Jacob Coppenbarger and his wife Catherine Snavely Coppenbarger were the first to come to Illinois. They are the foundation of the modern family in Illinois. But where did Jacob and Catherine come from? Early Coppenbargers and Snavelys
Jacob was born September 1, 1769, which is the date inscribed on his tombstone. But we don't know where he was born. Our best guess is that his parents or grandparents immigrated from Germany and settled in either Pennsylvania or Virginia. We have no idea who these people were, where exactly they settled, or when they made their way to Virginia.
Jacob probably had a brother named William, because he and his wife Elizabeth Snavely are the foundation of another family that uses the same spelling of the surname. All Coppenbargers can be traced back to either Jacob or William in Wythe County, Virginia. Coincidently, Elizabeth Snavely is Catherine's sister. In other words, the Coppenbarger brothers married the Snavely sisters.
The Snavely family was well established in Wythe County, and we can trace the sisters back three generations to "old" John Snavely.
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