in the academy at West Nottingham, Cecil County, Maryland. He continued to reside in his native state until the year 1870, when he came to what is now the state of South Dakota, becoming one of the pioneers of Bon Homme county, where he has ever since maintained his home. Here he took up a pre-emption claim of one hundred and sixty acres, while later he added homestead and timber claims, and he has since added to the area of his landed estate by purchasing adjoining tracts. He is now the owner of ten hundred and forty acres in the home farm, while his holdings in the county include an additional two thousand one hundred and fifteen acres, making him one of the extensive landed proprietors of this favored section of the state. The property last mentioned is eligibly located near the town of Springfield, while his fine home farm is located ten miles from Tyndall, the county seat. He raises cattle on an extensive scale and has been most successful in his operations in connection with this important line of industry, being a man of indefatigable energy and one whose policy is ever a progressive one. He is one of the heavy stockholders in the Security Bank of Tyndall, and a member of its directorate, while his course has been such as to retain for him the highest measure of popular confidence and esteem in the county and state in which he has so long maintained his home.
Mr. Cooley is endowed with fine mental powers and marked business acumen, and he has ever shown a definite interest in public affairs. He gives his allegiance to the Democratic party but is liberal in his political views and ever shows the courage of his convictions, in which he is amply fortified. He served as a member of the territorial legislature of 1872-3, and in 1902 he was elected to his present dignified office as a member of the state senate. He is in no sense a politician but is intrinsically loyal to the duties of citizenship and is thus ready to serve the public with fidelity and to the full extent of his powers, while his present official preferment shows the appreciative estimate placed upon his services by the people of the county. He was a member of the board of county commissioners for four years, and no resident of the county is better known or held in more uniform respect.
In March 1872, Mr. Cooley was united in marriage to Miss Mary McCollum, of this county, whither she came with her parents from Coon Rapids, Iowa, where she was born and reared. Of the twelve children of Mr. and Mrs. Cooley, all but two are still living, and of them we enter the following brief record: Jessie remains at the parental home; Emma is the wife of C. C. Torrance, of Tabor, this county; Mary is at the present time a student at Vermillion University; Lucille is the wife of Lewis Barber, of West Point, Nebraska; Addie is likewise a student at Vermillion University, as is also Ralph; and Corbin, Morris, Charles, and George are still beneath the parental roof.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.