Boundary County IDGenWeb Project

Copeland Cemetery, Boundary County, Idaho

          Sue Kemmis of the Boundary County Historical Society has completed a new survey of the Copeland Cemetery for a cemetery walk in September 2018. For part of the program she researched the history of this burial ground.

          The recorded history of ownership of property known as Copeland Cemetery starts when the US Survey office did it’s original subdivision survey in September of 1900 and though they note four settlers in the section they give no details aside from locating G.P. Whitney’s place ¾ of a mile west of the present cemetery location.
          It is known that in 1903 Caleb Charles “Charley” and Harriet Amanda “Mandy” Ames were living on the 80 acres that included the cemetery but when they set up homesteading is unknown. They bury their son, Frank Ames who drowned on August 27, 1903 on the southwest corner of the property where there are at least three other existing graves:    
          Charles Edwin Laherty           -          October 5, 1856 - Aug 14, 1898
          Volney W. Washburn          -           June 15, 1849 - August 25, 1901
          Aaron Osborn          -           August 11, 1824 - Dec 15/16, 1901
          And since Copeland cemetery is just uphill of the huge pioneer ranch of Jesse B Thompson, it is possible that this was the hillside he selected for his burial on March 8th 1892 "He was interred Tuesday at 1 o'clock on a hillside selected by himself before his death. The attendance at the funeral was the largest ever held in Northern Idaho."  READ MORE
          After his his son's death, Caleb Ames says that he will donate  one acre of his land for cemetery because of his son Frank’s death and burial. On Aug 17, 1905 Caleb Ames paid to Kootenai County, Idaho, the $100 US Government Survey Land filing fee for the 80 acres he had settled. READ MORE about Frank Ames           Soon after, in September Caleb and Harriet Ames make the cemetery official when they sell their 80 acres to Mary C. Barnes of Porthill for the sum of $500, with a stipulation that one acre at the south west corner is to be used for cemetery purpose. From this time forward all land transactions include this stipulation.

• 1907, September 20:     Mary C. Barnes (widow) of Porthill, Bonner County, Idaho sells to J. Wesley Tripp (unmarried) of Porthill for the sum of $1,000, 79 acres plus 1 acre at the south west corner being used for cemetery purpose.

• 1909, December 18:    J. Wesley Tripp (unmarried) of Copeland sells to Theron L. and Addie B. Edwards (wife) of Copeland for the sum of $800, 79 acres plus 1 acre at the south west corner being used for cemetery purpose.

• 1927, January 21:    Theron L. and Addie B. Edwards (wife) of Copeland sell to G.H. and Harriet S. Wilbur (wife) of Milton, Oregon, for the sum of $1.00, 79 acres plus 1 acre at the south west corner being used for cemetery purpose, together with all saw mill machinery and farm implements now on said premises.

• 1933, April 1:    G.H. and Harriet S. Wilbur (wife) of Salem, Oregon sell to Fred C. and Iva D. Hill (wife) of Porthill, for the sum of $400, 79 acres plus 1 acre at the south west corner being used for cemetery purpose, and “everything pertaining there to.”

• 1937, December 10:     Fred C. and Iva D. Hill (wife) of Copeland, for the sum of $1.00, sign a Right of Way Deed to the County of Boundary, a strip of land for the purpose of a public highway forever.

• 1939, November 19:     Fred C. and Iva D. Hill (wife) of Copeland, grant the Copeland Cemetery Association permission to have platted for cemetery purpose 1 acre with existing graves. Trustees: James H. Guthrie, Fred C. Hill, and Leon VanEtten. By this date there are 50 graves in the cemetery.

• 1945, January 12:     Iva D. Hill (widow) of Long Beach, California sells to J.C. and Edith K. Lamson (wife) of Copeland for the sum of $1.00, 79 acres minus 1 acre at the south west corner being used for cemetery purpose; minus state highway right of way.

• 1956, May 23:    J.C. and Edith K. Lamson (wife) of Copeland sell to Hugh and Dorothy A. Lamson (wife) of Copeland for the sum of $1.00, 79 acres minus 1 acre at the south west corner being used for cemetery purpose; minus state highway right of way.

          Finally after many years and owners, on November 3rd 1976, Hugh and Dorothy A. Lamson of Copeland for the sum of $1.00, sell 1 acre at the south west corner being used for cemetery purpose, plus an additional .8 acre – for a total of 1.8 acres; minus state highway right of way; to the Copeland Community Cemetery Association for the purpose of a community cemetery. (In 1971 Hugh Lamson helped Lois Parker do a survey of the cemetery that was one of the sources used to compile the list on this page)

          The new list of cemetery interments is the result of many months of gathering old lists and plot maps, the Copeland Cemetery Association was very involved in suppling all the infomation they had.

          As well as the older lists, old newspapers and the 1985 "History of Boundary County" were searched for information and obituaries and in some cases online death and birth indexes were used.

         In the obit column you may find a link to the obituary online, the tombstone column may have an X indicating just a mortuary marker or other grave marker.

          Also the name may be highlighted orange indicating a link to a biography of the person.

          An original plot map is included at the bottom of this page below the list.

          A good deal was learned about many of the people resting at Copeland Cemetery, please feel free to contact us for obituaries or more information.

Boundary County Historical Society's new cemetery survey list