Yolo County
Biographies
CHARLES ROSSITER HOPPIN
The late Charles Rossiter Hoppin was identified with the agricultural interests of
Yolo county for many years and during his long
residence here was instrumental in the upbuilding and development of his
locality. Inheriting from a long line of New England forefathers the qualities
characteristic of the manhood of that section, he was born in Madison county,
N. Y., March 29, 1828, a son of Thaddeus Hoppin, the
latter being a native of Massachusetts, whence he removed to Madison county, N.
Y., and later to Niles, Mich., where his death subsequently occurred. He
married Tama Daniel, a native of Hingham, Mass., her mother being a Miss
Lincoln in maidenhood, presumably of the family to which Abraham Lincoln
belonged, as they came originally from Hingham, Mass. Mrs. Hoppin
also died in Niles, Mich., leaving a family of six sons and three daughters, of
whom five sons and one daughter came to California, Charles and John in 1849,
Henry, Nathan and Thaddeus in 1853. All those mentioned are now deceased, the
remaining son of the family, George S., now residing in Niles, Mich. A sister,
Clarissa, became the wife of A. M. Everts and makes
her home in Woodland.
Charles Rossiter
Hoppin was reared principally in the paternal home at
Niles, Mich., where he received practical training as the son of a farmer. His
education was received in the academy of Madison county, N. Y., and the public
schools. In 1849, with his brother John, he crossed the plains with ox teams,
and upon his arrival in the state engaged in mining for one year. He soon
afterwards made a second trip across the plains, having in the meantime
returned east. In partnership with his brothers he then purchased a quarter
interest in the Harbin grant on Cache creek, the farming interests remaining
together for a number of years. The grant was finally sold off until only
fifteen hundred acres remained. This was then farmed by Mr. Hoppin
and his two brothers, John and Thaddeus, after the death of the latter the
property being divided and the partnership dissolved. Mr. Hoppin
became the owner of five hundred acres of fine farming land located two miles
west of Yolo, Yolo county, where he made many and valuable improvements, among
them a comfortable residence, etc. His death occurred May 4, 1903, removing
from the community a man of ability and public spirit, a citizen who gave his
support to the Republican party politically, but never cared for the emoluments
of public office. Straightforward, honest and honorable, he was esteemed by all
who knew him.
On the 10th of November,
1874, Mr. Hoppin was united in marriage with Emily
Bacon, the ceremony being performed in Niles, Mich., the birthplace of his
wife. She is a daughter of Judge Nathaniel Bacon, who was born in Ballston, N.
Y., July 14, 1802, receiving his early education in
the pubic schools and Union College, and graduating from the latter institution
in 1824. He was admitted to the bar in 1827 and practiced for five years in
Rochester, N. Y. Removing to Niles, Mich., in 1833 he began the practice of his
profession, becoming a prominent exponent of the law in that location, and
serving from 1855 to 1869 as judge of the supreme and circuit courts. His death
occurred in Niles at the age of sixty-eight years. Politically he was a stanch
Republican, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church. His fine qualities of
manhood were an inheritance from a line of New England ancestors, the family
having been established in Connecticut by an Englishman, William Bacon, who was
born at Stratton in 1608. Nathaniel became the family name and the heads of
succeeding generations bore it, Middletown, Conn., being planned by one of the
name, a native of Rutland, England, born in 1630. Three generations lived in
Ballston, N. Y., Nathaniel Bacon, born in 1729, in Middletown, Conn., removing
late in life to the former place, where his death occurred; his son, David
Bacon, became a farmer near Ballston, N. Y., and in that place, a son,
Nathaniel, was born, the father of Mrs. Hoppin. He
married Caroline S. Lord in 1845, she being a native of Portsmouth, N. H. She
was also descended from an old English family established for many years in new
England, John De Lovord, born in 1272, a son of
Osmond and grandson of William, natives of Normandy (the name signifying shelf-hanger),
having located in England with William the Conqueror. The American progenitor
was Mathew Lord, of Kittery, Me., a descendant of his, John Perkins Lord, born
in 1786, marrying Sophia Ladd, by whom he had eleven children, Caroline S.
(Lord) Bacon being the fourth in order of birth. One of the sons was John Lord,
LL.D., the historian. The father was a native of South Berwick, Me., where he
spent his entire life, dying there in 1877. Representatives of this family, as
well as of the Bacon family, served in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Bacon died
in Niles, Mich., in 1887, at the age of seventy-two years. Of the six children
born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Bacon, four sons and two daughters, there are
now living two sons and one daughter, namely: Nathaniel, an attorney of
Chicago; Frederick H., an attorney of St. Louis; and Mrs. Hoppin.
Educated in the public schools and at
Mt. Holyoke Seminary in Kalamazoo, Mich., from which institution she was
graduated in 1873, she became a teacher in the high school of Niles, where she
remained for six months. After her marriage in 1874 she went to Fort McDermitt, Nev., where her husband was engaged in the sheep
business. Two years later they settled in California on the farm now owned by
Mrs. Hoppin, where she superintends the raising of
grain and stock and the general care of the five hundred acres comprising the
property. Since the completion of the ditch a large portion of the place has
been planted to alfalfa and a dairy established, she being a stockholder in the
Woodland Creamery. She has a fine heard of Holstein cattle and turns out a
splendid product. Her place is known as Sunnyside Farm and is acknowledged one
of the valuable ranches of this section, both in point of improvement and
cultivation. She is the mother of four children, namely: Harriet, who graduated
from the University of California in 1901; Edith; Dorothea, and Charles Rossiter. Mrs. Hoppin is an
active member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, of which she served as
county president for four years, and state treasurer since 1890. She is a
member of the Shakespeare Club of Woodland, and the Episcopal Church of the
same city, and is active in all public affairs, as she is a woman suffragist
and proves her right to the ballot by her capability and intelligent work. In
1904 she was appointed by the Sacramento Valley Development Association as
representative to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, which she attended, and at
the same time made a three months’ visit at her old home in Niles.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: "History of the State of
California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento
Valley, Cal.," J. M. Guinn, Pages
308-310.
The Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, 1906.
© 2017 Cecelia M. Setty.
Golden Nugget Library's Yolo County
Biographies