Of the eight
Hoppes/Hoppers lines established by the sons of our first two Happes
immigrants, the brothers 1.Georg (*~1715) and 2.Michael (*~1722) Happes of
Schoenau, Odenwald, by far the most obscure line was founded by 12 John Hoppes
of Surry County, NC, the middle son of old Georg Happes, married to Elizabeth
Clanton. When Denise and I researched his line, she received some helpful
assistance from Christi C. Partee, as I did from Dr. John Hopper, MD, a board-certified
physician in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine and Assistant Professor with the
Departments of Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, at
the Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.
Both are descended from 12 John Hoppes’ oldest son 121 George Hoppers,
who followed his wife Mary Dillard’s parents into Madison County, TN. There 121 George and Mary Hoppers raised
their large family of 14 children, eight boys and six girls. Unfortunately, 121 George Hoppers died in
his early 50’s and the family scattered in a number of directions. In September 2002, I wrote the Hoppes
Generations essay “Those Tennessee Hoppers” summarizing our knowledge of the
121 George Hoppers’ line and asking for assistance in piecing together a
variety of unidentified Hoppers linked to Tennessee.
1.2.1: During the past year, Denise and I have made
considerable progress on reconstructing the 121 George Hoppers’ family, with
the welcome assistance of Cheryl Lacy Cudney, who helped Denise with
Lacy-Hoppers connections, and Ashlyn Jinnette, who shared her extensive
database of Tennessee Hoppers/Hopper families with me. Our current summary of the family of 121
George Hoppers is shown below:
TABLE 1.2.1: FAMILY OF GEORGE HOPPERS (179l – 1842 to 1850)
INDIVIDUAL
BORN: BIRTH PLACE: DIED: MARRIED:
121 GEORGE
HOPPERS 6FEB179l DEEP CREEK, NC 1842 - 1850
121.S MARY DILLARD >1860
28JAN1814
121A NANCY
J. HOPPERS 1814 SURRY CO, NC 1850 – 58
121A.S WILLIAM H. ELLINGTON C1814 VA 2FEB1858 C1833
121B MARTHA
HOPPERS 1815 SURRY CO, NC
121B.S SAMUEL ELLINGTON C1808 VA C1832
1211 JAMES E. HOPPERS 1816/17 SURRY CO, NC >1853
1211.S CATHARINE TANNER C1819 30JAN1841
1212 JOHN A. HOPPERS C1819 TN 1860 - 1870
1212.S1 ARCINA BRADDY C1828 C1851 1AUG1843
1212.S2? MATILDA WEST 6NOV1851
1212.S2/3 NANCY ARMSTRONG C1831 TN >1870 26JUL1860
1213 WILLIAM P. HOPPERS 17JAN1821 TN 27MAR1908
1213.S1 ELIZABETH PERRY 4JAN1845
1213.S2 MARIA TODD-DAWES C1825 TN 1870 -73 1860 - 1870
1213.S3 NANCY M.
