William Prentice Cooper
{{Short description|US lawyer and politician}}
{{for|the American diplomat|Prentice Cooper}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = W P Cooper.jpg
| birth_name = William Prentice Cooper
| birth_date = {{birth date|1870|09|27}}
| birth_place = Henderson County, Kentucky, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1961|07|03|1870|09|27}}
| death_place = Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
| education = Vanderbilt University
| occupation = Lawyer, politician
| office = 59th Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives
| term_start = 1915
| term_end = 1917
| predecessor = William M. Stanton
| successor = Clyde Shropshire
| state_house2 = Tennessee
| district2 = 16th
| term_start2 = 1915
| term_end2 = 1917
| preceded2 = A. A. Stone
| succeeded2 = J. R. Hart
| party = Democratic
| spouse = {{marriage|Argentine Shofner|October 25, 1894}}
| children = Prentice
| relatives = Jim Cooper, John Cooper (grandsons)
}}
William Prentice Cooper (September 27, 1870 – July 3, 1961) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as the Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Early life
William Prentice Cooper was born on September 27, 1870. He graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1890, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.{{cite book|last1=Maxwell|first1=W. J.|title=General catalogue of Sigma Alpha Epsilon|date=1918|page=564|url=https://archive.org/stream/generalcatalogue00sigm#page/564/mode/2up |accessdate=January 7, 2016|via=Internet Archive}}
Career
Cooper was a lawyer. He served as the mayor of Shelbyville, Tennessee from 1905 to 1907.{{cite news|title=W.P. Cooper Dies At 90. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/57983758/?terms=%22William%2BPrentice%2BCooper%22 |newspaper=The Kansas City Times |location=Kansas City, Missouri |date=July 4, 1961 |page=7 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate =January 7, 2016 }} {{Open access}} He also served as the Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1915 to 1917.
Cooper served on the board of trustees of the University of Tennessee from 1915 to 1958.
Personal life
Cooper married Argentine Shofner.{{cite book|last1=Onofrio|first1=Jan|title=Tennessee Biographical Dictionary|date=2000|publisher=Somerset Publishers|isbn=9780403097005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zyw4bSvQxJUC&q=Argentine+Shofner&pg=PA214|accessdate=January 7, 2016}} Their son, Prentice Cooper, served as the 39th Governor of Tennessee from 1939 to 1945. They resided at the Gov. Prentice Cooper House in Shelbyville, built in 1904 for them, and based on the design of a house he owned in Henderson, Kentucky.{{cite web|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form: Gov. Prentice Cooper House|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/ebf0d972-6605-47ec-9742-3a66a63c5b37/|website=National Park Service|publisher=United States Department of the Interior|accessdate=October 8, 2017}} His wife inherited the Absalom Lowe Landis House, also known as Beech Hall, in Normandy, Tennessee, where the Coopers summered.{{cite web|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Absalom Lowe Landis House|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/9e9e335a-16d7-4b6f-bfb5-2edac6413daf|website=National Park Service|publisher=United States Department of the Interior|accessdate=October 8, 2017}}
Death and legacy
Cooper died on July 3, 1961. His grandson, Jim Cooper, was a member of the United States House of Representatives who retired from his seat in 2022.{{cite news|title=REP. JIM COOPER OF TENNESSEE IS WED TO MARTHA BRYAN HAYS, ORNITHOLOGIST|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/07/style/rep-jim-cooper-tennessee-wed-martha-bryan-hays-ornithologist-representative-jim.html|accessdate=January 7, 2016|work=The New York Times|date=April 7, 1985}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Find a Grave|11261087}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, William Prentice}}
Category:People from Shelbyville, Tennessee
Category:Vanderbilt University alumni
Category:Speakers of the Tennessee House of Representatives
Category:Mayors of places in Tennessee
Category:People from Bedford County, Tennessee
Category:20th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly
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