Butte County
Biographies
JOHN COOPER
JOHN COOPER.—One of the best known hotel-men in the state, John Cooper, as proprietor of the Hallam House at Chico, Butte County, has become identified with the best interests of his section of California, and is active in furthering its development. A native of England, he was born at Bradford, Yorkshire, in April, 1864, and reared to manhood in his native city, receiving his education in the public school there. When a boy of ten years he began work in a silk factory, attending school for half a day and working in the factory half a day. He continued this employment and learned the manufacture of silks and plush, and in time became foreman in the finishing department of Lister Plush Mill, then the largest of its kind in the world.
On passage of the McKinley Bill, in 1890, when silk and plush mills were built in the United States and the manufacture of that class of goods increased, Mr. Cooper came to this country as foreman of the finishing department of the Wahata Plush Mills, at Catasauqua, Pa., continuing in that capacity until 1902, when he removed to Lowell, Mass., as foreman of the Merrimac Mills. He remained at the latter place until 1904, when desiring to escape the rigors of the eastern climate, he came to California. Before starting on the journey he looked over the map of the state and selected Chico as his destination, it being in Northern California, a locality he thought desirable, and accordingly purchased his tickets to this point.
On his arrival, in December, 1904, Mr. Cooper was for two and one-half years in the employ of the old Sierra Lumber Company; then with the Northern Electric Company, in the shops as a millman, until he resigned in 1908. He then leased the Hallan House, on Second Street near Main, and from that date until April, 1918, was the proprietor of the hostelry, making many improvements and maintaining it as a modern hotel, with about one hundred rooms. Always to the fore when the advancement of Northern California is in question, and wide-awake as to its possibilities for further development, Mr. Cooper has made hosts of friends during his years of residence here and is widely known as a factor for progress, not only in the Sacramento Valley, but throughout the state. He removed to Oakland in September, 1918, to operate the Juanita Hotel, at the corner of Clay and San Pablo Avenue.
The marriage of Mr. Cooper, which occurred in England, united him with Miss Martha A. Hardisty, who, like her husband, is a native of Bradford, Yorkshire. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, four of whom grew to maturity: Thomas H., in the United States military service; William; Leonard; and Hilda, who died at the age of twenty-four. Mr. Cooper is a member of the Business Men’s Association of Chico, and is ready at all times to give his aid when the best interests of the county are concerned. In politics he is independent, supporting the men he considers best fitted for the various offices.
Transcribed
by Sharon Walford Yost.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1273-1274, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Sharon
Walford Yost.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies