2007 is drawing to a close. Folks are setting goals, evaluating old ones. For instance, a couple months ago I decided to go ahead and write a little on bookseller ephemera, my own book collecting, and getting a collector club started. I really shouldn’t let the blog drift into a being all about “Stuff I couldn’t afford on eBay”. After all who wants to read about that? And look at this monster: Who would call that ephemera? I don’t have absolute answers here, but I am the only one shouting into the darkness at this webress, so I get to do as I please. That, and I just had to share this wonderful object, even though it is not en route to my house. I tried. It looks to be a cast brass embossing stamp (embosser?) for EJ Copp & Company of Nashua, New Hampshire. I wonder if they used it on stationery, invoices and receipts, or if some of these embossed stamps made it into books. For shame! After some light digging at Google, a couple details about this man emerge. Like many men of his generation, EJ Copp was a veteran of the Civil War.
According to John H. Goodale, author of History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire (Philadelphia: JW Lewis & Co., 1885) page 182, “In the battle of Drury’s Bluff, May 13, 1864, while making an advance on Richmond, this regiment bore the “brunt” of the contest. Major James F. Randlett, now captain of a cavalry company in the regular army, was wounded. Adjutant Elbridge J. Copp, who, entering the service as a private at seventeen, had won promotion, was also wounded. On the 16th of August a fierce engagement took place at Deep Bottom, at which Adjutant E.J. Copp was severely wounded, which compelled him, in October following, to return to Nashua.” An obit from 1887, for his father gives us a shade more info about his war service and the years after “Mr. Joseph Copp, a prominent citizen of Nashua, NH, died recently at 86. He left a married daughter and five sons, among the latter being Rev. H.B. Copp, Capt. C.D. Copp and Col. E.J. Copp, the last-named in command of the Second Regiment of the State National Guard.”
I’m going to assume that Mr. Copp was not yet in business at the outbreak of the war, being 17 years old. However, it doesn’t seem like he waited long after the war. An insurance report from a fire in Nashua in April 1870 records a slight loss at “C. D. & E. J. Copp, books, etc.”
Well our stamp doesn’t mention a CD Copp, so I have to track him down. Searching for a CD Copp from Nashua in the latter 1800s reveals one Capt. Charles Dearborne Copp. He turns out to be a Medal of Honor Winner. According to the internet, he was born April 12, 1840, entered the US Army from Nashua NH. He earned the Medal of Honor during the Battle of Fredricksburg December 13, 1862. “In action against Confederate forces, Second Lt. Charles Copp seized the regimental colors after the color bearer had been shot down, and waving them, rallied the regiment under heavy fire.”
Being in the book business, Elbridge Copp’s own contribution came to light in 1911. One bookseller describes Reminiscences of the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865. “Copp claimed to be the youngest commissioned officer in the Union Army during the war. This Scarce reminiscence of the 3rd NH volunteers is nicely done with numerous maps, illustrations and photos of members of the Regiment.” One offering also includes this information “Long inscription by the author’s widow: “Colonel Copp fought his last great battle, with his usual bravery and fortitude, in the summer of 1923, responding to the “roll call” on high on August 3rd, taps were sounded on August 6th.” So, if we presume he was 17 in 1861, he would have been about 79 in 1923.
Jan 19,2008Hello-Read with interest this article as Elbridge J. Copp of Nashua, NH was my great grandfather. Would be interested in knowing where this Lion embosser is located?Thanks,Richard Baldwinbaldwindd@earthlink.net
For information about the Lion Percussion Embossing Press introduced by Joseph H. Merriam, Merriam & Co.,Boston,MA, c. 1857, please to go: http://www.earlyofficemuseum.com/seal_presses.htm
I did the paperwork for Capt. Charles Dearborn Copp's Medal of Honor tombstone/memorial stone (by mistake his middle name on it may be Dearborne, with an incorrect “e”?) and paid for the stone's obverse inscription; the cemetery installed it gratis. Charles had an existing civilian stone with no mention of the Medal of Honor, hence the supplemental stone. I donated my research records on him to the local library there; but can't remember where “there” was, now. I think it was in Mass., about 30 miles west of Boston? He was killed in the worst hand-to-hand combat at Fredericksburg. My great, great grandfather,Capt. Alfred Alexander Miller, CSA, Co. K, 57th N.C. Troops, was killed in the second worst hand-to-hand combat when he led his in-reserve, surprised company in a counter-charge down Deep Run Creek. He fell within three hundred yards of where the F. & P. R.R. tracks cross the creek like an “X” on the battlefield; today near an end of the Shannon Airport runway. A bullet through the heart, he is buried Bethel Lutheran, Franklin, Rowan County, N.C. The Copp connection: Great grandfather was Capt. Harry Copp James, Biloxi, Miss., harbormaster (Pvt., age 16, Capt. Hall's New Orleans Soavue Fire Brigade Militia), the son of LtCol Robert Wm. James and Jane Ann Nixon, the daughter of 1815 Battle of New Orleans, Adj. Lt. John Nixon, City Attorney for New Orleans, who wed Adeline Cecelia Copp, born Dover, N.H.; the daughter of Phillips Exeter Academy graduate/lawyer, David Copp, Jr. (murdered 1805 in a New