This document is traces the Genealogy of our Grandfather, Esthel Raymond Fish.  Specifically, of his father, John Herschel Fish; his mother, Mary Elizabeth Bugby; and his wife, Vida Glow Coplen.

The information in this document was obtained from the following sources:

1)    By Daniel E. Wenger from a conservation with his Aunt Vida Fish on July 28, 1957 and from historical documents obtained from Fulton County, IN.

2)    By Herbert W. Fish from a conversations with his Aunt Winfred Lawson at her home in Douglas, AZ in 2001, and his Aunt Mary Humbarger at her home in Tucson, AZ in 2001.  Also from documents from Fulton County, IN and other genealogical sources on the internet, most significantly from the book “The Fish Family in England and America” by Lester Warren Fish published in August,1948.

3)    By Illa Gene McCellan Bolton author of “Some of the Genealogy of Certain Bugby, Bell, Winter(s), Hoopengardner, and Stultz Families” published in May, 2000.

      4)    By Marjorie Jean Cate.

     5)    By Genealogist Karen Fick Urick.

FISH

Esthel Raymond Fish was born on January 14, 1886 near Talma, IN. He was the son of John Herschel Fish and Mary C. Bugby.  Note: Mary’s middle initial was listed as C in almost all records, including her marriage to John H. Fish, but her mother listed Mary’s middle name as Elisabeth in her Civil War widow’s government pension request.  Esthel married Vida Glow Coplen on January 23, 1909 in Argos, IN.  He died on September 30, 1964 in Tucson, AZ.  He is buried in the Reichter cemetery in Rochester, IN.

His Fish genealogy is as follows:

Edward Fyshe was born in 1475 in Market Harborough, Great Bowden Perish, Leicestershire, England.  Wife unknown.  He died in 1518.

Richicard Fyshe, son of Edward, was born in 1500 in Market Harborough, Great Bowden Perish, Leicestershire, England.  Wife unknown.  Year of death unknown.

Thomas Fyshe, son of Richard, was born in 1535 in Market Harborough, Great Bowden Perish, Leicestershire, England.  Wife unknown.  He died on January 4, 1569.

Thomas Fyshe/Fish Jr., son of Thomas, was born in 1865 in Market Harborough, Great Bowden Perish, Leicestershire, England.  Wife unknown.  Year of death unknown.  He changed his name from Fyshe to Fish.

Robert Fish, son of Thomas Jr., was born on August 12, 1593 in Market Harborough, Great Bowden Perish, Leicestershire, England.  He married Alice Fishe  (b. 11/6/1597) on February 24, 1617.  He died on December 20, 1639.

Thomas Fish, son of Robert, was born on January 1, 1618 in Market Harborough, Great Bowden Perish, Leicestershire, England.  He married Mary Ayers (b. 1622, d. 7/12/1699) in 1648.  He died on December 1, 1687 in Newport, RI.  He was the first Fish in the genealogy to migrate to America.  He landed in Portsmouth, RI in 1643 and settled in Providence Plantations, RI as a farmer.

Thomas Fish Jr., son of Thomas, was born in 1649 in Portsmouth, RI.  He married Grizzel Strange on December 10, 1668.  He died on May 5, 1684.

Preserved Fish, son of Thomas Jr., was born on August 12, 1679 in Portsmouth, RI.  He married Ruth Cook on May 30, 1699.  He died on July 15, 1745.

Thomas Fish, son of Preserved, was born on December 1, 1703 in Portsmouth, RI.  He married Mercy Coggeshall on December 16, 1724.  He died in 1786 in Oblong, Amenia Precinct, Dutchess County, NY.

John Fish, son of Thomas, was born on February 16, 1773 in Dartmouth, MA.  He married Eunice (last name unknown and year unknown).  Year of death unknown.

Ephraim Fish, son of John, was born on March 16, 1760 in Oblong, Amenia Precinct, Dutchess County, NY.  He married Mary Potter on February 24, 1780.  He died on October 7, 1838.  He served in the Revolutionary War as a Lieutenant.

