HENRY S. COPELAND.
Henry S. Copeland, deceased, was one of the early pioneer settlers of Walla Walla county, arriving here in 1862. He found a largely unsettled and undeveloped region in which the work of improvement had scarcely been begun. The Indians in the state far outnumbered the white settlers and only here and there had been founded a little town, showing that the seeds of civilization had been planted on the western frontier which were later to bear fruit in the development of one of the most progressive commonwealths of the Union.
Henry S. Copeland was born in Vermont in 1824 and was a son of Thomas Copeland, who came from Ireland to Canada in young manhood. Later he crossed the border into the United States, establishing his home in Vermont, where he resided up to the time of his death. Both he and his wife died when their son Henry was a small boy. He was born upon a farm and continued to work at farm labor through the period of his youth, dividing his time between the tasks of the fields and attendance at the district schools through the winter months. At an early age he began farming on his own account and 1857 found him in Sacramento, California, while in 1859 he was in the Willamette valley. In 1862 he crossed to Walla Walla, believing that the growing community there would offer him the best opportunities. It was not long thereafter until he had purchased a home and subsequently he took up a homestead claim, southeast of Walla Walla. For many years he was prominently identified with the agricultural interests of this county and from time to time purchased other land until his holdings were very extensive. He utilized every chance for judicious investment and never lost faith in the future of this district, for he readily appreciated the fact that nature was kind to this region and had placed before man many opportunities for successful business in this section.
Mr. Copeland was united in marriage, in the Willamette valley, to Miss Mary Ann Morton, a daughter of William and Catherine Morton, of Illinois, and they became the parents of nine children, four of whom survive. The wife and mother passed away in April, 1957, while the death of Mr. Copeland occurred twelve years earlier in February, 1905. He was very prominent in Masonic circles as well as in his business connections and in his life exemplified the beneficent spirit of the craft. He was ever ready to extend a helping hand to a brother of the fraternity or to aid any fellow traveler on life's journey. He was broad-minded and liberal in his views and had many qualities which made him worthy of the high regard in which he was uniformly held.
JOHN W. BROOKS.
For almost a quarter of a century John W. Brooks has been actively engaged in the practice of law in Walla Walla and throughout that period has steadily forged to the front until he has long since occupied an enviable position in the foremost rank of the attorneys of Washington. He was born in Asheville, North Carolina, September 9, 1870, a son of Charles and Elizabeth (Cagle) Brooks, both of whom were natives of that state, where they spent their entire lives. The father died in the same building in which he was born, passing away in his ninetieth year, after having devoted his entire life to general agricultural pursuits.
John W. Brooks was reared upon the home farm and the public schools afforded him his early educational privileges. Being desirous of preparing for the bar, he afterward entered the University of North Carolina, which conferred upon him his degree as a lawyer upon his graduation with the class of 1892. He was admitted to the bar on the 24th of September of that year and following his admission he opened an office in Asheville, North Carolina, where he remained in practice until the 15th of February, 1893. Thinking that the west offered still better business opportunities, he then left the Atlantic coast to make his way to the Pacific seaboard and eventually arrived in Walla Walla, where he has since practiced independently. He is an able lawyer, possessing comprehensive knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence and is seldom if ever at fault in the application of such principles to the point in litigation. His reasoning is sound, his deductions clear and his arguments convincing. For twenty-four years he has now practiced in Walla Walla and has long been accorded a position of leadership among the attorneys of this section of the state.
On the 18th of July, 1898, Mr. Brooks was united in marriage to Miss Esther Belle Singleton, a daughter of John Singleton, a pioneer of 1857, who for many years was closely identified with the development and progress of Walla Walla county, where he passed away in 1893. His widow still survives at the notable old age of ninety-one years. To Mr. and Mrs. Brooks has been born one child, Virginia, now deceased.