Henry Mattison Hopkins

Henry Mattison Hopkins was born on 9 January 1889 in Wallins Creek, Kentucky, the second child of James Arton and Lucinda Howard Hopkins.¹MI Dept of Health and Human Services, death certificate no. D251 478 (1984), Henry M. Hopkins; MI Vital Records Office, Lansing; dob & parents. 1900 U.S. census, Harlan Co., KY, population schedule, Wallins Creek, enumeration district (ED) 54, p. 94A, dwelling 147, family 147, James Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602 : accessed 22 Aug 2009); from NARA microfilm T623, roll 525; Henry 2^nd oldest child. Emma Taylor Hopkins, daughter-in-law of James Arton Hopkins and Lucinda Howard; birthplace Wallins Creek. He was named for two of Cindy’s brothers, Henry and Madison, although he spelled his middle name Mattison.²“U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/1002 : accessed 20 Feb 2022), Henry Mattison Hopkins, serial no. 941; from Records of the Selective Service System, 1926–1975, Record Group 147, NARA, St Louis, Missouri; Henry spelled middle name Mattison in signature. Jean Hopkins Carpenter (MI) to Linda McCauley, email, dated 14 May 2004; privately held by Linda McCauley, Mt. Vernon, KY; Jean shared information given to her by her aunt Lula M. Hopkins, daughter of James Arton Hopkins and Lucinda Howard; Lula noted Henry was named for two of their mother’s brothers and spelled middle name Mattison.

When Henry was fifteen years old, the family moved to Rockcastle County, Kentucky.³Rockcastle Co., KY, Deed Book 20: 498-499, Joshua & S.Monie Dunn (grantor), J. A. Hopkins (grantee), 16 Mar 1904; Rockcastle Co. Clerk, Mt. Vernon. A few years later, he joined the U.S. Army and served for six years.⁴“U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6482 : accessed 30 Aug 2007), Henry Hopkins, serial no. 44, Rockcastle Co., KY; from U.S., World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, M1509, NARA, Washington, D.C. He was a private stationed at Fort Thomas in Campbell County, Kentucky, when the 1910 U.S. census was taken.⁵1910 U.S. census, Campbell Co., KY, population schedule, Ft. Thomas Military Post, enumeration district (ED) 49, sheet 14A, Company H Quarters, Henry Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884 : accessed 4 Jun 2005); from NARA microfilm T624, roll 466. When Henry registered for the World War I draft on 5 June 1917, he was described as medium height and build with dark brown eyes and brown hair.⁶“U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918,” Henry Hopkins, serial no. 44. Twenty-five years later, when he registered for the World War II draft, his description was five feet seven inches tall, 198 pounds, with brown eyes and hair, and a ruddy complexion.⁷“U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942,” Henry Mattison Hopkins, serial no. 941.

Henry worked as a barber when he married Bessie Hamlin on 1 May 1919 in Detroit, Michigan. Bessie was the daughter of Albert H. Hamlin and Mary Elizabeth Oliver.⁸“Michigan, U.S., Marriage Records, 1867-1952,” digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9093 : accessed 20 May 2022), Henry Hopkins and Bessie Hamlin, 1 May 1919, Detroit; MI Marriage Records 1867-1952, MI Dept. of Community Health, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics. 1900 U.S. census, Laurel Co., KY, population schedule, Hazelpatch, enumeration district (ED) 157, p. 22A, dwelling 386, family 388,Albert H. Hamblin; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7602 : accessed 6 Aug 2022); from NARA microfilm T623, roll 537; first name of father, was listed as A. H. in marriage record. She was born on 29 July 1892 in North Carolina, but her family moved to Kentucky when she was a small child. The Hamblin’s lived in Hazel Patch, a community in Laurel County, Kentucky, in 1900.⁹“Michigan, U.S., Death Index, 1971-1996,” database, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3171 : accessed 12 May 2022), Bessie Hopkins, 1972, Wayne Co.; from Michigan Death Index, Dept. of Vital and Health Records, Lansing; birth date. 1900 U.S. census, Laurel Co., KY, pop. sch., Hazelpatch, ED 157, p. 22A, dwell. 386, fam. 388,Albert H. Hamblin; brother Luther was born abt 1894 in Kentucky; birth place, location in 1900. By 1910, they had moved to Mt. Vernon in Rockcastle County and lived on Richmond Street.¹⁰1910 U.S. census, Rockcastle Co., KY, population schedule, Mt. Vernon, enumeration district (ED) 97, sheet 1A, dwelling 1, family 1, Albert H. Hamlin; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884 : accessed 7 Aug 2022); from NARA microfilm T624, roll 500.