CARR-LAWRENCE5AUG1830 TN 12JAN1914 4DEC1873
121C SUSANNAH HOPPERS C1824
121C.S WILLIAM PARKER LACY DEC 1828 1893 8APR1845
1214 FRANKLIN HOPPERS C1828 MADISON CO, TN 12FEB1863
1214.S _______________
1215 GEORGE W. HOPPERS C1830 MADISON CO, TN >JUL1863
121D REBECCA HOPPERS C1831 MADISON CO, TN
121D.S WILLIAM G. SMITHWICK C1812 NC 9JAN1850
1216 SAMUEL C. HOPPERS C1834 MADISON CO, TN 25JAN1863
1216.S
SARAH C. REX IL >MAY1889 25JUN1855
1217 THOMAS
D. HOPPERS 3OCT1838 MADISON CO, TN >NOV1892
1217.S MARIAH FRANCES DAWS C1850 MADISON CO, TN 27AUG1868
121E MARY
JANE HOPPERS 4FEB1840 MADISON CO, TN 22JUN1917
121E.S1
SAMUEL S. SMITHWICK C1841 TN <1878 27JAN1862
121E.S2
THOMAS BROWN C1842 NC C1877
1218? HENRY
HOPPERS C1841 MADISON CO, TN
121F SARAH ELIZABETH HOPPERS C1842 MADISON
CO, TN 1897
121F.S1 JAMES AMOS LATHAM DEC______
121F.S2 WILLIAM PARKER LACY DEC 1828 1893
From these data it can be seen that 121 George Hoppers left
Surry County, NC prior to the Census of 1820, moving his family westward into
Tennessee where eleven of his children were born. His oldest daughter, Nancy
Hoppers, was residing in Madison County, TN by May 1829 when George Hoppers’
father-in-law John Dillard made out his last will. Although George Hoppers is
missing from the 1830 Census of Madison County, TN, he and his family probably
were residing there at this time because probate court records indicate that
the estate of Richard Tomlinson listed an 1830 note of George Hoppes for $25.00
as one of assets. Another court record
indicates that George Hopper paid a debt of this amount to the Tomlinson estate
in 1833. When the estate of John
Dillard was settled, an inventory dated September 10, 1833 revealed that George
Hopper had received property worth $66.99˝ from Isaac Dillard, estate
executor. However, an 1834 accounting
of the estate of John Boren claims a debt of $3.30 owed by George Hopper as one
of its assets, along with the notation “not very good”. On a more positive note, a list of school
parents dated June 4, 1838 indicates that George Hoppers had four children
attending classes in District #9 of Madison County, TN at this time.
1.2.1.1: George Hoppers’ oldest son, 1211 James E.
Hoppers, married Catharine Tanner in Madison County, TN, on January 30, 1841.
Although he remained nearby for much, if not all, of his life, he and his
family are missing in the 1850 Census.
On October 15, 1853, however, he witnessed a deed in which his mother
Mary Hoppers sold 72 acres of land in District #9 of Madison County to Sugars
McLemore. Then on March 2, 1854, he
witnessed a bill of lading in which the river raft operator, John Lacy,
transported 20 bales of cotton down the Forked Deer River to the Mississippi,
and then on to New Orleans. Given that
there are no Census data or birth records concerning the family of James E.
Hoppers, it is difficult to reconstruct his family with any accuracy. However, his mother Mary is enumerated in
the 1860 Census of Madison County, TN as the head of a household that contained
a six-year-old male named George Hoppers.
This boy, born about 1854, very likely was a son of 1211 James E.
Hoppers, who may have died before the 1860 Census.
A partial reconstruction of his family, therefore, is shown
below:
TABLE 1.2.1.1: FAMILY OF JAMES E. HOPPERS (1816/17 - >1853)
1211 JAMES E. HOPPERS 1816/17 SURRY CO, NC >1853
1211.S
CATHARINE TANNER C1819 30JAN1841
12111
GEORGE HOPPERS? C1854 MADISON CO, TN
OTHERS?
1.2.1.2: The second oldest
boy of George and Mary Dillard Hoppers was John A. Hoppers, born about
1819. He married Arcina Braddy on
August 1, 1843 in Shelby County, TN and moved southwestward into nearby
Marshall County, MS. The Census of 1850
indicates that he had two sons, James T. (age 5) and George C. (age 1), both
boys being born in the State of Mississippi.
