He married Margaret Vernor ( ca. 1774-1860 ) , the adopted daughter of the future Lt. Gov. John Tayler . They had five children , among them Major-General John Tayler Cooper ( 1798 – 1878 , a lawyer who married a daughter of John Vernon Henry ) , and Reverend Charles DeKay Cooper ( 1813 – 1902 ) , who married Cornelia Lansing Sutherland , a granddaughter of Chancellor John Lansing , Jr . In 1794 , he was appointed Health Officer of the Port of Albany In February 1804 , Cooper attended a dinner party during which Alexander Hamilton spoke forcefully and eloquently against the Federalists ' plan to nominate Aaron Burr as their candidate for Governor of New York . Cooper later wrote a letter to Philip Schuyler , Alexander Hamilton 's father-in-law , in which he made reference to the " despicable opinion " Hamilton had expressed about Burr . The letter was published in '' The Albany Register '' , but was tame compared to other attacks on Burr in the press . Still , Cooper 's letter proved the last straw in the ongoing rivalry between Burr and Hamilton . When Burr read the letter weeks later , shortly after his defeat in the governor 's race , he was enraged by Hamilton 's alleged remarks , and challenged Hamilton to a duel , in which Hamilton was killed
duel
Burr–Hamilton duel
Charles D. Cooper