REV. CHARLES J. COOPER, A. M.

            REV. CHARLES J. COOPER, A. M., has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Muhlenberg College, of Allentown, Pa., since 1876, and during the years which have since passed his history has been closely interwoven with that of the college.  He was born in Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, Pa., April 1, 1847, and is a son of Jacob and Sarah (Horlacher) Cooper.  He prepared for college in Allentown Seminary, and afterward joined the Sophomore class in Pennsylvania College, of Gettysburg.  He was graduated from that institution of the Class of ’67, at the age of twenty years.  He then entered upon the study of theology, in order to fit himself for the work of the ministry, becoming a student in the Theological Seminary of Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1870.  The same year he was ordained to the ministry in the Lutheran Church.  It was also during 1870, on the 4^th of October, that he was united in marriage with Miss Emma S. Knause, of Philadelphia. 

After his ordination, Rev. Mr. Cooper accepted a call from St. Peter’s Church in South Bethlehem, Pa, where he remained from 1870 until 1886.  During that time he also served the congregations at Freemansburg and Lower Saucon.  He was Secretary of the Second Conference for a number of year, and of the Ministerium in 1884 and 1885.  It was in 1886 that Mr. Cooper came to Allentown, in order to give his undivided attention to his labors in behalf of the college.  As before stated, he was made a member of the Board of Trustees in 1876, and in 1884 was made its Treasurer, which position he still fills.  He has also been financial agent since 1886, and his efforts for the improvement of the finances of the college have met with marked success he is plain and unassuming in manner, and has won the regard and gratitude of those interested in the church and college.