Who Is Samuel Cooper?; My Name Is Samuel Cooper

Lyrics

[MARY JO] Did I tell you, Tim, what Father said Last evening in the shed? [TIM, spoken] No [MARY JO] He said, "Mary Jo, it's shameful that by now you haven't wed I advise you not to tarry or your youth will slip away After all," he said, "Remember you'll be seventeen in May" [TIM, spoken, staring at the store sign] Look at this, Mary Jo [MARY JO, spoken, reading sign] "Samuel Cooper" [TIM] Now who is Samuel Cooper? This wasn't here before It says that Samuel Cooper Is opening up a store [MARY JO] I wonder when he got here [TIM] It must have been today He wasn't here on Monday When I was by this way [GEORGE] An efficacious thing This nеw United States bank [JONATHAN] Do you think so, Georgе? [GEORGE] Indeed I do Now the dollar will be stable as the pound and the franc [CHARLES] That's very true, George, very true! [JONATHAN, spoken, looking at sign] Look at this! [CHARLES, spoken] "Samuel Cooper." Huh! [GEORGE & JONATHAN] Now who is Samuel Cooper? (Now who is) I never heard his name (Samuel Cooper?) I don't know where he hails from (I never heard his name) And don't know why he came (I even don't know why he came) [CHARLES] It looks like Samuel Cooper Intends to settle down [JONATHAN & GEORGE] That's fine, we're all in need of A carpenter in town [WILL] Did you read they have an iron spinning wheel that runs by power? And they claim it does a week of manual labor in an hour [HANK] Well, for me, I'd rather use the wheel I have of hickory wood These inventions come from England, so they can't be any good [WILL, spoken] I don't know, Hank There's a lot of talk about the coming industrial age Folks say it means a lot of progress A chance for every man to improve his lot [HANK, spoken, looks at store] Now what's all this? [TOWNSPEOPLE] Now who is Samuel Cooper? (Now who is Samuel Cooper?) There's none of us who know (There's none of us who know) Except that Samuel Cooper (Except that he) Arrived a while ago Is he honest? Is he pleasant? (Now who is Samuel Cooper?) Is he handy at his trade? (What sort of man is he?) Is he short or thin or fat (Does anybody know him) Or very small? (Or know his family tree?) Is he pious? Is he humble? (Now who is Samuel Cooper?) Is he moral? Is he staid? (We've never heard his name) Doesn't anybody know? Doesn't anybody know? Doesn't anybody know the man at all? [SAM, spoken] Good afternoon [GEORGE, spoken] Mister Cooper? [SAM, spoken] Yes [GEORGE, spoken] You came today? [SAM, spoken] Just before noon [GEORGE, spoken] We don't know you, Mister Cooper [SAM, spoken] Then allow me to tell you about myself [SAM] My name is Samuel Cooper There's none but God I fear I came from Massachusetts And headed straight for here I traveled with my family Two children and a wife We came with good intention With only good intention We came with all intention To settle here for life [GEORGE, spoken] We see from your sign that you're a carpenter, Mister Cooper [SAM, spoken] Yes And if you'll allow, I'll tell you a little more [SAM] I was born in Salem in a house beside a church Where my father was the pastor 'til he died And my mother taught me Milton and Johnson every day And my father taught me God and tanned my hide [SAM, spoken] When it was necessary [SAM] When the revolution came I fought with all my might I was in eleven battles in the war And when the British louts went whimpering home where they belong I became a young apprentice in a store [SAM, spoken] In a furniture store in Boston, owned by Horace B. Slocum You may have heard of him [SAM] So while working hard and learning hard, I met a Boston girl And soon I added wooing to my life And after thirty months of courtship she agreed I was sincere And consented to become my wife And the seasons rolled away, 'til a blazing August day When a cry was heard, and Johnny it became And the seasons rolled away, 'til another April day And another child, Elizabeth was her name Then one night old Mister Slocum ran a trifle short of life And his family closed his shop for evermore So my wife and I decided we would find a little town Which didn't have a furniture store And that's why I stand before you That's all there is to tell We came with good intention With only good intention We came with all intention In friendship here to dwell