Mae Walton Finn, a wild Irish rose

Mae Walton Finn ¹, Charles Thomas Copeland, Jr. ²

1914 - 1988

My mother-in-law would have been shocked that she is considered a family legend well worth writing about. That belief, which evolved over the years, was based on conversations, stories told by family members and facts gathered from her papers after she died.  

Her legend had its roots in the British Isles years before her birth when: 

 

In the late 1800s, her grandfather, Jacob Walton,  sailed from England to America, where he met Mary "Mattie" Mae MacFarlane, whose parents had migrated from Scotland and settled in Manitowac, Wisconsin.  Shortly before their marriage in 1886, he returned to England, where he convinced his brother, Robert, (who later died in a train crash) and sister, Elizabeth, to come back to America with him where they could live with the newly married couple in Chicago (hopefully with Mattie's blessing).

 
The extended family established their home on the south side of Chicago, where they eventually opened a candy store and raised  Bessie (born in 1891) and Wallace "Wally" (born in 1893).

• 
  In 1901, Joseph Eugene Finn, who had grown up in Galway, Ireland with 12 siblings, joined his widowed mother, brothers and sisters in Boston.  But Joe was restless and eventually headed west, not stopping until he arrived in Chicago, where he met and married 22 year old Bessie Walton in 1913.

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Mae Finn was born on September 6, 1914 and her family's seemingly normal life changed dramatically when:

• Joe and Bessie's marriage broke up, resulting in the 3 year old and her mother moving back to live with Bessie's parents.
• A year or so later, Bessie married Philip Costa.  It didn't take long for her to realize that their marriage  had been a big mistake.  It is suspected there was physical abuse, but the only thing known for sure is that Bessie moved back home with her now 5 year old daughter, where she helped out in the candy store and Mae attended kindergarten in the school across the street.
• Seemingly Phillip could not or would not accept Bessie's decision to end their marriage.  In an attempt to convince her that he'd changed and was willing to do anything to get his family back, he often would appear at the store. It all came to a head on December 6, 1919 when, after she had refused his pleas once again, his frustration boiled over and he shot her, immediately fleeing the candy store where she laid dying. To this day, it is not known whether he was ever caught and tried. 

10 year old Mae

Following Bessie's death, Mae became a permanent resident in the Walton household  composed of her grandparents, Great Aunt Elizabeth, and  Uncle Wally.  She found it less complicated to simply tell people that her last name was Walton, although her father, Joe Finn, who never remarried and claimed he was a widower, did remain active in her life until his death in 1958.
 

The Waltons provided Mae with a stable but strict home.  At age 16, after finishing her sophomore year in  high school, she entered "secretarial school", where she learned what it took to be successful in an office environment and found that her typing skills were particularly good. 

Her eighteenth year was filled with unexpected joys and sorrows.  Two months after her birthday, her grandfather who had closed his candy store and returned to work in a cement factory, died. This of course meant that it was even more important that Mae use her typing skills to help support her grandmother and the family.
 
When she wasn't working, she was spending a lot of time  roller skating at a nearby roller rink. While she thoroughly enjoyed the smoothness and grace of dancing on skates, she also loved to compete with other skaters in rough and tumble games on wheels. 

At that time a new sport called "roller derby" was being created and organized, which strongly appealed to Mae.  To her delight, after auditioning, she was accepted to be on one of the newly formed  teams.  However, her excitement was short-lived when the adults she loved and respected convinced her that leaving a steady job which supported her family for a dream could end in disaster - both physically and financially.

Tom and Mae Copeland - 1935

That year also brought  unexpected happiness when the 18 year old fiery redhead met Tom Copeland, a handsome 31 year old Georgian who shared not only her love of skating but whose birthday was also on September 6.  

Mattie Walton and Joseph Finn

As time passed, the couple not only shared a love for skating, but discovered that their shared interests had expanded into other parts of their lives.  On September 6, 1935, 20 year old Mae and 33 year old Charles Thomas "Tom" Copeland celebrated their birthdays in a wedding ceremony, with Mattie Walton and Joe Finn serving as parents of the bride.

 
Even after their son and daughter were born, they continued to dance and skate whenever possible with the "Old Timers Roller Skating Club"  until their bodies started complaining.
 

There's no doubt that the tragedies that had been woven into her life before she could even talk, affected how she often responded to perceived threats in her later years. 

