I’ve recently been doing a lot of research into the Copeland family for an upcoming article and came across this obituary mentioning Virgie and Danner Copeland by their married names. This turned out to be a key document for the article, so I’m presenting the obituary here. It was originally published in the Midland Reporter Telegram of Midland, Texas on 16 August 1977.

Mrs. Clayton’s rites in Crane

CRANE – Dessie Ann Clayton, 73, died at 1:37 p.m. Monday in a Crane hospital following a lengthy illness.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Sheppard Funeral Home with burial in Crane Garden of Memories.

Mrs. Clayton was born Aug. 19, 1903 in Arkansas. She was married to William Henry Clayton Oct. 23, 1918^[1], in Arkansas. She had been a resident of Crane 32 years^[2].

Survivors include a daughter, Demolee Kipton of Crane; two sons, Elbert Clayton of Crane and Charles Clayton of Bellingham, Wash.; two sisters^[3], Virgie Conley^[4] of Reedly, Calif., and Danner Graham of Sikeston, Mo.; two brothers, Seburn Coker and Martin Copeland^[5], both of Crane; nine grandchildren, and 15 great-grandchildren.

Notes

[1] The Van Buren County marriage record, which is available online at FamilySearch.org, recorded 23 October 1918 as the issue date of William and Dessie’s marriage license. They were actually married four days later, on 27 October 1918. The marriage date was also stated incorrectly in William’s obituary.

[2] Dessie moved to Crane, Texas circa 1945, based on this obituary.

[3] Actually her half-sisters.

[4] Misspelling of Condley.

[5] Martin was actually her half-brother.

Dessie was the daughter of California Cypert and her second husband Mancel Coker.

Sources

NewspaperARCHIVE.com. Midland Reporter Telegram, 16 August 1977, page 10A. Retrieved on 23 June 2012.

"Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NMG8-535 : accessed 26 July 2012), William H Clayton, 1918.