Oliver Cope (abt. 1647 - abt. 1697)

Born about 1647 in Wiltshire, England

Husband of Rebecca (Harland) Cope — married 1670 in New Castle, Pennsylvania

Descendants

Died about May 1697 at about age 50 in New Castle County, Pennsylvania (now Delaware)

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Kevin McClain [send private message] and Michele Hevingham [send private message]

Oliver Cope was a part of William Penn's Pennsylvania Settlers community. Join: William Penn and Early Pennsylvania Settlers Project Discuss: penn

Biography

Oliver Cope

Origin

Oliver was called "Oliver Cope of Awbry (Avebury) in the county of Wilts, tailor" when on 8 September 1681, he purchased 250 acres in Pennsylvania from William Penn.^[1]

Oliver was born at Avebury, Wiltshire, England. He was a son of John Cope, of Chisledon, Wiltshire, England, yeoman, and his wife, Elizabeth (Unknown), "a widow living in Avebury, Wiltshire in 1681."^[1] Possibly Elizabeth Deane, daughter of William Deane of Chisledon, Wiltshire.^[2]

Oliver's father, John Cope, yeoman, left his will, dated 19 September 1649, which was proved on 14 October 1681 at the Archdeaconry of Wiltshire.^[3][1]

Birth date, 1647, is a guess, possibly based on c. 1670 marriage.

Erroneous Gentry Descent

The issue is not who was Oliver's father, but who was his grandfather. According to Charles M. Hansen, writing in 1998 for The American Genealogist, "... it is now clear that the generations to connect this yeoman [John Cope] with the gentry Copes were based on the falsified report of Walter Ellis, Heraldic Engraver of London."^[1][4][5]

Several publications have claimed the false gentry descent (from Anthony Cope, Esq.) for Oliver Cope. The first seems to have been The Prominent Families of the United States of America. (London, 1908, 49-53) by Arthur M. Burke, ed., and then Burke's Landed Gentry. (London, 1939), and Living Descendants of Blood Royal. (5 Vols., London, 1959-73, 1:514-16), and recently The Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants ... by Gary Boyd Roberts.

Charles Hansen states that Oliver Cope's correct ancestry is reported in the 1881 Memoirs of the Copes of Wiltshire, by J. C. Biddle-Cope (not hyphenated elsewhere).^[1] However, even J. C. Biddle Cope, "despite his misgivings," later included the falsified ancestry in 1908 in Prominent Families of America.

Immigration

Oliver immigrated soon after making his purchase, probably in about 1682.

Unknown Wife's Maiden Name

Various maiden names for Rebecca have been suggested: Crooke and Mayhave. However, no primary evidence supporting either is known.

Oliver married to Rebecca Unknown.^[1][6]

Children

Children of Oliver and Rebecca:^[6]

1. William Cope, b 1672^[7], m. Mary Unknown^[8]
2. Elizabeth Cope; m. (1) Thomas Foulke of Chester Co., Pennsylvania, and (2) Hugh Blackwell.^[8]
3. Ruth Cope, m. Thomas Buffington of Bradford.^[8]
4. John Cope, b 1690/91, d 1773 ^[7]

Quaker?

It is not known whether Oliver and Rebecca were members of the Society of Friends, but their youngest son, John, was a prominent member.^[1][7] There is an entry "1684, Cope, Oliver — New Castle Co." in the births & burials records of the Concord Society of Friends monthly meeting records.^[9] Also an unknown Cope, emigrant from Avebury, is noted in the Wiltshire Social & Institutional Records as being found in the Quaker records for Philadelphia, USA; "A tailor, from Kennett or Avebury."^[10]

Positions and Property

On 8 September 1681 (the month before his father's will was proved), Oliver purchased for 5 shillings, 250 acres of land in Pennsylvania from William Penn.^[1] This transaction is also shown in a list of landholders in Chester County prepared under the direction of Governor John Blackwell in about 1689.^[8]

In May of 1682, William Penn sent a list of land purchasers to his surveyor, Philip Ford, and Oliver Cope was accredited with the purchase of 500 acres.^[7][11]