However, there was the happy child side of her  who loved to play and have fun. The stories of those entertaining times are many and include:

• Grabbing her young son and chasing fire trucks;
• Racing around the roller skating rink floor and bouncing the bouncers who tried to slow her down (much to her child's embarrassment);
• Agreeing to attend a college football game without knowing a thing about the game so she could cheer loudly for both teams - no matter what happened;
• Turning off all the lights, changing her voice and telling incredibly scary bedtime stories to her grandsons; 

 After 43 years of marriage, Tom died and Mae grieved for him until she finally joined him ten years later.   A legendary life indeed!

Thomas Ward Custer - George Custer's brother who fought and died with him

(Brother of George Armstrong Custer)

1845 – 1876

Unless one has an extraordinary amount of time and patience, many of the Custer family tree twigs and branches seem impossible to untangle (and frankly, I have given up on that project for now). What we do know is that the Pennsylvania and Midwest branches sprang from Paulus Kuster, who moved his family from Crefield, Germany to America in 1682.   

Whether the name begins with a K or a C, it has recognition!  I can personally testify that upon mentioning that my great grandmother was a Custer before she married a Franklin, the immediate response is recognition of my infamous distant cousin - George Armstrong Custer.  We don't deny the relationship!  After all, it is a fact that not all fruit on any one's family tree is tasty.

George definitely qualifies as a family legend.  At first I had considered writing about this talented and forceful  man who possessed questionable decision making skills - the last one of which was responsible for the loss of  211 lives, including his own.

Emanuel and Marie Ward Custer

However, upon digging deeper into his life, I was shocked to discover that George's parents, Emanuel and Marie, actually lost three sons, a son-in-law and a young grandson on June 25, 1876 during the battle known as "Custer's Last Stand". Their only blessing was knowing that their surviving son, Nevin, would never be able to fight in a war because of his asthma and rheumatism.

The Custer casualties were:

Lt. Colonel George Custer

Libby and George Custer

•  37 year old General George Armstrong (aka "Autie" because, as a child, he couldn't pronounce Armstrong) Custer  who fought with the Union Army.  As the War drew to a close in 1865, he  married Elizabeth (aka Libby) and then took some time off to determine whether he would have a better career outside the military. A year later, he joined the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment as a Lt. Colonel.  Libby traveled with him to his outposts, and defended his reputation to anyone who would listen long after his death.  Although there were rumors that he had fathered two children with a Cheyenne woman, this was never proven.

Captain Thomas Ward Custer

• 31 year old Captain Thomas Ward Custer,  who some sources firmly say was married with children and others just as firmly disagree. He was described as a handsome, charming ladies' man, and his story is featured later in this post. 

Boston Custer

• 28 year old Boston Custer had been unable to join the military because of poor health, so he became a civilian contractor who served the 7th Cavalry as forage master, guide, packer and scout.

• 18 year old grandson, Harry Armstrong “Autie” Reed, joined his Uncle Boston on the pack train which followed Custer's troops.  After hearing that ammunition was needed for the impending fight, he and Boston raced up to join the main column as it moved into position to attack a sprawling Indian village. Had they stayed with the pack train, Boston and Autie could well have survived the battle.

•  31 year old James "Jimmy" A. Calhoun, was married to the Custers' sister, Margaret, and had served as a Second Lieutenant in the Union Army.  He was called "The Adonis of the Seventh" solely because of his handsome features.  But the truth was he was devoted to his wife and never a womanizer.  He was the Acting Commander of L Company when he was killed with most of his company, all of whom fought fiercely on what became later known as Calhoun Hill. 

Obviously they were all interesting men in their own right, but I decided to concentrate on Thomas, who was a tiger on the battlefield!  He was the only Civil War soldier to have been awarded two Congressional Medals of Honor (which he was shown wearing in the above photo). 

At age 16 in 1861, he was not allowed to enlist in the Army.  However, it was only two weeks later that he successfully lied about his age and was mustered into the 21^st Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  During the next couple of years after taking part in a couple of skirmishes, he was assigned to escort duty on the division commander's staff and then transferred to the staff of Major General Ulysses S. Grant.

Finally, in the summer of 1864, his brother, George, obtained a commission for the 19 year old to serve as the General's aide-de-camp in the 6^th Michigan Cavalry.  By 1865, the brothers had seen action in several campaigns. 

