Alexander(7) HOPKIRK was the tenth child of William(6) HOPKIRK and Jane REDPATH.
Alexander was born on 25 October 1853 in Lockridge, Iowa.
On 26 April 1883 he married Miss Addie Ripley
At this link is a photo from about 1875 believed to that of Alexander and his older brother James.
Alexander liked farming, his brother James did not. The one on the left
is believed to be Alexander and the one on the right is believed to
James. Our thanks goes to John D. Hopkirk for supplying this photo.
Alexander and Addie had the following children:
Nellie(8) HOPKIRK, born prior to 1890.
Raymond(8) A. HOPKIRK, born 9 Aug 1891, Lockridge, Iowa. Raymond was farming the family farm in 1912. He never married and died 7 October 1958 in Lockridge, Iowa.
Bessie(8) L. HOPKIRK, born about 1895. She was living on the family farm with her brother as of 1912. She married a Mr. Alexander.
Following is an excerpt from the History of Jefferson County, S.J.Clarke Publishing Company, 1912:
Alexander Hopkirk is a native of Lockridge township, born in October 1853. His parents, William and Mary(Jane) Hopkirk, were natives of Scotland. His father came to this country when a youth and settled in Ohio where he was employed in woolen mills for four years. He then returned to Scotland to the "bonnie lassie" who had waited for him. They were married and Mr. and Mrs. Hopkirk made their bridal journey the voyage to America. They did not go to Ohio to begin housekeeping, however, but came at once to Jefferson County, Iowa, where Mr. Hopkirk bought land. This he cleared and began to farm, continuing in this occupation until his death in 1892.
Alexander Hopkirk was brought up on the home farm and sent to the district school which course he completed and supplemented with one year at Mt. Pleasant College. He then came home and assisted his father with the farm work. Just prior to his father's death he bought the home place of one hundred and sixty acres, improving and operating it until 1907 when he sold out and purchased forty acres near the town of Lockridge. Here he farmed for three years when he sold this place to his son, Raymond A., who is now cultivating it.
For a helpmate Alexander Hopkirk chose Addie Ripley whom he married in fall of 1881. Her parents lived and died in Maine, never following the moving current of population westward. To Mr. and Mrs. Hopkirk were born three children. Nellie M. is married to Reverend Ernest Phipps, residing at Sigourney, Iowa. Raymond A., aged twenty, is cultivating the home farm in Lockridge township purchased of his father a year ago. He raises thirty head of hogs annually and owns four horses for work on the farm Bessie L., aged seventeen, keeps house for her brother on the Lockridge farm. Mrs. Hopkirk passed away in April, 1902, after a week's illness with measles.
For the past year Mr. Hopkirk has been located on a fruit ranch in Colorado but his intention is to return to Jefferson County shortly. He is Republican in his political sympathies, has been justice of the peace of this township and has acted as school director. In addition to his farming he taught school during the fall and winter terms for sixteen years. He belongs to the Baptist church which his children also have joined. Living in comfort and, long since free from the cares of winning a livelihood he is enjoying the fruits of his conscientious labor in earlier years.
Comments: We know there are a few errors in the above account, because we know that Alexander's parents were married March 1834 in Melrose, Scotland, and first went to New York where their first two children were born, and then to Ohio were their third child was born. in 1838. We also know that William and his brother John were the first landowners in Lockridge Township, but because of the 1840 letter written by William's brother John we know John was in Iowa, William was not. The part about William working in the woolen mills when he first arrived in the USA is probably true, but it was probably in New York.
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