The known children of Cooper and Pheby include Morning, Sarah, Mary, John Wesley, Merritt, Pridgeon, James, and William. There were, apparently, several other children.
Cooper and Pheby and their children moved to west Tennessee about 1821, as he took out a land claim in 1821, in the part of state that would eventually become Benton County in 1836.
An extracton from the book "The Merritt Mathew Melton Family" by James Vard Melton makes this mention of Cooper Melton (Merritt Mathew's father) "Cooper had three brothers, Joseph, Mathew and David, all of whom were born in North Carolina, but who also moved to Benton County, Tennessee. It is possible that these brothers may also have lived in DeKalb County. Joseph, apprently, the oldest, is known to have been in west Tennessee by 1811, and all four brothers were pioneer residents of Benton County. Before 1836 Benton County was a part of Humphreys County. Land claims were made by his brothers, Mathew in 1820 and as previously mentioned, Cooper in 1821. Joseph settled in the Harmons Creek neighborhood, while Mathew settled near Big Sandy in the Northern part of the county. It is not know where David Melton settled, but Cooper lived on the east Beaverdam Creek tributary in the Harmons Creek settlement. It was here that he deeded four acres of land for a Missionary Baptist Church in 1849."
Cooper died 10 October 1849 in Benton County. His will was recorded during the 1850 court term. The descendants of Cooper and Pheby Melton are numerous in west Tennessee and other states, especially Texas.
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