Wilbert Coup 1880

Wilbert Coup 1880 - 1957

Wilbert Coup
1880 - 1957

WILBERT COUP
Born : 20 March 1880
Place : Jackson Twp, Wood Co, OH
Died : 15 May 1957
Place : Whangarei, New Zealand
Father : Joseph Coup
Mother : Rebecca Ellen Noecker

Married : 31 March 1904
Place : Registrar's Office, Wellington, New Zealand

ALICE ELIZABETH ROBINSON
Born : 30 September 1885
Place : Wellington, New Zealand
Died : 18 May 1977
Place : Public Hospital, Whangarei, New Zealand
Father : John George Robinson
Mother : Alice Matilda Hedges

Children of WILBERT COUP and ALICE ELIZABETH ROBINSON are :

i	CORA MAUD COUP Born : 27 February 1906 Place : Kilburnie, Wellington, New Zealand Died : 28 June 1911 Place : Wellington, New Zealand
ii	MARY REBECCA COUP Born : 9 June 1908 Place : Wellington, New Zealand Died : 23 January 1984 Place : Whangarei, New Zealand	Married (1) : 1928 Place : Unknown	HERMAN JOHN WRIGHT FISHER Born : Unknown Place : Unknown Died : Unknown Place : Unknown Father : Unknown Mother : Unknown
		Married (2) : 22 September 1945 Place : Airedale St. Church, Auckland, NZ	STANLEY HERBERT HAWKLESS Born : 1910 Place : Pongaroa, Hawkes Bay, NZ Died : 8 June 1991 Place : Auckland, NZ Father : Charles Hawkless Mother : Laura Olive Josephine Prebble
		Married (3) : Abt 1964 Place : Unknown	RICHARD WALLBANK Born : Unknown Place : Unknown Died : Unknown Place : Unknown Father : Unknown Mother : Unknown
iii	ALICE AMELIA COUP Born : 9 June 1908 Place : Wellington, New Zealand Died : 8 July 1990 Place : Whangarei, New Zealand	Married : 21 July 1928 Place : Whangarei, New Zealand	GORDON THOMAS HARCOURT THOMASSEN Born : Unknown Place : Unknown Died : Unknown Place : Unknown Father : Unknown Mother : Unknown
iv	MYRTLE CORDELIA COUP Born : 11 July 1910 Place : Wellington, New Zealand Died : 15 July 1996 Place : Middlemore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand	Married : 21 December 1931 Place : Regisrty Office, Whangarei, New Zealand	WILBERT LIONEL RUDDELL Born : Unknown Place : Unknown Died : Unknown Place : Unknown Father : Unknown Mother : Unknown
v	HAZEL EVELYNE COUP Born : 21 November 1912 Place : Wellington, New Zealand Died : 27 June 1999 Place : Whangarei, New Zealand	Married : 23 June 1936 Place : Whangarei, New Zealand	JOHN WILLIAM FLOWER Born : Abt. 1911 Place : Unknown Died : 22 September 1994 Place : Whangarei, New Zealand Father : Unknown Mother : Unknown
vi	GEORGE WILBERT JOSEPH COUP Born : 22 March 1922 Place : Wellington, New Zealand Died : 31 March 1989 Place : Te Awamutu, New Zealand	Married : 29 January 1950 Place : Stratford, New Zealand	JEAN RHODA MITCHELL Born : Private Place : Private Died : Private Place : Private Father : Private Mother : Private

Supporting Evidence

Thanks to Margot Hawkless, for the information on Stanley Hawkless. If you are interested in the Hawkless family please go to http://www.hawkless.org

Newspaper Report 1954
Took Part In Famous Cherokee Strip Rush
Today is the golden wedding anniversary of Mr and Mrs W. Coup, of Whangarei. Mr and Mrs Coup were married 50 years ago in Wellington, where Mrs Coup, formerly Miss Alice Elizabeth Robinson, was born.
Mr Coup was born in Ohio, USA, and took part in the famous rush to the Cherokee Strip. Family and friends of the couple will help them celebrate their anniversary on Saturday. After their marriage, Mr and Mrs Coup lived in Wellington, Ohakune, and in 1925 came to Whangarei, where Mr Coup was on the works staff of the borough council for many years.
Vivid Recollections
One of Mr Coup's most vivid recollections of his youth in America was the great homesteaders' rush when the territory of the Cherokee Indian nation was opened up in land which is now known as Oklahoma.
This much-written-about and often-filmed episode in American history began when the Indians were cleared from the Cherokee Strip and all whites were prohibited from entering the area until midday on a certain day in 1895.
The strip was 200 miles wide at one point and narrowed down to a width of 40 miles. At the appointed hour, men on horseback, with bullock wagons, with penny-farthing bicycles, and on foot lined up for many miles waiting for the starting signal. Among them were Mr Coup and his father.
Fired Too Early
Unfortunately, someone fired a gun at five minutes to twelve, and bedlam broke loose as the line began to move forwards in a race for the choicest pieces of land while police tried to stop them. The Coup family pegged out a land claim 20 miles inside the strip, but Mr Coup wandered over much of the United States before going to England and eventually to New Zealand in 1899. A big strike was in progress in England, and New Zealand was on everyone's lips when he decided to come to this country.
"people said you had only to walk to the hills and start digging in New Zealand to strike gold." he remarked.
"But I found things were not as good as they were cracked up to be.
"Good Country"
"When I arrived in Wellington I had to get a job and I found I could not even get near the goldfields
"However, conditions began to improve about 1906 when the big shiploads of immigrants started to arrive.
"This is a good country now."
Mr Coup is the oldest member of the Kilbirnie Lodge of the MUIOOF. His wife has been a hard worker for the Whangarei Happiness Club. Mr and Mrs Coup have five children, 12 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. The Children are: Rebecca (Mrs S. Hawkless, Auckland), Alice (Mrs G. Thomassen, Whangarei), Myrtle (Mrs W. Ruddell, Poroti), Hazel (Mrs J. Flower, Whangarei), and Mr George Coup (Putaruru).


		Wilbert Coup 1880 - 1957	Alice Elizabeth Coup 1885 - 1977

Cora Maud Coup 1906 - 1911	Mary Rebecca Coup 1908 - 1984	Alice Amelia Coup 1908 - 1990	Myrtle Cordelia Coup 1910 - 1996	Hazel Evelyne Coup 1912 - 1999	George Wilbert Joseph Coup 1922 - 1989

Photo Acknowledgements

Daryl Coup, New Zealand