SARAH (COPUS) VAIL - died, May 10, 1885, Sarah Vail, aged 85 years, 4 months and 9 days. At the date of her death, Mrs. Vail was probably the oldest continuous resident of Ashland County, having come to Mifflin Township with her father in 1808, thus living among us seventy-seven years, except a short time when they fled to Guernsey County after the terrible tragedy at the Copus cabin in which her father and several soldiers were killed by the Greentown Indians.
Mrs. Vail, at the time of her death, was the last survivor of those terrible days, she was then a girl about twelve years old, and was the first one to discover the Indians near the cabin in a cornfield and before the soldiers, who were stationed there to protect the family, could reach their arms the savages were upon them, dealing death and destruction to the lonely cabin and its brave defenders from the adjacent hill side. In this attack, Mr. James Copus, the father of Mrs. Vail was mortally wounded, dying in a few hours. Mrs. Vail retained a vivid recollection of these exciting events almost up to the time of her death. When on the 15th. of September, 1882, the seventieth anniversary of the Copus massacre, the Ashland County Pioneer Society held their grand picnic and erected the monument in honor of those who fell at that time. Mrs. Vail, then 82 years old, from the stage erected on that tragic hill side, related some of the thrilling events of those days of blood and trial, and at least five thousand people listened to her narrative, although owing to her extreme age but a small proportion of this vast assemblage could understand her.
Her health remained good until about a year ago, since which time she has suffered a great deal from dropsy, super-induced by heart disease. She died in the companionship of her friends and upon the site where she had so long lived and in plain view of the tragic spot of that terrible morning of September 15, 1812. Her funeral was attended by a vast concourse of people, a large proportion of whom were the pioneers of Mifflin and adjoining townships. Her remains were interred in the little graveyard on the farm where she lived and experienced those terrible trials to her early pioneer life. Peace to her ashes.
(Mansfield Democrat: 6 June 1885, Vol. 10, No. 1)
Mrs. Vail, at the time of her death, was the last survivor of those terrible days, she was then a girl about twelve years old, and was the first one to discover the Indians near the cabin in a cornfield and before the soldiers, who were stationed there to protect the family, could reach their arms the savages were upon them, dealing death and destruction to the lonely cabin and its brave defenders from the adjacent hill side. In this attack, Mr. James Copus, the father of Mrs. Vail was mortally wounded, dying in a few hours. Mrs. Vail retained a vivid recollection of these exciting events almost up to the time of her death. When on the 15th. of September, 1882, the seventieth anniversary of the Copus massacre, the Ashland County Pioneer Society held their grand picnic and erected the monument in honor of those who fell at that time. Mrs. Vail, then 82 years old, from the stage erected on that tragic hill side, related some of the thrilling events of those days of blood and trial, and at least five thousand people listened to her narrative, although owing to her extreme age but a small proportion of this vast assemblage could understand her.
Her health remained good until about a year ago, since which time she has suffered a great deal from dropsy, super-induced by heart disease. She died in the companionship of her friends and upon the site where she had so long lived and in plain view of the tragic spot of that terrible morning of September 15, 1812. Her funeral was attended by a vast concourse of people, a large proportion of whom were the pioneers of Mifflin and adjoining townships. Her remains were interred in the little graveyard on the farm where she lived and experienced those terrible trials to her early pioneer life. Peace to her ashes.
(Mansfield Democrat: 6 June 1885, Vol. 10, No. 1)
SARAH (COPUS) VAIL - died, May 10, 1885, Sarah Vail, aged 85 years, 4 months and 9 days. At the date of her death, Mrs. Vail was probably the oldest continuous resident of Ashland County, having come to Mifflin Township with her father in 1808, thus living among us seventy-seven years, except a short time when they fled to Guernsey County after the terrible tragedy at the Copus cabin in which her father and several soldiers were killed by the Greentown Indians.
Mrs. Vail, at the time of her death, was the last survivor of those terrible days, she was then a girl about twelve years old, and was the first one to discover the Indians near the cabin in a cornfield and before the soldiers, who were stationed there to protect the family, could reach their arms the savages were upon them, dealing death and destruction to the lonely cabin and its brave defenders from the adjacent hill side. In this attack, Mr. James Copus, the father of Mrs. Vail was mortally wounded, dying in a few hours. Mrs. Vail retained a vivid recollection of these exciting events almost up to the time of her death. When on the 15th. of September, 1882, the seventieth anniversary of the Copus massacre, the Ashland County Pioneer Society held their grand picnic and erected the monument in honor of those who fell at that time. Mrs. Vail, then 82 years old, from the stage erected on that tragic hill side, related some of the thrilling events of those days of blood and trial, and at least five thousand people listened to her narrative, although owing to her extreme age but a small proportion of this vast assemblage could understand her.
Her health remained good until about a year ago, since which time she has suffered a great deal from dropsy, super-induced by heart disease. She died in the companionship of her friends and upon the site where she had so long lived and in plain view of the tragic spot of that terrible morning of September 15, 1812. Her funeral was attended by a vast concourse of people, a large proportion of whom were the pioneers of Mifflin and adjoining townships. Her remains were interred in the little graveyard on the farm where she lived and experienced those terrible trials to her early pioneer life. Peace to her ashes.
(Mansfield Democrat: 6 June 1885, Vol. 10, No. 1)
Mrs. Vail, at the time of her death, was the last survivor of those terrible days, she was then a girl about twelve years old, and was the first one to discover the Indians near the cabin in a cornfield and before the soldiers, who were stationed there to protect the family, could reach their arms the savages were upon them, dealing death and destruction to the lonely cabin and its brave defenders from the adjacent hill side. In this attack, Mr. James Copus, the father of Mrs. Vail was mortally wounded, dying in a few hours. Mrs. Vail retained a vivid recollection of these exciting events almost up to the time of her death. When on the 15th. of September, 1882, the seventieth anniversary of the Copus massacre, the Ashland County Pioneer Society held their grand picnic and erected the monument in honor of those who fell at that time. Mrs. Vail, then 82 years old, from the stage erected on that tragic hill side, related some of the thrilling events of those days of blood and trial, and at least five thousand people listened to her narrative, although owing to her extreme age but a small proportion of this vast assemblage could understand her.
Her health remained good until about a year ago, since which time she has suffered a great deal from dropsy, super-induced by heart disease. She died in the companionship of her friends and upon the site where she had so long lived and in plain view of the tragic spot of that terrible morning of September 15, 1812. Her funeral was attended by a vast concourse of people, a large proportion of whom were the pioneers of Mifflin and adjoining townships. Her remains were interred in the little graveyard on the farm where she lived and experienced those terrible trials to her early pioneer life. Peace to her ashes.
(Mansfield Democrat: 6 June 1885, Vol. 10, No. 1)
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