My Genealogy Hound

John Hopson, carpenter, De Soto, was born in Floyd County, Ind., in 1832, and is a son of Thomas F. and Jane (Linder) Hopson. Thomas F. Hopson is of English descent, and was born in Kentucky in 1803. In his youth he removed to Floyd County, Ind., with his parents, John and Polly Hopson, who were pioneer settlers of that county. Here Thomas F. married and passed the remainder of his life, a farmer by occupation. His wife was born in North Carolina in 1812, and died in De Soto, Mo., in 1878, whither she had moved in 1870, her husband dying two years previous. They were the parents of fourteen children, only two of whom now survive—John and James. John Hopson came to Jefferson County, Mo., in 1851, and settled on a farm of thirty acres, six miles north of Hillsboro, removing the following year within three-quarters of a mile of where De Soto is now located. In 1862 he went to Washington County, but remained only one year, when he returned to Jefferson County, where he has since resided. He owns eighty-six acres, one-half mile from De Soto. In 1858 he commenced working at the carpenter’s trade, and the first house he erected is still standing in De Soto, on the corner of Miller and East Main Streets. He has combined farming with his trade, and has been a resident of Jefferson County for the past thirty-seven years. In 1851 he married Miss Mary Gowin, who was born in the State of New York in 1832. They are the parents of seven children, viz.: James T., Charles E. and John H., all following the carpenter’s trade in De Soto; Sarah Ann, wife of George Hodson, a carpenter, of Staten Island, N. Y.; Mary J., wife of William Paul, a carpenter, of De Soto; Florence and Hester. Mr. Hopson is a Republican in politics, and is Past Grand of the I. O. O. F. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is steward.