Copeland, Thomas N. (1811-1892)

COPELAND

Posted By: Joyce Hickman (email)
Date: 10/28/2008 at 13:54:33

Thomas Newton Copeland
Apr 27, 1811 - June 19, 1892

(From the 1883 History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, by J. H. Keatley, p.223, Rockford Twp.)
Thomas N. Copeland, farmer, P. O. Loveland, was born in North Carolina in 1811, but was raised in Indiana, to which State his parents had moved when he was seven years old. He lived in Indiana until he came to this State in 1852. He was married in 1835 to Miss Barbara Frazier, born in Tennessee in 1816. She moved to Indiana with her parents when she was small. Mr. and Mrs. Copeland have five children living, four daughters and one son, all of whom are married and are living near them. They have buried four children - three boys and one girl; the oldest son dying in September, 1881. Our subject's oldest son, J. A. Copeland, two sons-in-law and four brothers were in the late civil war, which they went through without receiving a scratch. Our subject arrived in this county in the fall of 1852. He came across the country in wagons, and made the trip of 500 miles in just four weeks. The winter following his arrival he passed just over the line in Harrision County. In February, 1853, he bought a 700-acre claim of Isaac Cox, for which he paid $470. He entered this, and shortly afterward moved onto it, living the first two years in a Mormon cabin. His farm now consists of 260 acres. With the exception of seventy acres which he sold, the balance of his original farm has gone to his children. His present home was built in the summer of 1855. It was constructed mostly of cottonwood. Part of the original siding is still on. The house is 32 x 32, part of which is two stories high and has a basement. Our subject has been engaged in farming ever since coming to this county. He also ran a mill for nine years. The mill was erected by Loveland & Crayton, our subject purchasing the interest of Mr. Crayton. For nine years, the firm name was Copeland & Loveland. His partner failing our subject took the mill, afterward selling it to Hawthorne & Co., who are its present owners. Our subject has always taken an active interest in school and township affairs, and has done much toward the prosperity and advancement of his section. Although seventy-one years old, he can read readily without the use of glasses, and his eyes appear to be stronger than they were forty years ago. In politics, he was first a Whig, and afterward, a Republican.

(From the 1891 Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, p.316)
T.N. COPELAND, a prominent farmer of Rockford Township, was born in North Carolina, April 27, 1811, son of Hugh and Martha (Wilson) Copeland, natives also of North Carolina and of Irish ancestry. Hugh Copeland, left an orphan when young, was reared by a tanner, whose trade he learned. At the age of twenty-one years he was married, given a set of tools, bought a piece of property and commenced business for himself, which he followed for a number of years. He afterward moved to Jackson County, Indiana, where his wife died in 1820, leaving five children: T. N. (our subject), Tirzah, Sophronia, Elizabeth and Armstrong; all deceased excepting our subject. After the death of his wife Mr. Hugh Copeland resided at several places in Indiana, then settled in Buchanan County, Missouri, taking up claims. In the spring of 1853 he bought a farm in Fremont County, Iowa, and lived upon it several years. In the meantime he married his second wife, who died in 1875, leaving nine children: W. B., John F., Hiram, Hugh, Abner, Hester, Asenath, Martha and Amos. After her death Mr. Copeland sold the farm and made his home in Sidney, Iowa, where his daughter kept house for him until his death in 1880.
Mr. T. N. Copeland, the subject of this sketch, was brought up on a farm. From the age of twenty-two years he worked four years in a mill, in the meantime being married. He next bought a tract of heavy timberland, which he improved for fifteen years; and then, in 1852, he came to Pottawattamie County, and has ever since resided in Rockford Township. There he first bought a claim and entered 800 acres of the present place, which was then wild land, prairie and timber; but a few acres were cleared, and her he began anew, built a residence thirty-two feet square and two-stories high and making all the building necessary for a comfortable and convenient home, including an orchard of two acres, a fine grove of ornamental trees, etc. The premises denote prosperity and good judgment. At the present time he has 240 acres of fine land, on section 3, township 77 north and range 44 west, in the vicinity of Loveland. In actual cultivation there are 150 acres, while the remainder is in hay, pasture and timber. He gave the site for a gristmill, afterward bought a half interest in the mill and ran it for two years. He also dealt extensively in cattle, horses and hogs, but not recently. Also he was for a time an extensive dealer in grain, with considerable profit. Now, in his old age, he is enjoying the well-earned results of an industrious and honorable life.
Politically his first vote was cast for the old Whig leader, Henry Clay, for President of the United States, and he has been a reliable Republican since the organization of that party, having done much efficient work for the advancement of its primary principles. He has been treasurer of his township twenty years, and school director for a number of years.
October 15, 1835, Mr. Copeland married Miss Barbara, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Shafer) Frazier, parents natives of Tennessee and Pennsylvania, respectively, and of German and Irish ancestry. They had eight children, as follows: Chapman, who resides in Harrison County, this State; Levina; Lewis Christian, residing in Buchanan, Missouri; James, in this county; John, deceased; Sarah, wife of W. B. Copeland; and Elizabeth, now Mrs. Reuben Coffee. Mrs. Copeland, the third child in the above family, was born May 12, 1816, and was married when past nineteen years of age. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Copeland have been ten in number, namely: John Fletcher, who died in infancy; Mary Sophronia, now Mrs. John Goss, in Harrison County; James Armstrong, now deceased; Sarah, wife of David Henderson, in Harrison County; William Mead, deceased; Tirzah, married Jay Hutchinson and resides in Rockford Township; Henry Clay, a resident of this county; and Hugh and Martha, deceased. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal and Baptist churches. All the children are settled in the vicinity, and all the grandchildren attend the same school.