The Family of William Griffith Hopkins

William G. Hopkins late in life.

William Griffith Hopkins was the 6th son of Hezekiah and Martha (Griffith) Hopkins. He was born in Philadelphia in 1809, where his father was a merchant and accountant. The family decided to move to the new Ohio country in 1820, when he was eleven. He grew up there in Warren County near Waynesville. He and his family were members of the Miami Quaker Meeting in Waynesville.

William's father died three years after the family moved to Ohio. His widow and children remained in Ohio for several years, and the elder children married there. William married Nancy Cavender, daughter of Samuel Cavender and Abigail Robbins of Montgomery County, in 1832. Six children were born to them, but only two lived to maturity: Benjamin and Barclay. Nancy died in 1841 at the age of 28. Their two youngest children died in 1841 and 1842, so I suspect that there was an epidemic of some kind then.

William and Nancy and their children had moved to Indiana in 1839 or 1840 (he bought land in 1839). They settled in Jay County near Camden, later called Pennville. It was a town largely made up of Quakers, and William was a prominent member of the Camden Meeting. William was appointed clerk of the men's meeting, and was also a member of committees concerned with the care of the meeting house and other business matters. He was also a member of the first government of the town.

This might be a picture of Ann Edmundson,
William's third wife. However, there is no
identification with the picture. It
was saved along with pictures of
William and his third wife, Caroline.

After Nancy died, William married Ann Edmundson, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Morsell) Edmundson in 1842. The Edmundsons were another prominent Quaker family in Jay County. William and Ann had three children, only one of whom lived to maturity. Ann died in 1860 at the age of 41.

William's third wife was Caroline Smith, who was born in Vermont in 1820. I've found very little about her and her background, except that she lived in Ft. Wayne prior to their marriage, and she was a seamstress. She and William married in 1861 and had two children. Caroline outlived William by 19 years, dying in 1888.

Caroline Smith Hopkins

Like his father, William was a merchant. He operated a store in Pennville, and also farmed land he owned near Balbec. When he died, he asked that his widow and children carry on the business, but after a short time they were unable to do so. My father told me that William also acted as a guide for wagon trains going from Cincinnati to Ft. Wayne, since he was a Quaker and on good terms with the Indians along the route. There is also a record of his having been a Justice of the Peace.

Even though he was a Quaker, William was in the military service during the Civil War. A number of other Quakers in Jay County and throughout Indiana served as well. Quakers were against warfare, but they were also against slavery, and the anti-slavery side won out in a sizable percentage of cases.

William died in 1869 at the age of fifty-nine. He was buried in the old Quaker burying ground in Pennville. I was unable to find a tombstone for him there, but it wasn't unusual for Quakers to forego a tombstone in favor of simplicity.

Family Group Sheet

Husband: William Griffith Hopkins  died at age: 59 
       Born: 20-Jun-1809     in: Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA     
       Died: 29-Jan-1869     in: Camden (Pennville), Jay County, Indiana   
     Buried in: Camden (Pennville), Jay County, Indiana   
        Occupation: Merchant, Farmer, J.P.      
Father: Hezekiah Hopkins 
Mother: Martha Griffith 

Wife: Nancy Cavender  also known as: Ann S. Cavender   died at age: 28 
Married:  1-Aug-1832     his age: 23   her age: 19 
       Born: 25-Jan-1813     in: Montgomery County, Ohio                   
       Died: 11-Nov-1841     in: Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio           
     Buried in: Robbins Cemetery, Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio       
Father: Samuel Cavender 
Mother: Abigail Robbins 

  1    Isaac Hopkins  b. ??-___-1833  d. ??-___-1842  died at age: 9 
  2    Martha Hopkins  b. ??-___-1835  d. ??-___-1842  died at age: 7 
  3    Benjamin Cavender Hopkins  b. 06-Feb-1837  d. 01-Feb-1892  died at age: 54 
  4    Barclay Brown Hopkins  b. 10-Apr-1839  d. 28-Jan-1914  died at age: 74 
  5    Samuel Hopkins  b. ??-Jun-1841  d. ??-Jun-1841  died at age: 0 
  6    Abigail Hopkins  b. ??-Jun-1841  d. ??-___-1842  died at age: 0 

Wife: Ann Edmundson  died at age: 41 
Married: 29-Dec-1842     in: Camden (Pennville), Jay County, Indiana     his age: 33   her age: 24 
       Born: 28-Oct-1818     in: Frederick County, Maryland                
       Died: 28-Jan-1860     in: Balbec, Jay County, Indiana               
     Buried in: Pennville, Jay County, Indiana            
Father: Thomas Edmundson 
Mother: Elizabeth Morsell 

  1    Thomas Hopkins  b. ??-___-1843  d. ??-___-1843  died at age: 0 
  2    Morris Hopkins  b. ??-___-1845  d. ??-___-1845  died at age: 0 
  3    Mary Ann Hopkins  b. 27-Feb-1856  d.  4-Aug-1930  died at age: 74 

Wife: Caroline Smith  died at age: 68 
Married: 06-Feb-1861     his age: 51   her age: 40 
       Born: 24-Jul-1820     in: Vermont                                   
       Died: 28-Oct-1888     
     Buried in: Cable, Mercer County, Illinois            

  1    Walter Griffith Hopkins  b. 07-Jan-1862  d. ??-___-1932  died at age: 69 
  2    Emma Caroline Hopkins  b. 17-Mar-1866  d. Aft  4-Aug-1930

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This file was last updated on 7/15/2004.