McCauley, Hankins, Hopkins & Taylor Families

Oral family history tells us that James Arton "Jim" Hopkins and his brother, William
Columbus "Lum" Hopkins were the sons of Stephen Wolfenbarger and Eliza Hopkins.
Eliza was definitely their mother but we have no proof that Stephen Wolfenbarger was
their father.

It is fact that Eliza's parents, Stephen & Rachel Hopkins raised Jim and Lum and that
their last name was always listed as Hopkins - even in census records when they were
small children. Both boys were born in Mulberry Gap, Hancock County, Tennessee
(Lum in 1860 and Jim in 1861) and moved to Harlan County, Kentucky with their
mother and grandparents between 1861 and 1865. Eliza married Ephriam Simpson in
1866 in Harlan County and moved to Indiana and later Missouri. The boys remained
with their grandparents.

Stephen Wolfenbarger was the son of Wilkerson Hilton Wolfenbarger and lived in
Hancock County, Tennessee. He was a Confederate soldier and was killed in battle
sometime before May, 1863. The 1860 Census in Hancock County lists Stephen (22)
living in Mulberry Gap with Margaret Wolfenbarger (18). This would seem to indicate
that Stephen was married to a woman named Margaret. Eliza and her oldest son,
Lum, were listed in her father's household in that same census (also living in Mulberry
Gap). Hopkins was listed as the last name for both Eliza and Lum.

1870 census records list a Margaret Wolfenbarger (27) living in Lee County, Virginia
(which adjoins Hancock County) with 2 son, Peter (9) & Richard (3). It's possible this is
the Margaret listed with Stephen in 1860 as the 1870 record states all 3 were born in
Hancock County, TN. (Although it seems unlikely that Richard could have been
Stephen's son since military records show he was deceased by 1863.)

The Hancock County courthouse burned in 1880 and again in 1930 so there are
virtually no records available from the 1860's. Please e-mail me if you know anything
about the Wolfenbarger or Hopkins families.