Cope Family History


The Cope ancestory of Michael Fromholt goes back to the birth of James Cope in 1776 in the state of North Carolina.Supposedly the name of his father was William,but have as yet not confirmed that. It is known that his mother,Sarah,was living in his houshould in 1830.The Cope family of White County,Tennessee ,started by William Andrew Cope,are related.Possibly a brother,but could have been a cousin.A sister to James,Sarah Cope, married a Levi Rodgers(or Rogers) and settled near James in southern Warren County,Tennessee.

I have a lot of information on the descendents of James Cope,and some on Wiliam Andrew Cope and Sarah Cope Rodgers.Most of the James Cope information came from research that I have done at the library in McMinnville,Tennessee,which has an excellant local genealogy collection.I have also done research at the Allen County Public Library in Ft Wayne,Indiana.Below is a list of names of people that have helped me over the years, and their e-mail addresses with them.

James Cope came to Warren County in the state of Tennessee as early as 1800.He did return to North Carolina after the death of his first wife,Lydia Payne,to marry his second wife,Polly(or Mary) Merritt Crouch.He was for the most part a farmer,but he also started a church and was a minister,this according to a local history about Warren County.He lived to be about 98 years old.He owned quite a bit of land,at least 1,500 acres.Most of this land he gave to his former slaves,some of which also took the Cope surname.His grave is located in an abandoned cemetary about 75 yards off of Northcutts Cove Rd in southern Warren County.There are two large slabs of stone covering his grave and that of his second wife.The other graves in the cemetary are supposedly of his former slaves and thier descendents.Most of these descendents moved out of the area by the 1920's.Both a daughter and a son married a Northcutt,I have limited information about these lines.

Most of his children stayed in the general area of Warren County,and what became the counties of Grundy, and Van Buren.Stephan Cope,his son and my ancestor,lived on land that became Grundy County.Because of the courthouse burning down twice during the history of Grundy County,there are few records available.There are a few people that are descended from Stephan that still live in the area,but thier knowledge of the family history is lacking. I have been told that the land that Stephan COPE and his wife,Comfort,lived on was in the Hobbs Hill area just east of Tracy City,Tennessee.There are no records that I have yet to find concerning the death and burial of Stephan or Comfort.

The wife of Stephan COPE,Comfort BOULDIN,was supposedly born in Kentucky.It has been said that her parents were Lewis BOULDIN and Temperance(surname unknown).There was a BOULDIN family that lived nearby,and there was a Temperance BOULDIN that lived next door to them on a national census.This Comfort may also have had some Cherokee blood in her as well,but as of yet,I have had no evidence,other than oral history.Although I have heard it from different sources.Stephan & Comfort had about 16 children,you would think I could find some more of their descendents.I do have information on the descendents of a few other children.

John Rodgers COPE,about the fifth child of Stephan and Comfort,was my great-great-grandfather.There has been confusion concerning his marriage.Some thought he was married twice,first to a Elizabeth Tucker,then to a Louisa Lowe.Now it seems these two women are one and the same.The full name of his wife was Margaret Louisa Tucker.She was called "Eliza".This from the death certificates from three of her children.It is possible that she was a step-daughter to John Lowe,who she was living with after her marriage,according to the 1860 census.Then again,John Lowe may have been a husband to her aunt.He was a coal miner,and they were rather poor.Lately,I have been recieving more information about other descendents,so hopefully I will be able to add them to my records.Two children of his son ,Robert, still live in Chattanooga,Tennessee.

James Thomas Cope,my great-grandfather,was the third child of John and Elizabeth.He too was a coal miner in Clifty,Tennessee.He was married to Frances Adaline Smith,who after his death,moved to Dayton,Ohio to live with a son.Some children of both James and his father migrated to the Dayton,Ohio area about 1923.This is where my grandfather,Robert E L Cope,settled and raised his family.There was also a child of James and Frances that moved out west(on Wyoming 1920 state census) and two that moved to Florida.There were 10 children in all.