Oliver Hopkinson Relic of the Old Bar with a Potent Pedigree

Lieutenant Colonel Oliver P Hopkinson (1812-1905), was a distinguished barrister, statesmen, and soldier. He was the son of Joseph Hopkinson and Emily Mifflin, d. of Pennsylvania Governor Thomas Mifflin and Sarah Morris. Grandson of Francis Hopkinson, (lawyer, writer, musician and patriot who signed the Declaration of Independence) and Nancy "Ann" Borden, d. of Joseph Borden and Elizabeth Rogers. Gr Grandson of  Thomas Hopkinson and Mary Johnson Photo from the collection of Scott Hann cited AOTW.ORG

Hokinson served in the Civil War as Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Delaware Volunteer Infantry, being commissioned on October 15, 1861. At the September 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam he was wounded in the knee, and he resigned his commission on December 14, 1862. On July 10, 1863 he was commissioned as Colonel and commander of the 51st Pennsylvania Militia, which was raised to counter the Confederate Invasion of Pennsylvania in June 1863. he was mustered in on July 10, 1863, and was mustered out on September 2, 1863. He resided in Philadelphia, but still retained the old Hopkinson mansion at Bordentown, New Jersey, where with his family usually spent the summer months.

The Delaware Troops named their theater Hopkinson Hall in honor of Oliver. According to Pirates and Patriots: Tales of the Delaware Coast the first event hosted by the regiment was a ball. The attendees were the officers of a French war-vessel anchored near Fort Monroe.   

A few of the fellows of the Delaware decided to stir up drama by inviting Confederate General John Magruder: "some of the wags amused themselves by nailing to a tree outside the picket line the invitation to Magruder and staff to attend ball." It was the troops response to Magruder's weekly demand to surrender the fort or remain in it under his peril. 

Oliver married Elisa Swaim (1826-1912) d, of Captain William Swaim and Elizabeth Wilson. Children: Edward (1850 - 1935) Emily Olivia (1855 - 1915) Oliver (1857 - 1943) Julius (1859 - 1906), James Swain (1860 - 1906). 

Edward Hopkinson, son of Oliver and Elisa married Abbie Woodruff Dale, d. of Richard Colgate Dale and Elizabeth Matilda Woodruff.

Death Certificate of James Swaim Hopkinson

Burial: Laurel Hill Cemetery Philadelphia Philadelphia County
Pennsylvania, USA Plot: Section 9, Lot 125

Francis Hopkinson was familiar with the sciences, skilled in painting and musical composition, often arranging the music of his own songs--the first native American composer of a secular song in 1759. When General Washington became President, he addressed to Judge Hopkinson a highly complimentary letter, enclosing a commission of United States District Judge for Pennsylvania. See George Washington's Mount Vernon

From Founding Fathers Blog Francis Hopkinson, Christian, Patriot and a Signer of the Declaration of Independence

Thomas Hopkinson was an intimate friend of Benjamin Franklin and was the first to see exhibited Franklin's experiment of silently drawing the electric fluid from the clouds by a pointed, instead of a blunt instrument.
He would help to establish the Philadelphia Library.

1834 Thomas Sully (1783-1872). Ann Biddle Hopkinson (Mrs. Francis Hopkinson). 

Above Ann Borden Hopkinson and and Mary Borden, elder sister and the first wife of Thomas McKean. Both women were "famously beautiful", according to Wives of the Signers: The Women Behind the Declaration of Independence, by Harry Clinton Green and Mary Wolcott Green, "the handsomest in girls in New Jersey." Below is a poem written by Francis Hopkinson for Mary:

Major-General Thomas Mifflin (1744-1800) son of John Mifflin and Elizabeth Bagnell, a member of the American Philosophical Society 1765-1799; member of the colonial legislature 1772-1774; Member of the Continental Congress 1774-1775 and 1782-1784, and was its President in 1783; major and chief aide-de-camp to General Washington July 4, 1775; major and Quartermaster General of the Continental Army August 14, 1775, and promoted through the ranks to major general February 19, 1777; member of board of war November 7, 1777; resigned as major general February 25, 1779; trustee of the University of Pennsylvania 1778-1791; served as speaker of the State house of representatives 1785-1788; delegate to the Federal Constitutional Convention in 1787; president of the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania October 1788 to October 1790; president of the State constitutional convention in 1790; Governor of Pennsylvania 1790-1799; again a member of the State house of representatives in 1799 and 1800; died in Lancaster, Pa., January 20, 1800; interment in the front yard of Trinity Lutheran Church.|Bibliography: Rossman, Kenneth R. Thomas Mifflin and the Politics of the American Revolution. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1952.

Portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Mifflin (Sarah Morris) Singleton Copley, American, 1738 - 1815 Accession Number:
EW1999-45-1Credit Line: 125th Anniversary Acquisition. Bequest of Mrs. Esther F. Wistar to The Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1900, and acquired by the Philadelphia Museum of Art by mutual agreement with the Society through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr., and significant contributions from Stephanie S. Eglin, and other donors to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as the George W. Elkins Fund and the W. P. Wilstach Fund, and through the generosity of Maxine and Howard H. Lewis to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1999 Philadelphia Museum of Art

Emily Mifflin Hopkinson by Thomas Sully, 1808. The wife of Joseph Hopkinson, Emily "had a sharp wit and a talent for art and writing. " 

Family tree compiled by  The New Netherlands Ancestors of ANN BORDEN, the wife of FRANCIS HOPKINSON Ancestry.COM

		 __Benjamin Borden1,3,4
		|
	    __Joseph Borden1,4
	   |    |
	   |    |     __James Grover1,3,4
	   |    |    |
	   |    |__Abigail Grover1,3,4
	   |         |
	   |         |__Rebecca Jaspers1,3
	   |
       __Joseph Borden1,4
      |    |
      |    |          __James Grover1,3
      |    |         |
      |    |     __Joseph Grover1,3
      |    |    |    |
      |    |    |    |__Rebecca Jaspers1,3
      |    |    |
      |    |__Susannah Grover1,4
      |         |
      |         |     __William Lawrence1,2
      |         |    |
      |         |__Hannah Lawrence1,2
      |              |
      |              |__(__)2
      |
ANN BORDEN1,4
the wife of FRANCIS HOPKINSON
      |
      |     __Samuel Rogers4
      |    |
      |__Elizabeth Rogers1,4
	   |
	   |__Mary (__)4

• Find A Grave Photo
• Civil War letters are in the Hopkinson papers at the Pennsylvania Historical Society, Philadelphia
• History of the First Regiment, Delaware Volunteers, from the Commencement of the "three Months' Service" to the Final Muster-out at the Close of the Rebellion William P Seville
• Joseph Hopkinson, Joseph Bonaparte’s great friend
• "The cornerstone of a copious work": loveand power in eighteenth-century courtship
• Genealogy of signers of the Declaration of Independence Frank Willing Leach, Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1951 
• Francis Hopkinson  article from The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 2.
• Historical and genealogical record of the descendants, as far as known, of Richard and Joan Borden, who settled in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, May, 1638; with historical and biographical sketches of some of their descendants Hattie Lovisa Borden Weld
• 19th-Century American Women by Thomas Sully 1783-1872

Theophilus Sanborn Civil War Soldier and Andersonville Prisoner

Like many of the Union soldiers Private Theophilus Sanborn of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire would not survive the horrors of Andersonville Prison. He was 34 years old when he perished July 1864 leaving a wife and five children. (photo courtesy of Sanborn Family)

Theophilus born in Hampton Falls May 6 1828 at the Gov Weare house. He was son of Adna Sanborn* and Polly Barnard (Polly Barnard marry 2nd Benjamin French).

Theophilius married Mary Dow of Salisbury, Massachusetts daughter of Samuel Dow. Children: Sarah Cordelia, Adna, Susie Emma, Wallace, and Mary Augusta. According to History of Hampton Falls Theophilus was “a man of great bodily vigor and endurance.” He enlisted as a soldier from Salisbury under the first call for volunteers in April, 1861, and became a member of Company D, Seventeenth Massachusetts Regiment. He was taken prisoner at New Berne, N. C, in the spring of 1863 and was confined in the prison at Andersonville, where he died of starvation, April 6, 1864. He was buried in a cemetery near there, and his grave numbered 392. Below is his official death record furnished by the Sanborn family.

