SETTLING IN AMERICA (THE LIFE OF GEORGE HOPPER) Compiled by Mike Hopper Nov 2000, Route 1 Box 73, Wykoff, MN 55990 swimfast@hmtel.com Edited by Sally Predmore lhsluckeyoh@yahoo.com Sketch of Hopper Mansion 2014, SA Predmore The Hopper Mansion; Built around 1851 Table of Contents

1. Important Family Dates
2. Family tree of George Hopper (end of document)
3. Hopper Family Accounts
   1. Experiences of George & Anna Hopper
   2. Experiences of James & Louise Hopper
   3. Description of the Hopper “Mansion”
4. Picture of the Hopper “Mansion”
5. Location Map of former “Hopper Settlement”

Important Dates

1808 Feb 26            Birth of George Hopper in England

1808 Jun 12            Birth of Anna Robbin

1829                        George Hopper arrived in America

1830 Apr 22            Marriage of George Hopper and Anna Robbin

1836                        George & Anna Hopper moved to Perrysburg, OH

1839                        George & Anna Hopper moved to Troy Township near Luckey, OH

1851                        Hopper “Mansion” was built

1861                        James, Elijah, and Benjamin Hopper responded to President Lincoln’s                               call to enlist during the Civil War

1870                        Methodist Sunday School Class organized at Hopper Settlement

1879 Feb 7            Death of George Hopper

1881 Dec            Death of Anna Robbin Hopper History of George Hopper   How did the Hopper family come to America? As a child, I heard that my great, great grandfather had come from England to settle in America, but didn’t know much else about him. The past several years have provided the opportunity to work on the Hopper Family Tree, and a few months ago, I was able to visit the area just south of Toledo, OH where my great, great grandfather George Hopper settled when he came to America. (Most of the accounts which follow were written by two grandchildren of George Hopper, those were Marion James Hopper (my grandfather) and Jessie Belle Hopper Lantz (my grandfather’s sister). As a result please note that in the following accounts, most references to grandpa or grandfather refer to George Hopper, and Grandmother refers to his wife Anna). Let me share with you this interesting and inspiring story.   George Hopper…. “was born in Kent, England in 1808 and in early manhood came to the United States locating first in New York State, where he was married, in 1830 to Miss Annie Robbins who was born in New York June 12, 1808. Nine children were born to them: Rufus, deceased; William deceased; Mary, the wife of Samuel Lyman of Leesburg, IN; Priscilla; James J.; Elijah H.; Luella, the wife of Fred Leathers of MI; Augustus H., a resident of New York; and Benjamin, who lives in Toledo. Two daughters were named Priscilla; the first was the fourth child born but she only lived about a year; the second married Fred Leathers. [In 1840 George Hopper came to Wood County and bought 160 acres of land in Troy Township which he improved. He was a man of excellent qualities, much esteemed by those who knew him, a Republican in politics, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died in 1878 followed two years later by his wife.] (#1- History of Wood County OH pgs 678-679) Let’s take a deeper look at the life of this immigrant to the United States.   “Kent County lies along the estuary south of London. The fog rolls in from the estuary a lot of the time and holds down the odor until it is almost unbearable. I have a Scottish friend, here, who went to school in England near London and he says when the wind is from the south, the odor is strong, and the tannery was still there a few years ago. Kent is part of England where they grow the most hops and people come from other parts during the hop picking season to pick the hops. These people are known to the local inhabitants as “hoppers”, which is possible how we got our name. (#2- Writings of Grandson Marion James Hopper)   “Grandfather (George Hopper) was one of seven boys living in the vicinity of Kent, England, where their father operated a tan yard. The odors from the lye vats and the fresh hides were terrific and the boys never liked it, so the two older boys left and went to New York. Grandfather settled in Ohio, his brother in New York. Of course, this was by sailing ship as it was before the Civil War and steamers had not yet been produced. There was no mail service in those days to the newly opened country. Mail was sent inland largely by friends going westward and so there was little contact between the brothers after they landed and separated. My grandfather probably got his information about the others coming in a very occasional letter from England. Indians still roamed the woods, and it was years before they communicated with each other.  