It is hard for the present generation to properly appreciate the brave
deeds of the "boys in blue," who sacrificed so much on the altar of
patriotism during the sixties, but as years go by the immensity of their
deeds will be realized to a fuller extent and each veteran will be accorded
full measure of credit and praise. The gentleman whose name appears above is
a member of this great number of patriots.
Jacob Copple was born in
Clark county, Indiana, December 23, 1835, the son of Andrew and Christina
(Fine) Copple, both natives of North Carolina, who were among the pioneers
in the vicinity of Walnut Hill, Illinois, where they lived for a short time,
then moved to Raccoon township, Marion county. He secured wild land and
developed a good farm, on which he and his wife both died. He was a
Democrat, but held no office, and an active member of the Christian church.
The subject's mother was twice married, first to James Snow, and she had two
sons by this marriage, William and James, the former a farmer and the latter
a minister in the Christian church for many years. They are both deceased.
Four children were born to Andrew Coppie and wife, namely: Jacob,
our subject; John L., deceased, who lived in Raccoon township on a farm and
was also a blacksmith; Simpson is living in Hood River, Oregon, a retired
farmer; Mary Elizabeth is the widow of Robert Sanders, who lives in Raccoon
township.
Our subject had only a limited amount of schooling in his
youth, but he became self-educated and he taught five terms of winter
schools in a most successful manner. He was married in March, 1856, to
Malinda F. McCullough, a native of Tennessee, the daughter of Thomas
McCullough, of Tennessee, who were among the early settlers in Jefferson
county, Illinois, having located on a farm. Mr. McCullough lived to be over
eighty years old. His wife survived him, dying in 1844. The subject's wife
died November 20, 1901. Seven children were born to them, five of whom grew
to maturity, namely: Rebecca J., who married J. H. Creed, and who lived in
Centralia township, died in 1884, after becoming the mother of three
children; Charles L., a hotel keeper living near Portland, Oregon, is
married and has four sons; Theopolis V., a farmer living in Raccoon
township, is single; Samuel A., a farmer in Raccoon township, married
Florence Copple and has three children; George F., deceased, married Minnie
McMillin, and became a farmer near Walnut Hill. These children were educated
in the home schools and are all fairly well situated in reference to
business and homes.
Mr. Copple, as already intimated, was a soldier
during the war of the Rebellion, having enlisted on April 6, 1865, in
Company H, Fifty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He first went to New
York City, being sick with the measles, and came home in 1865, and was sick
until the spring of 1866. He had moved to Jefferson county, Illinois, in
1861, and he lived there until 1881, when he moved to Raccoon township,
where he bought the Robert Rainey farm. His fine farm now consists of one
hundred and twelve acres and he carries on general farming and stock raising
in a most successful manner, having his farm highly improved and carefully
tilled. He has always been a farmer and has taken much interest in public
affairs. He has been School Director and he cast his first vote for Abraham
Lincoln, but since 1876 he has been a Populist and he has the splendid
record of having been a member of the Christian church for the past fifty
years. Our subject has been retired since 1900, when he bought a home in
Walnut Hill, where he has since lived.
Extracted 27 May 2019 by Norma Hass from 1909 Biographical and Reminiscent History of Richland, Clay and Marion Counties, Illinois, pages 549-550.