Clark, Robert Carlton, Ph.D. "History of the Willamette Valley Oregon."  Vol. 2.
Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1927. p. 119.
 
HARRY W. COOLEY

     Harry W. Cooley has gained a well merited reputation as one of the most
progressive farmers in Marion county, his methods and operations having been of
a character that have given him a place among the leading agriculturists of the
valley. He was born in Van Buren county, Michigan, on the 12th of August, 1870,
and is a son of Warren and Lusira (Powers) Cooley, both of whom were natives of
Ohio. His paternal grandfather went from Ohio to Michigan about 1858, being a
pioneer of the section in which he located, and lived there until 1876 when he
went to Wisconsin and bought a farm near Maple Valley, Oconto county. He cleared
up most of the land and engaged in farming and dairying there for many years,
his death occurring on the homestead. His son Warren took over the operation of
the place, which he carried on until 1902, when he came to Oregon and bought
three hundred acres of land near Salem, in Marion county. Two years later he
leased the land and returned to Wisconsin in 1904. To him and his wife were born
the following children: Harry W.; Herschell; Clara, who is the wife of L. I.
Bowman; Edwin, Mrs. Jennie Simpson, Ralph, Ellis; and two who died in infancy.
Both parents are still living in Wisconsin.
   Harry W. Cooley received a good education in the public schools of his native
state and remained on the home farm there until 1906, when he came to Oregon and
operated his father's ranch for two years. The place was then sold and he leased
the Jimmy Culver ranch, near Salem, on which he engaged in dairy farming for
about two years, after which he farmed on various leased ranches until 1916,
when he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Polk county, about one
mile north of the Bethel school. After farming that place for two years, he
traded it for property in Salem and leased a dairy ranch at Harrisburg, which he
operated for four years. Selling his interests there, he formed a partnership
with his sons, Warren and Lee, under the firm name of H. W. Cooley & Sons, and
bought six hundred and seventy acres of river bottom land, nine miles west of
Jefferson, Marion county. The tract contained several houses in fair condition,
two large barns and other farm buildings, but had only a few acres of the land
cleared. They now have sixty-five acres cleared and in cultivation and have
probably the largest alfalfa field in Marion county, their chief crops being
alfalfa, corn and potatoes, in addition to which they have a few acres in
peppermint. In 1926 they cut and put into their barns eighty large loads of
alfalfa from two cuttings on nineteen acres of land. In the growing of this
particular grass Mr. Cooley is a pioneer in Marion county, and many others have
since followed his example, with very satisfactory results. In 1917 Mr. Cooley
and his sons began raising pure-bred Holstein cattle and now have a splendid
herd of fifty cows, twenty-five of which are registered, and a registered bull.
They have a herd of registered Ohio Improved Chester hogs, about fifty head of
graded Shropshire sheep and from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five head
of Angora goats, in the handling of all of which they have met with substantial
success. Mr. Cooley's success has not come through a lucky turn of fortune's
wheel but has been the result of persistent and well directed effort, along
right lines.
     In 1891 Mr. Cooley was united in marriage to Miss Daisy Adele Bowman, who
is a native of Dodge county, Wisconsin, and a daughter of Robert and Lisetta
(Westcott) Bowman, both of whom were born in Wisconsin, where the father's death
occurred. Mrs. Cooley received a good education in her native state and taught
school for several years prior to her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Cooley have seven
children: Cora Jane is the wife of Harry Howe, of Brownsville, Oregon, and they
have a daughter, Bettie; Cora Jane is a graduate of high school and business
college; Warren R., who was born in Wisconsin and is now associated with his
father in the operation of the farm, was married to Miss Lucile Wyatt, a native
of Oregon, and they have two children, Warren R., Jr., and Gordon; Lee W., who
also was born in Wisconsin and is in partnership with his father and brother,
was married to Miss Cora Allen, of Oklahoma, and they have a daughter, Winifred;
Earl was married to Miss Mabel Markus and both teach in the public school, at
Myrtle Point, Oregon; Monroe, who married Miss Verneta Levany, is attending
dental college in Portland, Oregon; Verna, who graduated from the high school at
Albany and the State Normal School at Monmouth, is now teaching in the schools
of Klamath Falls, this state; Marvel, who is the only child born in Oregon,
lives in Pomona, California. Three of the sons are veterans of the World war and
Warren was overseas for nine months.
     Mr. Cooley belongs to Jefferson Lodge, No. 33, A. F. & A. M., of which his
son Lee is also a member, and the Modern Woodmen of America. He has shown a
commendable interest in the welfare of his community and served three years as
road supervisor. He and his family are members of the Christian church at
Jefferson, of which he is an elder. Mr. Cooley is a member of the American
Holstein Friesian Breeders Association and is president of the Marion County
Holstein Breeders Association, which he was instrumental in organizing, as he
was also in the establishing of a similar association in Linn county. In 1925 he
was a delegate from Oregon to the national convention of the Holstein Breeders
Association at Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has set the pace in stock breeding and
farming in this locality and has been accorded a place in the front rank of the
up-to-date farmers of his section. He and his sons, Warren and Lee, have
separate homes though close together, on the farmland they are regarded as among
the best citizens of the community in which they live.

     
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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in May 2011 by Diana Smith.  Submitter has
no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.