Death and Legacy

Oliver "of the county of New Castle" (then in Pennsylvania, now Delaware) wrote his will dated 21 May 1697.^[1] On 2 June 1697, his widow, Rebecca Cope, signed that she was satisfied with the will, and it was recorded on 10 June 1697 at Philadelphia.^[1] His will names his wife Rebecca, children John, William, Ruth, and Elizabeth, as well as John Buckley, Richard Buffington, John Childe, and Jeremiah Collett.^[12]

Around the end of May 1697, Oliver died at his home in Naaman's Creek, just outside the bounds of New Castle County, Pennsylvania (now Delaware), leaving a wife and four children.^[8]

Research Notes

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} Hansen, Charles M., (1998) "The Claimed Gentry Descent of Oliver Cope, Immigrant to Pennsylvania: A Nineteenth Century Genealogical Fraud." The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. AmericanAncestors.org accessed 19 June 2016 (Vol 70, Page 156).
2. ↑ Bernard Burke. Burke's American families with British ancestry : the lineages of 1,600 families of British origin now resident in the United States of America. (Baltimore : Genealogical Pub. Co.), 2631. Internet Archive (Archive.org).
3. ↑ Original Wills, Box 14C, 1674-1687, Wiltshire Records Office, Towbridge
4. ↑ Much of the Hansen article (TAG 70:125) was copied by Richard Boswell in his RootsWeb post on the subject.
5. ↑ Boswell, Richard S., (6 Aug 1996) COPE CONTROVERSY-Wiltshire. GEN-MEDIEVAL-L Archives, TAG 70:156 accessed 18 June 2016.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Cope, Emma Elizabeth, (1901) Records of the Family of Cope. London: Mitchell and Hughes, 1901, Archive.org accessed October 18, 2015 (Page 7).
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3} Gilbert Cope. A Record of the Cope Family as Established in America, by Oliver Cope, who Came from England to Pennsylvania, about...1682, with the Residences, Dates of Births, Deaths and Marriages of His Descendants as Far as Ascertained. (Philadelphia: King & Baird, 1861) 9-10. Digitized by Google Books.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4} J. Smith Futhey, Gilbert Cope. History of Chester County, Pennsylvania, with Genealogical and Biographical Sketches. (United States: L. H. Everts, 1881), 31, 502.
9. ↑ Concord Monthly Meeting (Society of Friends). Concord Monthly Meeting's record of births, 1758-1915. (Concordville, Pennsylvania: RG2/Ph/C61 3.3. Concord Monthly Meeting Records, QM-Ph-C610. Swarthmore, Pennsylvania: Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College), 43.
10. ↑ England, Great Britain. Wiltshire Social & Institutional Records 1123-1968. Vol.5, page 21: Cope.
11. ↑ Hazard, Samuel. Annals of Pennsylvania, from the Discovery of the Delaware. (United States: Hazard & Mitchell, 1850), 640.
12. ↑ Edward F. Wright. Abstracts of Philadelphia County [Pennsylvania] Wills, 1726-1747. (United States: Heritage Books, 2009), A:357.

See also:

• Baldwin, Charles Candee (1881). The Baldwin Genealogy from 1500-1881. Cleveland, O. The Leader Printing Company. (pg
• Biddle-Cope, J. C., Memoirs of the Copes of Wiltshire. co. Gloucester: Cotswold House, [printed for private circulation] 1881, Hansen reports this contains the correct ancestry of Oliver Cope.
• Burke, Arthur Meredyth, 1908 The Prominent Families of the United States of America, Vol 1. London: The Sackville press, ltd, Archive.org accessed 4 April 2016 Vol 1, Page 52.

• This handwritten document comes from family archives. The writer did not date nor sign it. It is possible that the author was Hannah Rebecca Cope Plimpton. It is an extensive genealogy of the Cope line, and has been confirmed by other sources. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qTxm0M8I-T3GrY1TiJQ77laU9VGrBOOQ/view?usp=sharing