WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Post by Doris McCraw
writing as Angela Raines

Photo Property of the Author

“What's in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.”

William Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet

Although I am not a fan of the play 'Romeo and Juliet', the above quote kept running through my mind as I was researching the Copelin sisters. Now you may ask, why would "What's in a name?" have to do with the sisters.  Well, in the archives the name can also be, Copolin, Copilan, Copalin, or even Copeland. It was a challenge to find their story. So, here for your reading pleasure is the story of these sisters, researched as well as possible, for now.

Some time after 1860 William and Ruth Copeland, both from Ohio, came to the Colorado Territory and settled in Colorado City. With them came their children Lucetta, Rebecca, Charlotte, Silas, and the twins George and James. A young man by the name of Perry Fisher also traveled west with the family. The son John D Copeland, who was sixteen in the 1860 census, appears to have not made that trip.

On February 13, 1862 Lucetta Copeland, spelled Coplin and Perry Fisher were married by James Roberts the Justice of the Peace in Colorado City. Both were about twenty-four at the time.

Colorado City 1860 ?
from a Pinterest Board

Almost a year later Charlotte Copeland, spelled Coplen, and Adam Hill were married on January 15, 1863 in the presence of John Evans and Nancy Husetty, with the services performed by the same Justice of the Peace,  James Roberts.  Adam was probably twenty-seven  and Charlotte around fifteen years of age.

On January 1, 1865 in the presence of George Davis, R. S. Kelly, and William Coplin (Copeland), Rebecca married Chauncey L Hall. Although I've not found the age of Chauncy, Rebecca was seventeen.  The R. S. Kelly was the El Paso County sheriff, and a man of some fame in El Paso County. (See the below link)

Although William had been a merchant prior to arriving in Colorado Territory by 1870 when he was fifty-six and Ruth, fifty-two they were living in Colorado City with sons Silas, eighteen and the twins James and George, age twelve. William's job was listed as mail contractor. They lived next to Perry and Lucetta who by that time had five children. Their names were McClelland, Harriet, Rosetta, Ulysses, and William. At this time Perry's job was that of Hotel keeper.

Meanwhile Adam and Charlotte, were living with their children Minnie,Hiram, and Walter in Colorado City, but further away from her parents.  Adam's job was that of carpenter, a very valuable job at that place and time.

Both Lucetta and Charlotte lived to a fairly advanced age.  Rebecca appears to of died within a year of her marriage. No cause of death has been found at this time, however, given the time frame it appears that she may have died in childbirth. I've also not been able to locate a place of burial.

Charlotte and Adam moved from Colorado to California later in life and settled in Santa Cruz County. Adam died December 15, 1913 and is buried in Oakwood Memorial Park in Santa Cruz. Charlotte, remarried a gentleman by the name of Musgrave. She passed away April 11, 1930 in Sacramento California. She also is buried in Oakwood Memorial Park, Santa Cruz, California.  Adam Hill obit  
Charlotte's info from Find a Grave

Lucetta and Perry also moved to California, where both passed away in Siskiyou County California. Both are buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Yreka, California. Perry passed away May 19, 1907 and Lucetta passed away June 1910.

Photo Property of the Author

As you know, women were rarely spoken of in early publications. However, Ruth Copeland made the news in Colorado Springs in June 1880 when they realized that she was a cousin to Gen. Garfield who later became president Garfield. She spoke of knowing him when he was a child, and how she wasn't surprised at the notable career he had. Yet, even in this article, she is referred to as Mrs. Copeland. This may be a future post if all goes well.

I would love to know more about these pioneer women, but that may not happen. As a writer, I can dream of what I think their lives were like, and tell that story. It might be fun, but it would never compare to the real story if one could be found.

Link to R.S. Kelly:Story of Rankin Scott Kelly. 

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

For a list of Angela Raines Books: Here 

Photo and Poem: Click Here 

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here

SOMETHING ABOUT MARY

Post by Doris McCraw

writing as Angela Raines

Pikes Peak - photo property of the author

I am sharing some of the history I've been researching about early Colorado, specifically El Paso County. After the 'Pikes Peak or Bust' gold rush of 1859, a number of people started to settle in what would become Colorado. 

Originally part of the Kansas, Nebraska, Utah and New Mexico Territory, Colorado was officially made a territory in 1861 and a state in 1876. In those early years there were those who decided that the area had more to offer than just gold. There were some who wanted to farm, others wanted to grow cattle/sheep, and yet others found their gold mine in outfitting the dreamers hunting for gold.

Map of Colorado prior to becoming a territory in
1861. Courtesy of Wikipedia

Into this mix two women named Mary made their way to El Paso County, Colorado in the 1860s. One was from Ireland and the other Nova Scotia, Canada. So who were these women? Why should we take the time to learn about them? Perhaps to balance the stories we tell about those early days.

I will say, to find the stories of the early women in the history of the area takes some detective work. It is challenging, yet finding those tidbits of information is worth the effort. Sometimes the historic records do not agree, so the writer/researcher does the best they can with what they find. So join me as we learn ‘Something about Mary’.