During the 1850’s, however, his wife Arcina Braddy appears to have died,
because he apparently married Matilda West in Shelby County, TN in November
1851 and then Nancy Armstrong on July 26, 1860 in Marshall County, MS. In the 1860 Census of Marshall County, he is
living with his new wife Nancy but his young son George C. Hoppers is missing
and another son W. P. Hoppers is enumerated as an eight-year-old. Perhaps because of the impact of the Civil
War, John Hoppers’ family splintered. In the 1870 Census of Marshall County,
MS, his wife Nancy Hoppers is now living with a brother, J. P. Armstrong, and
1212 John Hoppers and his sons 12121 James T. Hoppers and 12123 Wiley P.
Hoppers are missing. From the 1880 Census
of Madison County, TN, it is apparent that James T. Hoppers had returned to
Tennessee by 1870 and was living next to his uncle 1217 Thomas D. Hoppers in
1880. On December 23, 1872, James T.
Hoppers married Sally Lacy nee Lawrence, a 20-year-old widow. Together they had a large, colorful family
who lived in western Tennessee and northeastern Mississippi. On the other hand, data in the 1900 Census
of Tarrant County, TX indicate that 12123 Wiley P. Hoppers and his wife Sally
(Glidewell) stayed in Mississippi until the 1880s and had two daughters born
there in 1876 and 1880. After that, Wiley and Sally Hoppers moved back to
Tennessee and had a son born there in 1889 before the family moved to Tarrant
(and then to Van Zandt) County, Texas.
Summary data for the family of 1212 John A. Hoppers are
provided below:
TABLE 1.2.1.2: FAMILY OF JOHN A. HOPPERS (C1819 - >1860)
1212 JOHN
A. HOPPERS C1819 SURRY CO, NC >1860
1212.S1
ARCINA BRADDY C1828 C1851 1AUG1843
1212.S2?
MATILDA WEST 6NOV1851
1212.S2/3 NANCY C. ARMSTRONG C1831 TN >1870 26JUL1860
12121 JAMES T. HOPPERS 4MAR1845 MARSHALL, MS 2JAN1908
12121.S1 SALLIE M.
LAWRENCE LACY APR1852 TN 23DEC1872
12121.S2 L. B.
______________
12122 GEORGE C. HOPPERS C1849 MARSHALL,
MS <1860
12123 WILEY P. HOPPERS APR1851 MARSHALL,
MS 1924
12123.S SARAH E. GLIDEWELL NOV1857 TN 1909 25SEP1873
TABLE 1.2.1.2.1: FAMILY OF JAMES T. HOPPERS (C1846 - 1908)
12121 JAMES T. HOPPERS 4MAR1845 MARSHALL, MS 2JAN1908
12121.S1 SALLIE M. LAWRENCE
LACY APR1852 TN >1930 23DEC1872
12121.S2 L. B. ______________
12121A SARAH (LACY) HOPPERS 5NOV1870? MADISON
CO, TN 4FEB1951
121211 JOHN THOMAS HOPPERS 10NOV1873 MADISON
CO, TN 1935
121211.S LULA BELLE CROW 9AUG1881 MADISON CO, TN 11JUL1929 13NOV1898
12121B MIMIE J. HOPPERS DEC1874 MADISON
CO, TN >1900
12121B.S __________ MAYO
121212 JAMES HENRY HOPPERS 1878 MADISON
CO, TN 1936
121212.S EFFIE GERTRUDE WELLS 6SEP1887 JUL1978
121213 FLETCHER ELMORE HOPPERS 19NOV1884 MADISON
CO, TN 16MAY1956
121213F.S LAURA BENTLY 14JAN1885 DEC1964
121214 M. F. (OMER) HOPPERS 22DEC1886 MADISON
CO, TN 9JAN1971
121214.S FLOY G. ______ 23AUG1892 19FEB1991
121215 ROBERT F. HOPPERS NOV1889 MADISON
CO, TN 1918
12121C FRANCES K. HOPPERS FEB1891 MADISON
CO, TN >1900
121216 WILLIAM GUS HOPPERS 12JAN1892 MADISON
CO, TN 10OCT1970
121216.S LILLIE REYNOLDS 23SEP1900 13MAY1974