Orleans gambling house) and Mary “Polly” Watson who he wed age 15 in the Portsmouth, N.H., Episcopal Church. Allegedly they fled Portsmouth in the night to escape his gambling debts. His father was LtCol David Copp, Sr., a captain at Bunker Hill. As a legislator he fought the disfranchisement of Catholics. His lineage goes back to Copp's Hill, Boston, where British artillery fired upon him across the Cambridge River. Wm. Copp, 1589-1670 (wife Judith Itchenor, d 1670) was the son of Thomas Copp, 1539-1628, and second wife Isabel Gunne, of Bewsall, Hatton, Warwick, England. LtCol Copp's wife Margaret “Molly” Palmer, was the daughter of legislator Patriot, inn keeper, one-handed Maj. Barnabus Palmer, Sr., who's wife, Elizabeth Robinson of Exeter, N.H., descended Governors Dudley and Winthrop. She also descended Exeter lawyer Edward Hilton, Sr., who wed Mrs. Catherine Shapleigh Treworgey, the sister of Capt. Nicholas Shapleigh of Eliot, Maine, who drafted early charts of the Cape Fear River. Edward's brother was Capt. Wm. Hilton, Jr., who “purchased” and named the Cape Fear River. I live near Southport, CFR, on the bluff of Dutchman's Creek. Their parents were Capt. Wm. Hilton, Sr., who more-or-less rescued the Pilgrims; wife Ellen Mainwaring, the son of London, England fishmonger Roger Hilton (as were Govs. Dudley & Winthrop, fishmongers-all), the brother of Sir Wm. Hilton, Knight, sons of Wm. Hilton, younger brother of Sir Thomas Hilton of Hilton Castle overlooking the River Wear, Monkwearmouth, Northumbria, England. There connected with the Neville, Percy, and Lambton families. Wm. Hilton, the last mentioned, wed Margaret, the daughter of Sir James Metcalfe of Nappa Hall, Wensleydale, York; a Knight, buried Washington. Jim Miller, Dutchman's Creek Bluff, Southport/Oak Island, N.C. focusoninfinity@hotmail.com
Post Script: John (W.?_) Nixon's (1787 Enniskillen-1849 Biloxi), asst. New Orleans city attorney and son-in-law, was Peregrine “Perry” Snowden Warfield of Georgetown, D.C.; close kin of base born Bessie Warfield, who wed King Edward, VIIIth of England.
I did the paperwork for Capt. Charles Dearborn Copp's Medal of Honor tombstone/memorial stone (by mistake his middle name on it may be Dearborne, with an incorrect “e”?) and paid for the stone's obverse inscription; the cemetery installed it gratis. Charles had an existing civilian stone with no mention of the Medal of Honor, hence the supplemental stone. I donated my research records on him to the local library there; but can't remember where “there” was, now. I think it was in Mass., about 30 miles west of Boston? He was killed in the worst hand-to-hand combat at Fredericksburg. My great, great grandfather,Capt. Alfred Alexander Miller, CSA, Co. K, 57th N.C. Troops, was killed in the second worst hand-to-hand combat when he led his in-reserve, surprised company in a counter-charge down Deep Run Creek. He fell within three hundred yards of where the F. & P. R.R. tracks cross the creek like an “X” on the battlefield; today near an end of the Shannon Airport runway. A bullet through the heart, he is buried Bethel Lutheran, Franklin, Rowan County, N.C. The Copp connection: Great grandfather was Capt. Harry Copp James, Biloxi, Miss., harbormaster (Pvt., age 16, Capt. Hall's New Orleans Soavue Fire Brigade Militia), the son of LtCol Robert Wm. James and Jane Ann Nixon, the daughter of 1815 Battle of New Orleans, Adj. Lt. John Nixon, City Attorney for New Orleans, who wed Adeline Cecelia Copp, born Dover, N.H.; the daughter of Phillips Exeter Academy graduate/lawyer, David Copp, Jr. (murdered 1805 in a New Orleans gambling house) and Mary “Polly” Watson who he wed age 15 in the Portsmouth, N.H., Episcopal Church. Allegedly they fled Portsmouth in the night to escape his gambling debts. His father was LtCol David Copp, Sr., a captain at Bunker Hill. As a legislator he fought the disfranchisement of Catholics. His lineage goes back to Copp's Hill, Boston, where British artillery fired upon him across the Cambridge River. Wm. Copp, 1589-1670 (wife Judith Itchenor, d 1670) was the son of Thomas Copp, 1539-1628, and second wife Isabel Gunne, of Bewsall, Hatton, Warwick, England. LtCol Copp's wife Margaret “Molly” Palmer, was the daughter of legislator Patriot, inn keeper, one-handed Maj. Barnabus Palmer, Sr., who's wife, Elizabeth Robinson of Exeter, N.H., descended Governors Dudley and Winthrop. She also descended Exeter lawyer Edward Hilton, Sr., who wed Mrs. Catherine Shapleigh Treworgey, the sister of Capt. Nicholas Shapleigh of Eliot, Maine, who drafted early charts of the Cape Fear River. Edward's brother was Capt. Wm. Hilton, Jr., who “purchased” and named the Cape Fear River. I live near Southport, CFR, on the bluff of Dutchman's Creek. Their parents were Capt. Wm. Hilton, Sr., who more-or-less rescued the Pilgrims; wife Ellen Mainwaring, the son of London, England fishmonger Roger Hilton (as were Govs. Dudley & Winthrop, fishmongers-all), the brother of Sir Wm. Hilton, Knight, sons of Wm. Hilton, younger brother of Sir Thomas Hilton of Hilton Castle overlooking the River Wear, Monkwearmouth, Northumbria, England. There connected with the Neville, Percy, and Lambton families. Wm. Hilton, the last mentioned, wed Margaret, the daughter of Sir James Metcalfe of Nappa Hall, Wensleydale, York; a Knight, buried Washington. Jim Miller, Dutchman's Creek Bluff, Southport/Oak Island, N.C. focusoninfinity@hotmail.com Post Script: John Nixon's asst. N.O. city attorney and son-in-law was Peregrine “Perry” Snowden Warfield of Georgetown, D.C., close kin of base born Bessie Warfield who wed King Edward VIII of England.
