Cooper of Springfield

Joseph Cooper age 14, arrived in Charlestown, South Carolina in September 1682 as an indentured servant to George Barnard. According to a land warrant from the British Public Records Office, Mr. Barnard received 190 acres of land for having brought Joseph Cooper, Rowland Francell and another unnamed servant to the Colonies from England. To encourage settlement in the Carolinas, the Lord Propietors paid a bounty of land to free citizens for each new colonist they brought in. Joseph...
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Joseph Cooper age 14, arrived in Charlestown, South Carolina in September 1682 as an indentured servant to George Barnard. According to a land warrant from the British Public Records Office, Mr. Barnard received 190 acres of land for having brought Joseph Cooper, Rowland Francell and another unnamed servant to the Colonies from England. To encourage settlement in the Carolinas, the Lord Propietors paid a bounty of land to free citizens for each new colonist they brought in. Joseph Cooper arrived on His Majesty's Ship (HMS) "Sarah" which was of British registry and commanded by Captain George Canady. No mention is made of a wife, so it is assumed he was single upon his arrival. The average period of time of indenture was seven years and indentured servants were not allowed to own property. On 7 February 1696, Joseph Cooper received a Land Warrant for 210 acres of land on the forks of the Edisto in Colleton County, from the Lord Propietors, so he must have paid off his indenture by this time. British records also indicate that he acted as an interpreter to the [Cherokee] Indians. There is also mention of a runaway Indian slave being found on his property and the government ordered him to return the slave to his rightful owner. Reference: British Public Records Office Book, pg. 104 and 153.In 1698, Joseph Cooper from South Carolina began the first regular trade with the Cherokees. It is a fact that most of the early Cherokee traders & interpreters married Cherokee women called by the colonials, "Holder women." It is believed that Joseph took a Cherokee wife most likely from the Cherokee Lower Town of Keowee, near Fort Prince George. This however, has not been proven. We do know that he kept a runaway Cherokee slave on his plantation located on the Pon Pon River. Warrants for Lands in South Carolina 1672-1711, edited by A. S. Salley, Jr., cr, 1973, p. 367, 534. Carolina Ss You are forthwith to Cause to be Admeasured & Laid out unto George Barnard one hundred And ninety Acres of Land being Due to him for the arriveall of Rowland francell and Joseph Cooper in September 1682 and ye arriveall of Another servant: entered on his account: weh: Came in the Sarah, George Canady Comdr weh are Recorded in the secret office in some Convent: place not yet Laid out or marked to be Laid out for any other Person or use, observeing the Lords Instructions bearing Date the 21 fo Frebruary 1683 and a certifycate fully specifying the scituation & bounds thereof you are to Returne to us with all Convenient speed & for yor soe Doing this shall be yor Warrant Dated the 10th Day of aprill 1684. To Major Maurice Mathews, Surveyer Generall, Mau Mathews, John Moore, Joseph Morton and John Godfrey. Joseph Cooper of Colleton County, South Carolina had a warrant, out of ye Secrtyes office for Two hundred & Ten [210] acres being purchased of & from ye Rt Honrble ye Lords Proprietors, aas Proprietors ye receipt of John Archdale Esqr Registered in ye Registers office baireing Date ye 17th Day of January 1696 appears observeing ye Lords Proprietors Instructions for Granting of Land baireing Date ye 6th Day of February 1692 Given under my Hand & seale ye 7th Day of February 1696 To John Berisford Esqr Survr Genll or his Deputy Joseph Cooper of Colleton County, South Carolina had a Grant out of the Secretarys office for Two hundred and Eighty [280] acres of Land, Situate in Colleton County and lying on the West side of Edisto or Colleton County up the Treshes butting and bounding to the Eastward on said River to the Northward, Westward and Southward on Lands not yet laid out being purchased of and from the Lords Proprietors as vis the recept of their Receiver after the rate of Twenty Pounds do vis thousand acres paying therefore yearly and every year on every first day of December which shall be after the first day of December 1696.