1212D ERA HOPPERS 28OCT1904 CROCKETT CO., TN 28SEP1906
TABLE 1.2.1.2.1.1: FAMILY OF JOHN THOMAS HOPPERS (1873 - 1935)
121211 JOHN THOMAS HOPPERS 10NOV1873 MADISON
CO, TN 1935
121211.S LULA BELLE CROW 9AUG1881 MADISON
CO, TN 11JUL1929 13NOV1898
1212111 CLARENCE RAYMOND HOPPER 4FEB1900 LAUDERDALE CO, TN JUN1984
1212111.S1 HESTER GOINS
1212111.S2 NELL MC CARTNEY 25JUL1923 NEOSHE,
MO
1212112 PAUL EVERETT HOPPER 21JUL1902 LAUDERDALE
CO,TN 3JUL1968
1212112.S1 CRICKETT CRAWFORD C1904 TN 23JUL1922
1212112.S2 KATHLEEN PICKETT
1212112.S3 NADEEN
________
121211A ERA MAE HOPPERS 28OCT1904 LAUDERDALE
CO,TN 28SEP1906
1212113 JOSEPH DOUGLAS HOPPER 13JUL1907 LAUDERDALE
CO,TN 15MAR1979
121211B BEATRICE LUCILLE HOPPERS 13AUG1909 TN 18JAN1968
121211B.S
___________ RIKER
1212114 NEIL THOMAS HOPPER 8OCT1911 LAUDERDALE CO,TN 20DEC1996
1212114.S
MARY CATHERINE RHODY1916 1995
TABLE 1.2.1.2.1.2: FAMILY OF JAMES HENRY HOPPERS (1878 - 1936)
121212 JAMES HENRY HOPPERS 1878 MADISON
CO, TN 1936
121212.S EFFIE GERTRUDE WELLS 6SEP1887 JUL1978
1212121 JOSHUA HENRY HOPPERS 1903
1212121.S LENA LEWIS 1927
1212122 JAMES FRANKLIN HOPPERS 1906
1212122.S ANNE KEPHARDE
121212A NELLE BLYTHE HOPPERS 1914
121212A.S ROBERT HULON SCATES 1911
TABLE 1.2.1.2.3: FAMILY OF WILEY P. HOPPERS
(1851 - 1924)
12123 WILEY P. HOPPERS APR1851 MARSHALL,
MS 1924
12123.S SARAH E. GLIDEWELL NOV1857 TN 1909 25SEP1873
12123A LARCENA MAY HOPPERS OCT1876 MS >1900
12123A.S A. C. JONES 15MAY1903
12123B MATTIE TOMMIE
HOPPERS MAR1880 MS >1900
12123B.S W. E. HOLIDAY 27SEP1902
12123C. MAY IOLA HOPPERS? 9OCT1881
12123C.S ________ SWAIN
121231 FLOYD D. HOPPERS 22FEB1889 TN MAR1965
121231.S EULA TAYLOR 7NOV1893 JUN1979 13AUG1910
1.2.1.3: Unlike his older
brothers, 1213 William P. Hoppers, born January 17, 1821, survived the Civil
War period, although many details about his early life are missing. On January 7, 1845, he married Elizabeth
Perry and had a family that included two girls (Armisa, Martha) and three boys
(D. M., Joseph, Robert). His wife Elizabeth died in the late 1850s, or shortly
thereafter, and he married Maria (Mariah) Dawes, nee Todd, who was listed in
the 1860 Madison County, TN Census as a widow (having been previously married
to William Dawes.) By the Census of
1870, William P. and Maria had a household containing a mixture of children by
their first marriages, but none of their own.
Maria Todd-Dawes Hoppers died in the early 1870s, and William P. Hoppers
married another widow, Nancy M. Carr nee Lawrence, on December 4, 1873. Meanwhile, on August 27, 1868, the youngest
daughter of Maria and William Dawes, Mariah Frances born in the early 1850s,
married William P. Hoppers’ younger brother 1217 Thomas D. Hoppers. When the Census of 1880 was taken, William
P. Hoppers and his wife Nancy were sharing their household with a niece, but
the comments column of the Census indicated that William was suffering from
“malaria fever”. In spite of his health
problems, William Hoppers remained active and engaged in the following land
transactions in Crockett County, TN:
Date Grantor Grantee Acerage Recorded
18DEC1872 R.