I did the paperwork for Capt. Charles Dearborn Copp's Medal of Honor tombstone/memorial stone (by mistake his middle name on it may be Dearborne, with an incorrect “e”?) and paid for the stone's obverse inscription; the cemetery installed it gratis. Charles had an existing civilian stone with no mention of the Medal of Honor, hence the supplemental stone. I donated my research records on him to the local library there; but can't remember where “there” was, now. I think it was in Mass., about 30 miles west of Boston? He was killed in the worst hand-to-hand combat at Fredericksburg. My great, great grandfather,Capt. Alfred Alexander Miller, CSA, Co. K, 57th N.C. Troops, was killed in the second worst hand-to-hand combat when he led his in-reserve, surprised company in a counter-charge down Deep Run Creek. He fell within three hundred yards of where the F. & P. R.R. tracks cross the creek like an “X” on the battlefield; today near an end of the Shannon Airport runway. A bullet through the heart, he is buried Bethel Lutheran, Franklin, Rowan County, N.C. The Copp connection: Great grandfather was Capt. Harry Copp James, Biloxi, Miss., harbormaster (Pvt., age 16, Capt. Hall's New Orleans Soavue Fire Brigade Militia), the son of LtCol Robert Wm. James and Jane Ann Nixon, the daughter of 1815 Battle of New Orleans, Adj. Lt. John Nixon, City Attorney for New Orleans, who wed Adeline Cecelia Copp, born Dover, N.H.; the daughter of Phillips Exeter Academy graduate/lawyer, David Copp, Jr. (murdered 1805 in a New Orleans gambling house) and Mary “Polly” Watson who he wed age 15 in the Portsmouth, N.H., Episcopal Church. Allegedly they fled Portsmouth in the night to escape his gambling debts. His father was LtCol David Copp, Sr., a captain at Bunker Hill. As a legislator he fought the disfranchisement of Catholics. His lineage goes back to Copp's Hill, Boston, where British artillery fired upon him across the Cambridge River. Wm. Copp, 1589-1670 (wife Judith Itchenor, d 1670) was the son of Thomas Copp, 1539-1628, and second wife Isabel Gunne, of Bewsall, Hatton, Warwick, England. LtCol Copp's wife Margaret “Molly” Palmer, was the daughter of legislator Patriot, inn keeper, one-handed Maj. Barnabus Palmer, Sr., who's wife, Elizabeth Robinson of Exeter, N.H., descended Governors Dudley and Winthrop. She also descended Exeter lawyer Edward Hilton, Sr., who wed Mrs. Catherine Shapleigh Treworgey, the sister of Capt. Nicholas Shapleigh of Eliot, Maine, who drafted early charts of the Cape Fear River. Edward's brother was Capt. Wm. Hilton, Jr., who “purchased” and named the Cape Fear River. I live near Southport, CFR, on the bluff of Dutchman's Creek. Their parents were Capt. Wm. Hilton, Sr., who more-or-less rescued the Pilgrims; wife Ellen Mainwaring, the son of London, England fishmonger Roger Hilton (as were Govs. Dudley & Winthrop, fishmongers-all), the brother of Sir Wm. Hilton, Knight, sons of Wm. Hilton, younger brother of Sir Thomas Hilton of Hilton Castle overlooking the River Wear, Monkwearmouth, Northumbria, England. There connected with the Neville, Percy, and Lambton families. Wm. Hilton, the last mentioned, wed Margaret, the daughter of Sir James Metcalfe of Nappa Hall, Wensleydale, York; a Knight, buried Washington. Jim Miller, Dutchman's Creek Bluff, Southport/Oak Island, N.C.