James(7) was the eighth child of William(6) HOPKIRK and Jane REDPATH.
James HOPKIRK was born in Lockridge, Iowa in 1848 and Harriet Emma Toothaker was born 19 May 1851 in Middletown, Iowa.
Family history says James wanted to join the north in the Civil War in late 1864 or early 1865 at the age of 16, but his parents were against it, since they had already lost two sons in the war.
James and Emma were married on 7 August 1871 in Lockridge, Iowa.
Harriet Emma TOOTHAKER is the daughter of Nancy Jane Loughary and Frederick S. Toothaker, and is a direct descendant of Roger and Margaret TOOTHAKER who arrived at the Massachusetts Bay colony on 16 Sep 1635 on the ship "Hopewell." Their son Roger TOOTHAKER was one of the 50+ people accused of witchcraft in Salem. Those who didn't confess and repent were executed. Sixteen were executed. Roger TOOTHAKER was one of 4 accused that died in custody, before execution. The 3 children that started the witchcraft scare stated in their later years that they made up the stories. Harriet Emma Toothaker was said to be a big woman and she came to Ruskin, Nebraska a few times to visit her son and his family. In 1918, Harriet Emma Toothaker was going down a railroad embankment to deliver a message about a phone call for one of the workers and she fell and broke her hip. She then contracted pneumonia and died 9 August 1918, in Jefferson County and is buried in the Union Cemetery.
James and Harriet had the following children:
Frank(8) HOPKIRK, b.08 Nov 1873 in Lockridge. He married Iva Jones on 20 May 1902, in Ruskin, Nebraska
Harry(8) (Nutie) HOPKIRK, b. 16 Jun 1875 in Lockridge. He died 4 Mar 1887 and is buried in the Toothaker portion of the Lockridge Cemetery.
Ernest(8) HOPKIRK, b.1877 in Lockridge. He married Maude BATES, and they had one son named Neill who died in infancy. Ernest lived in Texas. His neice Harriet(9) HOPKIRK says that in the 1920's some woman called from Texas and said she was Ernests' new wife. Harriet never met her. Around 1928 Ernest died and someone from Texas called and asked what should they do with the body. Frank(8) HOPKIRK told them to ship it to Ruskin, Nebraska. Ernest is buried in the Spring Creek Cemetery at Ruskin, Nebraska.
James(7) HOPKIRK was not a very good husband. Shortly after their third child was born, James deserted the family.
This photo is probably Ernest(seated), Frank(standing) and Nutie Hopkirk
around 1881.
(The back side of the above photo has a very old piece of newspaper from
Fairfield, Iowa glued to it.)
As of 1890 James HOPKIRK was in Seattle, Washington and was a builder or carpenter there. (This information comes from the 1890 biography of James' father William HOPKIRK. The biography mentions nothing about his marriages or James' children.)
From the 1892 Washington Territorial Census we find James HOPKIRK, age 43, born in Iowa, a Supt. Public Buildings, and married to Florence Hopkirk, age 36, born in Pennsylvania. Also present in the family is Ida HOWELL, age 12, born in Michigan. They are located in Thurston County, Washington.
In 1895 James Hopkirk is living in Oakland, California. From the 14 May 1915 addition of the Oakland Tribune newspaper is a "20 years ago today" article stating that "James Hopkirk has been appointed Superintendant of the construction of the Harrison Street School." So that would have been in May of 1895 that James Hopkirk started construction on the Harrison Street School.
From the 1900 Census we find James HOPKIRK is in Seattle, Washington, Seattle Ward 4, District 96. Living at 800 5th Ave, at the corner of Columbia Street. James is listed as age 50, born in Sept 1849, number of years married is 9, born in Iowa, parents both born in Scotland. He is a contractor/builder. His Wife is Florence R HOPKIRK, age 43, born in June 1856, married 9 years. Born in Pennsylvania and both her parents were born in Pennsylvania. So James and Florence must have been married in 1891?
In 1905 and 1906 James was building Hydralic Pipes for use in the regrading of many streets in Seattle. These pipes were known as "Hopkirk Pipes". These pipes were used to hydralically cut down the level of the streets so they would not be as steep. This would make travel easier, especially in the winter. Some people refused to move and ended up with their homes high above street level and no way to access their dwellings.
Here is a photo of new pipes from October 1905 This is a pipe from the Denny Hill regrade on February 9, 1906. This is a used pipe from the Denny Hill regrade from February 1906. (Our thanks goes to the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections for use of these photos.)
From the 1910 census, dated 20 April 1910, sheet #5A, we find James HOPKIRK living at 729 12th Ave., South, near Dearborn Street, Seattle. He is listed as 62, a widower, born in Iowa and his parents were born in Scotland. His occupation is listed as Superintendant/Hydralics. Also in the household is a 52 year boarder named George Smith, a 52 year old gold miner of German extraction.
Then surprisingly we find another entry from the 1910 census dated 22 April 1910, sheet #10B, we find James HOPKIRK living at 729 12th Avenue South, near Dearborn Street, Seattle.(A different census taker) This time James is listed as age 56, born in Iowa, parents born in Scotland and a widower. He is listed as on his "own income." But the surprising item is he has two sons living with him. John, age 23, born in Washington, both parents born in Iowa, a grocery salesman. Also listed is another brother named Verne, age 17, a student, born in Washington and his parents born in Iowa..
So how could this happen? We know that James' first wife Harriet Emma Toothaker remained in Lockridge and raised their children. There son Frank never mentioned having brothers named John and Verne. It would appear that James married another women from Iowa, and they then moved to the State of Washington, where around 1887 John was born. Around 1893 Verne was born, but James was living with his third wife Florence in 1892, and Florence was born in Pennsylvania, not Iowa.
From the 1920 census we find James living as a lodger at 219 First Ave. South, Seattle, listed as married, a Superintendant at a Carpentry Shop. He is 71 years old.
From the 1930 census James is living as a lodger at 2319 1/2 First Avenue, Seattle, listed as a widower, age 82, a House Carpenter, unemployed.
James Hopkirk passed away on 18 November 1939 at the age of 91 in Sedro-Woolley, Skagit County, Washington, 32 days before his first great grandchild was born. Sedro-Woolley was the location of a State Mental Hospital. Was he placed here for convenience because of his advanced age? Amazingly, the death record has the names of his parents listed correctly, William Hopkirk and Jane Redpath. Who supplied this information?
Additional information:
It is believed that the Toothaker family assisted Harriet in raising their children When John(10) K. HOPKIRK visited Lockridge in 1991, Frank WESTON showed him all the local cemeteries. It turns out that Frank was a Toothaker descendant, so Frank says he has always wondered why there was a Hopkirk buried in the Toothaker cemetery. John explained the story of James(7) deserting the family, etc.
Sometime around 1914, James(7) visited Frank(8) in Ruskin, Nebraska and asked Frank to leave his family and go with him to look for gold in Colorado, using water to cut down the hillsides(i.e., placer mining). Frank told his father to go get lost. So James was planning to use the technique he used in Seattle to lower the streets to find gold in Colorado.
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This page was last updated on June 7, 2010
