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Note: Eli Franklin Cooper's Bible & Family History Records in possession of Nellie May Cooper Rogers
748 South Horne St., Mesa, Arizona 85204
1900 US Census Seneca, Lake Co., Florida
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M367-FZP
R W Patterson Head M Nov 1848 52 Married 3yrs GA GA GA
Georgie S Patterson Wife F Dec 1861 39 Married 3yrs 10 7 FL GA GA
Aldon C Patterson Son M Aug 1898 2 Single FL GA FL
Walter A Patterson Son M Nov 1899 6m Single FL GA FL
Guy O Tucker Stepson M Mar 1882 18 Single FL GA FL
Effie E Tucker Stepdau F Apr 1888 12 Single FL GA FL
Eva L Tucker Stepdau F Jul 1890 10 Single FL GA FL
May E Tucker Stapdau F May 1891 8 Single FL GA FL
Joseph R Tucker Stepdau M Jul 1894 6 Single FL GA FL
Next door
1900 US Census Seneca, Lake Co., Florida
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M367-F89
Eli F Cooper Head M Feb 1859 41 Married 8yrs GA AL GA
T E. Cooper Wife F Jul 1873 20 Married 8yrs GA GA AL
James E Cooper Son M Aug 1883 16 Single FL GA GA
Thomas J Cooper Son M Dec 1888 11 Single FL GA GA
Mentie Cooper Dau F Jun 1893 6 Single FL GA GA
Next door
1900 US Census Seneca, Lake Co., Florida
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M367-F8W
Eli Cooper Head M Aug 1826 73 Married 54yrs AL SC SC
Elizabeth Cooper Wife F Jun 1828 71 Married 54yrs GA GA NC
Lowry Frank A Boarder M Apr 1865 35 Single NC NC NC
Read the notes of Telitha Elizabeth Pattison
for some of Eli Franklin's history.
Florida
By Nellie Cooper Rogers
They were said to have arrived in Orange County (now Lake County) in
December about 1860.
When Eli Franklin was a baby his parents moved to Florida to improve
their financial condition. They had heard of the citrus boom in Florida and
had heard much about gathering "gold" from trees. When they reached Florida
their draft animals gave out. They also found to get an orange grove one had
to fill out papers and file them on the land with the government, clear it. When
that was done, they had to then buy young orange trees at a high price, plant
them and then wait several years before they began to yield. They were
discouraged.
My grandmother's (Martha) brothers, Jim and John McEwen had made the
trip to Florida with them, but when they found it wasn't going to be very easy
to get their "gold", they decided to return to where they came from (where that
is, we do not really know). When their draft animals gave out, Eli and Martha
could not go back nor could they go on. So, they took up land and cleared the
land. That means they cut the trees down and they also had to cut and clear the
undergrowth brush so they could build a house and sheds for the animals as
well as to clear enough land to plant crops. Eli quickly built a small cabin of
logs with a clay fireplace on which they cooked.
Frontier Life
By Nellie Cooper Rogers
Like all the other frontier families, they raised their own food. Eli Franklin,
their son, remembers that their food consisted of corn pone made from home
ground corn. Corn pone is kind of like the cornbread we eat now, only it was
made with more coarsely ground corn flour and therefore the bread was heavier.
The family raised their own corn.
They also grew turnips, cabbage, beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, "cow peas"
(black eyed peas), turnips and other vegetables that were the main things they ate.
They also found that the heart of the small palms that grew thick at the edge of the
swamp made a delectable vegetable. It was called wild palm. The tender leaves, or
the center of the palm was a white color. This was gathered and made into a
delicious dish of what they called "Swamp Cabbage". It was fixed as we fix cabbage
now with a nice piece of pork to season it. There also were wild berries from the
woods and swamps that they gathered.
The family often found wild honey in the woods, and they also made molasses
or syrup from the juice of the sugar cane that they raised. For meat, they raised
their own pigs and cows and chickens.
They had whatever wild game the woods provide such as deer and bear and also
wild turkey. Deer and bear could be found almost anywhere and were hunted most
of the year. Hunting was one of the favorite pastimes of the men and everyman had
his hunting hounds.
The land that Eli and Martha lived on in Orange County, Florida was partly
cultivated and part of it was open forest and scrub. Scrub was land upon which grew
an undergrowth sometimes as high as a man's head. It was beautiful country with
forest on every side, with cultivated spots here and there, but most of it was
primitive forest. Eli's property was said to be near a lake, and there are so many
lakes in Orange County, (now named Lake County) it is very probably true.
The Mormon Missionaries
by Ruth Hood Linder
In Florida about 1900 two Mormon missionaries came to the door of Eli and Telitha Cooper's home during a rainstorm. They were soaked to the skin. Grandma had them come in and get by the fire to dry and get warm. They then began to teach her about the gospel. Later Telitha laid a pallet of bedding down on the floor for them to sleep on. A little later grandpa Eli came in from the woods where he had been chasing his cows to make sure they had not wandered off. Grandma Telitha was very excited about the gospel and began to tell him she knew it was true because it was like her mother had always taught her. Grandpa Eli said "Do you know who they are? They are MORMONS!" The Mormons during this time were hated and could even get shot in the south even in Florida. Grandma said, "I don't care who they are, I know what they are saying is true." The missionaries from this time forth began to give lessons to Telitha. Eli was in the room but did not participate. Then Telitha decided she was ready for baptism. She was taken to the river to be baptised but guess what? Eli was the first one into the water to be baptised!
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