The park in Mason’s Addition is named in honour of the late Father Marshall Cooper (1846-1919), who was the second black Anglican priest in The Bahamas, the first being Father William Sweeting of Andros. The park is located at the site where Father Cooper’s daughter, Lillian and her husband Commissioner R.N. Thompson and subsequent generations of their family lived until 1969, when the Government of The Bahamas acquired the property to establish the first community park following Majority Rule. The Father Marshall Cooper Park was recently rededicated, when a new plaque was erected and Father Cooper’s grandchildren, Charles Cooper and Ellen Tate, planted a tree in his memory. Mrs. Tate is a retired educator from Colorado. Another grandson, Garth Reeves, is the publisher of the acclaimed Miami Times. He is the son of H.E.S. Reeves (the brother of C. H. Reeves, after whom one of our schools is named). The rededication of the park was also attended by former residents of Mason’s Addition.
© Copyright Rosemary C. Hanna 2013