Barclay Coppock (January 4, 1839 – September 4, 1861),[2] also spelled "Coppac", "Coppic", and "Coppoc", was a follower of
John Brown and a
Union Army soldier in the
American Civil War. Along with his brother Edwin Coppock (June 30, 1835 – December 16, 1859), he participated in
Brown's raid on
Harpers Ferry.
Edwin and Barclay Coppock were born of Quaker parentage in
Winona, Ohio, near the intensely abolitionist town of
Salem. After their father died early in their lives, they were raised by John Butler, described as "a benevolent Quaker",[3] who has left us his recollections of Edwin.[4] In 1857 Edwin was expelled from the church, as he refused to give up dancing.[5]: 196 As teenagers they moved to
Springdale, Iowa, where their mother was living. It was here that they met John Brown as he passed through in early 1859, transporting people who had been enslaved in Missouri to freedom. That summer, the two boys bade their mother goodbye, despite her fears of the violence they would encounter, and traveled to
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to meet Brown's growing army.[6]
Edwin Coppock captured, tried, and hanged
For his participation in
John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Edwin was tried and convicted of treason, murder, and fomenting a slave insurrection, and was hanged in
Charles Town, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia), on December 16, 1859. He wrote to his uncle, Joshua Coppock, two days before his execution.[7] The uncle went to Charles Town and brought Edwin's body to Salem; the "rude coffin" in which it was transported is held by the
Ohio History Connection at its Museum in Columbus.[8]
The body was laid out three nights, with armed guard; the guard was to prevent anti-abolitionists from stealing the body to prevent the funeral. Attendance was described as "immense";[7] hundreds came for the funeral and to hear the "eulogistic speeches". The body was moved to City Hall.[9] His remains were first buried in the
Friends Burying Ground,
New Garden, Ohio.[7] Attendance at the burial was estimated to have been from two to three thousand.[7]
By 1888 he had been reburied in Hope Cemetery, about 10 miles (16 km) away in Salem, his grave marked by a plain brownstone monument some 12 feet (3.7 m) in height, marked only with his name and his birth and death dates.
This monument was erected through the liberality of an eccentric old Scotchman named [Daniel] Howell Hise, who was at that time living near Salem, and to his honor be it said, was a prominent "Conductor" on the "Underground Railway," helping many a runaway slave on his way through Ohio to Canada and liberty. It is a fact worthy of note that on each recurring Decoration Day Coppic's [sic] grave is marked, through the courtesy of the Grand Army post of Salem, with the little flag entltling it to be decorated with wreaths and bouquets of flowers by the comrades and little girls detailed for that purpose, just the same as the graves of tha Union soldiers whose remains to the number of 200 are burled in the beautiful old village cemetery.[10]
Barclay, like
Owen Brown and
Francis Jackson Meriam, did not enter Harpers Ferry; they remained at the
Kennedy Farm guarding the weapons. When it became clear that the raid was failing, they escaped northward, after much difficulty reaching
John Brown, Jr.'s house in
Ashtabula County, Ohio.[12] Barclay continued to Canada,[13] later returning to Springdale, Iowa, where his mother lived. On January 23, 1860, about three months after the Harpers Ferry raid, Iowa governor
Samuel Kirkwood received from the governor of Virginia a requisition "for one Barclay Coppock, reputed to be a fugitive from the justice of Virginia". Kirkwood found the requisition deficient in legal form and returned it to Virginia. Barclay was gone to Canada by the time Kirkwood received the corrected papers.[14][15][16]
He later returned to
Ashtabula County, Ohio, where
John Brown Junior lived, and where raiders Owen Brown and
Francis Merriam were taking refuge. A newspaper story reports that they were all registered to vote there. Barclay, along with Owen, addressed a meeting the day of Hazlett's and Stevens' executions.[17]
^Clark, Dan Elbert, Samuel Jordan Kirkwood, p. 152, cited in Bergmann, Leola Nelson, The Negro in Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, The State Historical Society of Iowa, 1969, p. 27.
^The Iowa City Republican, February 1, 1860, cited in Bergmann, Leola Nelson, The Negro in Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, The State Historical Society of Iowa, 1969, p. 27.