John Hopkin was born at Hilltop, Greasley Parish, Nottinghamshire, England on November 27, 1833 to James Hopkin and Elizabeth Robinson.

John and Martha were married on Christmas Day, 1855. Shortly into their marriage, on October 28, 1857, they were both baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They became Mormons.

He then married Mary Pennington, Then Margaret Kennedy, Then Katherine Pennington And finally Ellen Barton.

In the little biographical sketch that has been written up about Grandpa, he mentions that he and Martha crossed the Atlantic on the ship, Amazon, and made the trip across the plains with the Thomas E. Ricks company.

Grandpa took seriously his responsibilities to his wives. He and they were able to provide for their needs as well as most monogamous families did. Their several claims against his time and attention must have been kept pretty well balanced or there would have been more discord than appears to have existed. He was persuasive and patient in the effort to keep one independent wife in the family when it might have been easier, maybe even more exciting, to let her go and look for another to fill the vacancy. It doesn't seem fair to conclude that Grandpa's marriages were based on just fun and games.

He was a hard worker. Mining coal is not only dirty and dangerous, it is physically demanding. That is where John started and he never got very far from it. He must have learned the business well because some of the operations he managed as superintendent were large in scale. With all the variables in personality, age, ethnicity, political and religious views etcetera, etcetera, the man must have been constantly alternating between roles as a father figure, diplomat and slave driver to keep the coal bins filled. Grandpa succeeded for several large, corporate employers who were in a position to be selective about who they trusted.
John was diverse in his business interests. At one time or another he was involved in a variety of construction activities. He built dams in Salt Lake City and bridges for the Union Pacific Railroad. Grandpa was the proprietor of a mining operation at the same time he was tending the crops and livestock on the farm. He got into the merchandising and hospitality trades. That enterprise seems to have gone under, but some of the circumstances that led to the failure were probably beyond John's control. The town of Echo, where this venture was located, flourished and failed in about the same time frame as the business did.
I find the man's stamina amazing. He was nearing seventy years of age when he moved to Garland to open another mine. Before he was through, John opened two mines and contracted to build railroad grade nearly two hundred miles farther north in Montana. He was well into his seventies by then and the thought of moving such quantities of earth with horse-drawn equipment at that age boggles my mind. He didn't get paid for his work in Montana but that didn't seem to dampen the entrepreneurial spirit in the old man. He came home to try his hand at milling wheat into flour. The difference in mining coal and milling flour must be about as striking as the difference between black and white. As age and failure finally took Grandpa out of the business scene he continued to stay active. Until just a few weeks before he died he stayed in shape with daily walks. He was a worker.
John was a presence in the community. He was a bishop for over nine years. He ran for political office and won a couple of elections. In both Utah and Wyoming he served on boards of local irrigation districts. John became a Democrat when President Grover Cleveland pardoned the polygamists and restored his civil rights and he remained actively committed to the party ever after.
Grandpa was a man of the Church. He was much more regular in attendance at the meetings than any of his wives. He served a mission and in other offices. I find his name among the old minutes of meetings, either as a speaker or on at least one occasion as a vocalist. He took pride in his children's activities in the effort. John Hopkin was a husband and a father. He was probably somewhat spoiled as a husband and aloof as a father but his family situation probably contributed to how he was. There are numerous stories of Grandpa's complaining about being left alone while one of his wives had some obligation or interest away from home at mealtime. His preferences were carefully attended to when John was present in the household. He would criticize a child's behavior but seemed to expect the mother to administer whatever correction was called for. Maggie's daughters giggled about stealing lemon drops from his coat pocket (he hadn't offered any to them) and remembered being glad when he came to their mother's place so they could pilfer an unattended coat pocket .

I think John may have been more approachable by persons from outside the family than he was from those within. What few memories are left about his personality, as viewed by those in the community at large, reveal him to have been considered to be good humored and friendly. We may get a little insight into his philosophical outlook from his response to oft-asked questions about how he had managed to live so well so long. His answer was: "I try to have at least one good laugh every day." I have observed that those who like to laugh sometimes end up laughing at themselves. Ninety five years would produce a lot of laughs. If John has been paying any attention to what you have been reading he may be laughing now.


(excerps from our Hopkin History written by)
Burchell E. Hopkin
July 1, 2003