Myself and Other Recent Arrivals

Me in my office with one of my Dad's paintings. December 2007

My name is Arthur David Hopkins. I was born in Hamilton, Butler County, Ohio at Mercy Hospital. My father was Charles Howard Hopkins, and my mother was Thelma Cecilia Wolf. I was born during the Depression and grew up during WWII. We moved several times when I was young. By the time I was in the fourth grade, I had lived in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Oklahoma. My father and mother separated and divorced when I was 9, and I was raised by my father.

After the War we moved to Oklahoma, and I went to grade and high schools in Pawhuska, Oklahoma and went to the Universities of Tulsa and Oklahoma. I received a B.S. degree in chemistry at OU in 1958. I also have a Master's degree in Management from MIT, and a Master's in Divinity from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. I had a notion about being a minister, but found it was too public an occupation for me. What I enjoy most is doing research and solving problems.

I've been married three times and have two sons, Colin and William. My older son, Colin, from my first marriage, lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with his wife and his maternal grandmother.

My younger son, William, is now thirteen. He's a smart boy with a strong personality, and does well in reading and math. His mother taught him to play chess, and he's good at other games requiring logic and strategy. He's become a Yu-Gi-Oh player of some skill, has lately become adept at the online game RuneScape, and is a 9th Kyu, yellow belt in karate. Except for a couple of years in public schools, William has been homeschooled.

For most of my working life I was a computer specialist for the U.S. Geological Survey. I did technical staff work, created help files for beginning computer users, wrote computer procurement studies and specifications, did evaluations of proposals, and assisted procurement officers in doing benchmark testing and making selections. Later I was the manager of two computer centers, first in Washington, D.C. and later in Menlo Park, California. After I took early retirement from the Government, I attended the GTU, then worked for a few years as a freelance graphic designer, doing newsletters and other publications, primarily for non-profit groups. I am now retired from commercial occupations, and spend most of my time raising and schooling my young son, and tracing my ancestry. Both are nearly full-time jobs in themselves.

I used to be very interested in photography, and still enjoy taking pictures, mainly of scenery. My wife's photography is primarily of people. I was also an avid sailor once, but have given that up for less strenuous activities. My main hobby (obsession) now is genealogy. I became interested in it in 1993 when my Uncle Don sent me a batch of old family pictures. I had had a copy of a family history that was done by my Great-Uncle Charley several years previously, but it was seeing the faces of my ancestors and relatives that got me interested in extending the work Charley had done. I've been able to trace my ancestry two or three generations further back in some lines, but still have many years of work ahead of me.

I enjoy doing research, and can happily spend hours in the library or Family History Center. I'm particularly interested in finding the ancestors of William Hopkins, my earliest Hopkins ancestor so far, and in discovering the parents of my Great-Grandfather, James Thomas Boone.

I was lucky to have Quaker ancestors in my main lines. The Quakers were good record keepers, and understood the importance of genealogy. Much of my information comes from their meeting records. Please see the Table of Contents for the Quaker records and documents I've transcribed. I've gotten some clues that my Hopkins ancestors may have migrated to London from Northamptonshire or farther West. Please see the pages on Northamptonshire and Southwark Quaker records.

I've also done some work on my wife Carla's ancestry, which is Filipino and Mexican.

I've made a number of documents and data files available for downloading. They cover the members of my family and those related to us by marriage. Please refer to the Table of Contents page for a list of what's available.

I've been lucky enough to receive some valuable contacts from people who've found my pages. I appreciate feedback, and would be happy to share information with other researchers of these families. If you'd like to contact me, please click on the following link: ahopkins@alum.mit.edu

This file was last updated on 12/12/2007.