James Hopkins SR 1750 ~1825
Revolutionary War Veteran
Link to James Hopkins Service records in the Penna Archives
Hopkins Grave Marker MAP <—Link
ID: I1335
Name: Mary (Wife of)
Given Name: Mary
Sex: M
James HOPKINS , Sr. (of Scotch-Irish descent)
1750 – Mar 1825
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BIRTH: 1750 (Ireland)
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DEATH: Mar 1825, Antis, Blair Co., PA
Ancestral File #: WWNP-99
_UID: FEB61063292FD5118CE000A0CCE18C8E3866
Change Date: 19 Aug 2005 at 22:02:47
Marriage 1 James HOPKINS Sr. b: ABT 1750
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Married: ABT 1774 in Pennsylvania 1
Children
Link to James Hopkins Sr. Page
Siblings: (Unconfirmed)
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Mary
Wife:
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Unknown Hopkins (born Mary)
James moved to Lancaster County (which was part of Chester County) after the British Invasion of Philadelphia bearing a son, Benjamin Hopkins (who fought in the war of 1812 and was also granted a land warrant in Antis Twp, Huntingdon, now Blair County, PA). James’ SR property bordered the Bald Eagle Creek Indian trail that connected the Kittanning Indian trail to Lock Haven, in Antes (now Antis Twp) , near Mary Ann Forge, where he was buried. James son, James Jr. also fought in the war of 1812.
James is noted as indigent in the 1780 Chester County, PA (East Bradford) tax records with his wife. He is also noted in the 1790 (last East Bradford Census noting him) as 4 Males, 3 Females in the household and HERE.
Congress authorized bounty-land warrants for military service in the Revolutionary War under acts of 1788, 1803, and 1806. Surviving Revolutionary War veterans also qualified under the final bounty-land act of 1855. Many bounty-land claims for Revolutionary War service have been combined with other Revolutionary War pension files. ___M804, Revolutionary War Pensions and Bounty-Land Warrant Applications. 2,670 rolls. DP. Arranged alphabetically by surname.___M829, U.S. Revolutionary War Bounty-Land Warrants Used in the U.S. Military District of Ohio and Related Papers (Acts of 1788, 1803, and 1806), 1788–1806. 16 rolls. DP. Arranged numerically by warrant number. Roll 1 contains indexes and registers. [NI126597]
“The History of Blair Co. PA” 1808 James served as overseer of the poor; 1809 James served as Allegheney Twp. Supervisor then the newly formed Antis Twp. Supervisor in 1810. James owned 70 acres valued at $170.00. In 1821 James served as overseer of the poor, as his son James Jr. followed suit. His other son Johnathon was the first school director at Mary Ann forge.
Mary Ann Forge was located approx 2 miles from the center of modern Bellwood ( formerly known as Bells Mills), S-SW of where the Logan Valley cemetery is located today.
Find a Grave Notes: (Link to Location)
This location is now in the center of Logan Valley Cemetery
James is said to be buried in the Mary Ann Forge Cemetery (which doesn’t exist today) but research has proven that this graveyard is in the center (old part) of the Logan Valley Cemetery in Antis Twp, Bellwood, PA. I’m in process of trying to figure out how to either find the grave plot (unlikely) and read the old stones in that area. (See research below). The sextant of Logan Valley Cemetery died in 1966 and along with him the accurate records of the older cemetery.
From the book “History of Blair and Huntingdon Counties” Samuel Martin located near Mary Ann Forge prior to 1824. He was a brother-in-law of Edward Bell (founder of Bellwood \ Bells Mills), an early school-teacher, and the first to build woolen-mills in the township. About the year 1826, he established the first Sunday-school, the sessions being held in the school near the burial-ground. Benjamin Hopkins was the first school director.
The Mary Ann Forge School was located on the tract of land the Logan Valley Cemetery occupies today on Cemetery Road from Route 220 to Bellwood’s Main Street.The school building was used by the Methodist and the Baptist congregations when they first formed in the 1840’s.
Quoted from :
History of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania
By J. Simpson Africa (Pg. 40)
“Of the burial-ground mentioned an old resident informs us that in 1824, the remains of but six persons had been placed there, five of whom were John Bell, Sr., and his wife, Old Mr. Hopkins [James Sr died 3/1825] and his wife, and Joshua Williamson, the father of old “Jim” Williamson.
Mary Hopkins who married Joseph Burley was the daughter of James Hopkins, Sr. and his wife, Mary. Her siblings were Samuel, James, Joseph, Jonathan, Benjamin, Elizabeth, and Emily. This is documented in File S-N049, p.29 of the August 1830 proceedings of the Huntingdon Co., PA Orphans Court. Mary is buried next to the Bells in this cemetery. Elizabeth married a Burley (first settlers of Tyrone) as did Emily and Mary an Igou. The Igou’s were neighbors of the Hopkins and Bells, in Bellwood, PA. James Hopkins Sr’s Grandson Hiram H Hopkins was also a Civil War Captain and owned the first livery in Bellwood, PA.
This (below) is the location of the James Hopkins farm land in Bellwood PA next to the Igou’s (Igou Lane). The “Old Black Rd is now “Bell-Tip” (Tipton) Rd which is the location of the Bald Eagle Indian Trail.
The notes below came to me via email from a handwritten record in an old family bible. I was unable to get back into contact with the individual that email this information to me.
The Hopkins family lived in Antes Township, Blair County, Pa. All of the children were born there. The place where they lived was called Sinking Valley, but it is not a town. In about 1852 most of the Hopkins [(James Sr, his wife Mary and their son James Jr had already died)] family travelled [sic] down the Ohio River on a flatboat and then up the Mississippi to Muscatine, Iowa where they caught the railroad to Iowa City, Iowa. Two married daughters remained in Pennsylvania. Some of the children were already married and had families, so the company was rather large. The younger children were married in Iowa.
This list of children born to James and Mary Hopkins was taken from the hand written record of Blanch Hopkins McCracken. However, the records sent by Peggy Hopkins Jack, shows 2 other Hopkins men from the Blair Co., Pa. area. Samuel Hopkins born 1771 and John Hopkins born 1775.
- Name: Mary (Wife of)
- Sex: F
- Birth: 1752 in Pa.
- Note:
From the book “The History of Blair County Pennsylvania”
1830 Mary owned 147 acres, 1 horse and 1 cow.Marriage 1 James Hopkins b: 1750 in Pa.- Married: ABT 1774 in Pennsylvania
- Note:
