John Copp (June 9, 1673 – May 16, 1751) was a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

of the

Colony of Connecticut The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

from Norwalk in the sessions of May 1706, May 1716, October 1718, and May 1719. He served from 1708 to 1740 as the

town clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a To ...

of Norwalk. He was one of the purchasers of the land for the present town of Ridgefield, Connecticut from the Ramapoo Indians, as well as the town's clerk and surveyor. He also laid out the lots and roads of the present town of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, New York.

Early life and family

He was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

, on June 9, 1673, the son of David Copp, and Obedience Topliff. His father was a

cordwainer A cordwainer () is a shoemaker who makes new shoes from new leather. The cordwainer's trade can be contrasted with the cobbler's trade, according to a tradition in Britain that restricted cobblers to repairing shoes. This usage distinction is ...

, a clerk of the market, and a sealer of leather.Professional Surveyor
He was also a surveyor and adviser to selectmen of Boston on matters dealing with the laying of bounds for highways and property listings. John Copp moved to Stamford,

Connecticut Colony The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settl ...

, while still in his twenties. There he married the widow Mary Jagger Phelps on March 16, 1698, but soon thereafter she died. He worked in Stamford for some time as a schoolteacher.

Settlement at Bedford

In 1699, he temporarily moved to

(which was, at the time a part of the Connecticut Colony, but would later be a part of New York.)Bedford
/ref> On November 14, 1699, he was granted 23 acres with the condition that he settle on the land for three years. Copp was appointed to a committee to negotiate with the Natives to purchase more land. By February 1700, he was appointed town treasurer and chief surveyor. As town surveyor, he laid out the lots and roads of the town.

Life in Norwalk

In 1701, a town meeting in Norwalk, Copp was hired as a schoolteacher. In 1705, the selectmen of Norwalk recommended that Copp apply for a medical license. He was subsequently granted a license. On July 24, 1711, at a meeting in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, the Governor's Council of Assistants voted to dispatch Copp as a surgeon with a Connecticut regiment which was assigned to attack the French in

Port Royal Port Royal is a village located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest city in the Caribbean, functioning as the centre of shipping and co ...

. Whether or not Copp actually had any medical training is not known.

Purchase of Ridgefield

On May 9, 1706, the Connecticut General Assembly appointed Captain Jonathan Selleck, David Waterbury and John Copp to visit the area north of Norwalk, and south of

Danbury Danbury is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2022 was 87,642. It is the seventh largest city in Connecticut. Danbury is nicknamed the "Hat City ...

for the purpose of inspecting the land for a settlement.Ridgefield Timeline
/ref> However, complications arise and no action was taken. On May 3, 1708, John Copp and John Raymond, Jr. visited the area. They may have camped at Settlers Rock at the south edge of today’s Ridgefield Cemetery on North Salem Road. They reported that the land was good and would sustain 30 families or more. As a result, about 20,000 acres of land were purchased from Catoonah on behalf of the Ramapoo Indians. In 1710, the original proprietors of Ridgefield chose John Copp, Josiah Starr and Major Peter Burr to survey their land. Copp was Ridgefield’s first doctor, first schoolmaster and first Town Clerk. He recorded all the land sales, took the minutes at town meetings and listed all marriages, births, and deaths in the town records. When the Reverend Hauley arrived in 1712, Copp returned to Norwalk. Copp's Island (), Copp’s Hill Road, Copp’s Hill Shopping Plaza and Copp’s Mountain are all named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copp, John 1673 births 1751 deaths American surveyors British military personnel of Queen Anne's War Burials in East Norwalk Historical Cemetery City and town clerks Members of the Connecticut House of Representatives People from Bedford, New York Politicians from Boston People from Ridgefield, Connecticut Politicians from Norwalk, Connecticut 18th-century American physicians People of colonial Connecticut