Edward Cooper was a Methodist circuit rider.
Cooper was born in Ireland, and immigrated to the Canadas as a young adult. There, he was accepted on trial as a Methodist Circuit rider in 1809. In 1810, he was assigned to the St. Lawrence Circuit, and returned an additional 20 members.[1] In 1811, he rode the Bay of Quinte Circuit with Thomas Whitehead.[2] Cooper filled a junior position to Whitehead. During their year on the Bay of Quinte Circuit, membership in the Methodist Church increased.[3] In 1812, Cooper was assigned to the Augusta Circuit, where he worked alongside John Rhodes and Silas Hopkins.[4]
Cooper was received into full connexion in 1813, and received deacon's orders. Owing to the War of 1812, he was never able to travel to be officially ordained as a deacon. Cooper left the church, and took up business as a merchant in Kingston during the war, though he remained a faithful member of the church.[5]
- ^ Carroll, John (1867). Case and his cotemporaries, or, The Canadian itinerants' memorial constituting a biographical history of Methodism in Canada, from its introduction into the Province, till the death of the Rev. Wm. Case in 1855. Vol. I. Toronto: Wesleyan Conference Office. p. 219.
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 239
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 256
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 259
- ^ Carroll, volume I, page 261