| Henry Cooper | |
| Jr/Sr1: | United States senator |
| State1: | Tennessee |
| Term Start1: | March 4, 1871 |
| Term End1: | March 3, 1877 |
| Predecessor1: | Joseph S. Fowler |
| Successor1: | Isham G. Harris |
| Office2: | Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives |
| Term2: | 1853-1855 1857-1859 |
| Birth Date: | 22 August 1827 |
| Birth Place: | Columbia, Tennessee, US |
| Death Place: | Tierra Blanca, Guadalupe y Calvo, Chihuahua, Mexico |
| Party: | Democratic |
Henry Cooper (August 22, 1827February 4, 1884) was a Tennessee attorney, judge, and politician who served one term in the United States Senate, 1871 - 1877. During his career, Cooper had various political affiliations, including Whig, Know Nothing, and Democrat.[1]
Henry Cooper was born on August 22, 1827, in Columbia, Tennessee.[2] He had three brothers, including William Frierson Cooper and Edmund Cooper, and two half-brothers, including Duncan Brown Cooper.[1]
Cooper attended Dixon Academy in Shelbyville, Tennessee, and graduated from Jackson College in Jackson, Tennessee, in 1847.[2] He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1850.[2]
Cooper served as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1853 to 1855 and again from 1857 to 1859.[2] He was appointed judge of the former 7th Judicial Circuit in April, 1862.[1] In January, 1866 he resigned this position and moved to Lebanon, Tennessee, where he became a professor at the Cumberland School of Law.[2] In 1867 he moved to Nashville, where he served in the Tennessee State Senate, 1869-1870.[2]
The Tennessee General Assembly elected him to the United States Senate for the term beginning March 4, 1871.[2] He did not seek another term, and his Senate service ended on March 3, 1877.[2]
By the early 1880s, he was engaged in mining operations in Tierra Blanca, Guadalupe y Calvo, Chihuahua, Mexico.[2]
Cooper was murdered there by bandits on February 4, 1884.[3] He was buried nearby, and a cenotaph to his memory was erected at Old City Cemetery in Shelbyville, Tennessee.