H./S. A. Jenkins W. P. Hoppers 20.1A (Dist #1) A/175
13MAR1875 W.
P. Hoppers W. M. Griffin town
lot (Dist #4) B/553
2DEC1875 W.
P. Hoppers W. P.
Lacy 20.1A (Dist #1) B/548
1879 W.
P. Lacy W.
P. Hoppers 20.1A (Dist #1) D/696
12SEP1885 W.
P./N. M. Hoppers Sarah Moore 66 ˝ A (Dist
#1) G/293
30NOV1885 Ed
S. & A. A. Read W. P. Hoppers 95A (Dist #5) G/ 403
10FEB1886 W.
P. Hoppers E.
Farrow et al 1A to school
comm. G/510
16AUG1889 W.
P. Hoppers Whitentow
& Moore 95A (Dist #5) H/695
W. P. Hoppers died on March 27, 1908
and was buried in Belleview Cemetery in Crockett County. His wife Nancy died on January 12, 1914 and
was buried beside him. In addition, W. P. Hoppers’ second oldest son Joseph T.
Hoppers and his wife Malvina nee Hight also are buried in Belleview
Cemetery. W. P. Hoppers’ oldest son D.
M. Hoppers, on the other hand, moved his family to Bowie County, TX, where all
of their children were married.
A summary of the family of 1213 William
P. Hoppers is furnished below:
TABLE 1.2.1.3: FAMILY OF WILLIAM P. HOPPERS (C1821 - 1908)
1213 WILLIAM
P. HOPPERS 17JAN1821 TN 27MAR1908
1213.S1
ELIZABETH PERRY 4JAN1845
1213.S2
MARIA TODD-DAWES C1825 TN 1870 -73 1860 - 1870
1213.S3 NANCY M.
CARR-LAWRENCE 5AUG1830 TN 12JAN1914 4DEC1873
1213A ARMISA HOPPERS ? C1849 TN
1213A.S DAVID E. WAGSTER 21DEC1871
1213B
MARTHA A/Z. HOPPERS? C1850 TN
1213B.S WILLIAM M. LAWRENCE C1850 TN 15JAN1872
12131 D. M. HOPPERS C1854 TN 10MAY1940
12131.S SARAH ISABELL SMITH 13MAY1861 TN 18MAR1927
12132 JOSEPH T. HOPPERS JUL1855 TN 20JUN1930
12132.S MALVINA T. HIGHT MAR1855 TN 1928 27OCT1875
12133 ROBERT L. HOPPERS? C1857 TN
12133.S ELVIRA SEARCY 23FEB1873
TABLE 1.2.1.3.1 FAMILY OF D. M. HOPPERS (C1854 – 1940)
12131 D. M. HOPPERS C1854 TN 10MAY1940
12131.S SARAH ISABELL SMITH 13MAY1861 TN 18MAR1927 C1880
121311 WILLIAM H. HOPPERS C1882
121311.S OPHELIA BENTLY 1902
12131A P. E. HOPPERS C1884
12131A.S J. M. HAZLEWOOD 1901
12131B ROSA HOPPERS C1890
12131B.S L. H. WALKER 1913
TABLE 1.2.1.3.2: FAMILY OF JOSEPH T. HOPPERS (1855 - >1900)
12132 JOSEPH T. HOPPERS JUL1855 TN 26JUN1930
12132.S MALVINA T. HIGHT MAR1855 TN 1928 27OCT1875
121321 WILLIAM R. HOPPERS MAR1877 WEAKLEY
CO, TN >1920
121321.S ADDIE L. ________ C1883 TN C1905
12132A ROSA LEE HOPPERS SEP1878 WEAKLEY
CO, TN >1926
12132A.S W. C. MOUNT 3JUL1926
12132B ANNIE MAE HOPPERS 24JAN1882 WEAKLEY
CO, TN 29NOV1964
12132B.S JOHN D. TIPTON 1879 1946 15APR1900
121322 OLLIA E. HOPPERS AUG1884 WEAKLEY
CO, TN 1904
TABLE 1.2.1.3.2.1: FAMILY OF WILLIAM R. HOPPERS (1877 - >1920)
121321 WILLIAM R. HOPPERS MAR1877 WEAKLEY
CO, TN >1920
121321.S ADDIE L. ________ C1883 TN C1905
1213211
EASON HOPPERS 15NOV1905 TN 15JUL1993
1213212
HESS HOPPERS 14JUN1909 TN 25NOV2000
121321A
BONNIE HOPPERS C1910 TN