A few years later three more brothers came to America, landing at Baltimore. They soon scattered inland and were lost to the rest of the family. Then the remaining two came to New York and were swallowed up in the vast country.” (#2)   “George Hopper, our grandfather, came from England when a young man of about 21, and was accompanied by his mother, who made her home with him for about 14 years. During her last years, she was paralyzed and lost the use of one side. However, she evidently did not lose her courage, as among other things she accomplished was to piece a quilt with one hand.” (#6- Memoirs of Jesse Belle Hopper Lantz)   “To give you some idea of the conditions that existed in that day, my grandfather worked his way westward by working on the construction of the Erie Canal. Finally he went to work in a sawmill in Perrysburg, Oh and saved enough money to buy 80 acres of timber land about 8 miles south of Perrysburg. This was known as the Black Swamp and most of the time (except when the ground was frozen) to go from Perrysburg to his farm, he walked on fallen trees, some of which were 6 foot in diameter. The Indians called this long stretch of woods “the Long House”. He finally built a log cabin on a sand knoll…” (#2) Let’s pause in our story now to go back and learn about George Hopper’s wife, Annie Robbins.   “Anna Robbin was born in Massachusetts, June 12, 1808, thus being about three months her husband’s junior. Almost nothing is known of her parents, as she was separated from them in rather a peculiar manner. They, along with some neighbors by the name of Bailey, planned to move some distance from where they were living. For some reason, the Robbins were delayed in starting and Mrs. Bailey asked that the little Anna be allowed to ride in their wagon to amuse the Bailey baby. The route was planned, and arrangements made to meet later. But no sooner were the Bailey’s well on their way than they swung off from the planned road, going in an entirely different direction. From that day, Anna was destined to never hear from her parents again.” (#6)   “Soon after starting on this journey, the true nature of Mrs. Bailey began to assert itself, and the life of the little girl became on of drudgery and mistreatment. Her pretty dresses were taken from her and given to the Bailey daughter, while six year old Anna had to wear the old dressed of hers” (#6)   “She was not allowed to mention her mother’s name, and if she so forgot herself was severely beaten. She was made to do the most menial tasks, and whipped upon the slightest provocation. Upon one occasion, Mrs. Bailey struck her with a stick from the swift, and knocked her senseless. Finally, an incident occurred which was unbearable and brought things to a head. Some onions had been pulled up in the garden and, as usual, Anna was blamed for doing it.” (#6)   “When she denied it, Mrs. Bailey whipped her every day for two weeks in a effort to make her confess. One day the girl resolved to put an end to this abuse and as Mrs. Bailey was whipping her she ran to the door which was a home-made one, and lifted it off the hinges. Running into the yard, she made a “declaration of independence” and declared she would never take another beating. She tied all her belongings up in a three-cornered handkerchief and went to a family be the name of Sabin, who had befriended her, and made her home with them until her marriage. Incidentally, it was discovered later that a pet parrot had pulled the onions.”   Before she ran away, “a preacher heard of the case and investigated as he could, seldom being allowed to talk to the victim. One night after the severe beating, she ran away and went to the preacher’s cabin and he had the courage to keep her and his wife helped outfit her with decent dresses. There grandfather met her. Courtships under those conditions and in those days were short and they were soon married.” (#2)   “George Hopper and Anna Robbin were married on April 22, 1830 and came to Perrysburg in 1836. The husband engaging in the services of Smith and Hollister worked in their large warehouse. He remained with them three years at the end of which time he was compelled to take his pay in wildcat money, or a tract of land in Troy Township. He did not wish to do either, but decided to accept the land. So, with his wife and three little ones, he moved out into the wilderness in 1839. At this time, the young couple had had five children. Rufus, the elder died at ten months of age. [Next born] were William and Mary, Priscilla (who died when but a little past a year old).  The next child was James who at the time of their removal from Perrysburg was a very puny [small and weak, poor in quality, amount or size] infant, with but little chance to live apparently. He was carried to the new home on a pillow. He soon began to improve in health and developed into a sturdy youngster.” (#6)   “In the spring or summer of 1839, our intrepid grandparents started out from Perrysburg with all their belongings on a wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen. After leaving the pike, they had to cut a trail as they journeyed toward the place that was to be their home.  