Mr. Copple is one of the leading business men in Omega township, Marion
county, having successfully managed a store and carried on other lines of
business in a manner that shows him to be a man of unusual business ability,
but having the honored ancestry behind him of which he can boast, we do not
wonder that he is a man of rare force of character, for in the genealogical
history in both the paternal and maternal lines, there is much data signally
germane to a compilation of this sort.
Samuel G. Copple was born in
Washington county, Indiana, April 24, 1849, the son of Abraham and Rozan
(Hanger) Copple, the former having been born in Indiana April 2, 1827, and
was the father of nine children, seven girls and two boys, three of whom
lived to maturity, the subject of this sketch being the oldest in order of
birth. Abraham Copple left Indiana in 1875, and came to Marion county,
Illinois, where he farmed on a parcel of land which he purchased, and also
rented additional land. He was called from his earthly labors in Omega, this
county, February 17, 1892. He married Rosannah Hauger September 21, 1847,
and they first moved to Sullivan county, Indiana, then to Marion county,
Illinois, where Abraham lived for over thirteen years. His three surviving
children are: Samuel G., our subject; Alice M., and Mahala M., who is now
deceased.
The early education of the subject of this sketch was
gained in the district schools of his native county, which were taught from
two to three months each year during the winter, in log school-houses, the
windows of which were made of greased paper for panes. He was compelled to
walk four miles to school. During the remainder of the year he worked on his
father's, farm. When he had reached maturity he married Mary C. Sill, the
daughter of Commodore and Sarah (Beard) Sill, of Jackson county, Illinois,
and she, too, received her education in the district schools of the country
which she attended three months out of the year. Sarah Beard was born in
Tennessee, November 6, 1820, and died at the home of her daughter, Mary C.,
at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. Commodore Sill was born in 1822
and lived to be past fifty. They were the parents of nine children, five
boys and four girls, of whom four are now living, namely: Marguerite J.
Sellers, whose home is in Sandoval, Marion county; Acenith A. Walker, of
Jackson county, this state; Ransom M. Sill, living at Blue Mound, Marion
county; Mary C. Copple, living at Omega, this county; Alice Sill lives in
Blue Mound, also; Mahala Solomon died and was buried in Texas. The father of
the subject's wife was born in Pennsylvania, from which state he moved to
Indiana, then to Illinois, where he bought a farm in Marion county.
Our subject and wife have only one child, a son, named Charles E., who is
married to Etta Kline; they have one son.
Mr. Copple is the owner of
sixty acres of good land, which is highly improved and lies in and near
Omega. It is a valuable and most desirable farm. He has been in the general
merchandise business for over twenty years at Omega, and he has built up an
excellent trade on general lines, handling a fine quality of goods and
giving his numerous customers the best goods possible for the money, so that
he seldom loses a customer, all of whom he treats with uniform courtesy. His
store is a credit to the community and would be conspicuous in a much larger
place. He also manages in a most successful manner the hotel at Omega, which
has become known to the traveling public as a comfortable place for
transients, where generous treatment is always accorded the friend or
stranger alike. Our subject also conducts an up-to-date feed barn, and
manages a telephone line, and he is regarded by everyone as an enterprising
and accommodating gentleman. Although these various lines of business occupy
most of his time, he does not neglect his duty to his county or state, but
his support can always be depended on in the promotion of good government
and honesty in politics. Religiously his parents were members of the
Christian church and he has followed in their footsteps. Mrs. Copple is a
member of the same, as was her mother. Mr. and Mrs. Copple set a worthy
example in all religious and mortal matters before their children and the
community where they live.
Extracted 27 May 2019 by Norma Hass from 1909 Biographical and Reminiscent History of Richland, Clay and Marion Counties, Illinois, pages 406-407.