Columbus, Ohio is the county seat of Franklin County, the capital of Ohio, and currently the largest city in the state. It was once in what was called, “Ohio Country,” controlled by the French. Controversy over control of the territory was one of the causes of The Seven Years’ War in Europe and the French and Indian War in the Americas. George Washington was sent to survey the territory in the 1750s, and it officially became a part of the British Empire with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The British tried to prohibit migration west of the Appalachians to prevent further conflict with the native populations, but colonists continued to seek new lands.
The Ohio Territory became a part of the Virginia Military District after the American Revolution. The Northwest Territory was established in 1787 as resolution of various colony claims to the territory. Settlers from the east coast moved to the territory, but that caused many years of conflict with the native peoples and European traders. Our ancestors were some of the folks who moved west and settled in this area while it was still a frontier.
Ohio achieved statehood in 1803. The location of the state capital was challenged, and moved back and forth. The state legislature determined a compromise was necessary: a new capital city would be built with excellent transportation access (mostly rivers then) and in the center of the state. Named for Christopher Columbus, Columbus, Ohio was designed from the ground up as a capital. The dense forestland on the “High Banks opposite Franklinton at the Forks of the Scioto most known as Wolf’s Ridge” was cleared to become the new town in 1812.
In 1845, George Maxwell Hopkins was born to Leonard Hopkins (1813-?) and Mary Ford (1814-1895) in Union Station, Licking County, Ohio, the county just to the east of Columbus and Franklin County. Mary Ford was the daughter of Phineas Rowlandson Ford (1772-1839) and Mary Benjamin (1777-1863). The Ford and Benjamin families were frontier people, had been neighbors in various places, and there had been many marriages between the families. Mary’s father Phineas and other family members, such her maternal grandfather, Jonathan Benjamin, had served in the Revolutionary War.
George was a person I had not known about until I began transcribing the Hannah E. Ford bible- I had never heard of a George Hopkins, born 2-8-1845, in the Ford-Benjamin family. (See previous and future posts- start here for the 4 part series: Amanuensis Monday: The Bible Record of Hannah Ford Benjamin.) The fact that his birth was recorded in the bible suggests that he was close to one of the bible owners. Since he was the only Hopkins listed, I assumed he would be a married in person, but not close enough to have all his children recorded in the bible. His birth year helped me zero in on the generation- he was two years younger than Arestine Benjamin, who was probably the second bible owner. So I started looking at the daughters in that generation, but no success in finding George. I then realized that I needed to look one generation back, at Mary (Benjamin) Ford’s daughters, as maybe one of them had married George. I did not have much on their husband’s and families- when to stop researching the next and next and next collateral ancestor???
Research on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch helped to fill in a bit about this collateral relative. Although this research is not adding much to my direct line, it has helped me to know a bit more about one of my distant aunts, George’s mother, Mary (Ford) Hopkins. Just knowing and telling the stories is important too.
I have as yet been unable to find George and his parents in the 1850 census. The next information found was his enlistment in the Union Army on 30 Sep 1861. He was enlisted by Lt. Stevenson at Newark (Ohio), for a three year enlistment. His enlistment states he was 18 years old, but his birth record in the bible indicates he was just 16- another young soldier, going off to a glorified war. He had blue eyes, auburn hair, and a fair complexion, per his enlistment record. He joined the 18th Ohio Infantry, Company F and would have served in Nashville, Tennessee, Chattanooga, and the Chickamauga campaign. When his enlistment expired, he was discharged 30 Sep 1864.
George M. Hopkins married Susan L. ___ in 1865. I wonder if they had been sweethearts, and her letters kept him going through the horrors of war?
George was working as a railroad employee at the 1870 US Federal Census. One of the Ohio 18th’s duties was guarding the rails of the south, so he may have learned his trade during the war. He and Susan were living in Union, Licking County, Ohio, with their two young children.
By 1878 George and Susan had moved the family to Columbus, Ohio. He is found in city directories from 1878-1905. In 1900 he was listed as a Supervisor of the B & O (Baltimore and Ohio) Rail Road.
On 18 Jun 1890 (? hard to read), George applied for an Invalid Pension. He may have moved to Morgan, Ohio, by 1902. He died 18 Apr 1906 at the age of 61, and is buried in Green Lawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio. His widow applied for a pension on 2 May 19(??).
Notes, Sources, and References:
1) Hannah E. Ford Bible Transcription, in possession of author.
2) Enlistment: Ancestry.com. U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Register of Enlistments in the U.S. Army, 1798-1914; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M233, 81 rolls); Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917, Record Group 94; National Archives, Washington, D.C. Accessed 6/17/14 on Ancestry.com.
3) 1870 US Federal Census: Source Citation: Year: 1870; Census Place: Union, Licking, Ohio; Roll: M593_1233; Page: 435B; Image: 431; Family History Library Film: 552732. Accessed 6/17/14 on Ancestry.com.
4) 1880 US Federal Census: Source Citation: Year: 1880; Census Place: Columbus, Franklin, Ohio; Roll: 1017; Family History Film: 1255017; Page: 424A; Enumeration District: 039; Image: 0189. Accessed 6/17/14 on Ancestry.com.
5) 1900 US Federal Census: Source Citation: Year: 1900; Census Place: Marion, Franklin, Ohio; Roll: 1266; Page: 26A; Enumeration District: 0038; FHL microfilm: 1241266. Accessed 6/17/14 on Ancestry.com.
6) Pension Index: National Archives and Records Administration. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.Original data: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288, 546 rolls. Accessed 6/17/14 on Ancestry.com.
7) Cemetery: Source Information: Ancestry.com. Web: Columbus, Ohio, Green Lawn Cemetery Index, 1780-2010[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Accessed 6/17/14. Original data: Green Lawn Cemetery Burials. Columbus, Ohio. Joe and Dick Fleshman. http://greenlawn.delaohio.com/greenlawn/Greenlawn/index.htm: accessed 09 February 2012.
Please contact us if you would like a higher resolution image.
Copyright 2013-2014 by Heritage Ramblings Blog and pmm.
We would love to read your thoughts and comments about this post, and thank you for your time! All comments are moderated, however, due to the high intelligence and persistence of spammers/hackers who really should be putting their smarts to use for the public good instead of spamming our little blog.
