There are many adventurers in history that are often forgotten, or if they are remembered, they are remembered just as a footnote in the tomes describing another person’s exploits and successes - Charles Cooper is such a man. There is very little known of him, and what little that has been done on him has been exaggerated or filled with mistakes - possibly intentionally, but more than likely out of ignorance and beliefs in urban legends.
Cooper first came to Korea in Sept. 1883 and established a small shop “in a shabby building in front of the gate of the Chinese government office” and “living like [a] beggar, he sold canned goods and Western liquor which he obtained from Nagasaki.” Later, when business improved, he purchased land in the General Foreign Settlement of Chemulpo and established Cooper & Company. Later, perhaps somewhat sarcastically, he was described as the “magnate of Chemulpo.”
While many of the inhabitants of the city were deemed “characters” not worth associating with, Cooper was well liked and described as “genial” and “honest.” He “was highly appreciated for his many good qualities and his general usefulness as well as for his interesting eccentricities.” Unfortunately we do not know what these eccentricities were.
One anecdote is known - if you want to know the anecdote you are going to have to read the story including the past that this man tried to run away from…. it is a good story.
15 Comments
Sneaky Mr. Neff
That was a wild story though. Where do you find out about these people?
A great story, indeed. I’m also curious, what are your sources? They seem to have been written by Westerners - early accounts by missionaries or cables from the US delegation?
Great story!
Good “Rest of the Story” there.
Anyone know where I can get some false teeth?
Whoah. I thought, “eccentric but harmless Westerner” whose business in “canned goods and … liquor” made me think of moments of weakness when I might be inclined to have some fried spam and soju.
It turns out the guy was something else altogether. Okay, I won’t spoil the surprise and say what, but it’s a very nasty twist, and let’s just say that there’s something deeply disturbing about the way in which the Russian authorities seemed to have been so reluctant, flippant, or nonchalant in pursuing the matter.
P.S.: Thanks for not apologizing for the “shameless plug,” Robert!
Another interesting story, thanks! Are you going to publish a book with all of your articles?
The moral of the story is diversity and multiculturalism never worked, even in 1881. Put an eccentric cracker with false teeth together with Chinamen, and bad shit happens….
Hi - really appreciate the interests in the articles and the kind compliments - even the back-handed compliments from the resident trolls. I am really excited because the Seoul government has recently announced that a team I am working with has been selected for a historical project dealing with the 3D reconstruction of the downtown (embassy - foreign legation) section of Seoul using the computer. It is set for the 1890s and is expected that a person will be able to walk down a virtual reality street (not sure if that is grammatically correct) and enter any house and get a story about events at that time….my job is to provide some 60 articles/stories of the homes, people, and events during this period.
As to my sources - many of you know that I buy and sell historical material from that period including postcards, books, pictures, and newspapers. I have built up (over the past ten years) a fairly large data base of just about anyone and everyone who has traveled to Seoul during the 1880s-1910. I am now expanding my data base to anyone who has traveled to Korea, Japan, Vladivostock or Northern China because they are often inter-related. Naturally I owe a great deal to Prof. Lankov and other prominent Profs. who have encouraged me and put up with my anti-academia ravings….
With respect
Robert
P.S. Never write a response when you are happy and celebrating….
Incidently - cut the story down from a 4,000 word article so that might explain a lot of the jerkiness to the story….held to a restriction of about 1,300 words….
Spelling correction: Vladivostok doesn’t have a c.
Sounds like an interesting project. I’d love to see one on the whole seongnae (城內—city inside the walls), but I guess that would be too ambitious.
P.S.: You who are working on this 3D recreation project may want to take a look at Rome Reborn 1.0, a 3D digital model of Rome as it was in AD 320.
The false teeth trick still worked great in the late ’70s and early ’80s. I had a partial plate that substituted for a couple of my front teeth. It worked great on little kids, but a few of the kinder ladies were rather taken aback when I removed it at night and put it in a glass of water, as was my habit.
Good for you Mr. Neff. Keep up the good work and stories.