My Genealogy Hound

Zachariah Hopper is a progressive farmer and stock raiser of Franklin County, Ark., and was born in Giles County, Tenn., November 6, 1821. His parents, Samuel and Sarah (McKinney) Hopper, were born in Burke County, N. C., and died in Rabun County, Ga., in 1857 and 1842, respectively, the former being about sixty-five years of age and the latter forty-nine. They were married in North Carolina, and from there moved to Giles County, Tenn., thence to Georgia, where they made Rabun County their home until their respective deaths. Four of their eleven children are now living: Jasper, John, Sarah, Adaline, wife of Henry Gillespie, and Zachariah. The latter was thirty-five years of age before he left home, as he assisted his father in rearing the younger members of the family. In 1852 he was seized with the “gold fever,” and accordingly immigrated to California, via Charleston, S. C., Cuba and the Isthmus of Panama. He spent three years in that State, engaged in mining, at which he was quite successful, and in 1855 returned to Georgia, via New Orleans, locating in Gordon County, where he lived until 1870, and then came to Franklin County, Ark., where he has since made his home. He is now one of the most extensive farmers in Iva Township, having 180 acres of land under cultivation, and since his residence in the township has served as justice of the peace four years. December 23, 1857, he was married to Mary Elizabeth Hinton, a daughter of John and Mary Hinton. She was born in Elbert County, Ga., June 16, 1836, and died in Franklin County, Ark., April 2, 1886. She was a true Christian in every sense of the word, a devoted wife and mother, and her death was an irreparable loss to her husband and children. Nine of their ten children are living: California, widow of William Hall; Sarah J., wife of Theodore Johnson; Martha Ann, wife of Thompson Knox; Mary E., wife of B. Hatfield; Marinda, Flora Adaline, Jennie Florence, William Henry and James S. John Lawson died when an infant. Mr. Hopper has been a member of the Missionary Baptist Church since 1869, and has always been a stanch Democrat in politics, and is always ready to support laudable enterprises. The family are highly esteemed in the community in which they reside.