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 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-LAWRENCE 5AUG1830 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 CATHARINE RHODY 1916 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)
12141 J. WILLIAM HOPPERS? C1855 MO? 1893/4
12141.S1 C. J. 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
121411 HOUSTON ALONZO HOPPERS 6MAR1882 TN 3MAR1940
121411.S1 LEE NELSON 10MAR1901
121411.S2 EMMA LEE WILKERSON 15JUL1875 TN 20JAN1945
121412 WILLIE HOPPERS APR1884 TN
121412.S DEE THOMAS 2JUL1912
121413 JOHN GARLAND HOPPERS MAY1887 TN 1953
121413.S1 ROSIE LORETTA CULLIPHER 8AUG1886 5MAR1917 14MAY1902
121413.S2 SADIE ISABELLE BAILEY 17MAY1898 17JAN1937 26JUL1917
121413.S3 THEO SEABRY
12141A GRACIE HOPPERS APR1891 TN
12141A.S
LEXIE NOLAN 29OCT1921
12141B IVY HOPPERS AUG1894 TN
12141B.S ______ DANNER
TABLE
1.2.1.4.1.1: FAMILY OF HOUSTON ALONZO HOPPERS (1882 – 1940)
121411 HOUSTON ALONZO HOPPERS 6MAR1882 TN 3MAR1940
121411.S1 LEE NELSON 10MAR1901
121411.S2 EMMA LEE WILKERSON 15JUL1875 CROCKETT CO, TN 20JAN1945
1214111 WILLIAM WEBB HOPPERS