Pioneer Families - HOPKINS
Extracted From
Chapter XVII
Early history of the town of Hopkinton :
history of East Village (Nicholville) and vicinity,
diaries of Elisha Risdon and Artemas Kent,
soldiers of the Civil War,
genealogical record of sixty of the pioneer families

Carlton E. Sanford
Boston: Bartlett Press, 1903

[Transcribed by Dave Swerdfeger]

IN this chapter is given the genealogical records of many of the pioneers of the town, of all that I have been able to gather sufficient data and information to make a fairly full record. The preparation of these records has required much time, labor, correspondence, persistence and patience. Had I had in the beginning a full comprehension of the tedious labor required, I now feel sure I should not have undertaken it. That there are some errors in dates and possibly a few in names I am quite satisfied, since considerable of my information came from elderly people who wrote feebly and indistinctly. I think it will be readily understood, if the reader will bear in mind that it is in continuous order; that the first, second, third and fourth generations are each carried slightly to the right, and that each generation always has the same indentation. ROSWELL HOPKINS b. May 17, 1757, Amenia, N.Y.; d. September 5, 1829; m. Lidia Dewey, June 22, 1780; b. April 13, 1761; d. June 15, 1816; m. 2d, Mary Armstrong, 1829; d. August 27, 1850. At an early age he took part in the war of the Revolution and was present at the battle of Bennington, and also at the capture of Burgoyne near Stillwater. He held the position of lieutenant colonel in Col. Morris Graham's regiment, stationed at Fort Independence, and I think rose to the rank of brigadier-general. He was clerk of the Council of Safety. He was also a volunteer in two campaigns at West Point and vicinity. At the latter place he was taken prisoner and confined on board a British prison ship and eventually incarcerated at Newport, R. I., for a considerable period. He was released on parole near the close of the war and settled in Arlington, Vt., where he resided until after he was appointed secretary of state, when he removed to Bennington, the then capital of the state, where he conducted the first drug store in the village. He was re-elected by the General Assembly for ten years, according to Dr. Hough and the inscription on his tombstone, but according to a memorandum of his life evidently written by himself, handed to me by his great-grandson, Isaac R., he held this position for fourteen years. This memorandum also states that he was a practitioner of physic, justice of the peace and clerk of the Addison County court, and that he moved into St. Lawrence County in 1803. He was the first justice of the peace in Hopkinton, having been appointed by Gov. Morgan Lewis in 1805, immediately on the organization of the town, and nearly a year before the election of town officers. He was several times reappointed and also as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was the first supervisor of the town and several times re-elected, besides holding other positions in the town. For four years, 1810 to 1813, he was elected to a seat in the legislature of this state. The inscription on his tombstone states that he was the first president of the St. Lawrence County Bible Society. As his life in Hopkinton is so fully given in the history of the town, reference is made thereto. According to the memorandum which I have, he was the third of eleven children. Had seven children: Roswell D., b. May 5, 1781; m. Mary Strong, September 12, 1805; m. 2d, Sarah Ferris. His first wife was a daughter of Gen. Samuel Strong of Vergennes, Vt. Had ten children by first marriage: Gen. Roswell J., b. November 5, 1809. Mercy Maria, b. September 19, 1811; m. Thads. H. Laughlin. (See his family.) Hannah M., d. aged eighteen years. Lydia Ruth, b. January 3, 1814; m. Luman Moody, October 20, 1834, of Canton, N.Y.; 1. and d. at Canton, N.Y. Had three children: Mary Strong, b. July 22, 1835; m. Oswall R. Bogue, February 17, 1857; d. August 10, 1873, Chicago. Had three children: Luman M., b. January 17, 