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Barclay Coppock (January 4, 1839 – September 4, 1861),^[2] also spelled "Coppac", "Coppic", and "Coppoc", was a follower of John Brown and a Union Army soldier in the American Civil War. Along with his brother Edwin Coppock (June 30, 1835 – December 16, 1859), he participated in Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry.

Edwin and Barclay Coppock were born of Quaker parentage in Winona, Ohio, near the intensely abolitionist town of Salem. After their father died early in their lives, they were raised by John Butler, described as "a benevolent Quaker",^[3] who has left us his recollections of Edwin.^[4] In 1857 Edwin was expelled from the church, as he refused to give up dancing.^[5]^: 196 As teenagers they moved to Springdale, Iowa, where their mother was living. It was here that they met John Brown as he passed through in early 1859, transporting people who had been enslaved in Missouri to freedom. That summer, the two boys bade their mother goodbye, despite her fears of the violence they would encounter, and traveled to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to meet Brown's growing army.^[6]

Edwin Coppock captured, tried, and hanged

For his participation in John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Edwin was tried and convicted of treason, murder, and fomenting a slave insurrection, and was hanged in Charles Town, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia), on December 16, 1859. He wrote to his uncle, Joshua Coppock, two days before his execution.^[7] The uncle went to Charles Town and brought Edwin's body to Salem; the "rude coffin" in which it was transported is held by the Ohio History Connection at its Museum in Columbus.^[8]

The body was laid out three nights, with armed guard; the guard was to prevent anti-abolitionists from stealing the body to prevent the funeral. Attendance was described as "immense";^[7] hundreds came for the funeral and to hear the "eulogistic speeches". The body was moved to City Hall.^[9] His remains were first buried in the Friends Burying Ground, New Garden, Ohio.^[7] Attendance at the burial was estimated to have been from two to three thousand.^[7]

By 1888 he had been reburied in Hope Cemetery, about 10 miles (16 km) away in Salem, his grave marked by a plain brownstone monument some 12 feet (3.7 m) in height, marked only with his name and his birth and death dates.

This monument was erected through the liberality of an eccentric old Scotchman named [Daniel] Howell Hise, who was at that time living near Salem, and to his honor be it said, was a prominent "Conductor" on the "Underground Railway," helping many a runaway slave on his way through Ohio to Canada and liberty. It is a fact worthy of note that on each recurring Decoration Day Coppic's [sic] grave is marked, through the courtesy of the Grand Army post of Salem, with the little flag entltling it to be decorated with wreaths and bouquets of flowers by the comrades and little girls detailed for that purpose, just the same as the graves of tha Union soldiers whose remains to the number of 200 are burled in the beautiful old village cemetery.^[10]

A plaque was added much later.^[11]

Barclay Coppock, in the Union Army

Barclay, like Owen Brown and Francis Jackson Meriam, did not enter Harpers Ferry; they remained at the Kennedy Farm guarding the weapons. When it became clear that the raid was failing, they escaped northward, after much difficulty reaching John Brown, Jr.'s house in Ashtabula County, Ohio.^[12] Barclay continued to Canada,^[13] later returning to Springdale, Iowa, where his mother lived. On January 23, 1860, about three months after the Harpers Ferry raid, Iowa governor Samuel Kirkwood received from the governor of Virginia a requisition "for one Barclay Coppock, reputed to be a fugitive from the justice of Virginia". Kirkwood found the requisition deficient in legal form and returned it to Virginia. Barclay was gone to Canada by the time Kirkwood received the corrected papers.^[14]^[15]^[16]

He later returned to Ashtabula County, Ohio, where John Brown Junior lived, and where raiders Owen Brown and Francis Merriam were taking refuge. A newspaper story reports that they were all registered to vote there. Barclay, along with Owen, addressed a meeting the day of Hazlett's and Stevens' executions.^[17]

Barclay later joined the Union Army during the American Civil War and served as a recruiting officer. He was killed in action when Confederate sabotage derailed his train over the Platte River,^[18]^[19] an incident called the Platte Bridge Railroad Tragedy.

References

^ Both photos from A topical history of Cedar County, Iowa, Volume 1 (1910) Clarence Ray Aurner, S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
^ Graham, Pauline; et al. (November 1928). "The Coppoc Boys". The Palimpsest. 9: 385–391, 403–404, 432–433.
^ "The Young Man Coppic". New-York Tribune. 4 Nov 1859. p. 6. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022 – via newspapers.com.
^ Butler, John (26 Nov 1859). "[Letter to the] Editor of the Republican". Anti-Slavery Bugle. Lisbon, Ohio. p. 3 – via newspapers.com.
^ Jones, Louis Thomas (1914). The Quakers of Iowa. Iowa City: State Historical Society of Iowa.
^ Robertson, Karen (October 19, 2019). "'The result will be worth the sacrifice...': John Brown's Ohio Raiders". Ohio History Connection. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Edwin Coppock". Anti-Slavery Bugle (Lisbon, Ohio). 31 Dec 1859. p. 2. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2022 – via newspapers.com.
^ Mendenhall, Thomas C. (October 1921). "The Coffin of Edwin Coppock". Ohio History Journal. 30 (4): 452–456. Archived from the original on 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
^ Baird, R. K. (April 22, 1888). "An Ohio Man's Story—The Funeral over Coppic's body". St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, Missouri). p. 32 12 feet (3.7 m). Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
^ Hutton, M. S. (April 29, 1888). "Edwin Coppic's grave". St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, Missouri). p. 13. Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
^ "Edwin Coppock". findagrave.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
^ Keeler, Ralph (March 1874). "Owen Brown's Escape From Harper's Ferry". Atlantic Monthly. pp. 342–365. Archived from the original on 2020-11-07. Retrieved 2020-10-19. (This article was reprinted in several newspapers.)
^ "Twelve Harper's Ferry Insurgents in Canada". Western Home Journal (Lawrence, Kansas). December 15, 1859. p. 2. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
^ Clark, Dan Elbert, Samuel Jordan Kirkwood, p. 152, cited in Bergmann, Leola Nelson, The Negro in Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, The State Historical Society of Iowa, 1969, p. 27.
^ The Iowa City Republican, February 1, 1860, cited in Bergmann, Leola Nelson, The Negro in Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, The State Historical Society of Iowa, 1969, p. 27.
^ Kirkwood, Samuel J. (March 3, 1860). Special message of Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood in reply to a resolution of inquiry passed by the House of Representatives, March 2d, 1860, in relation to the requisition of the Gov. of Virginia for one Barclay Coppic. Des Moines, Iowa. Archived from the original on August 16, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ "John Brown, Jr., Owen Brown, Francis Merriam, and Barclay Coppic, support Lincoln—their record". Daily Empire. Dayton, Ohio. 1 Sep 1860. p. 2. Archived from the original on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2022 – via newspapers.com.
^ Gibson Lamb Cranmer (1891) History of the upper Ohio Valley, Volume 2 p.270. Madison:Brant & Fuller
^ Harris, Ransom Langland (1894). "John Brown and His Followers in Iowa". Midland Monthly Magazine. 1: 262–267.