Although Henry and Bessie both lived in Detroit when they married, they returned to Kentucky and lived with his parents in Rockcastle County in 1920.¹¹1920 U.S. census, Rockcastle Co., KY, population schedule, South Brodhead, enumeration district (ED) 248, sheet 16A, dwelling 299, family 300, James A. Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6061 : accessed 22 Aug 2009); from NARA microfilm T625, roll 595. It is possible they moved with his parents to Warren County, Ohio, in late 1921, but they soon moved back to Detroit, where Henry worked as a streetcar driver. By 1923, they lived at 2656 Baker Street in Detroit.¹²Polk’s Detroit City Directory 1923-24 (Detroit, MI: R. L. Polk & Co.), p. 1247, entry for Henry M. Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 31 May 2021) > Michigan > Detroit > 1923 > Detroit, Michigan, City Directory, 1923> image 646. They moved to 4403 8^th Street in Ecorse, a suburb of Detroit, by 1925 and lived at that address in 1930, 1931, and 1933.¹³Polk’s Detroit City Directory 1925-26 (Detroit, MI: R. L. Polk & Co.), p. 1100, entry for Henry M. Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 31 May 2021) > Michigan > Detroit > 1925 > Detroit, Michigan, City Directory, 1925> image 546. Polk’s Wyandotte and River Rouge City Directory 1930 (Detroit, MI: R. L. Polk & Co.), p. 745, entry for Henry M. & Bessie A. Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 31 May 2021) > Michigan > Detroit > 1930 > Wyandotte, Michigan, City Directory, 1930> image 384. Polk’s Detroit City Directory 1931-32 (Detroit, MI: R. L. Polk & Co.), p. 857, entry for Henry M. Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 31 May 2021) > Michigan > Detroit > 1931 > Detroit, Michigan, City Directory, 1931> image 447. Polk’s Wyandotte and River Rouge City Directory 1933 (Detroit, MI: R. L. Polk & Co.), p. 616, entry for Henry M. & Bessie O. Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 31 May 2021) > Michigan > Wyandotte > 1933 > Wyandotte, Michigan, City Directory, 1933 > image 321. In 1930, Bessie’s nineteen year old niece, May Hamlin, lived with them along with male four roomers, who all worked in a steel mill.¹⁴1930 U.S. census, Wayne Co., MI, population schedule, Ecorse, enumeration district (ED) 82-913, sheet 8A, dwelling 141, family 148, H. M. Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224 : accessed 30 Jan 2008); from NARA microfilm T626, roll 1071. Henry and Bess lived at 1717 Campbell Avenue in 1934 and moved to 4322 W. Vernor Highway, Apartment 3, by 1935.¹⁵Polk’s Detroit City Directory 1934 (Detroit, MI: R. L. Polk & Co.), p. 832, entry for Henry M. Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 31 May 2021) > Michigan > Detroit > 1934 > Detroit, Michigan, City Directory, 1934 > image 413. Polk’s Detroit City Directory 1935 (Detroit, MI: R. L. Polk & Co.), p. 915, entry for Henry M. & Bessie Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2469 : accessed 31 May 2021) > Michigan > Detroit > 1935 > Detroit, Michigan, City Directory, 1935 > image 457. In 1940, they lived at 1516 23^rd Street.¹⁶1940 U.S. census, Wayne Co., MI, population schedule, Detroit, enumeration district (ED) 84-597, sheet 5B, household 113, Henry Hopkins; digital image, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2442 : accessed 30 Jul 2012); from NARA microfilm 627, roll 1859. 

Henry and Bessie liked to travel. They did not have children but enjoyed entertaining family when they visited. Bessie had a Pekingese dog named Buddie. He had a raincoat and boots for when he had to go outside in the rain.¹⁷Uta Faye Hopkins McCauley, daughter of Elmer Dennis Hopkins, granddaughter of James Arton Hopkins & Lucinda Howard.

Bessie died on 2 November 1972 in Redford, Michigan, a suburb on the north west side of Detroit, and was buried in Grand Lawn Cemetery in Detroit.¹⁸“Michigan, U.S., Death Index, 1971-1996,” Bessie Hopkins, 1972. Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com : viewed 5 Jun 2022), memorial 218486681, for Bessie A. Hamlin Hopkins, (Grand Lawn Cemetery, Detroit, Wayne Co., MI), digital image, 22 Nov 2020, by PonemahPat.

When Henry became unable to  care for himself, he moved to a nursing home in Fenton, Michigan, near his brother Berry. Henry was ninety-five years old when he died of renal failure on 7 February 1984 at Hurley Medical Center in Flint.¹⁹MI Dept of Health and Human Services, death certificate no. D251 478 (1984), Henry M. Hopkins; MI Vital Records Office, Lansing. His funeral was held 9 Feb at Dodds-Dumanois-Pitts Funeral Home in Flint, with Reverend Clifford Furness officiating. Henry was buried beside Bessie in Grand Lawn Cemetery.²⁰“Henry M. Hopkins,” Flint (MI) Journal, 8 Feb 1984, p. 36, col. 4; digital image, GenealogyBank (https://www.ngenealogybank.com : accessed 8 Aug 2022).

Cite this page: Linda F. McCauley, "Henry Mattison Hopkins," Documenting the Details, 10 Oct 2022 (https://documentingthedetails.com/hmhopkins : accessed [enter current date]).

Written by: Linda F. McCauley
Copyright © 2022 Linda F. McCauley. All rights reserved.

My Connection: James Arton Hopkins & Lucinda Howard (great-grandparents) > Elmer Dennis Hopkins (maternal grandfather) > Uta Faye Hopkins (mother)