But it was at the battle at Namozine Church in Virginia that Tom, who was now a Second Lieutenant in the 6^th Michigan Cavalry won his first medal when he recovered the enemy's flag.  Only a couple of days later, he charged the breastworks at Sayler's Creek and after again snatching the enemy colors, demanded their surrender.  Even though he was

badly injured and had his horse shot out from under him, he refused to give up his prize and rode off with the colors. He had to be threatened with arrest before he agreed to report to the surgeon and be treated. This action earned him his second metal.

Finally in 1866, after having mustered out of the 6th Michigan, he  received a commission in the U.S. 7^th Cavalry as a first lieutenant and his career over the next several years included being wounded in 1868, serving in the Yellowstone Expedition in 1873 and the Black Hills Expedition in 1874.  In 1875, he was promoted to Captain and given command of Company C of the 7^th Cavalry which was based in the Black Hills.

Only one year later, while joining his brothers, brother-in-law and nephew in a  military action on June 25, 1876 against the Sioux and Cheyenne, his life came to a violent end. The bodies of the three Custer brothers were found within yards of one another but Thomas' body was so mutilated it was only possible to identify him by means of a tattoo he was known to have had.  Initially he was buried on the battlefield but later exhumed and buried in the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.

George Custer's marker

 

Boston Custer's memorial

James Calhoun's memorial before fire

Autie Reed Gravestone

Enos Madison Philpott - the family connection to Andersonville Prison

Family lineage: Enos Philpott ¹; Rebecca Philpott ²; Lula Jane Johnson ³;

; Charles Thomas Copeland Sr. ⁴; Charles Thomas Copeland Jr. ⁵

1817 - 1864

This third child of David and Sarah Philpott (featured in an earlier post) was born in Virginia, but grew up in Georgia.  It was there that he married Adaline Fuller, with whom he had 10 children.  According to census data, he and members of the Philpott family lived near each other in Troup County, just across the county line from their father's Heard County plantation.

It's possible that these tracts of farmland were deeded to the Philpott children around the time of their widowed father's marriage to Exonia Foster, in order to ensure that his adult children would receive a portion of the estate before rewriting his Will naming only his second wife and children of their marriage.

Like all families of that turbulent time, the Philpotts' life was to change forever after the Civil War began in 1860. Whatever had seemed important before that year was forgotten, and the family turned their energies to supporting the Confederacy by either joining the military or providing other services for the cause. 

Farmer Enos Madison Philpott was 47 years old in 1864 and had children ranging in age from 4 to 23.  He had chosen to contribute to the Rebel cause by raising crops and livestock to feed the troops.  But it was becoming more and more obvious as time went by that the Confederacy desperately needed  to find ways to use their manpower more effectively, thereby freeing up more soldiers from non-combatant roles to join the fight. 

Finally Enos made the tough decision to take a more active role in the war.  So he turned over the management of the farm to his wife and the oldest of his children and traveled to Atlanta, where, on April 27, 1864, he enlisted and was assigned to serve in Company C under the command of Captain Early Baker in Colonel J. H. Fannin's Georgia Reserves First Regiment. 

According to his muster records, he was 5' 10", fair complexioned, with blue eyes and dark hair. The regiment to which he was assigned was composed of students, clerks, farmers, mechanics and even a dentist. They came from 19 Georgia counties and were young boys, old men or wounded veterans who were considered not strong enough for combat but could easily fill other very necessary roles in the war effort. 

According to “U.S. Civil War Soldiers Records and Profiles,1861-1865”, Enos was assigned to be a guard in Andersonville Prison, which had  opened two months before. Its site had been chosen mostly for its remoteness and safe distance from coastal raids. Its main purpose was to house the overflow of Union prisoners who were being held in and around Richmond, Virginia until a prisoner exchange could be finalized.

It was built to hold a maximum of 10,000 captives and 1,000 guards, but was expected to decrease in size once the exchange took effect. However, after that plan fell through, the population in the prison exploded. Within a few months of its completion, Andersonville was housing 30,000 prisoners and more than 2,000 guards.

The prison was hell on earth for those imprisoned men who were given nothing for their basic needs - not clothing, food or even enough room to lie down within the vast pen. Even worse, the nearly naked prisoners suffered from swarms of insects, cold, heat, filth, and disease usually generated by what became a contaminated water supply in the creek.  Lawlessness prevailed as desperate prisoners took anything they could from weaker men in order to survive. 

