Walter(6) Hopkirk was the second yougest son of William(5) Hopkirk and Isabella Home
Walter wrote many letters from his home in Missouri to his brothers John and William in Iowa. Please check the olde letters section, we will eventually be adding his letters there.
We know that Walter travelled to California for a brief period of time to try and make his fortune in the gold fields, and that he was in Sutter Creek.in the early 1850's. He returned to his wife and her family in Missouri and lived out his life there. He wrote many letters during the US Civil War.
Click here to see a Chest of Drawers built by Walter Hopkirk. The picture was supplied by Martha Hamil of San Antonio, Texas. The Chest of Drawers used to be in the possession of Florence Feaster in Birminham, Alabama. We do not know the current location of the Chest of Drawers.
Walter(6) Hopkirk married Mary Ellen Moffatt
They had the following children:
Jessie(7) HOPKIRK was born in 1850 and died in 1941. She married Frank CRANDALL. on 12 Jan 1870.
David(7) HOPKIRK was born 27 Jan 1852 in Iowa and died 11 May 1925, Teller County, Colorado
Mary(7) Ellen HOPKIRK was born 1 Apr 1858. She married James Fowler FEASTER on 15 July 1875.
Frank(7) HOPKIRK was born about 1867.
Walter HOPKIRK was born in 1867. A twin of Frank who died at a young age.
Lucy(7) HOPKIRK was born 12 July 1871 in Missouri. She married Bart COUPLAND, and they had sons named Ray and Fred COUPLAND.
From the 1850 census, taken 21st of September, the family is
living in Bonaparte, Iowa. Walter is 29, born in Scotland and a
Cabinetmaker, Mary Ellen is 21, born in Kentucky and daughter Jessie is
0, born in Iowa.
On 1 September 1856 Mary Ellen Hopkirk of Henry County, Missouri, purchased 40 acres of land at Warsaw, Missouri. Here is a copy of the deed. Had mary Ellen inherited some money to be able to purchase property in her own name?
The 1860 Census had the following information from the Missouri Census page #97, sheet # 323, Township # 43, Range 23:
Walter Hopkirk, age 37, born in Scotland
Mary Hopkirk, age 31, born in Kentucky
Jessie Hopkirk, age 10, born in Iowa
David Hopkirk, age 8, born in Iowa
Mary Hopkirk, age 2, born in Missouri
From the 1870 census we find this
family living in Cole Camp, White Township, Benton County, Missouri. Walter is 51,
born in Scotland, Mary E is 41, born in Kentucky, David is 18, born in
Iowa, mary is 12, born in Missouri, Frank is 3, born in Missouri, and
Walter is also 3, born in Missouri. Jessie is gone.
In the 1900 census we find Mary Ellen Hopkirk, age 70, a widow living at 749 Blake, Salida City, Chaffee County, Colorado. Her birthplace is Kentucky. There is an error in recording the census record as it claims her parents were born in Sweden, which is a mistake by the transcriber. mary is listed as the head of household. Also in the household is her daughter Lucy Copeland, born in 1871, but in Illinois, and Lucy's husband Bart, born in 1864. No one has an occupation.
In the 1910 census we find Mary E.
Hopkirk, age 80 living at 232 Blake, Salida, Colorado with her Daughter
Lucy, age 38, Lucy's husband Bart, age 45 who is now a railroad
engineer(Like Lucy's brother Frank before he disappeared), and their
sons Ray age 4 and Freddie age 1. lucy's father was born in Scotland
and her mother in Kentucky.
In the 1940 census Lucy is a widow, livig by herself at 232 Blake
Street, Salida City, Chaffee County, Colorado. Is this the same house
she lived in 40 years earlier with her mother?
Family history says that while Mary Ellen Moffatt was travelling
between her family in Iowa to her family in Missouri she befriended a
man who would later become the Governor of Missouri. Read Frank
Hopkirk's story at the link above to see how this meeting may have
saved Frank's life.
None of the family appears in the 1880 census
Home or Family Trees or Index of Names
This page was last updated June 29, 2012
