William Thomas Trimble (1870 - 1957)

Born 27 Mar 1870 in Arkansas, USA

Ancestors

Son of Milton Thomas Trimble and Nancy Emeline Copelin

Husband of Ida Adelia (Langwell) Trimble — married 4 Oct 1890 in Boone County, Arkansas, USA

Descendants

Died 5 Dec 1957 at age 87 in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Shari S [send private message]

Biography

William Thomas Trimble was born 27 Marth 1870 in Arkansas.

Identity of Mother

Kenneth Bell Trimble said that William Thomas Trimble's father (and Kenneth's grandfather), Milton Trimble, was married to "two Copeland sisters" before marrying his last two of his four wives^[1] One of these sisters would be William's mother.

"Copelin" or "Coplin" families were neighbours of and intermarried with the Trimbles and related lines. We know from a damaged Baxter County, Arkansas, marriage record that Milton's second wife was named Elizabeth (last name burned) and she was born in approximately 1851... if they were married in 1873. (The year is also burned away, but other records on the page are from 1873.) Baxter County is adjacent to Marion County, where these families lived, and there is a note at the bottom of this particular record that the certificate of ordination was filed in Yellville, in Marion County.

Two daughters of Thomas Copelin of 1860 Ozark County Missouri, "Mary E." born in 1855 and her older sister of Nancy Emeline born in 1850 , seem to be the best - albeit not ideal - fit of all Copeland/Coplin/Copelin candidates in the area for being Milton's first two wives. They are around the expected age, in the right place, and Nancy Emeline disappears at the right time in the records. Whether Mary does as well is a matter of contention.

Payton Yocham (spellings vary, and already a half-cousin to the descendants of Milton Trimble) married a Mary Copeland who was born around the same time. Some online trees have attached her to the family of Thomas Copelin described above.

This may be accurate. However, researchers should be aware that at least two Mary Copelins were born in this area in the mid-1850s. The other one was born circa 1856 (as opposed to circa 1854) and is enumerated in the 1860 household of the aging Isaac and Margaret Copelin in Ozark County, parents of Thomas and other Copelins in the area.

Two Mary Copelins (with variant spellings) were enumerated in the area in 1870: one, a domestic servant born 1856, in Sugarloaf Township in Marion County, and the other - born 1854 - still in Ozark County and "without occupation". The former is in the household of Elias Keesee, brother-in-law of Thomas Copelin via a later marriage (and related through other family marriages), and thus possible uncle of Thomas' daughter Mary.

It's unknown when Thomas' first wife died and when his second wife's - Zenna Keesee - first husband died. Many trees claim he died in 1857. Confusingly, Zenna's children are enumerated as "Copland" alongside with their step-siblings in 1860. Zenna and first husband Samuel Bevins did have a different child named Mary in the 1850 census, one who seems to be living with her brother Elias 20 years later, so does that put to rest the idea that Zenna is Mary E.'s mother... or did Samuel Bivens have another wife (and/or did one of the parents not mind the idea of another daughter named Mary)?

Meanwhile, the Keesee household is a few away from the Trimbles and other related households, including Milton Trimble's. The Mary Copelin in Ozark County is in the household of Margaret Copelin (Graham) - a daughter of Isaac and Margaret - and presumably a niece or cousin to this Mrs Graham.

One of these Mary Copelins born around 1855 marries Payton Keesee in 1874, according to the 1900 census, although we don't know where. Her father's name is given as "Joe Copeland" on her death certificate, mother's name unknown, and her own name is said (by her daughter, the informant) to be "Mary Elizabeth". (She is also "Mary E" in the 1910 census.)

The other Mary Copelin disappears... or she marries Milton Trimble and dies before he marries his third wife, leaving no children and no one left to tell her story.

Or she marries her brother-in-law Milton Trimble, realises that was a bad move, and they divorce... and she marries Payton Keesee, and we're still left with an extra Mary Copelin, but it could just be how it is.

Is it possible that the Mary Elizabeth Copeland who married Payton Yocham is not the daughter of Thomas but an unenumerated son of Isaac Copelin named "Joe" who died before 1850, leaving Mary in her grandparents' care? (Guardianship papers for other grandchildren of Isaac and Margaret exist, but this proposed adoption may have been less legally tangled. Would such a person have been listed among Isaac Copelin's heirs in the 1867 Ozark County, Missouri, court documents?)

