Biographies and Obituaries
In loving memory
Jacob J. Cosby
George W. Coup was born 10 october 1845 in Daviess County, Indiana. His parents were John Coup and Nancy McCracken. Until his enlistment, he lived with his parents southeast of Washinton, Indiana. On 25 January 1865 he enlisted as a private in Company "K" 143rd Regiment of Indiana Volunteers for one year. He was 19 years old. The 143rd was assigned to provost duty in Tennessee--mostly in the area of Nashville, Clarksville and Fort Donelson.
While the 143rd was at Fort Donelson from June to October 1865, about 32 members of the unit were mounted. The did picket duty, scouting, and carried the mail between Clarksville, Tennessee and Fort Donelson. In the fall of 1865, Henry Clark, John Allen and George W. Coup were pursing horse thieves and guerillas. they were out all night, and about 2:00 a.m. they had a horse thief cornered in a house. He jumped from the window and ran for another house. the patrol from the 143rd gave chase and George W. Coup's hourse ran over a gate and fell with him and on him, injuring his left shoulder. George was able to ride the horse back to Fort Donelson (about 25 miles) and assist in delivering the prisoners to the stockade.
George W. Coup was discharged from the Army on 17 October 1865 and returned home to Daviess County. From 1866 until 1890 George spent summers traveling with various circuses and winters at home in Daviess County, although the winters of 1885,86 and 87 were spent in New York City. Some of the circuses that he worked for were: Robinson's Circus and Menagerie, Barnum's Gratest Show on Earth, W.C. Coup's New Minstrel and Monster Show, Coup's Chicago Museum, and Harmon and Pirrepont's "Battle of Gettysburg". At the time of the 1880 census, George Coup gave his occupation as "advance man for shows". Some of the Daviess County men who traveled with George were:Peter M. Clark, John P. Seay, Thomas Fairchild and Jesse McGehee. W.C. Coup, who became famous in the Circus business, was a half-brother of George.
George W. Coup and Ella (or Eldorado) Bell were married 29 December 1868. They had four daughters: Arlie, Sula, Ella and Rosa. Circus life must not have made domestic life very pleasant as George and Ella were divorced in 1883. In his pension records, George claimed to have never been married, but at the time of his death his next of kin was named as Mrs. F.H. Haering of Bloomington, Illinois and identified as his daughter. It is presumed that George Coup did not want to get into the "red tape" of producing a marriage and divorce record as a part of his pension application.
From 1906 until 1915 George lived in various National Military Homes in Kansas, Tennessee, Illinois and Indiana. He also claimed to have lived three years in Missouri and two years in New Mexico. George W. Coup died 4 May 1920 in the Western Branch National Military Home in Leavenworth, Kansas, at the age of 74. He is buried in Leavenworth National Cemetery.
Contributed by Mrs. Jeanne Everett, McCracken Family Historian