Robert Morris Copeland Sr. (December 11, 1830 – March 28, 1874) was a

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

town planner An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, tow ...

and Union Army officer in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. Along with his partner H. W. S. Cleveland of the firm

Cleveland and Copeland Cleveland and Copeland were a noted American landscape architecture firm. The firm was organized by Horace William Shaler Cleveland (H.W.S. Cleveland) and Robert Morris Copeland. They were responsible for Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachu ...

, he is known chiefly for his cemetery plans, most notably

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York, is the cemetery, final resting place of numerous famous figures, including Washington Irving, whose 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is set in the adjacent burying ground of the ...

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is n ...

as well as contemporaneous designs around Massachusetts and New England.

Biography

Robert Morris Copeland House at Beaver Brook Reservation in Belmont Massachusetts near Waverly Oaks in Waltham

Copeland was born on December 11, 1830, to Benjamin and Julia Fellows Copeland, who lived in

Roxbury, Massachusetts Roxbury () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Roxbury is a Municipal annexation in the United States, dissolved municipality and one of 23 official neighborhoods of Boston used by the city for ne ...

. He attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

, and opened a Boston-based landscape gardening firm with Horace Cleveland in 1854, which became known as

. Copeland died suddenly on March 28, 1874, in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. Copeland's house in Belmont still stands within the Beaver Brook Reservation, the first state park in Massachusetts.

Projects

Cemeteries

* Mount Feake Cemetery,

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the Technological and industrial history of the United States, American Industrial Revoluti ...

(1859) * Oak Grove Cemetery in

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of North Shore (Massachusetts), Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. ...

Town, park, and estate plans

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

, New York City (entered contest, did not win) *

Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts Oak Bluffs is a New England town, town located on the island of Martha's Vineyard in Dukes County, Massachusetts, Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,341 at the 2020 United States census. It is one of the island's ...

Ridley Park, Pennsylvania Ridley Park is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,002 at the 2010 census. Ridley Park is the home of Boeing's CH-47 Chinook helicopter division. History Native American The Lenape inhabited the ...

Armsmear Armsmear ("meadow of arms"), also known as the Samuel Colt Home, is a historic house located at 80 Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford, Connecticut. It was the family home of firearm manufacturer Samuel Colt. Armsmear was listed as a National Histo ...

, the

Samuel Colt Samuel Colt (; July 19, 1814 – January 10, 1862) was an American inventor, industrialist, and businessman who established Colt's Patent Fire-Arms Manufacturing Company and made the mass production of revolvers commercially viable. Col ...

estate,

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

* Frederick Billings Estate,

Woodstock, Vermont Woodstock is the shire town (county seat) of Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 3,005. It includes the villages of Woodstock, South Woodstock, Taftsville, and West Woodstock. History Cha ...

Publications

*. Versions of the revise
fifth edition
(1866) an
sixth edition
(1867) are also freely available. *

References

American urban planners American landscape and garden designers 1830 births 1874 deaths People from Roxbury, Boston Harvard College alumni {{US-architect-19C-stub