Monthly Archives: November 2013

Thomas Copeland Obituary Request

Hello Cousins!

I just wanted to let you know that I recently contacted the State Historical Society of Missouri to request a copy of Thomas Copeland’s obituary. There were several papers published in Dunklin County at the time of his death, so I figured that his obituary would be in at least one of them. I was hoping that I might learn more about his parents and/or siblings. Unfortunately, it looks like there was no obituary published. Here is the response I received:

State Historical Society of Missouri Research Request
Leeman, Lauren Fri, Nov 15, 2013 at 4:31 PM
To: “kelcopeland@gmail.com”
Dear Ms. Wilson,

I am writing regarding your request for the obituary of Thomas Copeland. Unfortunately, the newspapers did not carry the news of his death. I checked the Malden Merit, Twice-a-Week Dunklin Democrat, and Farmington News.

I’m sorry we came up empty handed on your request. Let me know if you have any questions.

Lauren Leeman
Reference Specialist
The State Historical Society of Missouri
1020 Lowry Street, Columbia, MO 65201
Tel: 573.882.1187 | Main: 573.882.7083
leemanl@umsystem.edu | shs.umsystem.edu

You can view Tom Copeland’s death certificate HERE, which lists his parents as George Copeland and Mary Lawson. I am sure that George Copeland was his father, but I have doubts about Mary Lawson, considering that George’s wife on both the 1870 and 1880 Census was named “Sarah.” I believe there is a connection to the Lawson family but it would have been through George’s first wife, who was not the mother of Tom Copeland. My grandfather, Bill a.k.a. “Uncle Delvie”, told me that Tom’s mother was named Charlotte Eve Kingsley. I haven’t found anyone by that name living in Dunklin County around the time that George was there, but I’m not 100% sure that he married “Sarah” (the woman who must be Tom’s mother) in Dunklin County.

The hunt continues!

Your cousin,
Kelli Signature

How Are We Related?

As our Facebook group has been expanding as of late, I thought now might be a good time to create a kinship report so that new members can see how they are related to everyone else and vice versa. It’s really VERY simple to figure out.

Step 1: Click here to open the kinship report.

Step 2: Find yourself and then choose another family member from the list. Take note of both of your relationships to Thomas Copeland.

Step 3: Use this widget to find out your “official” relationship!


Select the relationship of each person to their common ancestor.

 
Person 1:


Person 2:

Relationship:
 

This Cousin Calculator is provided by PrenticeNet.com/iRoots.Net.
To use our cousin calculator on your site, please contact
Cousin Calculator.
If you’d like to download a standalone version, visit
http://www.iroots.net/tools/cusncalc/.

Your Cousin,
Kelli Signature

Family Group Sheets

Hello Cousins!

I apologize for my absence. I’ve been working on a couple of non-genealogy related things (like cleaning up the basement — oh joy!). I’m writing this post to let you know that I have started adding Family Group Sheets for various Copeland ancestors to the “Research” page. The Family Group Sheets are very basic overviews that have been compiled from my ongoing research and should certainly not be taken as gospel truth. As I learn more, I will update them accordingly.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!

Your cousin,
Kelli Signature

Marriage Records | Dunklin County 1870’s-1940s

In the same spirit as my census record spreadsheet I have created a list of Copeland marriages in Dunklin County, using the “Missouri Marriage Records, 1805-2002” database at Ancestry.com. I believe there is some overlap with the “Missouri, Marriages, 1750-1920” database at FamilySearch, which is free. For the purposes of this table I organized the available data by year, and then broke it down by decade. I think this is more helpful for finding individuals based on a given criteria (such as birth year). I’ve highlighted the known family members in yellow. Some of the names may not be familiar to you, but I will be going into more detail about them at a later date.

