COPE, Thomas Pyln - A Stan Klos Website
COPE, Thomas Pyln, merchant, born in Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania, 26 August, 1768; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 22
Nov., 1854. His father, Caleb Cope, a Quaker of Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
protected André from a mob in 1775.
The son entered a counting-house in Philadelphia in
1786, began business for himself in 1790, importing his goods latterly in his
own vessels, the first of which he built in 1807, and established in 1821 the
first line of packets between Philadelphia and Liverpool, which survived several
financial crises, and continued in existence down till the beginning of the
civil war. He acquired great wealth, and possessed in a high degree the respect
of his fellow-townsmen.
During an epidemic of yellow fever in 1793 he remained
in the City to aid the sufferers, and took the disease himself, and, when the
Smallpox raged in 1797, he accepted the task of ministering to the wants of the
destitute as almoner, and carried food to the houses of the sufferers. He was a
member of the City Council about 1800, an efficient member of the committee for
introducing water into the City, served in the legislature in 1807, and in the
State constitutional convention, was president of the Board of trade for many
years, and of the Mercantile Library Company from its foundation until his
death, and was an executor of Girard's will, a trustee of the bank, and a
director of the Girard College.
He was also actively interested in completing the
Chesapeake and Delaware canal, and in the construction of the Pennsylvania
railroad. The estate of Lemon Hill, the Country-seat of Henry J. Pratt, which
came into the possession of the old United States Bank, was through his efforts
secured to the City as a public park, instead of being utilized for factory
purposes. When Mr. Cope retired from mercantile life his sons, Henry and Alfred
, carried on the business, which eventually passed into the hands of Francis and
Thomas P., sons of Henry Cope, who adopted the style of Cope Brothers.
--Alfred's son, Edward Drinker Cope, naturalist,
born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 28 July, 1840. He was educated at the
Westtown Academy and at the University of Pennsylvania, and then studied
comparative anatomy in the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, in the
Smithsonian Institution during 1859, and in Europe from 1863 till 1864. He
became professor of natural sciences in Haverford College in 1864, but resigned
in 1867 on account of failing health. Later he became paleontologist to the
United States geological survey, serving at first on the survey of the
territories, and then on the survey west of the 100th meridian. His work in this
connection has resulted in his discovery of nearly 1,000 new species of extinct
and as many recent vertebrata.
For many years Prof. Cope was secretary and curator of
the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and chief of the department of
organic material of the permanent exhibition in that city. He is a member of
numerous scientific societies in the United States and Europe, and in 1879
received the Bigsby gold medal from the Royal Geological Society of Great
Britain. In 1872 he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences,
and in 1884 was vice-president of the section on biology of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science.
The titles of his papers, upward of 350 in number, form
a systematic record of the development of paleontology in the United States.
They have appeared in the official reports of the government surveys,
proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, of the American
Philosophical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
and in numerous periodicals.
Among his larger works are "Systematic Arrangement of
the Lacertilia and Ophidia" (1864); "Primary Groups of the Batrachian Anura"
(1865); "History of the Cetacea of the Eastern North American Coast" (1866);
"Synopsis of the Extinct Cetacea of the United States" (1867-'8); "Systematic
Arrangement of the Extinct Batrachia, Reptilia, and Ayes of North America"
(1869-'70); "Systematic Relations of the Fishes" (1871); "Systematic Relations
of the Tailed Batrachia" (1872); "Extinct Vertebrata of the Eocene Formations of
Wyoming" (1873); "Cretaceous Vertebrata of the West" (1877); and "Tertiary
Vertebrata" (1885).
To the theory of evolution he has made important
contributions, among which are "On the Origin of Genera" (1868); "Hypothesis of
Evolution, Physical and Metaphysical" (1870); "Method of Creation of Organic
Types" (1871); "Evolution and its Consequences" (1872); "Consciousness in
Evolution" (1875); "Relation of Man to Tertiary Mammalia" (1875); "On the Theory
of Evolution" (1876); "The Origin of Will" (1877); "The Relation of Animal
Motion to Animal Evolution" (1878); "A Review of the Modern Doctrine of
Evolution" (1879); "Origin of Man and other Vertebrates" (1885); "The Energy of
Life Evolution and how it has acted" (1885); "The Origin of the Fittest" (1886).
