Son of Benjamin Franklin and Mary Horton Copeland, Kershaw, South Carolina. Currently retired and residing in Charlotte, North Carolina.

My paternal grandfather was James Franklin Copeland (1853-1939). His wife was Malissa Abagail Arant Copeland (1863-1933). Both are believed to have been born near Taxahaw/Flat Creek (Lancaster county) and resided in Kershaw, South Carolina. We have been unable to ascertain both the mother and father of James Franklin Copeland.

In the 1860 census, there was no father listed for James Franklin Copeland, who lived with a woman (Hariett Copeland) suggested as his mother, but was probably his grandmother because of her age (48). She and James Copeland, age 6, lived adjacent to William Copeland (1833-1894), his wife and young family. In the 1880 census, Harriett Copeland lived with William Copeland and was listed as his mother. After the 1860 census, James Copeland never lived with anyone who might have been his father or mother (he lived with the Cook and Belk families).

There was no mother's name on James Copeland's death certificate, and Reuben Copeland is shown as his father, but is believed and accepted only as a placeholder name.

James Franklin Copeland had an unexplained nexus to William Copeland (1833-1894) because when James Franklin Copeland died in 1939, he had many of William Copeland's legal papers in his possession - papers passed to my father, Ben Copeland. There is no information about William Copeland's mother and father who are unidentified.

Son of Benjamin Franklin and Mary Horton Copeland, Kershaw, South Carolina. Currently retired and residing in Charlotte, North Carolina.

My paternal grandfather was James Franklin Copeland (1853-1939). His wife was Malissa Abagail Arant Copeland (1863-1933). Both are believed to have been born near Taxahaw/Flat Creek (Lancaster county) and resided in Kershaw, South Carolina. We have been unable to ascertain both the mother and father of James Franklin Copeland.

In the 1860 census, there was no father listed for James Franklin Copeland, who lived with a woman (Hariett Copeland) suggested as his mother, but was probably his grandmother because of her age (48). She and James Copeland, age 6, lived adjacent to William Copeland (1833-1894), his wife and young family. In the 1880 census, Harriett Copeland lived with William Copeland and was listed as his mother. After the 1860 census, James Copeland never lived with anyone who might have been his father or mother (he lived with the Cook and Belk families).

There was no mother's name on James Copeland's death certificate, and Reuben Copeland is shown as his father, but is believed and accepted only as a placeholder name.

James Franklin Copeland had an unexplained nexus to William Copeland (1833-1894) because when James Franklin Copeland died in 1939, he had many of William Copeland's legal papers in his possession - papers passed to my father, Ben Copeland. There is no information about William Copeland's mother and father who are unidentified.