George Bryan Cooper was a politician from the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

.

Cooper was born in Long Hill, New Jersey, where he attended the public schools. He moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...

 in 1830, and later to Jackson

Jackson, Michigan

Jackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about west of Ann Arbor and south of Lansing. It is the county seat of Jackson County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534...

 in 1835. In Jackson he engaged in mercantile pursuits and became postmaster of Jackson from 1836 to 1846. He was a member of the Michigan State Senate 4th District, 1837-1838. He established an iron foundry at Jackson in 1840 and served in the Michigan State House of Representatives

Michigan State House of Representatives

The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2000 federal U.S. Census.Members are elected in...

 in 1842. He served as State Treasurer of Michigan

State Treasurer of Michigan

The State Treasurer of Michigan functions as the chief financial officer for the U.S. state of Michigan. The State Treasurer oversees the collection, investment, and disbursement of all state monies, and also administers major tax laws, safeguards the credit of the state, and distributes revenue...

 from March 17, 1846 to March 13, 1850. He engaged in banking at Jackson in 1851.

In 1858 he defeated incumbent Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 William Alanson Howard

William Alanson Howard

William Alanson Howard served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan from March 4, 1855 to March 3, 1859 and from May 15, 1860 to March 3, 1861. Howard was the Governor of the Dakota Territory from 1878 to 1880.-Biography:William Howard was born at Hinesburg,...

 to be elected as a Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 from Michigan's 1st congressional district

Michigan's 1st congressional district

Michigan's 1st congressional district is a United States Congressional district containing the entire Upper Peninsula of Michigan as well as part of the Lower Peninsula. Currently the district is represented by Republican Dan Benishek.-Geography:...

 to the Thirty-sixth Congress

36th United States Congress

The Thirty-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1859 to March 4, 1861, during the third and fourth...

, serving from March 4, 1859 until May 15, 1860. Howard contested the results in the U.S. House, alleging voting irregularities in several wards. Following its investigation, the House Committee on Elections

United States House Committee on Elections

The United States House Committee on Elections is a former standing committee of the United States House of Representatives.Article 1, section 5, of the Constitution of the United States specifies: "Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns, and Qualifications of its own Members." The...

 reported that the sitting member, Cooper, was not entitled to his seat and that the contestant Howard was. The House passed resolutions to that effect on May 15, 1860, at which time Howard took the oath of office.

After Cooper’s removal from office, he resided at New Bedford in Wall Township, New Jersey

Wall Township, New Jersey

Wall Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 26,164.Wall Township was formally incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 7, 1851...

until his death.