Fresno County, California Biographies

Source: History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of 
the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with 
its growth and development from the early days to the present (1919)

History By Paul E. Vandor 
Illustrated, Complete In Two Volumes 
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1919
 
Notes: Missing+page1185-1186

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


MATT. COPPIN. � A rancher who, by close, scientific study of the many 
and perplexing problems of the vineyard, has become a noted viticulturist, 
and who has succeeded in developing one of the most attractive and produc- 
tive vine ranches to be found anywhere, is Matt. Coppin, who came to Fresno 
in the late eighties, when the great California boom was in full swing. He 
was born near Eugene.. Ore., on the last day of December, 1868, the son of 
Charles Coppin, a native of England, who early came to the United States 
and made for the inviting Northwest. By the aid of ox teams he crossed the 
plains to Oregon, which he reached after adventures with the Indians and 
Mormons, and there he engaged in farming. There, too, he was married to 
Miss Hettie D. Shell, a native of Iowa, who crossed the plains to Oregon with 
her parents. In 1874 Charles Coppin moved to Chico, and there his good wife 
died. For years he engaged in the raising of sheep and grain, but in 1886 he 
came to Fresno and embarked in the vineyard business. He was living in 
Long Beach in well-earned retirement where he died in September, 1918, 
aged eighty-six years. He was the father of seven children, six of whom are 
still living. 

The eldest of the family, Matthew Coppin was brought up in California 
from his sixth year, and attended private schools, topping off his education 
at the Woodman Academy in Chico. For a while he assisted his father in 
teaming and farming, and then he hauled lumber for the Sierra Flume and 
Lumber Company. When only twelve years of age he drove a team of eight 
mules or horses into the mountains. Later he went into general ranching and 
grain farming. In 1889 he came to Fresno, to help in the vineyards, and soon 
after that he started in for himself. From Jerry D. Musick he rented a vine- 
yard in the Wolters Colony and ran it for five years; but the low price of 
raisins � only one and a half cents for muscats � made the venture unprofit- 
able, and he rented another vineyard of forty acres in the same colony, which 
he also managed for five years. In 1901 he bought his present place of ten 
acres on National Avenue, two miles from the city limits, and this he has 
set out to Sultanas and Thompson Seedless raisins. As the property of one 
of the first settlers here, this vineyard is a source of pride to its owner. Mr. 
Coppin is a member of the California Associated Raisin Company, and has 
been active in all the previous raisin societies that have sought to advance 
the interests of the ranchmen hereabouts. 

On October 30. 1892, in the Scandinavian Colony, Mr. Coppin was mar- 
ried to Miss Emma Anderson, a native daughter of San Francisco, whose 
father was Fred Anderson, the well-known pioneer. They have one child, 
Ruth, who is a general favorite and their home is a center of hospitality. They 
have been active in local movements designed to uplift the community. and 
Mr. Coppin has served as a trustee of the Wolters school district and clerk 
of the school board.