George Washington Right Coppock

George Washington Right Coppock and his wife, Polly Ann (Seaton) Coppock.

GWR was the seventh child of Aaron Coppock, Jr., and Olive (Carroll) Coppock. George Washington Right, born in Tennessee, September 5, 1841. He appears with his parents on the 1850 census of McMinn County, Tennessee. He presumably came to Arkansas with his parents by 1855. G.W.R. enlisted in Co. C, 3rd Ark. Cavalry on July 16, 1861, and reported for duty on August 1, 1861. He received a bullet wound below the left knee, and was sent to General Hospital on August 9, 1862. The unit was not then in combat. George reported back to active duty in November, 1862. The unit was in the Battle of Chicakamauga, where George's brother Alphred was captured. George was paroled in Chesterfield, South Carolina, on May 5, 1865. He was presumably back in Saline County by November 18, 1865, when his mother and father deeded land to him, by a deed not recorded until April 26, 1866. The deed was witnessed by Carroll COPPOCK'S wife, Martha E.

The 1870 census found George living with his mother, Olive, in Saline Township, Saline County. He owned real estate worth $400, and personal property worth $350. George married Polly Ann SEATON (born Missouri, June, 1853) in 1875. By the 1880 census they were living in Shaw Township, Saline County, with George's 63 year old widowed mother, his brother Luke, and their three daughters, Cora, Laura, and Mary. Saline County tax records from 1870 to 1881 list George's ownership of miscellaneous horses, mules, hogs, and sheep. George and Polly appear to have sold their Saline County land on September 14, 1895 (after the death of George's mother), when they deeded it to R.S. PERRY for $1,200. They next appear on the 1900 census of Nevada County, Arkansas, under the name "COPPICK." George is listed as a "farmer," who can read, write, and speak English, and owns his farm free of any mortgage; Polly as having had ten children, eight of whom are living, and able to read, write, and speak English.

When George's brother Luke and his wife died in 1901, George became the guardian of their minor children, Walter and Willie. The records of his appointment and accountings are found in the Saline and Nevada County Probate Courts. Although most of the documents were signed by G.W.R. with a mark, a bond of March 12, 1902 bears his actual signature. Willie was still living with the family at the time of the 1910 Nevada County census. George and Polly's 23 year old son, George E., was the only child remaining at home then. Both Georges were described as "general" farmers.

George applied for a Civil War veteran's pension in 1915. "The applicant is not physically able to perform manual labor on account of his age (73 yrs) and to the fact that he has done a great deal of hard work in his past life. * * * He is now and allways has been since I have known him been very temperate and regular in his habits. * * * His disability is total save for light work."

George died in Nevada County, Arkansas, on April 14, 1917, of "hypertrophy of the heart." He was buried in Snell Cemetery, Emmet, Arkansas, where his headstone is inscribed, "Faithful to every duty." He was followed in death by Polly on December 1, 1931. She is buried next to George in Snell Cemetery, although her grave is unmarked. Their surviving children were Cora TOLIVER, Laura DOUGAN, Ada DOUGAN, Mrs. Ira DOUGAN, Henry COPPOCK, Nora MARTIN, Ed COPPOCK, and Euna HAWLEY.