McCauley, Lanier, Hankins, Hopkins & Taylor Families

Eliza HOPKINS ^2006,2007

  General Notes:

Some researchers list her name as Margaret "Eliza" Hopkins. The 1850 Census from Hancock Co, Tennessee lists Eliza, age 12, living with Stephen and Rachel Hopkins. [Her name is often mis-transcribed as Ellen and it does look like that at a glance but if you look closely at the record, what is being seen as the second "l" is actually the tail of the "y" from Sally listed on the line above. You can also see that the "i" in Eliza is dotted in the middle of that "y".] The 1860 Census in Hancock County lists Elisa Hopkins, age 23, living with Stephen and Rachel Hopkins along with her 5 month old son, William [Columbus] Hopkins. The 1860 Census in Hancock County also lists Stephen Wolfenbarger living with Margaret Wolfenbarger, age 18. While it is possible that someone could have been listed in the Census in two separate households and errors in ages are found throughout census records, it seems unlikely that Margaret and Eliza are the same person. If Eliza was incorrectly counted in two households, why wouldn't her son have also been listed in both households? Also if she was married, both her name & her sons should have been listed as Wolfenbarger in the Census record for her father's household. When Eliza married Ephram Simpson, the marriage record in Harlan County, Kentucky listed her name as Eliza Hopkins. It seems unlikely that a widow with 2 children would revert to her maiden name. Additional census records for 1870, 1880, 1900 & 1910 list her as Eliza. There is a census record in 1870 in Lee County, Virginia for a Margaret Wolfenbarger with 2 children (Peter - age 9 and Richard - age 3) that shows all 3 were born in Hancock County, Tennessee. (Hancock County and Lee County are adjoining counties.) It is not known if this is the same Margaret that was listed with Stephen Wolfenbarger in Hancock County in the 1860 census but that is possible. All of this information seems to support the argument that Eliza was not married to Stephen Wolfenbarger, that her name was not Margaret Eliza and that Stephen Wolfenbarger was actually married to someone else named Margaret.

The following information was documented by Emma Taylor Hopkins [daughter-in-law of James Arton Hopkins]: Stephen Wolfenbarger died in Civil War. Eliza married Ephram Simpson and went away. She never returned and her sons were raised by their grandparents.

  More Information:

• Alt. Birth: 22 February 1838 in Claiborne County, Tennessee. Eliza's death certificate lists her birth date as 22 Feb 1834 but that year is almost certainly not correct. She was listed as 12 years old in the 1850 Census but would have been 16 at that time if she was born in 1834. Her age at the time of her death is listed on the death certificate as 76 yrs. 10 mos. 24 days but that doesn't calculate correctly with the listed dob & dod (based on the listed date of death and date of birth, she would have been 77 years, 10 months and 25 days old). Census records between 1850 & 1910 show her age fairly consistantly. Using her age listed in the census and the "census day" for the particular year, she was born in 1838 according to Census records in 1850, 1870 & 1900; she was born in 1837 according to Census records in 1860, 1880 & 1910. So it is more likely that she was born in either 1837 or 1838.

Eliza's death certificate lists her birthplace as Hancock County, Tennessee but Hancock County was not formed until 1844. The Hopkins family actually lived in Claiborne County at the time of Eliza's birth but the property was in a part of Claiborne that split to form Hancock in 1844. ²⁰¹¹

• 1840 United States Federal Census, Stephen Hopkins Sr. household, Claiborne County, Tennessee: Eliza appears to be included in the composition of her father's household as a female < 5. ²⁰¹²

• 1850 United States Federal Census, Stevin Hopkins household, Hancock County, Tennessee: Eliza was living with her parents. She was listed as Eliza Hopkins (age 12). ²⁰⁰⁸

• 1860 United States Federal Census, Stephen Hopkins household, Hancock County, Tennessee: Eliza was living with her parents. She was listed as Elisa Hopkins (age 23). Her 5 month old son, William Columbus, was also in the household. ²⁰¹³

• 1870 United States Federal Census, Ephram Simpson household, Greene County, Indiana: Eliza was living with her husband, Ephram, in Worthington. She was listed as Eliza Simpson (age 32).
²⁰¹⁴

• 1880 United States Federal Census, Ephraim Simpson household, Greene County, Indiana: Eliza was living with her husband, Ephram, in Black Creek. She was listed as Eliza Simpson (wife, age 43). ²⁰¹⁵

• 1900 United States Federal Census, Ephrom Simpson household, Butler County, Missouri: Ephram & Eliza were living in Epps along with a 17 year old boy who was listed as adopted. The young man's name is hard to read on the census record but has been indexed as Vannie Radsdale. Eliza was listed as Eliza Simpson (wife, age 62). ²⁰¹⁶

• 1910 United States Federal Census, Ephrom Simpson household, Butler County, Missouri: Ephram & Eliza were living in Epps. She was listed as Eliza Simpson (wife, age 73). ²⁰¹⁷

Eliza had a relationship with Stephen WOLFENBARGER. (Stephen WOLFENBARGER was born ca. 1838 in Virginia ²⁰¹⁸ and died in December 1861 in Tennessee ¹.)

Eliza next married Ephram SIMPSON, son of Samuel SIMPSON and Sallie SIMMONS, on 11 October 1866 in Harlan County, Kentucky.²⁰¹⁹ (Ephram SIMPSON was born on 20 June 1842 in Harlan County, Kentucky,²⁰²⁰ died on 30 September 1923 in Lincoln County, Kentucky ²⁰²⁰ and was buried on 1 October 1923 in Wilmoths Chapel, Lincoln County, Kentucky ²⁰²⁰.)

  Marriage Notes:

Eliza and Ephram Simpson were married by John C. Howard (Justice of Peace) at Samuel Simpson's house. Witnesses were Hiram Howard and John Hopkins. (According to Our Family History by Emma Taylor Hopkins & microfilm record of Harlan County Marriages.)