James Hopkins
James Hopkins, for many years a leading citizen of Trempealeau County, came to this region as a youth with the earliest settlers, grew up with the country, and became an integral part of its life and progress. Born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, Oct. 5, 1839, he was but 8 years of age when his parents, John and Mary Hopkins, came to America and took up their home in Troy, Walworth County, this State. In 1855 they came to Trempealeau County and located on the north bank of the Trempealeau River, in the western part of Preston Township. In this primitive spot they erected a sod home and later a log cabin, and started to develop the fertile tract which has since been known as the Hopkins farm. Comforts and conveniences were lacking, farm and domestic equipment was of the crudest, marketing and trading facilities were of the poorest, the nearest point at which provisions could be secured being Galesville, far away and over the rugged bluffs. Often, while a mere boy, James Hopkins went to the mill at Galesville and brought back flour and other provisions on his back, or in the winter on a hand sled, trudging his way over the rough and sometimes dangerous trail. With the passing of the years and the growth of the county, conditions changed, and the farm became a beautiful estate in the midst of a thickly-settled community. Here the parents spent the remainder of their years, the father dying Jan. 9, 1888, and the mother Feb. 27, 1875. James Hopkins continued to live on the home farm improving and developing it, and successfully carrying on general farming. He was an important factor both in public service and in the business life of the region in which he lived. As a farmer he was the staunch friend and the earnest advocate of the agricultural interests of the county. A thorough believer in cooperative effort among farmers, he was active in the Preston Creamery Company and the Farmers’ Trading Association, both at Blair, and served for a time as president of each. At the annual meetings of the Trempealeau County Agricultural and Driving Association, held at Whitehall, in years past, he was always a prominent figure. He did good service as chairman of his township, and as treasurer and clerk of his school district, also doing excellent work several different terms as deputy sheriff. He was faithful to every public trust committed to his cafe. He held the conscientious discharge of every public duty above personal or private consideration. He was a firm believer in Prohibition and strove earnestly and persistently to bring it about. His was a positive nature, whatever he believed, he believed with all his might, and he had the courage to avow his convictions, as well as the ability to assert them, yet he was a just man, able to see the other side of public questions as well as his own, and demanding of himself an even stricter standard than he expected of others. In a few words, he had common sense, an honest heart and tireless energy. About a year before his death Mr. Hopkins, accompanied by his wife, went to Seattle, Wash., intending to remain there with their sons. While there he was stricken with paralysis. Realizing that he had not long to live, and desiring to see his old friends again, he returned to Whitehall. Thus it was his good fortune when the end came, April 17, 1913, to be under his own roof, surrounded by family and friends so near and dear to him. Through his illness he was uniformly cheerful and bright, and bore his sufferings, which were at times intense, with remarkable patience. The faithful wife, son and daughter were with him to administer to every want, and to extend him that sympathy which one’s own alone can give. He lies buried in Lincoln Cemetery, at Whitehall, in and near which village he had spent the greater part of his life. Mr. Hopkins was married to Angelina Van Sickle, and their union was blessed with five children.
(from HISTORY OF TREMPEALEAU COUNTY WISCONSIN
Compiled by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Edited by Eben Douglas Pierce, M.D.
H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co.
Chicago and Winona 1917)
(from HISTORY OF TREMPEALEAU COUNTY WISCONSIN
Compiled by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge
Edited by Eben Douglas Pierce, M.D.
H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co.
Chicago and Winona 1917)