We often think of prison guards as aggressive, perhaps cruel and much better off than those they guarded.  Yes, in a way these guards could have been considered better off - but not by much.  When hungry or thirsty, they could at least leave the prison occasionally to forage for food and clean water.  Remember, this  was not their chosen career, and they had been recruited from the youngest, oldest and weakest men available.  They lived in constant fear because, with no training, these almost 2,000 men were expected to detain and keep under control up to 30,000 battle tested veterans without getting beaten or killed themselves. 

Those who survived could thank the brave women living 

outside the walls who tried as much as possible to save lives, while ignoring the very real danger of spending time in a place ridden with disease and populated by desperate men.  Despite their best efforts, however, the numbers were still shocking.  The death toll by the time Andersonville was closed in April of 1865 was 13,000 prisoners and 226 guards - one of whom was Enos. 

His muster records show that he died on October 27, 1864 as a result of “disease contracted in the service of the Confederate States” (dysentery) and was buried outside the walls of a prison which had taken in its first prisoners only a few months before.

Shortly after Enos' death, General William T. Sherman captured Atlanta, which led to the transfer of the few able-bodied inmates to prisons in Savannah and South Carolina so that they wouldn't be freed to fight again for the Yankees. However, the most infirm and ill stayed in Andersonville until it closed forever.

Clara Barton

With the war finally ended in July, the U.S. government appropriated the prison's burial ground and established it as a national cemetery. A month later, the famous Civil War nurse, Clara Barton, surveyed the cemetery in order to help identify and mark the graves of the Union dead.

Finally, after three years, the Union soldiers who had been temporarily buried in the local vicinity were re-interred at the Andersonville National Cemetery. However, the graves of the Confederate guards remained outside the cemetery walls until 1878.  

We can be thankful that the women of Americus, Georgia stepped in to right that wrong. These ladies, who had been actively raising money to erect a monument in their city, identified a much more important need for that money and that was to honor those Confederate soldiers who had died while serving the Confederacy faithfully and doing the best they could during very difficult times.  These men had been lying forgotten for more than ten years - neither honored nor remembered. 

Once everyone was on board with the decision, the  donations were used to dis-inter those Confederate bodies and bury them in Oak Grove Cemetery.  If their names were known,  they would be buried in their family plots. But those whose families weren't known would be buried in an honored place where the Stars and Bars fly over the grave sites and with 43 marked as " Unknown". Enos was one of the "unknown".

His widow, Adaline, and the children continued to live in Troup County until some time before1887 when she and a few of the younger children moved to Randolph County, Alabama.  It was there that she applied for a pension under the "For Relief of Widows of Confederate Soldiers Act" and was approved in 1887, 1889 and 1891. In the applications she stated that her husband, E. M. (called Madison in the 1891 application) "was a Private in Company C of the 1st Regiment of Georgia Volunteers and that he came" to his death from disease contracted in the service of the Confederate Sates and that his death occurred during the late war; that she had not re-married, was a resident of Alabama and that her estate did not exceed $1,000 in value.  The petitions were signed with her mark and notarized.  There is no record of her life after these pension applications.

The House that Fairbanks built - and furnished with ghosts

While researching family legends over the last several months, I discovered that there are many hidden stories out there waiting to be told - if we just dig deep enough.  Hopefully the stories written so far have been interesting and fun for you to read.  I have to admit, however, that when the thought started nipping around the edges of my consciousness that it would be fun to write about a legendary house, it was pushed out just as quickly - that is, until I started digging deeper into the story of the Fairbanks family and learned of their commitment to care for a part of their legacy which began hundreds of years ago.  

The Fairbanks House today

The legend began in 1633 when Jonathon Fairebanke (aka Fairbank, Fairbanks) migrated to America from England with his wife, Grace, and their children.  They weren't in their new country very long before they decided to settle in Dedham, Massachusetts and build a house for their large family.  The construction of the building took over a year to complete, and the family lived in a small house situated on the property until the first livable phase was completed in 1636.

They would no doubt have been shocked to learn that for almost 400 years, their home was continuously occupied by their lineal descendants - until it was converted into a museum still managed and tended by the Fairbanks family.  Perhaps just as remarkable is that there has never been a mortgage encumbrance upon it. 

Although it is generally accepted that the house was built in 1636, there has been considerable disagreement among historians about its construction.  One of these historians believes that it was not built until 1654, based on the “fact” that while the old house is a framed building of massive oak timber, there is no historical evidence that any framed houses were erected in the town at that time. 

