The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-05-08
CHARLES O0PPIS, ONE OF THE
GIFTS wELL-Kx0wx PIONEERS.
He Passed Away Yesterday Aerniag
NJ the Old water works, where
He Had Worked and Watched for
Many YeaFs-sketch Of His Life.

slept for nearly p quarter OF century.
He passed away at II o'clock yesterday
morning. after q brief. hard struggle
against the ma,ady which had been giving
him warning twinges for a year. though
he never had yielded &c its c.utch Until
twerty-four hours before death came to
end his pain. He died through general
breaking up Of the system caused by
grip, which he contracted about a year
ago.
'tOld Man" Coppin. as he was Familiarity
known to nearly every one, and his queer
dwelling at the corner Of Ninth avenue
and Columbia street, have been landmarks
I'm the growth OF the city for many years.
His death marks the passing away OF one
of the picnsers Of the Sound. a few OF
whom remain midst the hurrying OF the
years, the rush and push and busy life
of the present, to call back to memory
the days of the early sixties and seven
ties when cities were camps and towns
consisted of q solitary house. They are
dropping of year by year. soon to become
a memory. like the days in which they
lived.
A Marked Character.
"o.d Man" Coppin was an individual.
character in many ways. In his early life
he served abroad a man-o'-wsr. and It
must have been then he got one OF the
traits which stuck to him through all his
iife-a kind OF pr:m and orderly neatness
which might be observed in everything he
did. A striking example Of this is the old
water works. which he kept SO trinity that
1t never failed to attract the admiration
OF passerg-by. The grounds about ii look
much like a miniature park, with their
xt~ Ia
and shapely trees. Within the building
everything bears the trace Of his hand. In
the rooms in which he lived there Is not
an object that has not its own particular
pace and is In IL. II il Is night and one
takes lantern TO light him through the
dark rooms and queer. tangled-up pas
sages, he will easily imagine himself In
the ground floor Of some lighthouse. Here
the old man lived for twenty-five years,
cared for. as much as he would allow
any one to care for him. after the death OF
his wife fourteen years ago. by his house
keeper, Mss Tilig. He was a genial man
after you came TO know him, though he
cared 10 make few friends.
sketch of His Life.
Charles Coppin was born in Lorraine
county. o.. October Is, iSiT, son of James
and Elizabeth Coppin, natives Of England.
but descended from the Saxon race OF
Germany. The father. Wesleyan minis
ter, removed with his family to the United
States In 1915, where he followed minis
ter.al work until his death in 1878, at the
advanced age of 1W years. Charles was
the youngest OF nine children and the only
surviving member OF the fanny.
In his early life in Ohio he went through
great hardships. his people being very
1t u -
order OF the day. with no school privileges.
He farmed until he was IA years OF age.
Then he went TO Buffalo. n. Y. and en-
listed in the United States navy as APP
prentice boy. After two years spent on the
schooiship Ohio in Boston harbor he sat-
cd on the Cumberland for foreign ports.
When he became q he resigned his posi-
ton In the navy for the greater freedom
and independence of civil life. But the
love OF the sea soon led him TO sign the
papers of a merchantmen, and twice ne
sailed before the mast 10 England.
Finally he returned TO his old home in
Ohio and settled down to learn the trades
OF the machnist and the carpenter, which
he soon mastered. Shortly afterward he
was employed 10 work on the erection OF
bridges for the first railroad i'll the United
States, which was TO run between San
dusky and Mansfield, in the state OF New
N.
because OF the financial breaking up OF
the company. Mr.. Coppin worked on the
Lake Shore road for two and half years
without pay, building bridges. He also
gave this road the right of way across $50
acres OF land The company was then too
poor 10 pay for labor, but granted in
compensation life pass over its read,
which Mr.. Coppin held until the day Of his
death. but which he seldom used.
rrp.xj, fNifcy~ed railroad work dur.
ing the summer months for sixteen years
and during the winters worked in the ship
yards on Lake Erie. He could draw
model or build and rig a ship. and was
an able navigator as well, making fire.
quen. trips between Buffalo and Chicago.
In 1856 he engaged in building -four and
saw mills in the STATE OF Michigan. where
he remained for several years,
In ISL Mr.. Coppin came to Seattle. and
for a time followed carpentering and ship
building working also at bridge building
for the Northern Pacific ard other roads
In the state. Soon after coming here he
bought the property ri TIE corner IF Ninth
and Columbia streets and erected num-
her of tenement houses. In lN15 he dug
well on the property l$a feet deep and SIX
feet in diameter. crested a windmill 20
furnish water for his tenants. and subse-
cuentiy secured franchise from the city
for water works. He bought a steam
engine and pump and thus increased his
supply, pumping into raised reservoir
and distributing through five miles OF
mains. The capacity Of hts we'll has never
been determined. though he had pumped
as much as SO 20 gallons ii swen,y-four
hours.
Mr. Copnin was married in his native
state OF Ohio TO Miss Betsy o Brien. whe
died In 1854. They were the parents OF
four children. all CT whom are Tow dead.
The eldest, If he We're living. would be
Few 81 years Of age. Mr.. Coppin also
reared ard educated four other chi-Sn.
who have new scattered and are sup
porting themselves. Socially he affiliated
with the T. q. .. +. AS an ardent Repub-
ucan he was especially active In the Lin
coin campaign OF 1850. and subsequently.
served four years in the Ohio legislature.
MIR. Ccppin would have been 81 years cd
in next October. He was hale and
hearty I'D TO year ago, when he first
began to feel the cravings Of the disease
which terminated in his death, He could
never be induced to take 4 day of, nor
would he submit 70 being nursed or in
a~yv way treated as ar invalid lie did
not. In fact, give up the fight and take
Iay hef Sfa@