JOSIAH C. COPELAND
Josiah
C. Copeland, president of the Chariton National Bank and long
an active factor in professional circles in the city, was born
at Kenton, Ohio, September 19, 1855, a son of Howard and
Catherine (Darlington) Copeland. The father was also a banker in Ohio and
died in that state in 1884.
His widow survived him for about nine years, passing
away in 1893.
The early educational opportunities afforded Josiah C. Copeland were those offered by the public schools but later he had the advantage of study in Delaware University at Delaware, Ohio. After leaving school he clerked for his father and subsequently studied law for a time in his native state. In 1879 he arrived in Chariton, where he continued his law reading and was admitted to the bar in 1881. He at once entered upon active practice, which he followed for twenty years, and made for himself a creditable position at the county bar. He was the first county attorney for Lucas county, filling that position for four years, and throughout the period of his active practice he was ever faithful to the highest professional ethics and most carefully safeguarded the interests of his clients, his devotion thereto being proverbial. In 1904 he turned his attention to the banking business, entering the Chariton National Bank in the capacity of cashier. He filled that position for six years and in 1910 was elected to the presidency, which office he now holds.
On
the 26th of November, 1896, Mr. Copeland was united
in Marriage to Mrs. Anna (Gibbon) McCollough, who was born in
Ohio but was reared in Chariton. She is a daughter of Dr. William H. and
Laura R. Gibbon. Her
father, Dr. Gibbon, was a man of such prominence and served as
a surgeon in the United States army. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Copeland have been
born a son and two daughters:
Lawrence Gibbon, born January 9, 1898; Anna Laura, born
July 25, 1900; and Catherine G., born September 23, 1902.
Mr. Copeland holds membership in the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained high rank. He has crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and he also has membership in the Knights of Pythias and the Sons of the America Revolution. In politics he is a stalwart republican, unfaltering in his allegiance to the party which he has supported since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. The family attend the Episcopal church and are well known socially in Chariton. Mr. Copeland is a genial, courteous gentleman, kindly and just in spirit but in business prompt and energetic. By individual merit he has attained the present enviable position which he occupies in the financial circles of Lucas county.