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Some Pioneers of Washington CO, PA
This family history centers in one of the pioneer families of Washington Co., PA, Colonel William Wallace and Elizabeth Hopkins, his wife, who were born, reared and married in Montgomery Co., MD, and built their home in the wilds of Western PA. Bibliographic Information: Reader, F.S., Some Pioneers of Washington Co., PA F.S. Reader & Son Press, New Brighton, PA 1902
Some Pioneers of Washington CO, PA
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SOME PIONEERS OF Washington County, Pa.
A FAMILY HISTORY BY F. S. READER. 1902: PRESS OF F. S. READER & SON, NEW BRIGHTON, PA. PREFACE. This family history centers in one of the pioneer families of Washington county, Pa., Colonel William Wallace and Elizabeth Hopkins, his wife, who were born, reared and married in Montgomery county, Md., and built their home in the wilds of Western Pennsylvania. From this central point the history of the ancestors and descendants of all the families connected with this couple in the United States is given, so far as it has been possible to secure the facts; and it is a typical history of the pioneers generally, who have built up the waste places and made them possible for human habitation. The ancestors of Colonel Wallace were among the pioneers and early settlers of the territory now included in Montgomery county, Md. The facts for the compilation of this history, were obtained from the Court records of Prince George, Frederick, Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties, Md., and Washington county, Pa.; Archives of Maryland, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania; Library of Congress; Col. T. H. S. Boyd's history of Montgomery county, Md.; Hon. Boyd Crumrine's and Alfred T. Creigh's histories, and Baer & Co's Commemorative Biographical Record, of Washington county, Pa.; History of the Early Churches Washington county, Pa.; Virginia Genealogies by Rev. Horace E. Hayden; the Genealogical Collection of John H. Wallace, Esq., New York; and such family histories as could be secured. No material has been used without verification by means of all sources of information that could be secured, and every family line and historical statement relating to the families mentioned, is believed to be accurate and reliable. It is simply a family history, and it is hoped will interest and profit those directly interested, and all who are curious to trace family growth.
I. THE WALLACES, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD.
CHAPTER. PAGE. I. EARLY SETTLEMENTS--BROTHERS INDUSTRY 1 II. ELLERSLIE, SCOTLAND-AMERICA 7 III. JAMES WALLACE FAMILY 14 IV. THE HOPKINS FAMILY 22 V. WILLIAM WALLACE FAMILY 32
II. THE WALLACES, WASHINGTON COUNTY, PA.
I. PIONEER LIFE 37 II. HOME AND SOCIAL LIFE 46 III. REVOLUTIONARY SERVICE 56 IV. POLITICAL LIFE 60 V. BENTLEY FAMILY 64 VI. GREER-GREGG FAMILIES 72
III. REV. JOHN SMITH FAMILY.
I. REV. JOHN SMITH 79 II. HUGH SCOTT FAMILY 84 III. SMITH-WHITE FAMILY 88 IV. SMITH-WALLACE FAMILY 93
IV. THE READER FAMILY.
I. WILLIAM READER 101 II. READER-WALLACE 106 III. JAMES-CHARLES READER [Marked Chap. IV. In error] 111 IV. HENRY READER-GEORGE TRUMBO 117 V. FRANCIS READER-CATHERINE JAMES 121 VI. FRANCIS READER-ELEANOR B. SMITH 127
I. THE WALLACES, Montgomery County, Md.
COAT-OF-ARMS, WALLACES OF ELDERSLIE, SCOTLAND. ARMS. AZ. A LION RAMPANT ARG. WITHIN A BORDURE, COUNTER COMPONY ARG. AND AZ. CREST. AN OSTRICH HOLDING IN HIS BEAK A HORSESHOE PPR. MOTTO. LIBERTAS OPTIMA RESUMI. (FROM "VIRGINIA GENEALOGIES," BY PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR, REV. HORACE E. HAYDEN). Page 22
CHAPTER IV. THE HOPKINS FAMILY. The Eleanor Hopkins mentioned in the will of James Wallace as his daughter, was the wife of John Hopkins, as is shown by the following deed of John Hopkins and his wife, Eleanor, to Joseph Penn November 11, 1777: "Whereas, James Wallace, late of Frederick county, Md., deceased, in his lifetime, towit, March 28, 1749, obtained a patent for 200 acres of land called Weavers Denn, then in Frederick county, now in Montgomery county, Md., and by his last will and testament did give and bequeath to his daughter, Eleanor, wife of said John Hopkins, etc." The family records state that this John Hopkins came from Scotland, but there is no record to show when he came to this country. On October 6, 1745, John Hopkins, Sr., and his wife, Elizabeth, deeded 100 acres of land to Thomas Ankeny, which was witnessed by James Hopkins and James Wallace, Jr., and March 12, 1756. Thomas Boydestone deeded to John Hopkins a tract of land called Boydestone Discovery on Piney creek and the Potomac river. August 8, 1759 he sold 175 acres of this tract to William Chambers, September 13, 1767 Thomas Stump sold John Hopkins 66 1/2
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acres in Stump's valley, and October 13, 1767 Walter Evan deeded to John Hopkins an island of 32 acres in the Potomac river, which Mr. Hopkins deeded to Samuel Tramwell September 6, 1773. October 25, 1779, John Hopkins, of Yohogania county, Va., now Washington county, Pa., sold the 66 1/2 acres in Stump's valley to Osborne Pile. There seem to have been four distinct Hopkins families in the section covered by the present Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties. The first on record is that of William Hopkins, who owned Hopkins' plantation on Greenberry's Point among the Men of Severn in 1657. He was granted 60 acres of land May 10, 1671, which was deeded to Thomas Tucker November 10, 1679. Another tract was granted to him of 150 acres February 25, 1684, which he sold to Richard Sorrell June 9, 1685. Other transactions are also on record. In the same county there was a Gerard Hopkins, among the Men of Severn 1658. It is doubtless his will dated October 12, 1691, in which he names his wife Thomsin, son Gerard, and daughters Anne, Thomsin and Mary. Gerard Hopkins married Margaret Johns, and they had seven children. Joseph. Gerard, Philip, Samuel, Richard, William, and Johns Hopkins, all born between 1706 and 1720. Of these children Richard married and had nine children, among whom there was a Gerard. Gerard Hopkins, doubtless the third, owned a large quantity of land in Frederick county, Md., the tracts being named Hope Improved, Trouble Enough, None Left and Friendship, some of which appears later in the name of Gerard Hopkins, Jr. Johns Hopkins, the founder of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md., was a descendant of this family.