A strong argument against this alleged ”fact” is the established tradition that  the frame for the main part of the house, as well as the bricks, tiles and windows, had been imported from England to Boston, where they were stored for several months before being transported to Dedham.

This very old house stood tall through the bloody birth of America, and continued to house its family while our country's history was being played out through the  centuries. 

But that's not the end of the story, and this next  chapter makes it even more intriguing. Because of  paranormal activity claims made by the staff and visitors (hearing children laughing when none are in the house and disembodied footsteps which have no apparent explanation), the house now carries the title of "The Nation's Oldest Haunted House"!

Finally, after the management of the museum continued to hear these odd stories from more than one person, they hired The Atlantic Paranormal Society (aka TAPS), a group of “ghost hunters”, to investigate.

After arriving at the site and interviewing the staff, TAPS made arrangements to stay in the house all night  in order to make audio recordings.

Fairbanks House parlor

One of the museum's employees, who is also a member of the Fairbanks family, joined the TAPS team in the house's tiny parlor that night and admitted that he got little or no sleep - especially when his cell phone went off in the middle of the night and began playing organ music! 

After reviewing those tapes the next day, the team  identified sounds that they identified as laughing kids.  Even the employee who had spent the night with them admitted that he too had heard the sounds.  He became a little calmer about the incident when the ghost hunters assured him that if there were spirits in the house, they were likely members of his own family and wouldn’t harm him. The TAPS team also told him spirits like to ‘mess with electronics,’ which might explain why tourists cameras often stop working when in the house.

The TAPS group returned for a second round of testing, this time armed with their elector-magnetic field detectors and audio recorders. The team leader described the outing as “awesome” and made an official report which said, in part, that "the house had a very different feeling the second time" and that there had been "lots of knocking and moving sounds".  She  stated that she and her team now firmly believe there is paranormal activity in the house.

This report was, not surprisingly, questioned by more than one observer, who claimed that most paranormal groups don't properly investigate and analyze the data that has been collected.
Despite those reservations, however, there are others who firmly believe that the house is populated by “strange spirits” and could well be one of the “most haunted houses in America”. One of theose believers is a museum director whose ancestors built the property:

"There’s always been weird things happening in the house, from the doorbell going off a million times to flashlights never working. . . there are sometimes footsteps heard on the stairs when no one is there. Also, a newly-installed alarm system went off every night for several weeks with the alarm company unable to offer an explanation.”

It's natural to assume that  if you have ghosts

haunting a house, there had to have been some violent deaths in it. Therefore, you might not be surprised to learn that there was at least one such death which was reported in 1801, when one of the Fairbanks sons, 21 year old Jason, was convicted of killing his girlfriend, Elizabeth Fales, in a nearby pasture. She had apparently spurned his marriage proposal.  He was hanged from the gallows on Dedham Common in one of the most sensational murder cases of the time. A few months after the hanging, Jason's older brother Ebenezer published an expensive booklet entitled "The Solemn Declaration of the Late Unfortunate Jason Fairbanks", in which he proclaimed Jason's

innocence.

Hopefully the story of this wonderful old house and it's long history has been enjoyable to read.  Perhaps because of this story, you will add the Fairbanks House at 511 East Street in Dedham to your itinerary if you should happen to be traveling through the Northeast. Both the staff and the spirits will be happy to welcome you!

 http://www.ghosttheory.com/2011/04/16/haunted-fairbanks-house

Sir John Copeland - fighting for his king in Medieval times

 Abt 1320 - 1363

Several years ago, while researching John Copeland, the Irish Revolutionary soldier featured in my first post, I discovered that the Copeland name was actually deeply rooted in "Coupland Castle", a medieval structure still standing in the Village of Coupland, outside Northumberland, England - not Ireland, as commonly believed. Thankfully, it didn't take a lot of digging to fill out the legend which had been lurking out there, waiting to be told.  

Coupland aka Copeland Castle

The earliest documented soldier in the family was John de Coupland, one of 12 knights who, in 1248, were chosen by King Henry III to meet with Scottish commissioners in order to settle a number of recurring border disputes. 

Almost 100 years later, Scotland again - or still - was causing problems for the English when another John, Sir John's grandson and the Governor of  Roxbury Castle, earned an important place in medieval English history. 

