Lawrence and Lydia (Townsend) Copeland, of Braintree, Massachusetts (1651), had a family of nine children. Three of their sons, Thomas, William and John, lived to manhood and are the progenitors of nearly all the Copelands in the United States.
(II) William, son of Lawrence and Lydia (Townsend) Copeland, was born September 15, 1656. Married, April 3, 1698, Mary, widow of Christopher Webb, Jr., and daughter of John and Ruth (Alden) Bass. Ruth was the daughter of John Alden, the Pilgrim. William and Mary Copeland had eight sons and one daughter.
(III) William (2), son of William (1) and Mary (Bass) (Webb) Copeland, was born March 7, 1695. Married, June 15, 1718, Mary, daughter of Richard and Rebecca (Micall) Thayer. They had seven children.
(IV) William (3), son of William (2) and Mary (Thayer) Copeland, was born December 6, 1730. Married, May 3, 1753, in Brooklyn, Connecticut, Sarah Smith, and lived in Thompson, Connecticut. They had (probably) twelve children.
(V) Jonathan, son of William (3) and Sarah (Smith) Copeland, was born September 29, 1757. Married (first) March 9, 1780, Esther Chapman of Hampton, Connecticut; she was born January 12, 1761, died April 15, 1795; Jonathan married (second) May 22, 1795, Sally Chollar (or Collar), who died June 11, 1826. Children of first wife:
- Jonathan, born November 15, 1781.
- Esther, April 11, 1783, married Daniel Corbin, died November 21, 1870.
- Jonathan, October 16, 1786, died December 5, 1858.
- David, September 8, 1788.
- Eunice, March 8, 1791, married Harvey Adams, died September 5, 1864.
- Royal, March 20, 1793, married Harriet Hyde, died March 2, 1866.
- Elizabeth, March, 1795.
Children of second wife:
- Sally, born April 10, 1798, died October 30, 1843.
- Abigail, April 19, 1800, married Ichabod Upham, died January 2, 1882.
- Asa, October 26, 1801, died August 26, 1820.
- Abiel, May 3, 1803, died May 10, 1863.
- Elizabeth W., January 26, 1805, died September 29, 1869.
- Daniel, November 13, 1806, married Pamelia Hibbard, died May 22, 1882.
- Cynthia, November 14, 1808, died December 11, 1808.
- Joel, November 20, 1809, died June 24, 1886.
- Amasa, January 7, 1812, died May 22, 1859.
(VI) David, son of Jonathan and Esther (Chapman) Copeland, was born September 8, 1788, died in Rochester, New York, June 10, 1878. He was one of the earlier settlers of Rochester when it was little more than an Indian trading village. As the town began to grow and improve, he became a dealer in mason's materials of all kinds. He was a prosperous merchant and transacted a large business. He was a Whig in politics, and with his family active in the Presbyterian church. He was one of the organizers of the first church of that denomination in Rochester. He married, June 29, 1814, Martha Shepard, born and died in Rochester. Children:
- Jonathan, born February 20, 1816.
- Gerry Shepard, July 2, 1819, died December 10, 1873; married Maria Thompson, of Rochester; no living issue.
- Martha, July 26, 1821, died August 4, 1821.
- William Eaton, June 15, 1823, died May 10, 1882; married Mary Ann Archer, who survives him; children: George, Robert, Mack, Carrie.
- Mary May, December 5, 1825, died June 23, 1827.
- Mary, February 19, 1826, died March 15, 1828.
- Mary Jane, January 30, 1830, died November 29, 1905; married James W. McElhenny, deceased.
- David, August 17, 1832, died September 16, 1890; married Emily Labey; children: Albert, Clara, Jennie, Esther.
- Martha, June 28, 1835, died September 7, 1843.
(VII) Rev. Jonathan Copeland, son of David and Martha (Shepard) Copeland, was born, it is thought, in Connecticut, February 20, 1816, died in Rochester, December 9, 1890. He was educated for the ministry, graduating at Union College, Schenectady, New York. He was regularly ordained a minister of the Presbyterian church, and placed in charge as pastor of the church in Holley, New York, nearby, where he was pastor for sixteen years. He was in charge of a congregation at Champlain, New York; Waterbury, Vermont; and Webster, New York, his ministerial career covering a period of over fifty years. He was a faithful minister, and served well his Master's cause. He died in Rochester, New York, while yet living in Webster, being taken ill while on a visit to the former city, and is buried there. He married, January 30, 1844, Kezia Clark, born at Schenectady, New York, died at Webster, New York, August 8, 1885. She was a daughter of John and Kezia (Failing) Clark, of early Dutch ancestry, the former a farmer of Schenectady county, owning and cultivating the ground now occupied by the Mohawk Golf Club and much surrounding land. Children of Rev. Jonathan Copeland:
- Martha E., born February 21, 1845, died October 16, 1846.
- J. Clark, April 26, 1847; married (first) July 20, 1869, Lottie A. Schenck, who died May 25, 1870; child, Grace Augusta, born May 24, 1870; married (second) April 5, 1882, Adella M. Billings.
- Edward Payson, October 9, 1849, died September 13, 1876.
- William Henry, September 5, 1852; married, October 12, 1881, Julia Burchard.
- Emma Catharine, April 3, 1854.
- Mary Kezia, October 18, 1856; married, December 29, 1886, Frank Holley; children:
- Ralph, born January 29, 1889, and
- Alma Kezia, February 8, 1893.
- Alice Moore, October 26, 1861, died September 23, 1889; married, May 6, 1885, J. R. Hawley; child,
- Kathleen Alice, born February 27, 1887.
