Ben Thomas Cooper
Written by Justin D. Lamb
(Photo courtesy of Juliet Gray)
Ben Thomas Cooper was the oldest son born to Elbert Lawrence Cooper and Lillie Mabelle Travis on October 9, 1910 in Marshall County. Cooper attended school in Benton and graduated from Benton High School in 1928. Cooper briefly attended Murray State University before enrolling at the University of Kentucky in Lexington where he graduated in 1932. He went on to law school and graduated from the University Of Kentucky School Of Law in 1936. After being admitted to the bar, Cooper returned home and joined his father’s law practice.
Like his father, Cooper became very active in local politics and he made his first race when he challenged incumbent County Attorney Holland D. Collie in the 1937 Democratic Primary. Cooper’s campaign gained a great deal of support due to his father’s long tenure as County Attorney, but his youth became an advantage against the much older Collie who was 45 years his senior. Cooper won by a landslide winning every precinct except the North Olive and Birmingham precincts. In the November General Election, Cooper defeated former Republican County Judge Walter L. Prince by a comfortable margin.
During his first term, Cooper prosecuted many illegal gambling and liquor rings which gained him a great deal of support from the “dry” forces in the county. Four years later Cooper ran for re-election and was challenged by former County Attorney Holland D. Collie and Henry B. Holland who was a former County Judge, County Attorney, and State Representative. During the campaign, both Collie and Holland claimed that Cooper’s youth was a liability and claimed that the county attorney’s office needed to be occupied by a more seasoned lawyer. The race was very close, but on the day of the election, a majority of voters sided with the youthful Cooper and re-elected him to a second term.
When America entered World War II following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Cooper enlisted in the United States Army Air Corp and his former opponent, Henry B. Holland was appointed as “acting county attorney.” Cooper spent the duration of the war serving in the 363rd Fighter Squadron in the European Theatre and later in the Judge Advocate General Corps.
When the war ended in 1945, Cooper was set to return home to Marshall County which was also an election year for county offices. Cooper would not return home until October, two months after the August Democratic Primary, but that didn’t stop him from announcing his intention to seek re-election as County Attorney. Holland, who had been serving as acting county attorney in the absence of Cooper, also declared and the race became very heated. Holland campaigned heavily and asked voters to elect him to the job he had already been performing in the absence of Cooper. Still overseas, Cooper was unable to campaign and relied on his supporters back home to do his campaigning. However, on the day of the election, the voters chose to have a county attorney who was in the county and overwhelmingly elected Holland.
When Cooper was discharged from military service, he returned to practicing private law in Benton. A few years later, Cooper was offered a position with the United States Attorney’s Office and on October 24, 1947, he was sworn in as Assistant United States District Attorney by Judge Roy M. Shelburn in Louisville.
Cooper spent the remainder of his career in Louisville and was a partner in Mayer, Cooper and Kiel Law Firm where he was considered a lawyer of impeccable integrity. He was a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the Louisville Bar Association, the Kentucky Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. Cooper was originally a member of the Benton Methodist Church until his move to Louisville where he became an active member of the St. Paul United Methodist Church. Cooper married Juliet Milton Holton of Murray, Kentucky in 1942 and they had one daughter, Juliet Cooper.
After a long successful career in law and politics, Ben Thomas Cooper passed away at his home in Louisville on Sunday, May 8, 2011. He was only a few months shy of his 101st birthday.