*Adna Sanborn son of Theophilus Sanborn and Elizabeth Batchelder daughter of Deacon Batchelder and Elizabeth Swett, daughter of Benjamin Swett and Elizabeth Norton.  According to the old genealogy of the Batchelder family Adna was a seaman in early life, and married Polly Barnard of Salisbury, Mass. He bought from the heirs of Maj. Joseph Dow their interest in the Governor Weare farm, and lived there for a time. His children were all born there. 

A brother of Theophilus Sanborn, David Sanborn born June 6, 1829, married Dec., 1861, Sarah J. Morrill, daughter of Abel Morrill, lived in Salisbury, Massachusetts. The family genealogy notes: “He was much employed in moving buildings, in which business he was well skilled. On the night of Jan. 15, 1892, he was shot in his own house by a burglar, and died the following day. The murderer was captured, and was sentenced to thirty years’ imprisonment in the Massachusetts state prison. Mr. Sanborn was a prominent and esteemed citizen, and his tragic death was a shock to the community.” (NOTE: I will be covering this at a later date)

• Ancestry and Descendants of Deacon David Batchelder of Hampton Falls, N.H., Born Jan. 13, 1736, Died Mar. 11, 1811  Mary Jessie Greene 1902.
  
• Memorial History of the Seventeenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (old and New Organizations) in the Civil War from 1861-1865 Thomas Kirwin
  
• Boston Traveler (Boston, Massachusetts) Monday, January 23, 1865 Page 2
• Early Opposition to Arbitrary Government Sanborn Family
• History of Hampton Falls, N.H. Warren Brown 1900
  
• Shot At His Door. A Young Man Charged With Murdering a Man for Money
• Sunday, January 17, 1892  Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio)  Page: 12

1864 Photos Fort Pickering Salem Massachusetts

Ruthie Stearns, Gr Gr Granddaughter of Joseph Oliver Stearns shares some of Joseph’s stories from his journal and photos from Fort Pickering (Winter Island) Salem, Massachusetts. 

 

Joseph Oliver Stearns living in Amesbury, Massachusetts was a Private in the 3rd Unattached Company, Massachusetts Infantry (Militia) Mustered in for 90 days’ service May 3, 1864, and on duty at Fort Pickering, Salem, Mass. Mustered out August 5, 1864. All Photos from Stearns Family Collection Please DO NOT COPY WITHOUT PERMISSION

Joseph left  Newburyport Monday, May 2, 1864, with city cadets, to Readville, refers to as Camp Meigs. On May 13, transfers to Fort Pickering about noon. Gr He’s drilling or on guard duty, eats lots of soup, bread and beans. On May 11, the soldiers escorted the 26th Regiment to the depot. 26th Massachusetts Regiment was on leave March 22 through May 20, having been most recently in New Orleans.
Visit Mr. Peabody in Salem with his sisters Susan and Sarah. Maybe Sarah True, of Salisbury, a friend of Sarah and Susan Stearns married a John F. Peabody of Boxford MA, per census, she’s the same age as Susan.  In 1870 census John Peabody and Sarah living in Salem, she’s the right age, and they have several young children, oldest about 9.
Then visits Mr. Glaziers and Susan, sister of Peabody there. He home for a weekend May 24-26 1864.  Visits with his “girlfriend,” Helen Dennett (married in Amesbury MA 1 JAN 1867)  She went with him to Depot when he leaves Amesbury, Massachusetts. Helen writes in her journal for the same date that she “drove the horse back alone” which she would not have done before.
In his entries Joseph mentions the weather, what guard duty he was on and with whom, who he received a letter from and who he wrote, and any church services or lectures he might have attended.
He attends the military funeral for a Lieutenant Wheeler on June 9 1964 (per civil war records Richard P. Wheeler died June 2, 1864 from woulds rec’d in battle, residence Salem, place of death Fortress Monroe, Va)
Sometimes on guard duties at Fort Lee, also goes there to drill in big guns.  Has leave  again June 18-20 1864.
He goes for a sail with Rufus Greenleaf to Beverly Farms---see last photo above. And another day they went over to Marblehead in a boat.  Rufus Greenleaf is from Newburyport, Massachusetts s. of Jeremiah Greenleaf and Mary Ann Lamson. He married  Mary Jane Gowren “Jennie” Emery. Rufus d. at Newburyport, June 21st, 1880, buried at Oak Hill in Newburyport. Mary Jane married 2nd William Stone Coffin.
One day he helps mount gun in Ft. Pickering, another day moved ninety six barrels of powder from one magazine to another at Ft. Pickering.  He left Fort Pickering August 5.  went to the State House in Boston and mustered out in Boston Common.  Attended concert in the evening in City Hall.  Left for Newburyport the next morning. He received pay from U.S. $219.98.
Two days later he starts for Springfield, visiting Uncle William Stearns and Uncle Luther Stearns (Charles Oliver Stearns’ younger brothers)  He remarks a few days later he was 100 miles from Boston on the western Rail Road in West Springfield.
He heads for Worcester to Mechanics Hall and the Republic Convention, then on to Nashua, NH, staying with the Leonard Burbank family (Married to his cousin Fannie Stearns)
September 17 went to Lowell to the W.H. Hull family (his Aunt Mary Elizabeth Stearns Hull) in Dracut where his grandmother Dorcas Varnum Stearns lives, and heads home.
List of soldiers in 3^rd Unattached Company, Massachusetts Infantry (Militia)  Mustered in for 90 days’ service May 3, 1864, and on duty at Fort Pickering, Salem, Mass.  Mustered out August 5, 1864. (soldiers mentioned in JOS Journal noted by date of occurrence)

