James HOBKIRK was the eldest son of George HOBKIRK and Margaret SPOTSWOOD
From the family bible dating to 1834, in the possession of the HABKIRK branch of the family in Genesee County, Michigan, we know that James HOBKIRK was born 1 April 1829 in Scotland.
From the 1880 census records of the 4th Ward in Ogdensburg, St. Lawrence County, New York, we have the following information:
(Note: the census records recorded the family name as HOPKIRK)
James, age 50, born in New York*, parents born in Scotland, and he was a teamster by trade.
Rellie, age 44, his wife, born in Canada, and both her parents were born in Canada.
Then the following children were listed:
George, age 22, son, born about 1858 in New York
Jennie, age 20, daughter, born about 1860 in New York
Willie, age 18, son, born about 1862 in New York
Robie, age 14, son, born about 1866 in New York
Fred, age 10, son, born about 1870 in New York
Bessa, age 7, daughter, born about 1873 in New York
James, age 5, son, born about 1875 in New York (This is probably their second son named James. See below for the one who died in 1862)
Lewis, age 3, son, born about 1877 in New York
*The only discrepancy from the facts in the census is James senior is listed as being born in New York, and he was actually born in Scotland. This is not uncommon. The elder James may have been away, and his wife may have given the information to the census taker. She may not have known he was born in Scotland.
From the 1860 census we have the following information: James Hobkirk
was a farmer, living in Lisbon, St. Lawrence County, N.Y
James HOBKIRK is lsited as 31, born in Scotland. Owns real estate valued
at $2,000 and personal property valued at $800.
Almira HOBKIRK, age 23, born in Canada. James' wife.
James HOBKIRK, Jr., age 5, born in New York. (James died in 1862, view his
tombstone,
located in the Red Mills Cemetery, Lisbon, NY)
George HOBKIRK, age 2, born in New York
NOTE: 1860 census has Almira as James' wife, with 8 years difference in their ages. The 1880 census has Kelli as his wife with 6 years differnce in their ages. Was Kelli a second wife? Thanks to Patti Stehnach, this mystery has been cleared up. James Hobkirk's cenetery record lists his wife as Aurelia CARDINAL. Aurelia's record has her name as Hermina CARDINAL. So the "Kellie" in the 1880 census records from familysearch.org is probably a transcibing error of the name "Rellie" She is also known as Elmira.
Also, thanks to Patti, we now know that James passed away on 5 January, 1903 and Elmira passed away on 22 January 1910 and they are both buried in the Notre Dame Cemetery in Ogdensburg, New York. Patti also shared the information she received from her mother's cousin, Florence HOBKIRK.
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This page last updated on September 14, 2003