1858; 1. Denver, Col.; m. Helen Creswell. Had two children: Genevieve C., b. August 20, 1890. Joseph C., b. March 13, 1892. Warren C., b. September 28, 1861; 1. Salt Lake City; m. Annie Austin. Had four children: Warren C., Jr., b. June 14, 1888; d. July 19, 1888. Dora Watkins, b. November 18, 1889. Mary A., b. July 7, 1891. Annette W., b. April 12, 1894; d. June 23, 1894. John H., b. June 18, 1867; 1. Chicago; m. Cora B. Reynolds. No issue. Clarissa Maria, b. April 16, 1845; 1. Chicago, Ill.; m. Charles H. Smith of Madrid, N.Y. Had four children: David E., b. December 20, 1867; 1. Minneapolis; m. Alice C. Dyer, September 23, 1896. He is a physician in that city. No issue. Samuel H., b. December 20, 1867; d. December 22, 1867. Ruth Lydia, b. June 24, 1874. Mary Moody, b. March 18, 1878. Silas Wright, b. March 17, 1851; 1. Boise City, Idaho; m. Mrs. Alice Young, March 17, 1885. Is a practising lawyer. No issue. Samuel P., b. January 18, 1816; bachelor. Clarissa Elizabeth, b. March 6, 1818; d. aged five years. Mary Strong, b. December 4, 1821; m. Farrand Gaines. Sally Raymond, b. January 25, 1823; 1. Panton, Vt.; m. Gerry Warner. William S., b. February 28, 1825; d. May 8, 1892; a bachelor; physician. George Wait, b. July 14, 1828. Benjamin W., b. February 16, 1783; d. August 13, 1819, Havana, Cuba; m. Harriet Woodbridge, January 16, 1804; d. March 12, 1870. After assisting and aiding his father in the Hopkinton project, he took a government contract to build some fortifications at Mobile Point, Ala. While engaged in this work he went to Havana, Cuba, on some errand on the schooner "Halifax," when he was taken sick with yellow fever and died. His father and Thaddeus Laughlin of Hopkinton were his bondsmen for the full performance of the work. For some reason which I do not learn judgments were taken against the bondsmen. His suretyship or his efforts to complete the contract of his son Benjamin caused him great loss and an endless amount of trouble. Directly after the son's death Roswell went to Mobile Point. (See diary September 20, 1819.) After Benjamin's death Congress passed private bill number six, for the relief of his widow and children, appropriating $13,270 less the amount of judgments against Roswell Hopkins and Thaddeus Laughlin. At this time his widow had married Moses Strong of Rutland, Vt. The foregoing facts I get from James Hopkins Gibbs, Esq., of Detroit, Mich., great-grandson of Roswell. He has letters and papers in his hands from which the information is taken. In them Benjamin W. is often called colonel. It is evident that he was a man of fine abilities and much force. (See diary for September 19 and 20, 1819.) Had three children: Edwin W., b. February 4, 1805; d. June 29, 1850; m. Abigail Seymour, June 6, 1831. Maria A., b. June 14, 1807; m. Edgar L. Ormsbee. Helen J., b. March 15, 1814; d. July 5, 1815, Hopkinton. Mary C., b. June 14, 1785; d. April 30, 1847, Ogdensburg; m. Artemus Sawyer, November 15, 1801; d. in Massena, N.Y. He was agent for Mr. Parish at Parishville. Had three children: Roswell H., b. April 25, 1803, Vergennes; d. 1879, New York City; m. Lucretia Miner of New York City. Had six children: Mary Elizabeth, d.; m. Thomas D. Skinner of Ogdensburg. Lieutenant Colonel Roswell M., d. December 28, 1863, St. Louis, aged thirty-one. Enlisted in 1st Wisconsin as a private and rose to Adjutant General of fifteen corps in Vicksburg campaign. Served through the war and then entered Regular Army as captain 25th Infantry. William Lucretia (who married Benjamin Kissam) Horace Sarah. James A., b. July 29, 1805, Vergennes; d. September 27, 1855, Malone, N.Y.; m. Alzina Amsden of Malone. He was the agent for Mr. Parish for some time and built the stone store used by E. D. Brooks, and later by the Daggetts, in Parishville. Had five children: James W., b. May 7, 1830, Parishville; 1. Malone; m. Sarah P. Foote of Malone, October 26, 1858. Had four children: Nellie M., b. February, 1860. Charles H., b. March, 1862. Thomas, b. June, 1866. Harriet M., b. January, 1868. Harriet L., b. July 3, 1833, Parishville; d. March 26, 1899. Alzina M., b. August 