• Adams, Hazen M.
• Adams Jr., David J.
• Armitage, Charles E.
• Atkinson, Albert J.
• Ayers, Charles L.
• Bridges, Rufus
• Brown, John A.
• Burrill, James P.
• Burrill, Henry M.
• Carlton, William C.
• Cheeney Jr., Charles
• Cheever, Augustus E.
• Cheney Jr., Charles
• Clark, George W.
• Collins, John H.  Salisbury;  6/4  6/29  7/1 7/27 7/30
• Creasey, Edward K.
• Creasy, Edmund K.
• Currier, Albert E.
• Currier, Frank P.   5/30 – he’s “friend Currier” that Nell mentions.  6/2  6/6  6/17 7/2  8/5  8/8
• Currier, Alfred
• Cutter, Henry P.
• Dame, Luther  7/19.  Captain.  8/3
• Danforth, Jacob I.  6/11.  Corporal.
• Danforth, Calvin H.
• Delano, James H.
• Frothingham Jr., Joseph A.
• Gerrish, Orrin B.  8/6
• Goodwin, Daniel S.
• Green, Charles M.
• Greenleaf, Rufus L.  6/28   7/13 7/27
• Greenough, Henry F.
• Hale, Charles H.
• Haskell, George W.
• Haskell, William W.
• Hodgdon, James W.
• Holland, John E.
• Horton, Charles F.
• Johnson, Otis
• Johnson, James H.
• Keniston, James R.
• Keniston, James R.
• Knight, Joseph
• Knight Jr., George W.
• Lamson, William S.
• Lane, Isaac J.
• Lattime, Benjamin H.
• Little, William A.
• Lunt, Amos
• Merrill, Paul A.
• Morse, Joseph E.
• Morse, Joseph F.
• Morse, Albert
• Morse, Edward O.
• Mudge, William M.
• Mumford, Frank E.
• Mumford, Martin M.
• Newhall, Preston
• Noyes, Charles S.
• Ordway, George
• Pearson, George
• Pettingill, John S.  6/2  6/29  7/1  7/23
• Pillsbury, Harvey H.
• Pilsbury, Harvey H.
• Poor, Hiram R.
• Porter, Albert W.
• Pray, Joseph E.  5/9
• Ross, Jr., George
• Russell, Edward P.   5/9 5/10
• Ryan, John
• Sawyer, Albert P.   5/10 6/23
• Stearns, Joseph O.  Salisbury
• Stevens, George H.
• Stickney, Benjamin
• Stickney, Enoch P.
• Swasey, William H.
• Talbot, Tristum
• Thurlow, Charles W.
• Thurlow, Benjamin A.
• Tibbetts, Calvin E.  Salisbury   6/3
• Tibbetts, James E.  Salisbury
• Tilton, W. Byron:  6/24 Corporal  6/27 7/25
• Toppan, Roland W.  6/24 Sergeant 7/31
• Towle, Edward B.
• Varina, Edmund C.
• Varina, William T.
• Varina Jr., William T.
• Vay, Charles P.
• Walton, Joseph H.  Salisbury  Corporal.  7/31.
• Wells, Wallace D.
• Woodman, Charles H.
• Young, Jacob H.