Benjamin Fish, son of Ephraim, was born in 1787 in Eastontown, Albany County, NY.  He married Delia Pease on May 6, 1810.  He died in 1855 in South Milford, LaGrange County, IN.  He served in the War Of 1812.

George Fish, son of Benjamin, was born in 1836 in Ohio.  He married Sarah Jane Gillum on May 6, 1853.  He died on February 24, 1862 of lung fever in Calhoun, McLean County, KY while serving as a Sergeant in H Company, 44 Indiana Infantry in the Civil War.

John Herschel Fish, son of George Fish and father of Esthel Raymond Fish, was born on November 20, 1860 in Springfield Township, LaGrange County, IN.  He married Mary C. Bugby on  September 23, 1883.  He died on March 10, 1937 in Royalton Township Michigan.  According to the 1880 census for Fulton County Indiana, John H. Fish listed his age as 19 years, his occupation as harness maker, and his residence as the Wallace House (a boarding house) in Rochester, Indiana.

John Herschel Fish (age 22) met Mary C. Bugby (age 16) at a barn dance where he was playing the fiddle, and after a brief romance, he married her on September 23, 1883.  Their first child, Delman H. Fish was born June 10, 1884 and died January 8, 1885 as an infant of 6 months and 28 days.  Their second child, Esthel Raymond Fish was born on January 14, 1886 near Talma, IN.

John H. Fish divorced Mary Bugby and married Cenith Hattie Wilson on July 6, 1891 in Plymouth, Marshall County, Indiana.  They had the following children: Hazel Elsie Fish born March 5, 1892 in Argos, Indiana; Mabel H. Fish born in 1894 in Indiana; Zella H. Fish born in 1899 in Michigan; Reba Fay Fish born November 17, 1902 in Galien Township, Berrien County, Michigan (died at age 16); and Ester Fish born December 20, 1904 in Berrien County Michigan.  Cenith Hattie Wilson Fish was born September 30, 1873 in Indiana, and died March 15, 1905 in Buchanan, Berrien County, Michigan.  After this wife died, John H. Fish married Ora Curtis Geisler in 1910.  She owned a farm in Royalton Township Michigan, which was where he lived until he died.  In 1950 Hazel Fish Doyle and Zella Fish Price were living in South Bend, Indiana, and Mabel Fish Minigar was living in Elkhart, Indiana.

Esthel Raymond Fish, son of John Herschel Fish and Vida Glow Coplen, had the following children:

Donavon Herschel Franklin Fish (b 8/16/11), Charles Wayne Fish (b 4/18/13), Mary Loudella Fish (b 3/23/15), Winifred Ruth Fish (b 4/20/17), James George Fish (b 12/22/19), Herbert Coplen Fish (b 12/2/21) and Barbara Ann Fish, who died as an infant. 

Donavon Fish married Virginia Delta.  This marriage ended in divorce.  He then married Esther Wolford and had Esthel Raymond Fish II who lives in Pittsburg, California. This marriage also ended in divorce. His final marriage was to Pat Williams (which also ended in divorce), and adopted a son, Herbert James Fish who lives in Woodbury, Minnesota.  Donavon Fish died on September 30, 1977 in San Diego, California.

Charles Fish married Ethelyn Toren and adopted a daughter, Judith Kay Fish.  This marriage ended in divorce.  He then married Nina Irene Moore (no children).  Charles died on July 2, 2004 in Meadow Vista, California.  Nina was born on August 19, 1925 and died on August 13, 2006 in Tucson, Arizona.

Mary Fish married Thomas Gerald Humbarger and had David Paul, Darla Lee, Daniel Phillip and Winnie Susanne.  Mary died on December 5, 2008 in Tucson, Arizona.  Gerald was born on August 7, 1913 and died on October 11, 2005 in Battle Creek, Michigan.

Winifred Fish married Lawson Barrett and had Linda, Gloria Jean, Lolita, Jonathon and Butch.  Winifred died on October 5, 2006 in Douglas, Arizona.  Lawson died on June 8, 2010 in Douglas, Arizona.