Grandmother assisted in making this trail and upon arriving at their destination, together they felled trees and built the log hut which was to shelter their brood temporarily.” (#6)   “Then came a struggle for existence the like of which we can scarcely imagine. The trees had to be felled, the underbrush cleared away, great heaps of logs burned,   (oh, what a fortune would be in that timber today) – stumps pulled, as dynamite was unknown at them, the ground broken up and planted to corn. The nearest neighbor was two and a half miles away – Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gorrill. All the water for family use was carried from that place for some time. The nearest school was three miles away in what is now known as Stony Ridge.” (#6) “After 18 months of this struggle, Mr. Hopper went to Perrysburg where he was foreman on the farm of J. W. Smith for some time. Afterward returning to farm is own place.” (#6) “Grandfather continued to work when possible in Perrysburg to earn money to live on while clearing the land and raising a crop. Grandmother stayed alone all week in the cabin and Saturday nights Grandpa would walk the eight miles over fallen trees through the swamp carrying supplies for the next week.” (#2)   “It is related that at the time grandfather was away from home from Monday morning until Saturday night, they had a very faithful dog who was a great protection to the family. He would run around the clearing which surrounded the house barking away the wild animals. Then he would go into the house through an opening which had been made for him, go to the beds and see that the family were there, then return to his watch outside. This he would keep up all night.” (#6)   “While grandfather was subduing the forest and clearing his fields, grandmother was not idle. The children three in number in 1839, increased to seven with Elijah, Benjamin, Priscilla and Augustus being the new additions. The first log hut had been replaced by a larger one and later by a third. In 1851, the frame house known around the country as the “Mansion” was built.” (#6)   “Grandfather’s industry had paid off. He paid for the farm and built the first frame house in that vicinity. During this time, five sons and two daughters were born. As the timber was cut down and the fields expanded rails were split and fences put up around the fields. When the corn was green and the squirrels wanted the green ears to eat, the boys were sent out to patrol the fences and club the squirrels out of the fields. They begged to be allowed to use the old muzzle loading rifle, but Grandpa always told them a squirrel was not worth powder and ball. So they had to club them down and kept the table supplied with fresh killed squirrel. Grandfather liked the wild animals and would not allow the boys to hunt deer, but they were allowed to kill some of the pest animals. Grandma had learned to spin and made all their clothes out of home-spun.” (#2)   “At first he had to carry drinking water two and three quarters miles. In later years, he and his wife Annie related that a night seldom passed without the howl of wolves, sometimes right outside the cabin door. On one occasion, Mr. Hopper had gone to Perrysburg for provisions and returned unaware that he was bing followed. Just as he entered the cabin door, he heard the wolves jumping his fence. As he slammed it shut, they set up their unearthly howling, enough so he said to make a ‘dead man’s hair stand on end’. The Hoppers lived ten years in that area before close neighbors began to settle about them. By 1860, the Daniel Snyder family had arrived and began clearing a farm on the north side of Dowling Road. The farmhouse that the Hoppers built was on a slight ridge. Frederick Wlecke later bought the farm and his grandson, Fred Blecke, replaced the old Hopper house with a square cement block house on that same ridge.” (#4 – “The Story of the Hopper Settlement”)   “As other families moved in, Granddad gave a corner of his farm for a school house, about 200 X200 feet, and my dad (James Hopper) was able to attend school winter terms and then began teaching. On the day he was 21, granddad went to the school board and drew my dad’s pay to date. Dad went home that night feeling a little abused that granddad had not even given him a dollar for his own, but grandma surprised him by giving him his first suit of homespun clothes. A whole complete suit at one time – the first time in his life he had both coat and pants new at the same time.” (#2)   “’Hopper Settlement’ was the term local residents gave to a small community that grew up north of Luckey and south of Stony Ridge along Dowling Road. The name, of course, is that of the earliest settler in that section, George Hopper. Mr. Hopper was born in 1808 in England and came to America where he settled at Perryburg. He worked there in the warehouse of Smith and Hollister for three years. (Oats at that time were selling for 15 cents per bushel.) At the end of his service with the company he took as pay 160 acres of land in Troy Township on what would become Dowling Road and began to clear the sizable acreage in that thinly settled area.” (#4) “This became known as the Hopper