Jesse Byrd Cooper was born on December 13, 1839 in Molino, Escambia County, Florida, the son of Major Thomas Cooper and Harriet Josephine Parsons. Having first traveled through Escambia County with General Andrew Jackson, Thomas returned with his new bride to settle on the banks of the Escambia River sometime around 1830. The community he helped establish was called Durant's Bluff, later renamed Molino. He was the first to build a sawmill as well as a grist mill, both very successful operations for the budding settlement.
But at the age of 22-years old, Jesse understood that the tensions gripping his nation between the North and the South were about to burst. After reading about the huge battles of First Bull Run and Shiloh, Jesse decided to enlist in Company "B" of the Florida 3rd Cavalry Battalion on April 24, 1862. The next year the South consolidated several units, including Jesse's (assigned to Company "D"), into the 15th Confederate Cavalry on September 24, 1863. He was promoted to 2nd Sergeant followed by another to 4th Sergeant. Company "D" was truly a family affair. Jesse's brother Henry Schultz Cooper served alongside him together with his brother in laws Gamliel Bell, Benjamin Franklin Vaughn, and Joseph Benjamin Vaughn (his company commander).
The brother of his future wife, Joseph McVoy was the Captain of the regmient's Company "H." His brother Charles E. Cooper was killed with the 2nd Florida Infantry in 1862 at Antietam and his brother in law Eugene C. Bonifay fought till the end with the 1st Florida Infantry. But, early morning of November 18, 1864 Jesse's unit was guarding the Pine Barren Creek bridge along with Samuel Morgan and the Milton boys William David and John Franklin Rogers. They were routed by Union troops and captured. They were all sent to Ship's Island where his future brother in from Company "A" William Murrell McVoy was waiting for them. William perished there, but the others survived and were paroled in Vicksburg in May 1865.
Returning home to Molino, he reentered the family timber business. He would marry Miss Ann McVoy in 1871, but sadly she would pass away four years later in 1875 and was buried in the St. Michael's Cemetery. Most of her brothers fought with her husband in the 15th Confederate Cavalry. Jesse and Ann had lost their two children and now he was alone, but he would eventually marry Elicia Crooke. Jesse passed away in Mobile, Alabama on July 21, 1911 and his body was returned home to Molino and buried in the Vaughn Cemetery.

Grave of Jesse Byrd Cooper, Vaughn
Cemetery, Molino, Florida

Jesse's brother in law and fellow
15th Confederate Cavalry trooper

Another future brother in law, Captain of Company "H"
of the 15th Confederate Cavalry Regiment, Joseph McVoy