Hopkins – Dare to Discover

Mystery Great-Great-Grandmother

This photo of a young woman standing by a chair is believed to be my great-great-grandmother. The problem is that I don’t know whether it is through the Jameson line, or the Rigg line.

The photo was in the possession of my great-aunt, Ruth Dare Farley (who passed away a few years ago), and said it was her great-grandmother. The photo was badly deteriorated, and she attempted to improve things by painting the background a bit. I welcome input from others on dating the photo and/or identifying the subject.

Alice, or Nannie?

Candidate #1 – Alice Jane Jameson

Alice was born in 1856, married William Hite in 1875, and died in 1941. The first two photos are of Alice with husband William, the second two are with grandchildren in the 1930s.

Candidate #2 – Nancy “Nannie” Montgomery Rigg

Nannie was born in 1847, married Thomas Willis Farley in 1866, and died in 1923. Here are existing photos of her. The individual portrait is undated. The photo with three daughters is likely in the 1910s . The family reunion photos are about 1920. The Awkward Family photo with 5 generations is about 1910.

Football in the Family

Winding Gulf High School - 1927 — Collins High School – 1927 – See Story Below

Several years ago, my mother-in-law gathered photos of her sons’ grandfathers (with their football teams) and had them professionally cleaned up and enlarged, suitable for framing. My husband and I were inspired to expand on the idea by assembling a collection of photos (portraits and sports both) of grandparents on both sides of the family. I was able to find the football photos for my grandfathers (and a fabulous 1923 photo of my grandmother in her high school basketball uniform – that’s worthy of a separate story coming later). Below are those four photos, and a couple others of related family from roughly the same era. They represent participation in a variety of roles – player, manager, coach. You can click on any photo to bring up a larger version.

Continue reading “Football in the Family”

Middle Name of Henry H. Hopkins

Henry H. Hopkins was born 09 January 1809 in Caroline County, Virginia, and died 12 June 1874 in Boone County, WV of an ulcer as reported by his wife Julia Ann Hill Hopkins (1827-1902). Henry was a notorious slave owner in Boone County (that’s a story for another day); he also was one of the most prosperous citizens of the county and father to nine children, seven of whom lived to adulthood. Henry was my 3rd great-grandfather. Continue reading “Middle Name of Henry H. Hopkins”

Wedding Book of Grace Campbell

Wedding Portrait of Grace Lavenia Campbell in 1903

Grace Lavenia Campbell married Carl DeWitt Hopkins on 25 July 1904 in Galipolis, Ohio. Grace and Carl were my great-grandparents, and my mother remembers them well.

Grace was born in 1883, the daughter of Samuel Henry (S. H.) Campbell and Nancy Jane Meadows. She was 21 at the time of her marriage to Carl. They had two sons (Keith Campbell Hopkins, my grandfather, and Henry Frederick Hopkins), and a daughter who did not live past infancy. Continue reading “Wedding Book of Grace Campbell”

Bible of Alice Hopkins

These pages come from a Hopkins family Bible that likely belonged to Martha Alice Hopkins (1858-1946, known as “Alice”), my great-great-grandmother. This Bible passed on from, presumably, Alice Hopkins to Carl Hopkins, then to his son Henry, and eventually to Henry’s nephew Jim, who passed it on to me. Continue reading “Bible of Alice Hopkins”