Chariton, a street preacher & the Clarinda asylum

James Henry Cooper, then 53, left his wife and large family behind in Monroe County during March of 1903 and arrived in Chariton to preach, "called" as he explained it. This did not involve a church, however; his mission field was the courthouse square.

Henry, as he was known, attracted much attention, according to The Patriot of April 9, "and made himself very obnoxious by persistently talking and arguing religion on our public streets in an offensive manner."

Hauled before Mayor George Alexander, he faced a fine and jail time --- until everyone calmed down when it was pointed out that all sorts of disruptive things happened on Chariton sidewalks and it seemed unwise to single out a street preacher. Instead, he was warned to move off the sidewalk and to the courthouse lawn if and when he drew a crowd.

Then Mr. Cooper began to target specific churches. During the last week in March he was "forcibly ejected from the Methodist church for what was supposed to be insolent disturbance of services." And a week later, on a Sunday evening, "at the Presbyterian church he interrupted the sermon and received a forcible request to keep silence."

These antics proved to be a bridge too far and Mr. Cooper was hauled before a panel appointed by the county supervisors to determine whether or not he was sane. The panel decided that he wasn't and dispatched him to the Clarinda Lunatic Asylum, in operation since 1886.

Here's how The Herald reported Mr. Cooper's fate:

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J. H. Cooper, the man who is fanatical on religion, was examined by the insanity board last Tuesday and sent to the Clarinda asylum. He refused to tell whether he had ever been in the asylum before, but it is understood that he had been.

He has a wife and eight children living in Smoky Hollow, the mother earning a living for all,  while Cooper has been talking crazily on religious topics on the streets of Chariton.

The man has been ejected from several churches in Chariton, and while not known to be really harmful, he was such a nuisance in the churches and on the streets that nearly everyone is glad to see him sent where he can receive proper treatment for his misfortune.

He had the idea that he was sent by God to save Chariton single-handed, and he considered himself the same to Chariton as Christ was to the world. He evidently had read carefully the scriptural verses relating to the forsaking of all one's family, as he did that admirably.

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Mr. Cooper didn't make it out of the asylum at Clarinda alive. He died there on the 16th of April 1916, 13 years later.

In the meantime, his wife, Henrietta, and most of their children had moved to South Dakota.

But Henry did have siblings in Monroe County and they claimed his remains and brought them to the Cuba Cemetery, east of Avery in northeast Monroe County, and north of Smoky Hollow, where the Cooper family home had been before Henry felt called to preach.