19 Facts About Gilbert Cope

Gilbert Cope was an American historian and genealogist who authored numerous publications on the history and prominent families of Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Gilbert Cope collected enormous quantities of historical materials and manuscripts, now held by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Gilbert Cope was the youngest of eight children born to Joseph Cope Jr.

Gilbert Cope's father- a strict disciplinarian in contrast to his kindly mother- was a wealthy Quaker farmer of English descent, whose paternal ancestor, Oliver Cope, was one of William Penn's First Purchasers, settling in the region in 1683 having previously been a tailor in Wiltshire.

An Orthodox Friend like his ancestors, Gilbert Cope attended the West Chester Friends School and the Westtown School.

From a young age, Gilbert Cope was fascinated by botany and genealogy, using his own hand printing press to produce genealogical pamphlets and publishing his first book, a genealogy of his family, at the age of 21.

When his father died, Gilbert Cope sold the farm and moved to West Chester, where he built a new house at 532 North Church Street on the occasion of his marriage in 1880.

Gilbert Cope accrued extensive genealogical and historical collections, which he shelved in wooden cabinets of his own design or stored in a fireproof vault he built in his private library.

Gilbert Cope preserved most of Chester County's archives and Quaker meeting records, gathering and binding thousands of loose papers at his own expense.

Gilbert Cope collected photographs and took many of his own photographs documenting historic buildings, landmark occasions, public events, and important documents.

In 1920, Gilbert Cope went to live with his eldest son, Herman Gilbert Cope, at Herman's farm in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and dispersed his collections to regional societies.

In 1893, Gilbert Cope co-founded the Chester County Historical Society and for twenty-seven years served as its secretary and on its board of directors, remaining an honorary director to the end of his life.

Gilbert Cope belonged to the Delaware Historical Society and the Friends Historical Association.

On February 5,1880, Gilbert Cope married Anna Garrett, daughter of David and Mary Ann Garrett.

Gilbert Cope died at Herman's farm in Middletown Township on December 17,1928, at the age of 88.

Gilbert Cope was interred by his wife's side in the Orthodox Friends Cemetery in West Goshen Township, just north of West Chester.

Joseph Gilbert Cope continued his father's genealogical researches until his own death in 1982.

Gilbert Cope's papers are held in the archives of the Chester County History Center and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Gilbert Cope was a distant cousin of paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope.