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Cooper - Penland Cemetery, 80-1 Summary Report, page 3

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murder details in his book “Murder in the Heart of Dixie” (2003) and brought her a complimentary copy after its publication. John P. Rankin 103 Madison Avenue Madison, AL 35758 Addendum: Percy Keel says that a Mr. Foster lived in the house after the Darwins. Madison City Attorney Ann Marie Lacy and her husband are the present occupants / owners. James Cooper came to Madison County around 1818. He began buying land that later became arsenal property until he had a small plantation. A 1933 newspaper account reports that he built his house with brick brought down the Tennessee River from Chatanooga, Tennessee. However, the owner who moved the house from the arsenal to the town of Madison said that it was made with plank siding, not brick. In any event, the house has passed through many owners to this point. It was said to be haunted, with a female form or ghost seen at various times on the stairway. It is strange that the ghost stories would involve a female, since it was the male, James Cooper, whose death would more possibly be expected to generate ghost stories of unhappy spirits hanging around the house. The article inserted below is from the Huntsville Times newspaper series about historic homes, as published in 1932-3. The series was written by Pat Jones, and printed on page 4 of every Sunday issue of the paper. The homes were mostly in Madison County, but there were a few articles about historic homes in other counties of Alabama. The partial listing below states that at the time of the writing, Joseph B. Harris was the occupant of the “Lee” (Lea - Cooper) home, thus it became known to the later generations as the “Harris House”. 3 - (2727)    

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