121321B
FRANCES HOPPERS C1911 TN
1213213
ARIZEL HOPPERS C1912 TN
1213214
CARL HOPPERS C1914 TN
121321C
LOUISE HOPPERS CJUN1915 TN
1213215
DARRETT HOPPERS CNOV1917 TN
1213216 DEWEY HOPPERS CMAY1919 TN
1.2.1.4: The
fourth oldest son of George and Mary (Dillard) Hoppers, 1214 Franklin Hoppers,
was last encountered in Madison County, TN in the 1850 Census. He apparently moved to Missouri. A
Confederate Army muster roll indicates that Franklin Hoppers, age 30, enrolled
in Captain James A. Cooper’s Company of Colonel Clark’s Recruits, MO Volunteers
on March 12, 1862 in Stoddard County, MO for a term of three years or the War.
He brought a horse valued at $125 with him and horse equipment valued at $15.
This Company subsequently became Company B, 7th Regiment, Missouri
Cavalry. In October 1862, Colonel Clark
was captured and his regiment appears to have been broken up and the companies
scattered. After a prisoner of war
exchange, Colonel Clark returned to Missouri and collected eight companies of
the regiment, which he organized into a battalion. A monthly report of the Gratiot Street Prison in St. Louis, MO
for February 1863 indicates that Franklin Hoppers was captured in Stoddard
County, MO on January 27, 1863, and confined in the Gratiot Street Prison on
February 1, 1863. He died in the Prison
Hospital on February 12, 1863 of chronic diarrhea. A document titled Certificate For Government Undertaker, John
A. Smithers states that Frank Hoppers was six feet tall and lists his
cause of death as “Catarahal Fever”.
The 1860 Census of
Stoddard County, MO does not include data for Franklin Hoppers, although there
is information about a Minerva Ann Hoppers, an eight-year-old girl born in
Missouri and living in the household of Robert Niell in Bloomfield, MO. Without 1860 Census data for the soldier
Franklin Hoppers, it is very difficult to reconstruct his family. However, there is a J. W. (or J. William)
Hoppers, who appears to have been born in Missouri about 1855, living in
Crockett County, TN by 1875. He does
not appear to be the son of 1211 James E. Hoppers or 1212 John A. Hoppers or
1213 William P. Hoppers. Assuming that
J. W. Hoppers is the son of Franklin Hoppers of Stoddard County, MO, then
members of 1214 Franklin Hoppers’ family include:
TABLE 1.2.1.4: FAMILY OF FRANKLIN HOPPERS (C1828 - 1863)
1214
FRANKLIN HOPPERS C1828 MADISON CO, TN 12FEB1863
1214.S
_________
1214A
MINERVA ANN HOPPES? 1852 MO
12141 J.
WILLIAM HOPPERS? C1855 MO? 1893/4
12141.S1 J. C.
JERNIGAN CROCKETT
CO, TN 13OCT1875/6
12141.S2
MARTHA B. GLENN C1864 CROCKETT CO, TN 23DEC1880
12141.S3
SALLEY BRADLEY 5NOV1870 CROCKETT CO, TN 4FEB1951 18JUN1888
TABLE 1.2.1.4.1 FAMILY OF J. WILLIAM
HOPPERS (C1855 – 1893/4)