8, 1836, Parishville; 1. Woodsville; N.H.; m. Charles B. Griswold of Lebanon, N.H. George A., b. June 18, 1838, Parishville; d. April 28, 1902, Malone; m. May L. G. Skinner of Ogdensburg. Lucretia M., b. April 29, 1840, Parishville; d. January 16, 1884; m. Tyler Westgate of Haverhill, N.H. Harriet M., b. September 8, 1807, Vergennes; d. 1883, Ogdensburg; m. Dr. H. D. Laughlin. (See Laughlin family.) Had one child: James (man grown, single); d. during the sixties. Isaac R., b. January 28, 1788, Ferrisburg, Vt.; d. March 12, 1853; m. Sophia Woodbridge, March 14, 1812, Vergennes; d. January 4, 1857. Had seven children: Roswell, b. February 5, 1813; d. March 24, 1888, single. Lived and died on old homestead in Hopkinton. Eliza, b. January 18, 1815; d. June 30, 1815. Jane E., b. July 14, 1817; d. March 17, 1884; single. Enoch W., b. December 17, 1818; d. December 7, 1862, Graysonville, Cal.; m. Marion Allen of Ogdensburg. George W., b. July 30, 1822; d. April 9, 1823. Dr. Francis W., b. September 30, 1824; d. September 16, 1886; single. Frederick I., b. November 5, 1825; d. July 19, 1900, Fort Jackson; m. Kate M. Kent, November 17, 1851; 1. Fort Jackson. Had two children: Isaac R., b. August 17, 1853; 1. Hopkinton; m. Eva P. Chittenden, December 29, 1885. Owns the Hopkins homestead. Had three children: Marion, b. September 28, 1890. Roswell I., b. April 29, 1896. Ralph C., b. April 29, 1896; d. May 29, 1898. Katie W., b. December 1, 1859; d. December 24, 1879. George, b. March 13, 1791; d. October 12, 1820, Columbus, Ohio; m. Harriet E. Newcomb, September 28, 1819. Sally, b. June 11, 1796; d. December 27, 1842, at Potsdam; m. Sewall Raymond, July 7, 1814; b. August 30, 1786; d. July 31, 1866. They were married at Hopkinton, Thursday evening, July 7, 1814, by Rev. Ashbel Parmelee. Mr. Raymond was one of the leading and influential citizens of Potsdam. Had seven children: Roswell Hopkins, b. June 9, 1816; d. June 12, 1816. Lydia, b. May 27, 1817; d. December 13, 1890; m. John F. Rosseel, d. July 21, 1888. He was the second son of Joseph Rosseel of Ogdensburg and agent of Mr. Parish at Parishville after the death of Mr. Artemus Sawyer, and at Ogdensburg after the death of his father. Had five children, three of whom are living: Fanny E., b. April 24, 1851. Joseph, b. January 22, 1858. Frank R., b. March 16, 1860. Hannah, b. January 11, 1819; d. May 1, 1837. Harriet Elizabeth, b. June 2, 1822; d. August 3, 1824. George Blackmer, b. October 23, 1824; d. June 24, 1897, Potsdam; m. Harriet Goulding, September 28, 1848; b. December 3, 1827; 1. Potsdam. Had two children: Charles Blackmer, b. February 3, 1850; d. November 20, 1856. William Sewall, b. March 17, 1854; 1. Potsdam. James S., b. June 13, 1827; physician in Ogdensburg; m. Helen Partridge, b. May 30, 1830, Potsdam; d. May 13, 1898. Had four children: Julius B., d. aged six months. Sarah Y., b. January 23, 1859; single. Mary E., b. June 6, 1862; 1. South Bend, Wash.; m. W. H. Proctor. George S., b. May 19, 1866; single. Sally, b. May 29, 1830; d. June 11, 1830. James G., b. June 15, 1801; d. July 6, 1861, at Saratoga Springs; m. Elizabeth Rosseel, October 23, 1832. Had three children: Louisa Rosseel, b. March 20, 1835; d. March 27, 1894, Detroit; m. Calvin W. Gibbs, October 13, 1858; d. April 26, 1879. Had seven children: James Hopkins, b. August 28, 1859; 1. Detroit; m. Ida F. Moore, November 18, 1880. Had three children: Frederick Rosseel, b. May 28, 1882. Fannie Louise, b. May 8, 1885. Dorothy Helen, b. March 24, 1895. Louis Kimball, b. November, 1862; single; 1. Detroit. Calvin W., b. August 16, 1867; d. November 3, 1893; m. Susan Stewart, November 7, 1888. Had two children: Lauretta, b. June 10, 1890. Gailey Louise, b. October 25, 1892. Louisa Rosseel, b. March 19, 1873; 1. Detroit. Elizabeth Rosseel, died in infancy. Ross Campbell, died in infancy. Joseph Rosseel, died in infancy. James Waite, b. August 9, 1837; d. February 22, 1863; m. Jane Russell, October 23, 1860; 1. Detroit. He was a second lieutenant in 106th New York Volunteers and died at Martinsburgh, W. Va. Joseph Rosseel, died in infancy.     INDEX