Friday, August 7, 2009

He once held me high.. as now I do him....

Ok... ok... I got sidetracked for a while.. now I am back with the un-ending tales and memories of my Copeland's.... This is our grandpa Roy Copeland with my brother Larry and me. He was a tall man with strong chiseled features, reflective of the southern gentleman he was...I never in my entire life saw him in anything but a long sleeved white dress shirt and khaki pants, a coat and tie was added when anywhere but working outside at his farm. Oh and a hat.. a stetson felt hat, straw hat when at home when outside. . . .
In his younger days he wore many hats... He was a telegraph operator for William's Brother's Pipeline and when he first came to Oklahoma he was a ticket agent for the MK&T railroad in Cushing Oklahoma, he later would wear the hats of... having a drug store in Oilton, a filling station in Cushing, filling station in Hominy as well as being a teller for The National Bank of Commerce in Hominy Oklahoma. He also had a bank in Jennings Oklahoma and was the treasurer for the City of Hominy... When he decided to run for County Commissioner District 2 Creek County, he found his "niche" in life... Oh... Larry and I are not his only grandchildren and all of us are still living except for one.
His son Thomas Burton had the following children: Robert Dale "Bobby", Thomas Burton Jr. (Tommy) and Ronnie (now deceased) . His Son Roy Dee had Carol Jean... My mother Dorothy was his only daughter, she had my brother Larry and me, the baby of the family....
Grandpa lived to be almost 96.... time took him from a tall and strong, hard working man in his younger years to a weakened physical condition in his aged years.... but time never weakened his mental health nor his character... he is still strong and tall in that respect.. by everyone that had the pleasure to know and love him....




Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Here's who really rules the roost at our house...







This is "Sissi"... she may look like a 5 pound Chihuahua but she is really a cross between a Rottweiler and Pit Bull... She keeps up with the latest fashion in pedicures...

My life of crime....




Thought I better just go ahead and confess ....


Iused to be a member of the Jesse James gang...

Sooooo handsome.....


Grandpa was so handsome when he was young.. don't you agree?
Notice the dimple in his chin in this picture and the one below..

Faithful member of First Baptist Church Oilton Oklahoma...


Grandpa was a faithful member of the First Baptist Church in Oilton Oklahoma He attended regularly until he could no longer drive... Below he is getting baptized in the river and the above picture was for the church directory...




Same barn as below... this photo is from 1976

Barn on his farm...Still standing in 2009


7 of them all together....











Grandpa with all his siblings, He is on the back row.. This picture was taken in the mid to late 1960's, in the living room of his farm.







County Commissioner

Grandpa was a County Commissioner in Creek County, District 2 for over 25 years... Most of the time when it came time for re-election no one would even run against him. He served the people of Creek County with an honesty and integrity that is hard to find today. He was a kind and gently man unfaltering in his faith or integrity.....In his own words
"If a man doesn't have Integrity, he doesn't have anything"

Monday, August 3, 2009

The woman you see below...

The woman you see below Melissa Emma Tubb... was my Great Grandmother.. my Grandpa, Roy Delton Copeland's mother.. She is buried in A.J. Powell cemetery in Hominy Oklahoma beside her husband Henry Thomas and my Grandpa Roy Delton Copeland. I heard my grandpa talk very little of his mother during his life time. In 1917 she was still living in Louisiana and in poor health.. my grandpa had already brought his younger sister Alma to Oklahoma and was sending her to school so "she could make something of herself", as he put in a letter.. Melissa and daughters, May and Ethel came to Oklahoma to live, they lived in Hominy Oklahoma.. Melissa suffered a ruptured appendix and Hominy had no medical facility to perform surgery so Melissa was sent to Oklahoma City on a train. She died after surgery as the result of an infection.

The most interesting story about Melissa is the one about her father... Her mother was Nancy J. Tubb.. and was first married to a man with the surname of Gray, who had been a union soldier. One day shortly before Melissa was born Nancy's two brother's, who had been confederate soldiers ambushed him, killed him and threw him in the swamp. Melissa's parents did not want the baby to carry the surname of a union soldier so they gave her their surname of Tubb. Nancy's parent's were also first cousins who married... this might explain a little regarding their actions! Nancy and Melissa lived with her parents till they died, then they lived with Nancy's sister Fanny Tubb. When Melissa was about 4 years old her mother married William M. Copeland.. he is the oldest brother of Henry Thomas Copeland who would later become Melissa's husband.

This brings something else to mind.. I now know exactly how I am related to Ernest Tubb, the country western singer... Ernest's father was Calvin Tubb, his father was John Brown Tubb Jr, Nancy Tubb's brother... So, my GG-Grandmother was Ernest Tubb's aunt.....

My Grandpa's mother Melissa Emma Tubb Copeland

Melissa with her daughters
May & Ethel


Melissa Emma Tubb Copeland



This is my Grandpa's father Henry Thomas Copeland...

















Henry Thomas Copeland




as




a child

Roy Delton Copeland




Henry Thomas Copeland
Born: 1 March 1862 in Alabama
Died: 1948 Hominy Oklahoma
Melissa Emma Tubb Copeland
Born: April 15 1872 in Louisiana
Died: 02 June 1922 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Henry & Melissa have the following children
Alberta Elizabeth 1888-1930
Roy Delton 1891-1987
John Howard 1893-1968
Eula Ester 1896-1971
Alma Ardell1899-1997
Etta May 1904 1997
Frances Ethel 1906-1999
Pictured above
Back Row: Roy & Alberta
Front Row: Eula Ester, Henry Thomas,Melissa,
Howard, Alma sitting on Melissa's lap
These are my Great Grandparents
Their son Roy Delton Copeland
is my Grandpa
Henry Thomas parents were
George Copeland
Born: 1828 in Georgia
Death: March 1871 in Claiborne, Louisiana
Matilda Ann Gibson
Born: 15 May 1830
Died: 1902 in Sabine Parish, Louisiana