Ultimately, though, where Mary fits in does not matter. Nancy Emeline Copelin is the most logical candidate for "one of two Copeland sisters" when the entire Copelin/Copeland population of the area is considered. She's the right age, she disappears at the right time, and she has sisters. Perhaps William Thomas's middle name comes from Thomas Copelin. Perhaps his older sister Lizzie was named for Thomas' first wife and Nancy Emeline's mother.

DNA Research

Autosomal DNA matching is complicated by the fact that many Copelin matches are related to William Thomas Trimble's descendants through other ways.

That said, F. Lewis (great-granddaughter of the unknown Copeland sister) has a substantial number of DNA matches to descendants of seven of the children of Isaac and Margaret Copelin, usually through multiple lines, many with no known connections elsewhere. (Most of these Copelins married Keesees, so the possibility of heretofore unknown direct ancestral connections to the Keesees et al should be explored, but it is telling that equally ample and varied DNA matches exist to descendants of Isaac's siblings as well as his aunts and uncles.)

Finally, as of July 2020, DNA segments in common with F. Lewis can be triangulated to various descents from Isaac and Margaret Copelin of Ozark County, Missouri, as well as Thomas Copelin and Nancy Montgomery of Orange County, Indiana, strengthening the argument for Thomas and Nancy being Isaac's parents or close relatives.

The Copelin segments can be viewed on a public map at https://dnapainter.com/profile/view/a8164086a5ab3ed7. (Click "maternal" then select either Copelin group from the legend.) Triangulated segments are in the table below. Jacob Copelin is said to be the father of Thomas Copelin who married Nancy Montgomery.

(Many more segments are shared between F. Lewis and known Copelin descendants, but so far they have not been triangulated. Furthermore, F. Lewis has many substantial Copelin matches who tested at Ancestry, where segment locations are not provided.)

In light of significant, sustained DNA links between William Thomas Trimble's granddaughter and descendants of Isaac Copelin, especially those descending from his son Thomas Copelin, Nancy Emeline Copelin is being linked as W.T.'s mother at this time.

Sources

1. ↑ As cited by Nora Madge Trimble Lewis, daughter of William Thomas Trimble and first cousin of Kenneth Bell Trimble, to her granddaughter Sandra Gale Massey Simonds. Original notes taken during that phone call, which took place in the late 1970s, are in the possession of Shari S.

• Arkansas County Marriages, 1837-1957. W. T. Trimble and I. D. Langwell. Boone County. 4 October 1890. Image of original document at FamilySearch.org: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-12154-45788-6?cc=1417439

• United States Federal Census. 1870. Arkansas. Marion County. Page 506b. Milton Trimble household. Link to image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1870usfedcen&h=500353&indiv=try

• United States Federal Census. 1880. Arkansas. Boone County. Page 607d. Milton Trimble household. Link to image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1880usfedcen&h=39580726&indiv=try

• United States Federal Census. 1910. Texas. Somervell County. Page 123a. W. T. Trimble household. Link to image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1910USCenIndex&h=123136140&indiv=try

• United States Federal Census. 1920. Texas. Hood County. Page 7a. William T. Trimble household. Link to image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1920usfedcen&h=36565942&indiv=try

• United States Federal Census. 1930. Texas. Hood County. Page 239. William T. Trimble household. Link to image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1930usfedcen&h=62866260&indiv=try

• United States Federal Census. 1940. Texas. Tarrant County. Page 9a. William T. Tremble household. Link to image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1940usfedcen&h=159125782&indiv=try

• Texas Deaths, 1890-1976. "William Thomas Trimble". Image of original death certificate at FamilySearch.org: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K33N-8LW

• Death Certificate. Texas. No. 97952. "Nora Madge Lewis" (daughter). Link to image of original document at Ancestry.com: http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=txdeathcerts&h=1606647&ti=0&indiv=try&gss=pt

• Texas Deaths, 1890-1976. Death certificate of son Lester Clay Trimble. Image of original document at FamilySearch.org: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1951-25180-52080-78?cc=1983324&wc=MMTK-Q8D:n656128237

• Hood County News. 21 August 1999. "90 Years of Memories". Page 17. Profile of daughter Cora.

• FindaGrave.com. "William Thomas Trimble". Photograph of headstone on memorial page. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=14711753