The first Mary, Mary Irvine, was born Mary Boyd, in County Antrim Ireland in 1809. She arrived in El Paso County with her husband, John Irvine, Senior sometime around 1859-60. Research shows the couple came to America around 1834. Records show Mary’s husband John, making a living as a carpenter. When the Civil War started, John and his two older sons enlisted in the Colorado regiment, leaving Mary to care for their home and the younger children. Although Mary and John did not remain in El Paso County long, they had a farm near Fountain, Colorado before moving to Pueblo, Colorado. There John helped to  start the Presbyterian church. One son Milton Irvine was well known in business in Colorado Springs where he was eventually elected mayor. In the 1900 census, Mary was living on East St. Vrain in Colorado Springs in the home of her son Milton. She was ninety years old at that time.

Current First Presbyterian Church in Pueblo
located at 10th and Court St
Image courtesy of History Colorado

Mary B. Innes probably arrived with her brother Robert A Innes from Nova Scotia, where she was born in 1847. In October of 1865 she married Burton C Myers in Colorado City at the M. E. Church. The couple, along with Burton’s brother Charles W. Myers, made their home in Colorado City with Mary ‘keeping house’ for the brothers. By 1870, Mary was a mother, having given birth to a daughter, Nora. Nora soon had a sister, Mary. In 1875 Burton passed away of typhoid fever after selling out the cattle business in South Park, Colorado, which Burton and Charles started around 1872. At that time, Mary became a widow with two young girls. Five years later a notice in the November 5, 1880 Gazette, showed a Charles W. Myers and Mrs. B. Myers, both of El Paso County, being wed on October 30, 1880 in Pueblo, Colorado. By the 1920s, Mary B. Myers was again a widow living in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

As Manly and Eleanor Ormes say in their book, “The Book of Colorado Springs”, when they talk of the founding of the El Paso County Pioneers Association: “The objects of the Association were to unite in closer bonds those who had braved the dangers of the journeys across the plains, the dangers here from being surrounded by hostile Indians, and the privations of beginning in a new country…”

Both Mary’s braved the journey. They faced the dangers that all early settlers faced. Both survived to old age, but not without heartache and triumph. We know of their husbands and sons, and now, we know a bit more about them.

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

For a list of Angela Raines Books: Here 

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here

LUCY MAGGARD - A Force to be Reckoned With #history #womenshistory #west

For my scheduled first Sunday on the month post I'm writing about Lucy Maggard. To read about the additional 'First Ladies':

Elizabeth McAllister
Cara Bell
Grace Greenwood

Trying to find the true story of Lucy Maggard is one of digging through myth, lies and a whole lot of names changes. An attempt will be made to stick to as many facts as can be verified, but some stories are just too good not to share. Those I will ask you to make up your own mind.

Lucy was born Lucy Ann Davis in New York in 1814. In 1836 when she was twenty-one Lucy married David Maggard. Then in 1854 at the age of thirty-nine she married James S. Coberly. Prior to moving to Colorado Lucy lived in Iowa and Kansas. It was while she was living in Kansas she filed for a depredation claim. In the claim she says she's a widow and her husband, David Maggard died in 1848, and she was the head of the household. For those who would like to read the whole of the claim and its outcome follow this link: Lucy Maggard Kansas claim- Google Books

In May of 1861 Lucy had a judgment against her property in Denver City and it was sold at a Marshal's sale. Whether this had anything to do with her boarding house not selling alcohol even though there were thirty-one saloons close by. According to the Colorado Heritage magazine her boarding house, known as the Temperance House, was known for its buffalo tongue pot pie with bacon and cabbage.

That didn't stop Lucy. She moved to Colorado City in that same year of 1861, the year Colorado became a territory, and opened another boarding house called the "El Paso House" in 1862 as seen in this ad from the Rocky Mountain News, July 22, 1862.

 Colorado City was founded in 1859 and was for a brief time the territorial capital. One story has it that the delegates who were staying in Colorado City were unhappy with their accommodations. In an article in the Colorado Springs Gazette of November 9. 2008, Lucy is partly blamed for the delegates leaving.

While Lucy was one of the early pioneers to the region and one of the few widows, there were others who preceded her in the area, some arriving around 1858. However her daughter, Fidelia's marriage to William H. Garvin was one of the first recorded in the region.

By 1866 Lucy had moved to Montana and appears to have started using the name of her second husband, Coberly. There seems to be some question as to when she married him, but she used that name for the rest of her life. Except for a brief time in Nebraska in 1885, Lucy spent most of the rest of her life in Montana. She died there in 1892 at the age of seventy-seven. 

Lucy's grave marker in Montana

For those interested in what others have to say about this women, here are two more links:
Old Colorado City Article
Granite County History Blog

Until next time happy reading and writing. Get those fingers typing for PRP has some great anthologies coming up.

Doris Gardner-McCraw -

Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in
Colorado and Women's History

Member of National League of American Pen Women,

Women Writing the West,

Pikes Peak Posse of the Westerners

Angela Raines - author: Where Love & History Meet

For a list of Angela Raines Books: Here 

Photo and Poem: Click Here 

Angela Raines FaceBook: Click Here