Settlement and the Hopper School. After the (Civil) War, my father  (James Hopper, son of George) bought 80 acres of woods a mile south of grandpa’s and built a log cabin on a clay knoll and dug his own well. The deer would come with the cattle to drink the clean water, but dad would never shoot one.” (#2)   “The very first school building in District No. 6 was located about an eighth of a mile directly west of the residence of Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Oblinger, who lived at the intersection of the Luckey and Dowling Roads. The Dowling Road was then called the Hopper Settlement Road, later still the Metzger Road. By the middle of the last century, large numbers of settlers moved to Troy Township from other counties in Ohio. Among them were the Hopper, Swartz, Miller, Snyder and Metzger families. Some of the names found in the earliest records of District No. 6 are: Samuel Schriner, S. Gushard, George Hopper, Daniel Snyder, G. Keppler, George Miller, John G. Swartz, Louis Metzger and Jacob Kurfess. The first school building in the district stood on property now owned by Frank Hasel [Hasel Nursary on Luckey Rd.] The depression made in the soil by the foundation of the school can still be seen today and shows the building to have been twenty-four feet wide and thirty-two feet long. The population in the district grew so large that a second school was deemed necessary. Less than a mile to the west a second school was erected along what is now the Dowling Road on the Jacob Kurfess farm (later owned by Gottlieb Pertner). (#3-Luckey History pgs. 78 & 79)   “The seats and desks in the Hopper School were wide enough to accommodate two or three pupils. A large recitation platform was situated ahead of the desks and it was here that the various classes sat to recite their lessons. The central feature of the room was the teacher’s disk. This was placed on a platform at the very front of the room giving the teacher a commanding view of the entire room. “ (#3, p. 79) “The early Hopper Settlement school was the center of activity for the area.” (#4) Besides being the schoolhouse meeting place, it was also used for church gatherings.”   “The seeds of Faith United Methodist Church at 111 Main Street were sown when a Methodist Sunday School Class was organized in School No. 6 in the Hopper Settlement about 1870. When the school was moved to another location, the congregation went to the Methodist Church at Stoney Ridge, which at that time was located north of the present Lutheran Church on the east side of the road. In 1882, the congregation from the Hopper Settlement decided to build a church in Luckey. Among the first members were James Hopper and William Lanze. (#3-Luckey History pgs. 54 – 55)   JAMES JOSEH HOPPER, My great grandfather & one of the sons of George Hopper   “On Feb. 25, 1839, a boy baby was born to George and Anna Hopper at Perrysburg, OH. When he was about three months old his parents moved to a farm in Troy Township. The farm which was known as part of the “Black Swamp” being nearly all under water and with only a log cabin and barn in a little clearing. For some years their neighbors, the nearest ones were three miles away. All the drinking water and also that used in cooking had to be hauled that distance, usually in a mudboat drawn by an ox team. Here the little boy, James, and his four brothers and two sisters spent their childhood and grew to manhood and womanhood.” (#6)   “When the (Civil) War broke out in 1861, James who had educated himself enough to be able to teach a couple years, felt it to be his duty to enlist in the service of his country, which he did at the age of 22.” (#6) When President Lincoln called for volunteers, my father (James) and Lige (Elijah) enlisted and later Ben (Benjamin) enlisted. Ben was captured and spent the rest of the war in Andersonville prison. Lige came through without a scratch. Father was wounded at Chickamauga after about 3 ½ years and was sent home. The war ended before he was called back.” (#2)   “Father (James Hopper) served three years and stopped a bullet with his knee at Chickamauga. A soldier tied up his would, cut him a hickory cane and started him to the rear. The army surgeons were so used to leg wounds they got so they just cut off most of them and fitted men with wooden legs. But, a young surgeon had just been assigned to the hospital unit, and he told father he believed he could save the leg. It might be stiff but at least it would be his own. Dad asked him to do his best and over the protest of the older surgeons he probed for the bullet but was unable to get it. Father carried it in his knee the rest of his life, but he was always grateful to the young surgeon. He was sent home and the war ended before he was able to go back to his regiment.” (#2)   On December 27, 1845 a little girl was born to David and Jane Peugh in Perry County, OH. When the little girl named Louisa was seven years old, her parents moved to Bowling Green, OH where they lived on a farm near town. Her father died five years later