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In the year 1742, Mathew Hopkins, of Kilmarnock, County of Ayr, Scotland, came to Rock Creek, now in Montgomery county, Md., where he died January 1751. He bought from Osburn Spriggs August 26, 1741, a tract of 300 acres of land called Sallop and later bought other lands. At his death he left a widow, Mary, who afterwards married Henry Thralkeld, but they had no children. James Hopkins, brother of Mathew, County of Ayr, was appointed by his mother to act as her attorney, to receive all property that might be due her from Mathew's estate. The power of attorney was dated April 29, 1752, and May 24, 1753, James Hopkins deeded to Henry Thralkeld and wife the tract of land called Sallop, and a part of the tract known as Resurvey, a part of which was incorporated in Georgetown, D. C. There is no record that James Hopkins remained in Maryland. It is probable that these families were related, but the evidence is not available to make it clear and beyond doubt. John Hopkins and Eleanor Wallace, had the following children: I. Herbert Hopkins, whose children Mary and Janet lived in Baltimore. II. William Hopkins married Miss Briscoe. III. Richard Hopkins moved to South Carolina. IV. Alexander Hopkins married Rosa Laird, children: John, Thomas, Eliza, Rosa, Polly and Nancy. V. James Hopkins married Mary Goe, children:--John, William, Dorcas, Elizabeth, Mary A., and Thomas. VI. John Hopkins married Miss Wallace, children:--Charles, Mrs, Nancy Butler and George.
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VII. Thomas Hopkins, a Revolutionary soldier, who enlisted in the Fifth Md. Regiment February 1780, and was discharged November 1, 1780. The records show that he was a resident of Washington county, Pa., in 1781, in the part that afterward became Pike Run township. He married Catherine Hurd May 22, 1794, who came with her father from Londonderry, Ireland. They had the following children: 1. Andrew born April 30, 1795, married Anna Townsend, children:--Mrs. Edith E. Coyle, Mrs. Catherine Hiesy, Mrs. Sabina Wilcox, Townsend and Thomas. 2. Catherine Hopkins. Sketch Wright-Hopkins family. 3. Eleanor Hopkins unmarried. 4. Thomas H. Hopkins married Elizabeth Moffitt. Children, Moffitt, Mrs. Eliza Lanning, Thomas, Mrs. Catherine Krepps. 5. John Hopkins married Jane Moffitt and had one daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Dr. E. A. Wood, Allegheny county, Pa. 6. William Hopkins married Rachel Herron January 1, 1824, and had three children: i. Andrew, a prominent journalist in Pittsburg, Pa., and Wheeling, W. Va. ii. Catherine, unmarried, died in 1901. iii. James H. Hopkins attorney at law. While a resident of Pittsburg, Pa., he was twice elected to Congress. He is now a resident of Washington, D. C. William Hopkins was one of the most prominent Democrats of his time in Pennsylvania. In 1834-6-7-8-9 and in 1861-2 he was elected a member of the lower house of the
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Legislature of Pennsylvania, and in 1863 a member of the State Senate. He was Speaker of the House in 1838-9 and 40, Secretary of the Land Office, elected Canal Commissioner in 1852, and in 1872 was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania. 7. White F. Hopkins married Hannah Wilson, children, Araminda, Thomas C., Joseph Wright. 8. Margaret Hopkins married Thomas West, children, Thomas, Catherine and Jonathan, the latter serving in the Civil War, and died in Andersonville prison. Upon the death of her husband, Mrs. West married William Moffitt and had children, John, Eliza Jane, Joseph, Hopkins, who served in the Ringgold cavalry in the Civil War, and Margaret. 9. Alexander. VIII. Nancy Hopkins married Mr. Fleming. Children, John, White, Nellie, Catherine, Elizabeth, Ann, Margaret. IX. Elizabeth Hopkins married William Wallace, son of William Wallace one of the founders of Brothers Industry. X. Anna Hopkins married William Parker, Justice of the Peace of Somerset township, Washington county, Pa., April 3, 1782, and sub-Lieutenant of the county in 1781. XI. Eleanor Hopkins married Andrew Boggs and had one son. Mr. Boggs was Justice of the Peace in Fallowfield township, Washington county, Pa., February 17, 1797. WRIGHT-HOPKINS FAMILY. 2. Catherine born April 25, 1796, married Joseph Wright November 6, 1814. Mr. Wright was the grandson of Joshua Wright, who
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