born Feb. 12, 1791, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died April 4, 1883, New York City
U.S. inventor.
Cooper became involved with the Canton Iron Works, built to supply the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. , for which he devised and built the diminutive but powerful Tom Thumb locomotive. His factory at Trenton, N.J., produced the first structural-iron beams for buildings. He supported the Atlantic-cable project of Cyrus Field (181992) and became president of the North American Telegraph Co. His inventions include a washing machine, a compressed-air engine for ferry boats, and a waterpower device for moving canal barges. A social idealist and reformer, he founded the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 1859.