Hopkins Robert b. d. 1788 Windham, Rockingham, New Hampshire, USA

- 1788

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Gender Male

_UPD 16 AUG 2009 14:11:54 GMT-5

Died 1788 Windham, Rockingham, New Hampshire, USA [1]

Person ID I4742 Alan Donald Vibber

Last Modified 08 Dec 2009

Family 1 Wilson Eleanor

Married Y [1]

Children

1. Hopkins Boyd, b. 17 Aug 1755, Windham, Rockingham, New Hampshire, USA

, d. 26 Sep 1833, Antrim, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, USA

Family ID F1953 Group Sheet

Family 2 Martha

Married Y [1]

Family ID F2098 Group Sheet

Notes	ROBERT HOPKINS, who settled on the Gibson place as early as 1769, was the youngest of four brothers of 'Scotch ancestry, who emigrated from the North of Ireland. .John, the oldest, settled in Londonderry in 1730. His wife was Eli/.ahcth Dinsmore, daughter of John IMnsmore of whom mention has been made in this work. Two of their children, James and Margaret, were born in Ireland. The former spent his last years in this town. James, one of the four brothers, married and reared a family in Londonderry. The fourth brother, whose name cannot be ascertained, became identified with the Scotch settlers of Maine, where his descendants are numerous. Robert Hopkins married Martha _____ and lived in Wiudham a few years. Here his wife died, and he married Eleanor Wilson, who was the mother of his children. He was a very devout man and was known as "Deacon Robert" since he held the office of deacon in the church in Windham and in the Presbyterian Church of this town. Some of the earliest religious meetings in Franeestown were held in his barn in which the ordinance of baptism was administered. He died in this town in the year 1788. His children were all born at Windham. They were:— 1. Elizabeth, [b. April 16, 1740.] 2. Sarah, [b. June 24, 1742.] 3. James, [b. July 11, 1746. He lived here a few years. A child of James Hopkins was buried here in April, 1788, and another in Feb., 1793. He doubtless lived with his father upon the Gibson place.] 4. Hubert, Jr., [b. July 7, 1752.] 5. Boyd, [b. Aug. 17, 1755, m. Jane Burns of New Boston, removed to Antrim in 1794, was a farmer, d. in Antrim, Sept. 26,1833. He was the father of twelve children, six of whom were doubtless born inthis town. His children were:— -Patty, (b. Dec. 27, 1783, m. Nathaniel Griffin, d. in 1827.) -Solomon, (b. Sept. 8, 1785, m. Sarah Temple, Dec. 26, 1811, moved to Alstead, where he died in 1852.) -Elizabeth, (b. Aug. 25,1787, m. William Wilkins of Antrim, July 20, 1826, d. Feb. 3, 1856.) -Jane, (b. Aug. 12, 1789, d. uiim. in 1820.) -Hannah, (b. May 28, 1791, m. Charles Cavemler of Greenfield, July 6, 1822, d. in Antrim, Sept. 29, 1834.) -Polly, (b. May 4, 1793, d. in childhood.) -Sally, (b. in Antrim, May 14, 1795, m. Joshua Foster of Hancock, Oct. 8, 1816, died in Hancock in 1823.) -Eleanor W., (b. in Antrim, April 19,1797, m. William Cavender, and removed to Fairfield, Mich., where she died in 1839.) -Nancy, (b. in Antrim, May 11, 1799, d. aged 20 years.) -Robert B., (b. in Antrim, June 16, 1803, m. Caroline Rugg of Ringe, Dec. 23, 1834, res. in Antrim.) -Polly, (b. in Antrim, Dec. 11, 1805, m. John Peabody of Antrim, Dec. 31, 1829.) -Fanny, (b. in Antrim, Feb. 12, 1809, in. Benjamin Tuttle of HilLsboro', Jan. 29, 1838, d. in Hillsboro' in 1840.)] Robert Hopkins, another brother, settled in Francestown. New Hampshire, on the Gibson place, as early as 1769, after living some years at Windham, New Hampshire, near Londonderry; his wife Marion died, and he married (second) Eleanor Wilson, who was the mother of his children; he was a very devout man, deacon of the Presbyterian church of Francestown, and earlier of Windham, some of the earliest meetings being held in his barn: he died in 1788: children all born in Windham, the eldest Elizabeth April 16, 1740. This surname was spelled Hopkyns in England, in thesixteenth century. It is an ancient English family of Oxford county, and we find John Hopkyns a civic officer in Coventry, Oxfordshire, as early as 1567. From the strong resemblance of the armorial bearings of the Wykehams of Swalcliffe, Oxford county, and of the Hopkins family of Oving, it is conjectured by Burke that in early times some bond ofconnection existed between these two families. In. confirmation of the surmise there is in Sibford Govver, in Swalcliffe Parish, a small estate which is charged with a quit-rent of a hundred pence that tradition has assigned to the late owners as the nineteenth John Hopkins, who has successively and lineally inherited it without the intervention of any other Christian name than John. As this estate joins immediately to Warwickshire, it may fairly be assumed that the family of Hopkins in Coventry and Swalcliffe derive from, a common ancestor. The branch of this ancient English family given below is of the north of Ireland. Eze- kiel Hopkins was the Lord Bishop of Derry, Ireland, at the time of the siege in 1689. He represented the Established Church of England. Londonderry was largely Protestant in population, but the Episcopalians were not so numerous as the Presbyterians. The Scotch element had gained strength during the sixty odd years since the Scotch and English settlers were located in Ulster Province, and the term Scotch-Irish had come to include the English as well as Scotch families. Hopkins is an English name, an Englishfamily, and all that is Scotch came by marriage after settling in Scotland. The Bishop was undoubtedly English, and he opposed opposition to King James when it was learned that a Catholic regiment was to be sent to the city of Londonderry, but the people concluded that Lord Antrim, who commanded the regiment, was coming to murder the inhabitants, and as events proved they were not far wrong in that belief. Dr. Hopkins pointed out to the excited populace the sin of disobeying James, the "Anointed of the Lord," but the people could not comprehend that it was "a crime to ?hut the gates against those whom they believed sent thither to cut their throats." Nine out of every ten being Presbyterians, they were the more inclined to reject a policy they condemned, because it was advocated by a man whose office they despised. Rev. James Hordon. the Presbyterian minister of Glen- dermot, advised resistance, and the gateswere closed against Antrim's soldiers. Bishop Hopkins now addressed the multitude, telling them that in resisting James, who was their lawful king, they were resisting God himself. But his speech had no effect, and he soon left the town to those whom he called "the disloyal Whigs." But the Bishop must have given overt aid to the Whigs later, for his name appears among those pronounced traitors in the Act for the Attainder of Divers Rebels, etc. A number of Hopkins familiesare living in Tyrone, Ireland, at the present time.

Sources

[S231] History of Francestown, N. H.: From Its Earliest Settlement April, 1758, to January 1, 1891. With a Brief Genealogical Record of All the Francestown Families, Warren Robert Cochrane, George K. Wood, (Name: J. H. Barker, Printer, 1895;), 762 (Reliability: 3).