James Fish married Loretta Lee Casey and had Vida Marie Fish, Nancy Lee Fish Lamson, and James George Fish Jr.  James Fish died on April 1, 1982 in Meadow Vista, California.  Loretta Lee died in Anchorage, Alaska.  Vida lives in Spokane, Washington.  Nancy lives in Big Lake, Alaska.  James Jr. was born on March 28, 1958 in Douglas, Arizona and died on July 12, 2012 in Anchorage, Alaska.  James Jr. was married to Karen Fish and they have two children: Joseph Michael Fish and Julie Ann Fish, both living in Anchorage, Alaska.

Herbert Fish married Armeta Waitstill Gast and had Herbert Wayne, Juanita Beth, Michael Coplen, and Mary Ruth.  Herbert and Armeta live in Battle Creek, Michigan.  Herbert Wayne lives in Hidden Valley Lake, California.  Juanita and Michael live in Battle Creek, Michigan.  Mary lives in Walker, Michigan.

Bugby

Mary C. Bugby, wife of John Herschel Fish and mother of Esthel Raymond Fish, was born November 12, 1862, the daughter of Nelson and Nancy (Bell) Bugby.  She died on January 16, 1940 in Grand Rapids, MI.  She is buried in the Reichter cemetery in Rochester, IN under the name Mary Bugby Partridge.

Her Bugby genealogy is as follows:

Nancy Bell was born October 7, 1825 in Bellville, Ohio, she died February 8, 1902 in Talma, Indiana.  She is buried in the Reichter cemetery in Rochester, IN under the name of Nancy Bell Bugby.

Her father was Reverend Zephaniah Bell, born in Pennsylvania in 1790 and died in 1876.  He was a Methodist minister in Bellville.  Zephaniah’s father was Robert Bell.  Nancy’s mother’s maiden name was Margaret Smith. Margaret was also born in Ohio. 

Nelson Bugby and Nancy Bell were married on July 3, 1847 and had three other children:  William Franklin, born July 2, 1853, Irwin Monroe, born March 28, 1856, and Jasper Newton, born December 10, 1858.

Nelson Bugby enlisted on August 16, 1862 at Columbia City, Indiana in Company F, of the 100^th Indiana Regiment as a Private during the Civil War at the age of 44.   He was born in 1818 in Erie, Pennsylvania. His birth name was Nelson Bugbee and he changed it at an early age to Bugby because kids at school called him “Bug” and “Bee.”  However, his Civil War military records show that he used his birth name Bugbee for enlistment.   All other records list him as Nelson Bugby.  He died during his Civil War enlistment in Scottsboro, Alabama on January 11, 1864.  Nancy was living in Whitley County, Indiana at the time of his death.  Nancy then married Henry Windbigler, a cobbler about ten years her senior, on July 29, 1869 in Marshall Co. Indiana.  They divorced (date unknown), and on March 16, 1886 Nancy married Henry Bowman, to whom she was married until her death.

 Mary C. Bugby Fish married Silas Clinton Partridge on November 3, 1892.  He owned a farm outside of Talma (where she was known as Grandma Partridge by her grandchildren in later years), and there she raised Esthel Raymond Fish.

Silas Clinton Partridge had several children from a previous marriage to Martha S. Eidson, including Florence, Olive, Mina, Luretta Mae, Francis, Lee and S. Merritt.  These were Esthel’s step brothers and sisters and this was his childhood home.  When S. Clinton Partridge died, Mary Bugby married (date unknown) her childhood sweetheart, a Mr. Holly (first name unknown) and they lived in Mishawaka, Indiana (a suburb of South Bend) where he was a barber.   When Mr. Holly died, she lived with her only child, Esthel Raymond Fish, and his wife Vida Glow Coplen Fish in Grand Rapids, MI until her death.

COPLEN 

Vida Glow Coplen, daughter of Alvah Franklin Coplen and Delilah May Davis, was born June 10, 1891 near Talma, IN.  She married Esthel Raymond Fish on January 23, 1909 in Argos, IN. She died on January 2, 1987 in Meadow Vista, CA.  She is buried in the Reichter cemetery in Rochester Indiana. 