(VIII) William Henry Copeland, third son of Jonathan and Kezia (Clark) Copeland, was born at Holley, near Rochester, New York, September 5, 1852. He was educated in the public schools, and began his business career as clerk in a general store at Waterbury, Vermont. He was then only a lad but well grown and eager for business life. In 1872 he located at Hoosick Falls, New York, and became first, clerk, later bookkeeper for the firm of Wallace, Jones & Ely. In 1875 he entered the employ of the Walter A. Wood Company as bookkeeper, remaining in the accounting department until 1892. He was then appointed paymaster, a position he now occupies (1910). He is a skillful accountant and a trusted official. He is a member of the Presbyterian church at Hoosick Falls, serving as trustee. In politics he is a Republican but takes no active part. His clubs are the Hoosick and Hoosick Country. He married, October 12, 1881, Mrs. Julia E. Burchard, daughter of Lucius Morgan Cooley and widow of Walter Howard Burchard. She had by first marriage:
- Anson Wood, graduate of Stevens Institute, Hoboken, New Jersey, class 1889, now connected with the General Electric Company, in New York City; he is a trustee of his alma mater, Stevens Institute.
- Jessie May, married Hinsdill Parsons and resides in Schenectady, New York; Mr. Parsons is a son of the late J. Russell Parsons, and was born in Hoosick Falls; he is now connected with the General Electric Company of Schenectady, and is one of the vice-presidents.
Lucius Morgan Cooley, son of Horace and Lucretia (Morgan) Cooley, and father of Julia E. (Cooley-Burchard) Copeland, was born at White River Junction, Vermont, November 30, 1806, died at Hoosick Falls, New York, September 15, 1873. He was a Whig and a Republican, holding many of the local offices in his town. He was a deacon of the Presbyterian church. He married, February 4, 1834, Sally Maria Bussey, born in Hoosick Falls, died there March 31, 1881, daughter of Esek Bussey, of Rensselaer county, later of Lysander, Onondaga county, New York, where he died. He owned a large tract of land now a part of the village of Hoosick Falls. Esek Bussey married Elizabeth (Betsey) Sickles, born March 18, 1781, died at Lysander, New York, May 1, 1857. They had eleven children, of whom Sally Maria was the eighth.
Children of Lucius Morgan and Sally Maria Cooley:
- Francis Morgan, born June 18, 1835, died at San Francisco, California, November 24, 1890; he was educated at Ball's Academy, Hoosick Falls, and Poultney Academy, Poultney, Vermont; he taught school for a few months, then entered the employ of the Walter A. Wood Company, later in 1857 engaging in business in Hoosick Falls on his own account; at the outbreak of the civil war he recruited a company at his own expense; the company was mustered into the United States service, April 20, 1861, at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as Company H, Fifth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, of which he was captain; he was at Alexandria in 1861 and saw the killing of Colonel Ellsworth at the Marshall House by the enraged Jackson; May 14, 1861, he was ordered to Boston, Massachusetts, where he assisted in recruiting and organizing a regiment; in 1862 his command was attached to what was later known as the Second Division, Fifth Army Corps; they were engaged in the Peninsular campaign with McClellan and with the Army of the Potomac under its many commanders. In 1864, with Grant in command, his regiment was in one of the battles of the Wilderness, Laurel Hill, Spotsylvania, Bethesda Church, and Cold Harbor; he was wounded several times, and during the assault on Petersburg, June 19, 1864, he received a severe wound; during the time between May 5 and June 19, 1864, he was under fire twenty-four days; he was breveted major for gallantry at Spotsylvania, lieutenant-colonel for his services at Petersburg, and colonel for his patriotic services in the final campaign; after the war he continued in the service of the government until his resignation in 1870; he engaged in cotton planting in the south, then removed to San Francisco where he was in the internal revenue service; he was a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion; he married (first) Adeline Hickok, who bore him Charles, Walter and Anna; married (second) Alice Kingsbury; children: Frank, Earl, Sarah, Verdenel and Edmund.
- Thomas Bussey, born August 23, 1836, died April 8, 1896; he also served in the civil war, going out as private and returning as lieutenant; after the war he returned to Hoosick Falls, New York, then removed to Minnesota where he represented the Walter A. Wood Machinery Company; he was an Episcopalian and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic; he married, November 8, 1859, Sarah Elizabeth Hewitt, who died November 29, 1899; children: Rev. Frank E., an Episcopal minister; Howard B.; Morgan S.; Mary E.
- Julia E., aforementioned as the wife of William H. Copeland.
- Henry Clay, born April 6, 1842, died June 10, 1843.
- Sarah, married (first) Jacob Merritt, of Troy, Hoosick Falls, and Danbury, Connecticut, son of Charles H. Merritt; she married (second) Joseph M. Ives, of Danbury, Connecticut, who died September, 1908; she survives her husband, a resident of Danbury, without issue.
- Lucius, born at Hoosick Falls, New York, January 10, 1846, died October 24, 1888, at Danbury, Connecticut; he enlisted in the Union army in 1864: after the war he entered the employ of the Walter A. Wood Company and filled a responsible position with that company for many years; he married, September 4, 1886, Mary L. Wait; children:
- Sally M., married Edgar L. Green, of Hoosick Falls, and has Edgar Lucius and Howard Burchard;
- Helen, married Frank V. Milliman, of Boston, Massachusetts, and has
- Frank L., born May 3, 1896, and
- Julian, born April 23, 1901.
- Priscilla Cooley, born July 8, 1847, died May 4, 1852.
- Charles, born June 14, 1850, died May 18, 1852.