Obadiah Cooper was one-time soldier who settled in Albany during the second decade of the eighteenth century. He is said to have been born in Dutchess County about 1690.

In September 1714, he was identified as a private in Captain Peter Matthews' company and on duty at Catskill and Coxsackie. By that time he had married Kinderhook native Cornelia Gardinier. Beginning in 1718, the last nine of their twelve children were baptized in the Albany Dutch church where both parents were frequent baptism sponsors.

In 1718, Cooper began to acquire land on the south side of Albany in an area recently settled by former garrison soldiers. He was listed as a first ward resident on the voter lists of 1720 and 1742. Traditional sources refer to him as a "tailor."

Obadiah Cooper died in 1742 and was buried from the Albany Dutch church on May sixth.

Sources: The life of Obadiah Cooper is CAP biography number 795. This profile is derived chiefly from family and community-based resources. The standard printed resource is M. Grace Wilmarth, Obadiah Cooper (Tailor at Albany, N.Y., from 1713-1742), his Wife, Cornelia (Gardinier) Cooper, and Their Descendants (privately published, 1946). An online genealogy (thru twelve generations) provides interesting (but conflicting) background information. We seek defining information on his background!