My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in The History of Wright County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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James H. B. Cope, a farmer of Elk Creek Township, Wright Co., Mo., was born in Middle Tennessee in 1831, being the son of Stephen and Comfort (Bolin) Cope. The paternal grandfather was born in one of the Carolinas, was a farmer and a member of the Baptist Church. He was a pioneer settler of Warren County, Tenn., was the father of four children, and died in Tennessee at the age of ninety-eight years. Stephen Cope was born in Warren County, Tenn., in 1803, and was a farmer by occupation. He was always a Democrat in his political views, and was constable in Warren County for six years. He was also justice of the peace for twelve years, and died in 1887. His wife, Comfort Cope, was also a native of Warren County, Tenn., and is still living. They were the parents of sixteen children, James H. B. Cope being the seventh in order of birth. He grew to manhood in Warren and Grundy Counties, Tenn., where he received a fair education in the common schools. At the age of twenty-six he married Miss Minerva J. Roberts, a native of Tennessee, born in 1835 and died in 1863. They became the parents of four children: William, who died at the age of two years; Sarah A., died at the age of twenty-three years, was married and left one child; James T., and Elizabeth, who died at the age of one year. In 1865 Mr. Cope married Mrs. (Nichols) Young, and the fruits of this union were seven children: Fannie E., Alonzo, James Newton, Cinda, Flora, John and Harvey. Mrs. Cope was the mother of two children by her former marriage: A. L. and Sarah J. Mr. Cope immigrated to Missouri in 1857, locating in Wright County, and has made his home here ever since, with the exception of a short time during the war, when he refugeed to Phelps County. He never took up arms against the Union, but his sympathies were with the South. He is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Wheel. The maternal grandfather, Lewis Bolin, lived in Warren County, Tenn. He was a hero of the War of 1812, and the first man to enter the British fort at the battle of New Orleans. He had fourteen holes shot through his coat as he went in. He witnessed the death of Packenham and the general withdrawal of the British from American soil. He afterward served all through the Texas war, and when it closed he wrote to his family and said: “Come to Texas!” for he had enough land for all his children. He was never heard from afterward. He was a great traveler, and had been all over the Union.

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This family biography is one of 90 biographies included in The History of Wright County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Wright County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Wright County, Missouri family biographies, click here

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