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General Notes: It is remarkable that five sons of Henry Hoppes fought for the Union during the Civil War, all in the cavalry. But then, Henry Hoppes was a remarkable man and a true pioneer. According to Lester Hoppes book published in 1925, he made an exploratory trip westward with a relative while he still was residing in Madison County, IN, crossing the Mississippi at Keokuk, IA and marveling at the great prairie that lay beyond. By 1860 his family was residing in Richardson County, Nebraska. In my opinion, the honor of being the greatest Hoppes pioneer in the United States belongs to 114 Henry Hoppes born December 15, 1799 along Deep Creek, Surry County, NC. As a four-year-old, he traveled with his parents to Gallia County, OH. His first six children were born in Meigs and Fayette Counties, OH before he joined his older brother Daniel in Madison County, IN in the late 1830s. In the early 1850s, he reconnoitered lands to the west. Lester Hoppes mentions his stay in Madison County, IN, (where Henrys wife Elizabeth Aleshire had four more children), but goes on to state: For a time Henry resided there, but the pioneering spirit he possessed caused him to migrate on westward some years before the Civil War and he resided for a time in Iowa, returning to Indiana. soon after the close of the war and we presume he died there. The writer remembers hearing John Swearingen, previously referred to and who was a grand - nephew of Henrys, tell something of the trip to Iowa which he, as a lad, made with his great uncle. They left their home in Madison Co. in a covered wagon for the Great West and traveled through the timber of Ind. and Ill., finally reaching the Mississippi River near Keokuk, Ia., where they crossed the river on a ferry. For several days before coming to the river, they had been hearing of the Great Prairies of Iowa and they were quite anxious to push on and feast their eyes on the prairie country as it had been described to them. They had always lived in a timbered country where, at most, a few acres of prairie was a novelty, and a much coveted piece of ground. After crossing the big river and driving a few miles they indeed came to the Great Prairie as in the colloquial dialect of Swearingen it was termed. He said they could look as far as the eye could see and there was not a tree to obstruct their view - just a broad level expanse of prairie land, which to these back - woodsmen was an awe inspiring sight. Actually it was Nebraska, not Iowa, where Henry Hoppes and his sons made their new home. They are enumerated in the Nebraska Territory Censuses of 1855 and 1856 in Richardson County. The Richardson County, NE Territorial Census of 1856. After his son Joel was killed in the Civil War, Henry Hoppes returned to Madison Co., IN with Joels widow Sarah and started a new family there after his first wife Elizabeths death. (source Dr. Harrison Hoppes)
