Cooper. 50 lbs

3 July 2019

Sergeant Newton Cooper was promoted to Sergeant of Company F, 6th Georgia Infantry by September 1862, when he was captured in action at Sharpsburg. He was exchanged and back with his Company in November, but in August 1863 he took off without leave, possibly to get married. He stayed home in Georgia and served in the 29th Battalion George Cavalry until April 1864, when he returned to the 6th Infantry.

After the war he farmed in Warren County near Vicksburg, Mississippi, and became famous as “the Watermelon Man” for his seeds and for producing exceptionally large melons. This photograph is from the J. Mack Moore Collection, Old Court House Museum, Vicksburg.

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