COPELAND, J. W., Beeville Bee, Friday, 12 Aug 1902:

J. W. COPELAND, well known as a ranchman in this and adjoining countries, 
died at an early hour Tuesday morning several miles west of Pettus, as a result 
of a pistol shot fired by his own hand, in a moment, it is supposed, of mental 
aberration, due to ill health and fancied business troubles. He had been in Beeville 
on Monday as a witness in court in the case in which he had been victimized by a 
forgery and it was observed by his friends that he was in a melancholy mood. For 
several months he has had a tumor on his jaw which he feared was cancer, and 
had been in bad health. He was in unusually depressed spirits on his return home 
Monday evening.
 
About 6 o'clock Tuesday morning one of his sons awoke and missed his father from 
his room and found him lying on the porch, where just a few minutes before the 
deceased had fired the shot that ended his life. His remains were brought to Beeville 
in the evening and were watched over in the Masonic temple during the night and 
interred in the old cemetery at 8 o'clock Wednesday morning, the funeral rites of the 
Masonic fraternity being performed at the grave and religious services being conducted 
by Rev. A. J. Knowles of Pettus and Rev. J. M. Sallee of Beeville.
 
The deceased was 54 years of age and had been a resident of the county for about 
twenty-five years. He was a native of Alabama, coming to Texas when quite a young man, 
working as a cowboy, and by economy and careful investments, becoming the owner of 
a ranch. The early lessons of economy followed him through life, and he died possessed 
of an estate in the vicinity of $50,000. He was quiet and unobtrusive in his manner, and 
wherever known his word was as good as his bond, for punctually in meetings his 
obligations were a cardinal virtue with him. He was not without generosity but like all the 
genuinely charitable he gave without ostentation. He was a good citizen, fair in his dealings 
and without envy, and his death is a distinct loss to all the community in which he lived.