and a few years after that Louisa’s mother married William Gorrill. Louisa began teaching at the age of 17 and her second school happened to be in Troy Township (the district home to the Hopper family). In September James was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga and after some time was sent home to recuperate. Here he met the rosy cheeked, brown-eyed young school teacher and fell deeply in love with her. His love was reciprocated and after the war was over they were married in Bowling Green, OH on April 20^th, 1865. (#6) “When my father and mother were married, my mother lived in Bowling Green, the county seat of Wood County, 14 miles from dad’s farm. The roads were mostly clay and dad had only a team of oxen. It would take days to go and come. A neighbor some five miles away had a team of horses and a buggy which he would rent for $2 a day. And so my father drove the oxen to this neighbors and left them while he drove the team to Bowling Green. He arrived two hours late for the wedding. Bright and early the next morning, they started off to the farm and arrived after dark. If father could take the team back before midnight, he would have to pay on $2 for that day. Mother agreed. Dad made it a few minutes before midnight. At that time, father and his oxen could earn 75 cents a day, and a day in those times was ‘sun-up to sunset’.” (#2)   “They set up housekeeping in a log cabin the young man had built on an 80 acre farm he had purchased. In the course of time two children were born; Charles on June 5, 1866 and Jessie B. on April 28, 1868. Much later another son Marion (my grandfather) was born on August 6, 1884.” (#6)   “It was not long after their marriage when mother was boiling some beef over the open fire in the fireplace when there was a knock at the cabin door. She opened the door to come face to face with a great tall Indian and she could see four others just beyond him. He could speak some English and told her they had been traveling most of the night and were wet and cold and would like to come in and get warm and dry. Father was away in the woods and there was little for her to do but invite them in. They sat on the floor around the fire, conversing in their won language. When she asked them if they were hungry and would like something to eat, they swung the kettle out from over the fire, reached in with their knives speared a hunk of meat and went to it. When they were dry the big Indian said: ‘We go now. You good squaw. Indian no forget.” And they left traveling through the woods. A few mornings later, mother heard a “halloo’ from outside. She looked out the window and there were her five Indians about twenty feet away with the tall one coming up the path carrying on his back a big wild turkey they had killed, which he gave to mother. She invited them in to get warm, but he explained they had overstayed their visit and must hurry to keep friends at home from worrying.’ (#2)   “Grandpa (George Hopper) built the first frame house in that settlement and as soon as he was able, father (James Hopper) built a frame house. This was after the children were born and growing up. My brother and sister would undress before the fireplace, climb a ladder to the loft and sleep on a cornhusk pallet on the floor. They would sleep under heavy blankets and comforters and in winter would often wake up with the covers covered with snow blown in under the roof. After my brother and sister were born, father got a dog. It was a long-haired dog of the shepherd type. It took Shep some time to learn that a porcupine was something to leave alone, for father had to take a pair of pincers and pull the quills out of Shep’s mouth several times. When the kids went out to play, mother would tell Shep to watch after the children and that he would do until they were safe in the cabin. One day they started down the lane to the woods to see dad, but on the way they were stopped by a big rattlesnake coiled in the path ahead of them. Shep chased them back, then went back to fight. He pranced around the rattler until it struck at him, but he side-stepped and caught it behind the head and crushed its spine and shook it till dead, carried it off to one side, dropped it and waited long enough to be sure it was killed, and then took the kids on to see dad.” (#2)   “The adjoining land was broken into 80 acre farms and sold to German emigrants peasants (called low Dutch or Plow Dutch) and a few high Germans (called Hoe Dutch the German ‘hoch’ for high). My brother played with their kids so much that he got to using German more than English and sometimes had to be spanked to make him speak English. The Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad cut our farm in half and was built while my brother was still a babe. The track-layers were Irish emigrants and worked in the hot sun wearing a red flannel undershirt. One day a big Irishman came to the door and asked permission to get a pail of water. Mother was always considered a pretty woman and he stepped inside and began making advances to her. She called Shep who was watching the baby. He came out and mother said, ‘Watch him.’ He growled, his hackles rose and he started toward the man. The big man left and never came back.” (#2)   The home of James and Louisa Hopper was the site of at least one wedding. According to the Pemberville Leader on March 4, 1892: “A quiet little wedding will take place tomorrow at high noon at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Hopper near Luckey. It will be the marriage of their daughter, Jessie B. To W. E. Lantz. The ceremony will be performed by Rev. L. C. McBride of this place. The bride and groom are highly admired for their strong Christian character and intellectual attainments, both being members of the Methodist Episcopal church of the above place and having for some time past been considered, foremost among the best teachers of the county.” (#5)     THE HOPPER MANSION, home of George Hopper   The Hoppers built several homes in the Hopper Settlement outside of Luckey, OH. “The first log hut had been replaced by a larger one and later by a third. In 1851, the frame house known around the country as the “Mansion” was built.” “As time went on, much earth increased in value, and additions were made to the house, the children all married and settled in homes of their own, and grandchildren came and visited in the old home, earned by such prodigious labor. How well we remember driving or walking down the lane, bordered with locust trees, to the house set well back from the road. In front of the house was grandmother’s flower garden, in which was a perfect riot of old fashioned flowers; peonies, larkspur, roses, columbine, bleeding hearts, hollyhocks and all the other varieties so dear to the hearts of the one who tended them in spite of the rheumatism which affected her in later years. As we enter they yard at the back of the house, we pass by the summer kitchen and just beyond is the old dinner bell. We enter the house, and there beside the table sits grandmother with a lace cap over her snowy hair, a dress made full in the skirt and an apron on. Should it be Sunday, the apron will be of black silk. Also, should it be Sunday, the small boy or girl may be invited into the parlor which is a high honor indeed, as this room is never used except for weddings or funerals. Owing to the fact that grandma is living in one of the additions to the house, we must go out on the front porch in order to reach the parlor. As she stands on the porch and reaches into her pocket for the key to the next door, she impresses upon us that if we enter we must promise not to touch any article in the room. Then we are piloted through the sitting-room past the ‘Bridal Chamber’ (a room set apart for the newlyweds when they come home to visit) and then we are ushered into the parlor, a room with an ingrain carpet on the floor, a stand on one side of the room upon which there is a bouquet of worsted or hair flowers, and a pin cushion with the word ‘Anna’ made with pins, a haircloth sofa, oh, that slippery haircloth sofa and some chairs. After being allowed to gaze for a little while we are ushered out again. A simple room? Yes. Somewhat meagerly furnished? Yes, according to the standards of today. But before we smile, let us think for a moment of the years and years of labor which went into the making of that home before even that room was attainable. What wonder that it was prized and cared for as something precious? HOPPER MANSION PHOTOGRAPH This house, a mansion for that time and place was built by George Hopper around 1851. Additions were made in following years. According to the “Story of the Hopper Settlement”, the farm house that the Hopper built was on a slight ridge. Frederick Wlecke later bought the farm and his grandson Fred Blecke replaced the old Hopper house with a square cement block house and a magnificent barn on the same ridge.     The photograph of the Hopper Mansion above was provided by Mike Sibbersen. He is related to the Blecke Family who purchased the property from the Hoppers. Mr. Sibberson writes; “This is my great-grandmother Winifred E. (Blecke) Schober in front of the old Hopper House. This is where her childhood years were spent. The home was purchased from the Hoppers by Frederick E. Wlecke [my great-great-great grandfather], father of Henry Blecke [my great-great grandfather]. Henry lived here with his father until he (Henry) was able to purchase a farm just south of Luckey. When great-grandmother, Winefred E. Blecke (daughter of Henry) married Julius Schober in 1899, they went to housekeeping here and their eldest son (my grandfather) was born here in 1901. Uncle Fred Blecke (another son of Henry and brother to Winefred) and Fred’s wife, Aunt Pearl moved here when they married. At this time Henry Blecke built them the new house which still stands in 2014 and The Hopper Mansion was torn down.” [#4 “Story of the Hopper Settlement”, Mike Sibberson] The photo above was the home and farm built for Fred and Pearl Blecke and still stands today in 2014. Sources for Information