Name Spouse Year Date
    1870s  
Obediah Copeland Ellen Timms 1872 12/01/1872
Malisa Coplan Mr William N Hawl 1874 01/01/1874
    1880s  
Obidah Capeland Annea Jackson 1882 07/29/1882
Margaret R Copeland Shelby Prewett 1886 01/04/1886
S F Caplen Leona Turbeville 1888 07/25/1888
Thomas P Copeland Jennie Grover 1888 08/23/1888
Wm H Copeland Matha J Johnson 1889 04/11/1889
    1890s  
J R Capeland Lucy A Hohgüe 1890 09/18/1890
G W Copeland Minnie Graham 1893 11/12/1893
Mrs Nancy A Capeland M H P Ahearn 1894 02/28/1894
Miss America Copelin Mr J R Young 1895 11/21/1895
Miss Dora Coplin J R Whitaker 1898 05/22/1898
Thomas Copeland Miss Clar B Bunting 1899 06/02/1899
    1900s  
Charles W Copeland Miss M B Dalton 1900 09/15/1900
Wm Copeland Miss Dora Powell 1900 12/09/1900
Elizabeth Copeland Joseph Williams 1903 10/21/1903
Miss Susan Copeland Thos H Ballard 1905 11/08/1905
Mrs Ida Copeland Charley Perrigan 1908 05/02/1908
Gay Copeland O E Hamilton 1909 11/10/1909
Bessie Copeland Fred Murphy 1909 11/28/1909
C W Copeland Rosy L Dalton 1909 12/31/1909
    1910s  
Tom Copland Myrtle May Crider 1910 07/03/1910
Miss Ima Copeland Hiram Grimes 1914 07/03/1914
Clumbus Copeland Anna Pearce 1916 09/28/1916
Gladys Copeland R Arthar Loden 1917 09/09/1917
Mrs Martha Coplin Elmer Myers 1918 07/17/1918
Bertha May Copeland James T Sish 1919 02/12/1919
    1920s  
Belle Copeland M V Beck 1925 09/23/1925
Mrs Sarah Belle Copeland Walter Bridges 1926 12/21/1926
    1930s  
Daniel Copelin Mrs Irene Wilburn 1930 05/24/1930
William H Copelin Clara Easterwood 1932 03/18/1932
Euline Copeland Chester Hale 1933 08/05/1933
Ludie May Copeland Freeman Carmack 1933 11/04/1933
H A Copeland Ocie Lee Ransom 1934 01/10/1934
Mrs. Bell Copland J E Lamunion 1934 10/17/1934
Velma Copelin Hubert Seyman 1936 02/22/1936
W O Copeland Imogene Moore 1936 09/12/1936
Goldie Copeland Donald Emmet Meriwether 1936 11/27/1936
Shirley Copeland Oma Prince 1937 03/21/1937
Dewey Copeland Lockie Marshall 1938 10/07/1938
Ivah Copeland Bert Beckley 1939 08/19/1939
S Copeland Elizabeth Miller 1939 09/04/1939
    1940s  
Mrs. Pearl Copeland Chester Morris 1940 05/18/1940
G W Copeland Imogene Wallace 1941 01/04/1941
Augusta Copeland Johnny Owerman 1942 03/09/1942
Vaughn Copeland Royce Phillips 1942 06/06/1942
R C Copeland Rebecca Richardson 1943 06/11/1943

Census Records | Copelands of Dunklin County (1870-1940)

Sometimes census records can be useful for more than just providing information about individual people. They can also show patterns of movement from one place to another, and give us clues about possible relationships. For example, if two families consistently move from place to place together (showing up on census record after census record in close proximity to one another, despite geographical movement), one can assume that there is some kind of connection between the two. Knowing there is a connection doesn’t tell us what the connection is, but it gives us a reason to try and find that out.

George T. Copeland, the father of Tom Copeland (who is, in turn, the father of many of our recent ancestors) is an enigma. I, along with several others, have been trying to figure out who he was for a long time. He left scant records, which makes our task difficult. One of the ideas I had recently was to create a database of all the Copelands living in areas where George might have lived. To do this I used Ancestry.com, did a Soundex search for “Copeland”, and requested the name of a particular location as a keyword (checking the box marked “exact”) — for example, my keyword for this search was “Dunklin.” Then I went to each census year and copied the entries (exactly as they were transcribed) into a spreadsheet. I’ve reproduced my spreadsheet here (leaving out a few miscellaneous catergories), with known ancestors highlighted in yellow.

As you can see, our George T. Copeland (sometimes called “G.T.” and here called “Thomas”) was the first Copeland to arrive on the scene in Dunklin, sometime before 1870. As the decades pass, more Copelands arrive. Some also leave. Some even come back (our Tom and family moved to Arkansas for many years and then came back to Dunklin County in the mid-1930s). The individuals that are not highlighted are all “persons of interest” to the genealogist. Yes, there are some similarities between CSI and genealogy — don’t laugh! While I haven’t yet made any definitive connections, I have been working on figuring out who all of those other Copelands are, where they came from, and where they went if they left Dunklin County. Some of these trails are undoubtedly dead ends but maybe one of them isn’t. Besides, who doesn’t love the thrill of the chase? 😉

Name Home in 1870 Birth Year Birthplace
Thomas Coplin Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1830 Illinois
Sarah Coplin Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1840 Missouri
Mellissa Coplin Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1857 Missouri
Artamissa Coplin Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1860 Missouri
Martha Coplin Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1867 Missouri
Mary Coplin Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1870 Missouri
       
Name Home in 1880 Birth Year Birthplace
G. T. Coplan Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1837 Illinois
Sarah Coplan Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1843 Missouri
Mary Coplan Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1855 Missouri
S. R. Coplan Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1856 Missouri
M. J. Coplan Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1874 Missouri
Geo. T. Coplan Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1876 Missouri
Tom F. Coplan Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1876 Missouri
       