Her Coplen genealogy is as follows: 

Richard Copeland Sr. was born on 29 November, 1774 in Virginia and lived with his father, John, in Surry Co. North Carolina until c. 1798 (at age 24) when he evidently left home.  Nothing more is known of his father and mother.  He married Euphamie ? c. 1800 and his first child, James was born in Virginia in 1802.  Euphamie was born in Fauquier Co. Virginia.  Nothing more is known about Euphamie or James.  He migrated westward with his family and was in Belmont Co. Ohio, where his second child, Asa, was born in April, 1805.  He remained in Belmont Co. until c. 1818, when he moved to Coshocton Co. Ohio.  He served during the War of 1812 as a Sergeant in James Campbell’s Company (a Belmont Co. Ohio Company), Odd Battalion, Ohio Militia, commanded by Major Samuel Connell.  Richard died c. 1835, probably in Ohio.

Asa Copland/Coplen married Lucretia Ann Abbott, on 9 April 1832, in Ohio, and they had 7 children, including sons William, Lyman, (Lemuel), James and Chauncey.  Lucretia was born in 1810, the daughter of William G. and Sarah (Field) Abbott.  He married his second wife, Minerva Jane Fisher, on 12 October 1869 in Indiana, and they had 2 daughters.  Minerva was born in 1841 and died in 1927, and was the daughter of ? and Mary Fisher.  Asa Copeland/Coplen (Coplen after 1845 in Indiana) moved with his family from Coshocton Co. Ohio to Fulton Co. Indiana c. 1836/37/40, and bought 40 acres of government land on Yellow Creek just east of the current site of Talma for $1.25 per acre.  He purchased adjacent land at various times until he had acquired 200 acres.  He owned and operated a saw mill to provide lumber for local houses and farm buildings.  In 1852, he sold his 200 acres to Pete Kessler for $1,500.  In 1853, Asa bought 52 acres which including the site of Bloomingsburg (now Talma).  The application for recording the town site of Bloomingsburg was signed solely by Asa.  In 1858, Asa caught the gold fever and left with his family for Colorado to get rich after selling three of his four farms to finance the trip.  During their journey west, Asa’s wife, Lucretia Ann became deathly ill, and she died in 1959 at Fort Riley, Kansas, and was buried in Emporia, Kansas.  Before she died, Lucretia made Asa promise to return to Indiana with the children, which he did in 1859 where he resumed his trading in land in 1860 in Bloomingsburg, Indiana.  At some time Asa took out a license as a Tavern Keeper under the excise law.  Asa remained a widower for about ten years and then married Minerva Jane Fisher in 1869.  In 1888, Asa sold his remaining property in Bloomingsburg and moved, with his family, to Joliet, Illinois.  They lived there until his death on 12 May 1896 at age 91.  He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Joliet. 

William Coplen and his first wife must have accompanied Asa, and his family on the trip to Colorado in 1858/9 because his first child, Jayman, was born in 1859 in Kansas.  Nothing more is heard of the child, Jayman.  William’s second child, William A. was born in 1861 in Indiana.  William Coplen’s first wife was Martha A ?, whom he married c. 1857.  She was born in 1841 and died March 1,1861 at the age of 20 years and 1 month.  William then married Pricilla Faulkner on May 15, 1862, and they had Alvah Franklin, James Hudson, Charles Elmore, Mary (Aunt Mace), and Orsa, who died at 21.  William Coplen was reputed to be a very strong man and could lift a keg of salt upon his shoulder and walk off with it.  William Coplen died in November 30, 1872, probably of septicemia as a result of injuries suffered in an explosion, of which there are two stories.  One is that they were dynamiting stumps in the process of clearing land.  The second is they were tamping gunpowder down a hole in an anvil while celebrating the 4^th of July when it went off prematurely

Aunt Mace married Quimby Cling, who died, Charles Stansbury, who died, Curry Eytcheson (divorced), a Mr. Kelly (divorced), and then she remarried Curry Eytcheson.  Aunt Mace had one adopted son named Hudson. 

