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Jo Ann Cooper

Cabot woman elected state DAR regent

— Maybe it’s because she was born on the Fourth of July, or maybe it’s because her grandfather taught himself to type in order to write a legible family history that included an ancestor who fought in the American Revolution. Whatever the reasons, Jo Ann Cooper is into genealogy.

Not only has she traced her roots back to the American Revolution; she has helped others do the same. This love of genealogy led her to join the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and she soon will take the oath of office as regent of the Arkansas Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Cooper, of Cabot, along with other newly elected state regents from across the country, will be sworn in on July 1 during the 121st Continental Congress in Washington, D.C. The national organization’s headquarters is on an entire downtown city block in the nation’s capital. Approximately 30 DAR members from Arkansas will attend the week long conference.

“I’m a little scared, nervous,” she said when asked about leading the state DAR chapters. “It’s a big responsibility.

“I feel so fortunate to have Mary Deere of Benton as my vice regent. She is a lovely person. She was elected to that position, but I have chosen the rest of the state officers.”

Another local DAR member, Junelle Mongno of Jacksonville, will serve as state historian during Cooper’s term as state regent.

“We are also fortunate to have so many honorary [former] state regents who are always willing to help in any way they can,” Cooper said. “I know I can count on them.”

Fern Taylor of Searcy, Mary Lee Schultz of Cabot and Joan Zumwalt of Jacksonville are three of these honorary state regents.

During the course of the next two years (2012-2014), upon request, Cooper will visit the 43 DAR chapters inthe state. She will also attend five district meetings within the state and will travel to the District of Columbia four times each year.

A lifelong member of DAR, Cooper was born in Searcy and lived for many years in Jonesboro. She is a member of the Jonesboro DAR chapter and is an associate member of the Jacob L. Gray chapter in Jacksonville and of the newest DAR chapter in Arkansas - the Frederick Van Patton chapter in Searcy, which was chartered on April 21. Within DAR, Cooper is a member of the Heritage Club, which honors members for gift-giving, and the Cameo Society for mothers and daughters.

“My daughter and the two oldest granddaughters have attended the Cameo Society luncheons with me,” she said.

Cooper joined DAR in 1974 on her mother’s ancestral line and now has proven her lineage back to six Revolutionary War ancestors - John Edwards of Virginia, John Edwards of North Carolina, James Ross of North Carolina, Thomas Griffin of North Carolina, John White of Georgia and Benjamin O’Niel of North Carolina. In order to join DAR, any woman, 18 years or older, must prove her lineage back to the American Revolution. That ancestor, or patriot, as he or she is called in DAR, could have been a soldier or supported the cause in any number of ways.

Cooper, who became a DAR life member in 2008, has held three state DAR offices prior to being elected state regent in March at the 104th State Conference in Little Rock. She was state registrar, state recording secretary and state vice regent.

It was her grandfather, the late James R. Edwards, who wrote the family history that nurtured Cooper’s genealogical instincts.

“He grew up in Montrose and had 13 children,” she said. “He was a former mayor of Montrose, ran the general store and was the postmaster. He wanted his children to get a higher education, but he had so many that he couldn’t afford to send them to college unless they were able to stay at home. There was not a high school in Montrose, and they had to ride the train to Hamburg [to go to school].

“So he moved his family to Conway in the early 1930s,” she said. “My mother, Alma Edwards, was born in Montrose in Ashley County and went to the Normal School (the Arkansas State Normal School, now the University of Central Arkansas). She met my father, William H. Roth, in Conway. He was from Judsonia and a student at Hendrix College. They married, and he owned the Model Laundry and Dry Cleaners in downtown Conway. She was a dorm director at UCA while Dr. Silas Snow was president.”

Her love of genealogy has led to membership in other like-minded organizations - the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the National Society of the United States Daughters of 1812. She recently completed her paperwork for membership in the Colonial Dames.

An only child, Cooper attended school in Searcy and graduated from Searcy High School.