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia by John Looby, Copyright © 2001
StanKlos.comTM
COPE, Thomas Pyln, merchant, born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 26 August, 1768" died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 22 :Nov., 1854. His father, Caleb Cope, a Quaker of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, protected Andre from a mob in 1775. The son entered a counting-house in Philadelphia in 1786, began business for himself in 1790, importing his goods latterly in his own vessels, the first of which he built in 1807, and established in 1821 the first line of packets between Philadelphia and Liverpool, which survived several financial crises, and continued in existence down till the beginning of the civil war. He acquired great wealth, and possessed in a high degree the respect of his fellow-townsmen. During an epidemic of yellow fever in 1793 he remained in the City to aid the sufferers, and took the disease himself, and, when the small-pox raged in 1797, he accepted the task of ministering to the wants of the destitute as almoner, and carried food to the houses of the sufferers. He was a member of the City council about 1800, an efficient member of the committee for introducing water into the City, served in the legislature in 1807, and in the State constitutional convention, was president of the Board of trade for many years, and of the Mercantile library company from its foundation until his death, and was an executor of Girard's will, a trustee of the bank, and a director of the Girard College. He was also actively interested in completing the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, and in the construction of the Pennsylvania railroad. The estate of Lemon Hill, the country-seat of Henry J. Pratt, which came into the possession of the old United States bank, was through his efforts secured to the City as a public park, instead of being utilized for factory purposes. When Mr. Cope retired from mercantile life his sons, Henry and Alfred, carried on the business, which eventually passed into the hands of Francis and Thomas P., sons of Henry, who adopted the style of Cope Brothers.--Alfred's son, Edward Drinker, naturalist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 28 July, 1840. He was educated at the Westtown academy and at the University of Pennsylvania, and then studied comparative anatomy in the Academy of sciences of Philadelphia, in the Smithsonian institution during 1859, and in Europe from 1863 till 1864. He became professor of natural sciences in Haverford College in 1864, but resigned in 1867 on account of failing health. Later he became palaeontologist to the United States geological survey, serving at first on the survey of the territories, and then on the survey west of the 100th meridian. His work in this connection has resulted in his discovery of nearly 1,000 new species of extinct and as many recent vertebrata. For many years Prof. Cope was secretary and curator of the Academy of natural sciences, Philadelphia, and chief of the department of organic material of the permanent exhibition in that city. He is a member of numerous scientific societies in the United States and Europe, and in 1879 received the Bigsby gold medal from the Royal geological society of Great Britain. In 1872 he was elected a member of the National academy of sciences, and in 1884 was vice-president of the section on biology of the American association for the advancement of science. The titles of his papers, upward of 350 in number, form a systematic record of the development of paleontology in the United States. They have appeared in the official reports of the government surveys, proceedings of the Philadelphia academy of sciences, of the American philosophical society, the American association for the advancement of science, and in numerous periodicals. Among his larger works are "Systematic Arrangement of the Lacertilia and Ophidia" (1864); "Primary Groups of the Batrachian Anura" (1865); "History of the Cetacea of the Eastern North American Coast" (1866); "Synopsis of the Extinct Cetacea of the United States" (1867-'8); "Systematic Arrangement of the Extinct Batrachia, Reptilia, and Ayes of North America" (1869-'70); "Systematic Relations of the Fishes" (1871); " Systematic Relations of the Tailed Batrachia" (1872); " Extinct Vertebrata of the Eocene Formations of Wyoming" (1873); "Cretaceous Vertebrata of the West " (1877); and " Tertiary Vertebrata" (1885). To the theory of evolution he has made important contributions, among which are " On the Origin of Genera" (1868); "Hypothesis of Evolution, Physical and Metaphysical" (1870); "Method of Creation of Organic Types" (1871);" Evolution and its Consequences" (1872);" Consciousness in Evolution" (1875); "Relation of Man to Tertiary Mammalia" (1875); "On the Theory of Evolution" (1876); " The Origin of Will" (1877); "The Relation of Animal Motion to Animal Evolution" (1878); "A Review of the Modern Doctrine of Evolution" (1879); "Origin of Man and other Vertebrates" (1885); " The Energy of Life Evolution and how it has acted " (1885); "The Origin of the Fittest" (1886).