Veteran’s Name Home in 1890 Rank Years of Service
Obediah Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Private 1861-1862
George T Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Sgt 1864-1865
       
Name Home in 1900 Birth Date Birthplace
Mrs. Ples Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Jan 1845 Ohio
George Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Sep 1852 Missouri
Steve R Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Jan 1856 Missouri
Margret Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Oct 1857 Missouri
Bettie Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Nov 1863 Missouri
Ima Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Jun 1863 Illinois
George Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Jan 1871 Illinois
Minnie Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Jan 1871 Missouri 
Thomas Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Mar 1873 Illinois
Bertha Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Mar 1873 Illinois
James M Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Aug 1875 Illinois
Thomas Copeland Independence, Dunklin, Missouri Apr 1876 Missouri
Quinton Copeland Union, Dunklin, Missouri May 1877 Arkansas
Elizabeth Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Dec 1878 Missouri 
Lucy L Copeland Union, Dunklin, Missouri Dec 1878 Arkansas
Charles Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Jun 1879 Missouri
Lilly Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Jan 1879 Missouri
Clara Copeland  Independence, Dunklin, Missouri Dec 1880 Illinois
John Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Feb 1882 Missouri
William Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Sep 1883 Missouri
Bessie M Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Apr 1884 Missouri 
Archie Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri May 1885 Missouri
Susan Copelund Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Jun 1887 Missouri
Elizabeth Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Apr 1888 Missouri
Josephine Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Aug 1888 Missouri
Martha L Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Apr 1891 Missouri
Cora Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Apr 1892 Missouri
Clara Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Jun 1894 Missouri
Chalmus H Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Jun 1896 Missouri 
Columbus Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Jul 1897 Missouri
Herman S Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Apr 1897 Missouri 
Gladis L Copeland]  Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri Nov 1898 Missouri 
Cecil Copeland Union, Dunklin, Missouri Dec 1899 Arkansas
Ina Copeland Independence, Dunklin, Missouri Apr 1900 Missouri
       
Name Home in 1910 Birth Year Birthplace
Mary Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1840 Ohio
Geo Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1853 Illinois
Steve Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1856 Missouri
Margaret Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1857 Indiana
Belle Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1863 Missouri
Tom Sturberbill [Copeland] Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1867 Tennessee
Carlos Copeland Salem, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1872 Missouri
Mollie Copeland Salem, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1880 Missouri
Will Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1882 Indiana
Dora Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1885 Missouri
Cora Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1892 Missouri
Clara Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1894 Missouri
Columbus Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1896 Missouri
MontroseCopeland Salem, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1896 Missouri
Texie Copeland Salem, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1897 Missouri
Billey Sturberbill [Copeland] Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1901 Arkansas
Walter Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1902 Missouri
Lonie Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1904 Missouri
Robert Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1906 Missouri
Henry Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1908 Missouri
Valentine Copeland Salem, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1909 Missouri
Bessie Murphy [Copeland] Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1884 Missouri
Chalmer H Coapland  North Malden, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1897 Missouri
Gladys L Coapland North Malden, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1899 Missouri
Evert L Coopland Malden Ward 2, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1906  Missouri
Irine Coopland Malden Ward 2, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1907 Missouri
Charley W Coupland Malden Ward 2, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1878 Illinois
Rosia L Coupland Malden Ward 2, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1882 Kentucky
Thomas Couplin Independence, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1876 Missouri
Ima Couplin Independence,Dunklin, Missouri abt 1900 Missouri
       
Name Home in 1920 Birth Year Birthplace
Steven R Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1857 Missouri
Sarah B Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1860 Missouri
William F Copeland Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1881 Tennessee
Eva Copeland Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1885 Tennessee
Irene S Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1895 Missouri
Chalmers H Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1897 Missouri
Burton Copeland Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1905 Tennessee
Elizabeth S Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1919 Missouri
       
Name Home in 1930 Birth Year Birthplace
Sarah B Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1862 Missouri
Charley Copeland Malden, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1879 Indiana
Rosia Copeland Malden, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1882 Kentucky
Ray Copeland Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1902 Arkansas
Homer D Copeland Malden, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1907 Missouri
Pearl Copeland Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1907 Alabama
       
Name Home in 1940 Birth Year Birthplace
Tom Copeland Clay, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1877 Missouri
Charles W Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1879 Indiana
Rosie L Copeland Cotton Hill, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1882 Kentucky
Myrtle Copeland Clay, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1886 Kentucky
Arthur Copeland Payne, Clay, Arkansas abt 1900 Kentucky
Delvia Copeland Clay, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1925 Missouri
Donnie Copeland Clay, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1928 Missouri
Sid B Capeland Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1888 Missouri
Bessie M Capeland Union, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1896 Tennessee
Dewey Capeland Salem, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1914 Tennessee
Lockie Capeland Salem, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1919 Tennessee
Daniel Copelin Kennett, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1898 Kentucky
Irene Copelin Kennett, Dunklin, Missouri abt 1908 Missouri