Mark A. Cooper

Mark Anthony Cooper (April 20, 1800 – March 17, 1885) was a United States Representative, businessman and lawyer from Georgia. His cousin was U.S. Representative Eugenius Aristides Nisbet.

Cooper was born near Powellton, Georgia, in Hancock County in 1800 and graduated from South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina) in Columbia in 1819. After studying law and gaining admittance to the state bar in 1821, he practiced law in Eatonton, Georgia. He later moved to Columbus, Georgia. In 1825 and again in 1836, Cooper fought in the Seminole Wars. (He was a Major in these campaigns.)

In 1833, Cooper served in the Georgia House of Representatives. In 1838, he was elected as a Whig Representative from Georgia to the 26th United States Congress and served one term in that seat from March 4, 1839 until March 3, 1841, as he lost his bid for reelection in 1840. He returned to the U.S. Congress in 1842 after winning election as a Democrat to fill the remainder of the term of William Crosby Dawson, who had resigned in 1841 to run for the Governor of Georgia. Cooper was reelected to that congressional seat in the general election in 1842; however, he resigned in 1843 to run an unsuccessful candidacy for Governor. Cooper's second stint in Congress lasted from January 3, 1842, to June 26, 1843.

During his time as an attorney, Cooper was a lender essentially functioning as the local bank in Eatonton. He then invested in a bank in Columbus, Georgia and after a few years, sold out for $300,000 which he used to build his Iron works nearby Etowah, Georgia. This ironworks is remembered today by many names: Cooper's Furnace, Cooper's Ironworks, and Etowah Ironworks.

...
Wikipedia