“I attended Texas Woman’s University for a year and Louisiana Tech University at Ruston for a year,” she said. “I finished up at Arkansas State Teachers College (now UCA) with a degree in business education and a minor in library science.”

She married Dr. Wayne Taylor of Jonesboro in 1960. She ran his medical practice in Jonesboro until he died in 1986. While they were married, the couple also lived in Hawaii, where he was stationed at Hickam Air Force Base under the Doctors Incentive Program.

“We lived there from 1975 to 1977,” she said. “I taught accounting to dependent wives at Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base.”

After the couple returned to Jonesboro, Cooper taught business classes for one semester at Black River Vocational School in Pocahontas.

She and Taylor had two children. Their daughter, Jodie Taylor Hickman, lives in Little Rock, and their son, Lance Taylor, lives in Cabot. Cooper has four granddaughters: Taylor Davis, 22, of Little Rock; Kori Davis, 19, of Fayetteville; and Elliot Taylor, 17, and Leighton Taylor, 15, both of Cabot.

In 1995, Jo Ann married Arnold Cooper, who is a retired manager and vice president of AG Edwards in Jonesboro. They moved to Cabot in 2006. He has three children - Dr. Scott Cooper of Rogers and Todd Cooper and Kristin Maris, both of Little Rock. He has six grandchildren - Mary Bowman Cooper, 15, of Rogers; Hunter Cooper, 23, Ross Cooper, 21, and Luke Cooper, 8, all of Little Rock; and Mary Cooper, 11, and Tripp Maris, 8, also of Little Rock.

Jo Ann said she has helped prove lineage for Arnold’s daughter, granddaughter and daughter-in-law.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” she said. “It gives me just as much pleasure to prove lineage for others as it does to do it for myself.”

Jo Ann and Arnold have traveled extensively outside the United States, visiting such countries as England, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Romania - “all up and down the Danube River, from the North Sea to the Black Sea,” she said. “We like it over there.”

Cooper is a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Jonesboro. On occasion, she also attends Episcopal churches in Conway and Jacksonville.

She is also a member of the Arkansas State Library Board. Appointed by Gov. Mike Beebe, she will serve a seven year term that expires in October 2014.

“We meet four times a year with the state librarian, and we vote how to disperse the funds,” she said. She said the state library serves as a resource for state government, for public libraries and for all Arkansas citizens.

DAR has lead to many friendships for Cooper.

“Because of DAR, I have met so many nice people - people who are so sharing with their information,” she said. “I think genealogists are the nicest people around.

“I probably have done all the genealogy I can until after I finish my term as state regent,” she said with a smile. “I won’t have time for much of anything else for a while. I’m glad I’ve been able to do as much as I have done.”

Cooper’s theme as state regent will be “Acknowledge the past, Savor today, Explore tomorrow.” As state regent, she will undertake several projects. She said her biggest project will be to raise money for the scholarships sponsored by the state organization.

“We give three $1,000 college scholarships and one for $500,” she said. “Our CDs are not paying like they used to, so we have to do something to ensure that we will be able to continue offering these scholarships.”

While genealogy is a part of DAR, the organization also focuses on education, historic preservation and patriotism.

For general information on the Daughters of the American Revolution, visit www.dar.org. Specific information on the Arkansas Society may be found at arkansas-dar.org.

up close

getting to know Jo Ann Cooper

Birth date: July 4, 1939 Birthplace: Searcy Parents: The late William H. and Alma Edwards Roth Family: Husband, Arnold Cooper; two children;

three stepchildren; four grandchildren; and six step-grandchildren Hobbies: Genealogy Favorite author and book: Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook Worst fear: Being broke Biggest influence on life: My mother, Alma Edwards Roth. She was a teacher, and she had a lot of hardships and overcame them.

Biggest genealogical find: My Revolutionary War patriot, John White, after obtaining several records on Whites that lived in Georgia and Alabama. I was in contact with a DAR member who I thought had the same line, and when I finally heard back from her, the email said, “Hello, cousin.”

Three Rivers, Pages 124 on 05/06/2012

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