John B. Cooper…. Civil War Hero
John B. Cooper, born in Walpole, NH in 1841, was soon orphaned. He came to Newport in 1857 at sixteen years of age and apprenticed at the blacksmith shop of D. B. Chapin. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted at Newport with Co. D, marrying Mary O. Moody of Newport two days before leaving for war. At the end of his first enlistment, he recruited members for Co. K, NH Volunteers, and eventually became a Captain in that Regiment. During his service he fought at the major battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg. He became one of Newport’s valued citizens after the war, serving as selectman, Postmaster and Town Moderator (both for over twenty years) and superintendent of the Newport Water Works. He also served as a NH state senator and representative. At the 1938 Memorial Day services, John B. Cooper was honored by the citizens of Newport when a tablet in his honor was erected at the corner of Sunapee and Central Streets, to be know as Cooper Square.
Events
Newport Nuggets… gems from the RFL scrapbook collection
Look for this plaque the next time you travel through Cooper Square!
Newport Nuggets… gems from the RFL Scrapbook Collection
Polley, “The Human Fly” Scales Richards Block 
George G. Polley, “the human fly,” who has been scaling buildings of all heights for the last 16 years, successfully scaled Richards block Monday evening before an audience of a few hundred people, who contributed quite generously when the hat was passed around. After he swung himself up over the cornice, he stood on his head, completing the exhibit. Tuesday evening he duplicated the stunt of scaling the block, with the added touch of going part way up blindfolded. After he had gone over the cornice, he rode a bicycle the full length of the cornice and back and did some balancing stunts on the edge with chairs. Later in the evening he appeared in a vaudeville act at the Coniston Theatre.
The library is pleased to be part of the nation wide program to explore the American Civil War during its 150th anniversary.
Making Sense of the American Civil War is designed as a series of five conversations exploring different facets of the Civil War experience, informed by reading the words written or uttered by powerful voices from the past and present.
The series focuses on three books: March by Geraldine Brooks, Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam by James McPherson, and America’s War: Talking About the Civil War and Emancipation on Their 150th Anniversaries, edited by Edward L. Ayers.
Dr. Keith Williams of St. Anselm’s College will facilitate the series. Dr. Williams teaches nineteenth and twentieth-century African American Literature including the U.S. Civil War and the Harlem Renaissance.
The library has the three texts available for loan to the first 20 people that register for the series. The program is open the public and is free. Participants may register online or call the library. For more information please call Andrea Thorpe at 863-3430.
NEW FRONT STEPS!
The new front steps have been completed by Goodrich Oil and the railings will be done soon, but the doors are now open for use!