(1) History of Wood County, Ohio  Beers

(2) Writings of Grandson Marion James Hopper (Some editing by Edith Hopper Horn)

(3) History of Luckey, Ohio

(4) Story of the Hopper Settlement

(5) Pemberville Leader March 4, 1892

(6) Memoirs of Jessie Belle Hopper Lantz (Some editing by Edith Hopper Horn)

Elijah H. Hopper from Beers 

ELIJAH H. HOPPER, a well-known agriculturist of Webster Township, was born in Lucas county, Ohio, June 1, 1841. His family is of English origin, and his grandparents, William and Mary Hopper, were lifelong residents of the county of Kent, England. George Hopper, our subject’s father, was born there in 18o8, a nd in early manhood came to the United States, locating first in New York State, where he was married, in 1830, to Miss Annie Robbins, who was born in New York, June 12, 1808. Nine children were born to them: Rufus, deceased; William, deceased; Mary, the wife of Samuel Lyman, of Leesburg, Ind.; Priscilla; James J.; Elijah H; Luella, the wife of Fred Leathers, of Michigan; Augustus H., a resident of New York; and Benjamin, who lives in Toledo. In 1840 our subject’s father came to Wood county, and bought 16o acres of land in Troy township, which he improved. He was a man of excellent qualities, much esteemed by those who knew him, a Republican in politics, and a member of the M. E. Church. He died in 1878, followed two years later by his wife. Mr. Hopper attended the district schools of Troy township during his boyhood, and in 1863 went to Webster township and bought ninety-six acres of fine land near Fenton, which he has since cultivated. His industry and frugality have met their due reward, and he now has a handsome residence and a barn of the latest model. He is chiefly engaged in general farming and stock raising. He was married in 1863 to Miss Catherine S. Allen, who was born in Sandusky county, in 1842. They have had four children, two of whom died in infancy. The others are Mary, who married Adrian Hiser, and Ada, the wife of Eugene Morris, of Stony Ridge. In the year 1895, Mr. Hopper lost his barn and all of his out-buildings by fire, occasioned by combustion. He afterward sold his farm and purchased a vegetable and fruit farm in Findlay, Hancock Co., Ohio, upon which he and his wife moved, and where they still reside. Mr. Hopper holds a high place in the community, and has held positions of trust in the township most of the time for twenty years. He is a leading member of the M.. E. Church, and has been influential in the Sunday school for thirty-eight years.   News paper article below provided by and written by Mike Sibberson “The Hopper Settlement” Pemberville, Tuesday March 14, 1978