James Hudson married Nettie Cling, Pearl, Laura, Minnie and Julia.  James Hudson fathered Guy, L.D., and Hudson jr. by Nettie, and Pricilla and Woodrow by Minnie.

Charles Elmore Coplen married Amanda Craft and had children Herman & Tully (nicknamed Ted).  Charles is buried at Reichter Cemetery in Rochester, Indiana.

 Alvah Franklin Coplen married Delilah May Davis, daughter of George Alonzo Davis and Barbara Ann Critchfield.  Their children were: Vida Glow, George William, Gladys Marie, Lester Lurville, Hester Izora, Mary Olive, and Artimus F. (Bill).  Lester died in the great influenza pandemic of 1918.  Hester died as an infant at the age of about 6 months.  Artimus Coplen died in Rochester at the age of 93, on September 15, 2002, the last of  the children of Frank and Delila Coplen.  He lived his entire life in Talma where he and his brother George owned and operated the Coplen Sawmill for 43 years, until 1971.  Gladys Marie Coplen married Everett Stockberger and had a son named Arlos Lowell who died at birth.  They also had a daughter named Juanita Daphene who married Welcome Snyder.  Juanita and Welcome had three children and moved to California.   Gladys and Everett died a day apart in the first week of January, 1919 in the Great Spanish Flu Pandemic.

Artimus married Helen N. Sanner on May 20, 1937, in Plymouth.  She died October 28, 1999. They had two children, Steve E. and David.  Steve lives in Florence, Kentucky, and David lives in Elkhart, Indiana. 

Steve Coplen (living) was married to Sharon Eliott (living) in the First Baptist Church in Rochester, Indiana. They had three children; Melody Faye (living).  Barry Lee was born February 13, 1963 and died February 17, 1993.  Barry’s wife’s maiden name was Jackie Hagon.  Mark Stephen (living) married Allison Keyton.  They have 6 grandchildren and 1 step-grandchild.  Melody’s first husband’s name was David Andrews and second husband’s name was Robert Kitson.  Melody has 1 son, Derik (living) and 1 daughter, Nichole (living).   Barry has a son, Brandon Lee (living) and a daughter, Erica Nichol (living).  Mark has a son, Steven James (living), a daughter, Jessica born (living), and a stepson Devon (living).

David Coplen married JoAnne ... and had three children, Laura (Mrs. Tom Brydaghs Cranger), Kelly and Eric, both of Elkhart.  

Mary Olive Coplen married Harry W. Wenger on April 8, 1937 in Rochester. They had two children, Daniel Erroll and Haila Jane.  Olive and Harry lived on a farm near Talma, Indiana.  Harry Wenger was born in 1898 and died May 25, 1962. Olive was born in 1904 and died April 8, 1982.  They are buried in the Reichter cemetery in Rochester Indiana.

Daniel Wenger Married Marcia Myers in the Arcadia, Indiana Church of the Brethern.  They had the following children: Jeffrey Scott (living), Keri Nichole, born February 27, 1971 (died on April 22, 1985, and is buried in the Littleton Colorado Cemetery), and Melissa Kay (Wenger) DeGraffenreid (living).

Melissa married Finley DeGraffenreid on July 8, 1995.  Melissa has two children, Conner Nichole (living) and Seamus J. (living) and two stepchildren, Elizabeth and Caleb DeGraffenreid.  Melissa and Finley live in Bridgeport, Nebraska.

Jeffrey Scott Wenger Married Julene Knipfer in the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses in Littleton, Colorado in 1996.  Julene was born in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.  They live in Ft. Worth, Texas, and have no children.

Daniel and Marcia Wenger moved to Colorado from Indiana and were divorced in Littleton, Colorado in October of 1983.  Marcia then married B. J. Purcell, and they live in McCallum, Texas.  Daniel lives in Denver Colorado. 

Haila Jane Wenger (living) was married in the Talma Methodist Church on October 15, 1966 to Thomas Earle O’Neill.  They have three children: Christopher David, (living) and (unmarried), Kevin Gene (adopted) (living).  Kevin is married and has a son (living) and a daughter Mary Katherine (living).  Halia Jane lives in Greenfield Indiana.