Photo of Joseph Oliver Stearns in uniform. His father Charles Stearns served as a selectman in Amesbury, Massachusetts and his obituary “Death of a nonagenarian” clearly shows a minion deeply respected, admired, and cherished. He was expert tanner, but held many vocations including California Gold Rush venturer. News clips furnished from the Archival room at Amesbury Library reveal a full life. He was present during the visit of Gen Lafayette and the laying of the Bunker Hill monument where Daniel Webster spoke. His 90th birthday was attended by his closest mates Captain Paul Bickford, Richard Currier, Hiram Foote, and L E Burbank.

• Genealogy of the Greenleaf Family James Edward Greenleaf
• Salem Register, Salem Massachusetts September 10, 1863
• “United States; Salem; Fort Pickering; Fort William.” Saturday, November 23, 1799  Greenfield Gazette Greenfield, Massachusetts
• Newburyport and the Civil War William Hallett
• The City of Newburyport in the Civil War from 1861 to 1865: With the Individual Records of the Soldiers and Sailors who Served to Its Credit, Also the War Records of Many Natives and Residents of the City, Credited to Other Places George William Creasey

Surgeon George Derby 23rd Massachusetts Infrantry

George Derby (1819-1874) son of John Derby son Elias Hasket Derby of Salem and Elizabeth Crowninshield born in 1767 died 1821 at Salem, MA. Married Eleanor Foster Coffin, daughter of Dr. Nathaniel Coffin and Eleanor Foster, on 12 Dec 1801 at Salem, MA. Eleanor Foster was daughter of Isaac Foster and Eleanor Wyer of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Married Elizabeth Parsons 13 Feb 1819; d. 20 Jun 1874 daughter of Justice William Parsons and Judith Sawyer. William Parsons was nephew of Theophilus Parsons.
Derby fought in the United States Civil War for the Union Side. He was listed as being from Massachusetts. He was a Major/Surgeon F&S in the 23rd Massachusetts Infantry. Derby, hygienist, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, February 13, 1819. He graduated at Harvard University in 1838 and at Harvard Medical School in 1843, then settled to practice in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1861 he was commissioned surgeon in the 23rd Massachusetts Volunteers; he was medical inspector of the Department of Virginia and North Carolina; later surgeon-in-chief of divisions and when his health failed was brevetted lieutenant-colonel of volunteers and in 1868 given command of the National Soldiers' Home at Togus, Maine.
 
He returned to Boston in 1866, became a surgeon to the Boston City Hospital for two years and aided in establishing a State Board of Health, of which he was secretary and executive officer.
 
From 1867 to 1871 he was lecturer at the Harvard Medical School. In 1871 he was appointed to the new professorship of hygiene at Harvard, holding the position until his death on June 20, 1874. He was author of "Annual Reports Massachusetts State Board of Health," 1866-1873"; "Anthracite and Health."
Sources: Universities and Their Sons, by Joshua L. Chamberlain. Boston, 1889, 5 v.  History Harvard Medical School, T. F. Harrington, N. Y., 1905. Commission of Appointment as Surgeon of Volunteers to George Derby by Pres. Abraham Lincoln, July 7, 1864

From The Harvard Book: A Series of Historical, Biographical, and Descriptive Sketches, Volume 1

• A record of the Twenty-third Regiment Mass. Vol. Infantry in the War of the Rebellion 1861-1865 Emmerton, James A. (James Arthur), 1834-1888
• Famous Mule Tom—U.S. Surgeon (23rd MA Inf.) George Derby
• Horses and Mules in the Civil War: A Complete History with a Roster of More Than 700 War Horses Gene C. Armistead 
• Genealogy of the Greenleaf Family James Edward Greenleaf