King David Bruce of Scotland

While fighting under the banner of King Edward III during the so-called "100 Year War", Sir John captured King David Bruce II of Scotland, who was the last of his royal line in Scotland.  King David had been recruited by France to attack the English with his 12,000 troops, thereby creating a diversion and hopefully weakening England's military efforts.

The Battle of Neville's Cross

The Battle of Neville’s Cross was decided on October 17, 1346.  The forewarned British had prepared well to meet the enemy, so before the Scots could coordinate their efforts, the English had identified the best ground - a narrow ridge - to favor them in a fight.  Even though the Scots were stronger and had seemed at first to be winning, they were eventually out-maneuvered and fled the field, leaving their king behind to be captured and imprisoned. 

The total casualties of the battle are not known with certainty;  however sources indicate that while the English losses were minimal, there were about 1,000 Scots killed and many more captured.  Those captives included a wounded King David Bruce, who was disarmed after knocking out two of Sir John de Coupland's teeth with his gauntlet in the struggle to free himself. 

Queen Phillipa

King Edward II

After the battle ended, Sir John proved to be a stubborn man (a Copeland trait?) who could have easily lost all he had won with his refusal to obey the orders of Queen Phillipa.  The queen had remained at Newcastle during the battle, and demanded that John deliver the wounded Scottish monarch to her. Highly insulted by his refusal to accept her authority, she sent her complaint to the King who was laying siege against Calais, France at the time.


Soon after King Edward  received the queen's message, he summoned Sir John to explain his disobedience.  On his way to Calais, John first stored his prisoner in a nearby castle.  As soon as he appeared before his king, he fell to his knees and forcefully explained that he had meant no disrespect to the queen but that he had sworn  allegiance only to his king and had risked his life only for him and his country.

Upon hearing Sir John's impassioned speech, the king acknowledged the man's loyalty and bravery, and granted him a rich reward of five hundred pounds a year and land.  In addition, he was made a Knight Banneret (a Medieval knight who could lead a company of troops during a time of war under his own banner and was eligible to settle whatever new territory he conquered), the Sheriff of Northumberland, and Keeper of Boxboro Castle.  Obviously, Loyalty earned its own reward in this case (you have to wonder whether Queen Phillipa agreed with the king's generosity)!   

de Coupland was then ordered to deliver the prisoner to the queen, who imprisoned him in the Tower of London for eleven years. The following year the English were able to occupy almost the whole of Scotland south of the Forth and the Clyde. Following his rise to fame, Sir John de Coupland became a powerful figure in the north of England, and eventually his ruthless pursuit of power produced many enemies, one of whom ambushed and killed him in 1363.  

History is pretty murky for several hundred years after the great battle, but we do know that sometime before the 18th Century, this branch of the family migrated to County Down, in the Ulster Province of Ireland. The question is: why would this well-known English family leave a place they loved and live in a place where they weren't wanted?  It is believed that they may have been chosen to participate in a plan hatched by their government entitled "The English Plantation Movement" and were offered incentives such as land and money to make the move.  The underlying hope behind the plan was that these solid, loyal citizens would bring peace and stability to an area that had always been resistant to English control and had often threatened rebellion.

Spode Christmas plates

William Taylor Copeland

But not all of the Copelands migrated to Ireland. The  family can be justly proud of those who stayed behind in Straffordshire, England where William Taylor Copeland joined Josiah Spode, an outstanding ceramic artist, in creating a company still highly respected today: Spode, Copeland and Sons. They became highly successful creators and dealers of china, glass and earthenware in London, while also operating on Copeland Island off the Northern Coast of Ireland. In 1835, this same William Taylor Copeland became Lord Mayor of London.  

Lawrence Copeland, a lineal descendant of Sir John, was the first to leave Ireland because of his religious convictions and he is believed to have founded a major branch of the Copeland family on the East coast of Massachusetts.

Our lineal ancestor, George Copeland, and his children left Ireland and settled in Chester County, PA in the early 1700s. After settling his family, he traveled with his young son, John (who became a soldier in the Revolution), and a group of Scotch-Irish immigrants to South Carolina where they attained great swatches of land. 
 My sincere thanks to the following resources which made this story of a legend possible: 

http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/resource-centre/medieval/battleview.asp?BattleFieldId=28

http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/battleswars12011400/p/Second-War-Of-Scottish-Independence-Battle-Of-Nevilles-Cross.htm 
“Some Copeland and Little Families”, written by A. Lucille Harney and Fairline Bigley (Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 98-74171)