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John Rogers
Cooper
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The home that Juan Cooper built for his wife in the late 1820's is one of the largest in California. The home was given to Anna, and later Amelia, two of their six children. Amelia married Eusubio Molera, a native of Spain, and noted architect in San Francisco. Their children, Francis and Andrew Molera, lived at the Cooper-Molera Adobe (in Monterey) part time for several years. Neither of them married; Andrew died in 1931, and Frances in 1968. At the time of Frances's death, the two and one half-acre complex was left to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The California Department of Parks and Recreation, under a thirty-year lease, undertook the three-year restoration program. Information from the Cooper-Molera Adobe Monterey Footnote: According to long-time local resident, Don Mc Queen, he, Francis Molera, and others on the Pfeiffer School Board of Education stood across the ridge from the current Captain Cooper School site and determined, line-of-site, what might be needed for the new school. She donated the land, with the stipulation that the school be named for her grandfather, John Cooper. Captain Cooper School was built in 1962 after the Big Sur Community successfully passed a bond for the purpose. The community had approached Carmel Unified School District previously, requesting Pfeiffer School be included in its boundaries. The District agreed, but only if the community itself built a new school. According
to Ted Berquist, former custodian, grounds-keeper/bus driver for both Pfeiffer
and Captain Cooper, the school opened its doors prematurely in 1962 as a result
of a major spill from the old oil stove at Pfeiffer School (a building now part
of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park). The oil-soaked floor would have taken considerable
time to clean, so in lieu of students missing school, parents and staff determined
to start at Captain Cooper. As a result, the Cooper's interior walls were left
incomplete. Some bulletin boards were added, but the mostly stucco walls still
bear witness to the that decision. Further Reading: |
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John
Rogers Cooper , captain of the trading schooner, "Rover", came to
Monterey from New England in 1823. Born in the British Isles, he became an American
citizen by naturalization.... Recognizing the future of the area, Cooper became
a Mexican citizen, took the name Juan Bautista Rogerio Cooper, joined the Catholic
Church, and married the charming Encarnacion Vallejo.... Her brother was General
Mariano Vallejo, one of the better known figures in the history of Mexican California.