John Copeland

NOTE ONE: There seem to be two John Copelands contending for the eldest heir of James and Elizabeth Copeland of Chatham County, NC. The first one is listed in Herman Coplen’s book. Herman said "John Copeland, Sr. was PROBABLY(emphasis added. Apparently, Herman was not 100% certain) born in Chatham Co. NC and lived there with his parents, James & Elizabeth, until he married Judith Rawson, c 1773...." John and Judith subsequently moved to Ohio and had ten children.

The second contender is John Copeland, born in 1768 in NC, where his father located before the Revolutionary War in which he took part with four of his brothers. John Copeland moved to Wilson or Rutherford Co. TN in 1829 and in 1840 moved to Ray County, MO for a few months, and thence to a claim in Sparta (Buchanan County), MO. John Copeland died at Agency (Buchanan County, MO) in 1873 at the age of 105. He joined the Sparta Baptist Church when he was 100 years old. He was married to Zana Lasater and they lived together for 65 years and had 10 children, all of whom survived them. Several of their children were prominent citizens of the Northwest.

The facts for the second John Copeland are given in "Portrait and Biographical Record of Buchanan & Clinton Counties, MO" in a sketch of his son Abner Copeland, who was a banker in St. Joseph (Buchanan County), MO, and in John Copeland’s obituary on the front page of the St. Joseph Daily Gazette for Dec. 16, 1873.

The only John Copeland in the Chatham County censuses for 1800-30 fits the profile better of John Copeland who married Zana Lasater, i.e., he started his family between 1800-10 and left the state in 1829. Although both Johns had 10 children, the names are all different except for two:

there were a John, Jr. and Abner in both families. John, Sr., the

second contender, married a Lasater as did two other children of James and Elizabeth Copeland: siblings marrying into the same family were common. Interestingly, this John, Sr. named another son Johnson Copeland (after his Johnson half-brothers?).

An Ohio Copeland researcher recently sent me the following information that casts a different light on Herman’s assumption that John Copeland who married Judith Rawson and moved to Ohio was the son of James Copeland of Chatham County.

The diary of Madison Copeland, grandson of John and Judith, lists

"Joseph Copeland - born 1-10-1708 in England. John Copeland born April 1, 1755 in England md. Judith Rawson born Mar 30, 1755." This infers that Joseph Copeland was the father of John. Further, Hazel Margaret Copeland Fireoved’s "Copeland Family Group" (1993-4) states "John Copeland, Sr., a Baptist, son of Joseph, was

reared in England and came to America with his brother William according to facts in a Copeland Family Bible. He and his brother settled in North Carolina, where he married Judith Rawson...." Unfortunately, she did not give the source of that Copeland Bible.

John and Judith Rawson Copeland died about 1826 in Clinton County, OH, within a few hours of each other and are said to have been buried in the same coffin, according to the Ohio Copeland researcher, who descends from their son John, Jr. and his wife Cynthia Scroggs. She also said that as far as she knew her Copelands were always in Surry County, NC, where she has found land records for them.

Thus is presented a good case for John Copeland who married Judith Rawson being the son of Joseph Copeland. And that leaves the second contender, John Copeland who married Zana Lasater, as the best candidate for the eldest son of James Copeland of Chatham County, NC.

I would very much appreciate comments from Chatham County Copeland researchers regarding this hypothesis. Should anyone have information supporting either of these candidates as son of James Copeland, I would definitely like to consider it. Several researchers of this family have spent 25 years trying to link the MO Copelands to James Copeland of Chatham County. We think we now have strong enough circumstantial evidence to warrant a more intensive search, if Herman Coplen’s assumption can be disregarded. Thanks for your time in reading this and especially for your comments.

NOTE TWO: (from Herman Coplen's book) John Copeland was probably born in Chatham County NC and lived there with his parents, James and Elizbeth, until he married Judith Rawson, c 1773. He is listed on the Surrey Co NC Tax Lists first in 1792 and in subsequent years until 1812 when he migrated, with most of his family, to Ohio. He bought 300 acres of land located on Hunting Creek in Surrey Co NC on 18Mar1788. On 30Sep1811, he sold his 300 acres. The 1810 Tax List for Clinton Co OH lists a William Copeland. William is probably the uncle of this John. John was listed as a taxpayer in Greene Co OH, Silver Creek Twp, in 1813. There are several family traditions relative to the prior history of John Copeland known to the author.

(1) According to letters and information from Mrs Joseph (Carlie) Cunningham, John Copeland, "son of Joseph Copeland, was reared in England and came to America with his brother, William, according to facts in the Copeland family Bible.

(2) According to the same source as (1), John Copeland was a "descendent of a Scotch-Irish family who settled in North Carolina in the latter part of the 17th Century

(3) According to "A portrait & Biographical Record of Mercer and Van Wert CO OH" by A.W. Bowen & Co, John Copeland, the grand-father of Wesley Copeland, "was probably a descendent of a German Family who settled in North Carolina in the latter part of the 17th Century.

(4) According to a "letter written by Abner Copeland, son of William, in 1911 to Laura Drobish Buckles", Anthony Copeland came to America "300 years ago" with three sons. One of the three sons settled in N.C. and had a son, John.

Now, to discuss the possible validity of the above traditions:

(1) The Copeland family bible referenced has not been found as yet so this cannot be verified that way. Our research has not identified any likely Joseph Copeland candidates as a potential father for John Copeland.

(2) Our research shows that John's father is most likely James Copeland and that the descent is from a Scotch William Copeland.

(3) It seems extremely unlikely that the Copeland family is anything other than Scotch/English. There were no Germanic or Dutch given names used in these families for the first seven generations studied.

(4) The study mentioned in (2) above did not show any Anthony given names at all.

Based on the above, none of the above family traditions appear to be accurate, but (2) is perhaps the most likely correct.