Hi Christopher, This is what I have about John and Margaret (it refers to his dad as being George and I also included notes on John & Margaret's son John ll and his wife Nancy Mills): At the Washington Memorial Library in Macon, I found a book called Laurens County, South Carolina Wills 1784-1840 by Elliot. It stated: Page 182 16 Oct 1826 Will of John Copeland, dec’d. Not enough witnesses signed and could not be admitted to be proven. James Copeland took oath as adm. Saml. Copland and Jno. Copland, sur. Page 186 11Nov 1826 Inv. Of Estate of John Copeland, dec’d by Wm Gambell, Henry Hill and John Lyon, James Copeland adm. 10 Nov 1826. Sale Bill, Pur.: Margret Copeland, Jesse Johnston, James Little, Jno. Copeland (forgot to get the page #) 29 June 1822 Will of James Underwood Sons: William, Robert, John, James, and Matthew M: daughters: Jane and Mary; step daughter: Nancy Copeland, dec’d son Isaac Underwood; beloved wife (not named). Son James Underwood and son in law John Blakely, exrs. Wit: Robt. Creswill, Jno. H. Davis and Watts Deere. P 154 18 Nov 1823 Will proven and executorship of estate of James Underwood, dec’d by James Underwood and John Blakely. Wit: Robt. Creswill P 157 24 Nov 1823 Appraisal of estate of James Underwood dec’d by Jesse Johnston, Henry Shell and Wm. Blakely. 18 Dec 1823. Sale Bill. James Underwood (Jr.) and John Blakely, exrs. John Copeland and James Underwood must have been appraiser since their names appear on numerous wills as either appraising or doing inventory . There must have been another John Copeland because I also found: (forgot to get page # but it's close to 138) 3 Sept 1821 Estate of John Coplen, dec’d. Adm. To Jesse Johnston. Sec: Wm. Park and Jno. Bryons Page 138 4 Oct 1821 Appraisal of estate of John Copeland, dec’d by Henry Shell, Jas. Underwood and Jas-----; 4 Oct 1821 Estate Sale. Jesse Johnston, adm. Notes due dec’d: Benj Saxon, John Abel, Chas. Blakely, Sl. Leek, Jas. Copling, Jas. Adair, Saml. Copling. Another book I looked at was Laurens County, South Carolina Cemeteries V. 1-2 by Col. James Leland Bolt and Margaret Eltinge Bolt (1983) In the Duncan Creek Church Cemetery it states: [John Copeland, Sr. died Sept 7, 1826, aged about 78 years (born about 1748 in Ireland) [Margaret (Blakely) Copeland, consort of John Copeland, Sr., died Feb 27, 1844, aged about 86 years. John ll and Nancy Mills weren’t mentioned in the section on Hurricane Baptist Church but it did mention unreadable stones, so that dedication of the new stone must have taken place after this book was written in 1983. In Old Fields Presbyterian Church Cemetery (Volume 1 Page 127) there is a James Mills who lived from 1804-1846. I wonder if this could be a brother of Nancy since she was born in 1789! There were more Mills there but none of the dates were close to our Mary or Nancy Mills. The last book I had time to start looking at was Abstracts of Early Records of Laurens County South Carolina 1785-1820 compiled by Sara M Nash. I need to get that one again next time I go to the library. In Deed Book C I found: Page 19 1/26/1774-6/19/1789. Wm. Arthur to Geo. Copeland for £200, 200a on Beaverdam Cr. of Little R; Craven Co. Wit: Robert Tweedy, Wm. Pulliam; aff. Of Capt. Chas. Simmons, Wm. Tweedy & Robert Spence that Robt. Tweedy is Deceased, Silvanus Walker, J.P. 6/9/1789. Aff of Jonathan Downs Esq. That the above conv. By lease and release is in handwriting of Wm. Arthur, now deceased, Silvanus Walker J.P. 6/9/1789 Page 242 4/22/1784-9/22/1790. John Copeland & w. Margaret to Joshua Arnall for £200, 200 a. in 96 Dist on Beaverdam Br. of Little R., orig. gr. 10/13/1772 in Craven Co. to Wm. Arthur of the Congarees, conv. To Geo. Copeland dec’d; then by him to his son J.C. Wit: Robt. Spiers, Elizabeth Speers. Page 356 3/14/1791-3/17/1791. Joshua Arnall & w. Leanna to Thomas Ship for £200 stg., 200a on Beaverdam Cr. of Little R. orig. gr. To Wm. Arthur conv. To George Copeland and by him to his son and heir John Copeland. Wit: Marshall Franks, Abraham Neighbours. Joshua Saxon, J.P. I’m not sure what you’re allowed to copy at the library, so I handwrote all of this, do you know if they frown upon copying land records, etc? I haven’t gone to the library to research much before, so I don’t know the rules. Also, do you know if the handwritten records are available at the archives or where the best place is to look for them. Guess this is all for today. Enjoy!! Sue Message: 1 Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2006 10:21:28 -0800 (PST) From: Christopher Johnson <mygenealogist@yahoo.com> Subject: [COPELAND] John Copeland b.c. 1748 and Margaret Blakely To: COPELAND@rootsweb.com Message-ID: <20061209182128.63700.qmail@web62402.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Dear list, I recently began research into the family and ancestry of John Copeland b.c 12 Feb 1748 Chester Co., PA married circa 1774 Margaret Blakely in Laurens Dist, SC. I'm having some difficulty locating John's parents, grandparents, and siblings. I am hoping to connect with other members of this family who might know more about John?s origins. I have seen some information which states that the Copelands originated in Ireland before coming to PA and SC, and my ultimate goal is to trace the family back to their origins in Ireland or the UK. Does anyone on the list have additional information on this family? Thanks in advance for any help, Christopher