Catherine (Whelden) Hopkins (abt. 1617 - aft. 1690)

Born about 6 Mar 1617 in Basford, Nottinghamshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Giles Hopkins — married 9 Oct 1639 in Plymouth, Plymouth Colony, New England

Descendants

Died after 16 Apr 1690 after about age 73 in Eastham, Barnstable, Plymouth Colony (Massachusetts Bay in 1691), New England

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Biography

Catherine (Whelden) Hopkins immigrated to New England as a child during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640).

Catherine (aka Katherine) Whelden was christened 6 March 1616/17 in Basford, Nottinghamshire, England, daughter of Gabriel Whelden.^[1],^[2] He was a miller in Basford, Nottinghamshire, England. Katherine's mother's name was Jane (surname: Unknown). The family left England around 1638 for Plymouth, New England.^[3]

Catherine married former "Mayflower" passenger, Giles Hopkins on October 9, 1639, in Plymouth Colony, New England.^[2] The couple were among the first to settle Yarmouth on Cape Cod in what became Barnstable County, Massachusetts Bay Province, New England in 1691. They had 10 children on Cape Cod, including a baby, Elizabeth, who died at just one month old in 1664.

According to local records, Giles and Catherine (Whelden) Hopkins had 10 children^[4]

1. Mary, born in November, 1640^[5] (married Samuel Smith)
2. Stephen, born in September 1642 in Yarmouth^[6]
3. John, born in 1643 "and died being three months old."^[6]
4. Abigail, born in October, 1644 in Eastham, Plymouth Colony^[7]
5. Deborah, born in June, 1648^[8] (married Josiah Cooke, Jr.)
6. Caleb, born in January, 1650 in Eastham, Barnstable Co.^[9]
7. Ruth, born in June, 1653 in Eastham, Barnstable Co.^[10]
8. Joshua, born in June, 1657 in Eastham, Barnstable Co.^[6]
9. William, born January 9, 1660 in Eastham, Barnstable Co.^[6]
10. Elizabeth, born in November, 1664; died aged one month.^[11]

The couple moved to Nauset, soon re-named Eastham, in around 1645 and lived the rest of their lives there, near Giles Hopkins' sister ( Constance (Hopkins) Snow)'s family. Giles worked as a highway surveyor in Eastham during 1660, 1662, and 1671.^[2] Later, he became weakened by illness and the couple's affairs were run by their oldest son, Stephen Hopkins. Giles nonetheless inherited his half-brother Caleb Hopkins' lands in the colony when the latter, a sailor, died as a young, single, man, on a trip to the West Indies. In 1644, for reasons never explained, their father, Mayflower passenger, Stephen Hopkins, had made Caleb his heir instead of his older son, Giles.^[12]

Giles Hopkins died in March or April 1690, His will, written in 1682, was proven on April 16, 1690. His wife, Catherine (Whelden) Hopkins, who inherited their home and adjoining land during her life, died shortly thereafter but her exact death date is not known. They were buried in the Cove Burying Ground, Eastham, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA. GPS (lat/lon): 41.81174, -69.9705. A cenotaph plaque marks the spot.^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ Parish baptism records cited in Porter, Jan & Stramara, F., The Origin of Gabriel Whelden of Yarmouth and Malden, Massachusetts, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 2009) Vol. 163, WN 652, Page 259-260
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Austin, John D. Mayflower Families through Five Generations.Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2001), vol. 6 (3rd ed.) Stephen Hopkins, p. 8.
3. ↑ See Whelden-3 for more information and research.
4. ↑ The names of Giles Hopkins' children are given with their birth dates, as they appear in the ancient book of records at Orleans, Barnstable Co., Massachusetts.
5. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZDX-Y9Y : 15 January 2020), Cathorne Wheldon in entry for Mary Hopkins, 1640.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3} Austin, John D. Mayflower Families through Five Generations.Plymouth, MA: General Society of Mayflower Descendants (2001), vol. 6 (3rd ed.) Stephen Hopkins, p. 9
7. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZDF-DRZ : 15 January 2020), Cathorne Wheldon in entry for Abigail Hopkins, 1644.
8. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZDF-4WT : 15 January 2020), Cathorne Wheldon in entry for Deborah Hopkins, 1648.
9. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VQDD-65Y : 2 March 2020), Giles Hopkins in entry for Caleb Hopkins, 1650.
10. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZDX-YZF : 15 January 2020), Cathorne Wheldon in entry for Ruth Hopkins, 1653.
11. ↑ "Massachusetts Births and Christenings, 1639-1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZDF-2JT : 15 January 2020), Cathorne Wheldon in entry for Elisabeth Hopkins, 1664.
12. ↑ See profile Hopkins-6 for details and a transcription of his Will.
13. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial# 34161460 - Catherine Whelden Hopkins

See Also:

• A Munsey-Hopkins Genealogy. Lowell, D.O.S. Boston: Privately Printed, 1
• American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI. Godfrey Memorial Library, comp. Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 1999.
• Truro--Cape Cod, or, Land marks and sea marks. Ancestry.com. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co., 1883.Original data: Rich, Shebnah,. "Seventy-seven illustrations."
• The romantic story of the Mayflower Pilgrims : and its place in the life of to-day. Ancestry.com. Online publication - Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data - Addison, A. C. (Albert Christopher). Boston: L.C. Page Co., 1918.
• Historical papers on Shelter Island and its Presbyterian church : with genealogical tables of descendants of Brinley Sylvester. Ancestry.com. Online publication - Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data - Mallmann, Jacob E.. Historical papers on Shelter Island and its Presbyterian church : with genealogical tables of descendants of Brinley Sylvester, Samuel Hopkins, Joel and...
• The Mayflower Reader
• Signers of the Mayflower Compact
• Mayflower Descendants and Their Marriages for Two Generations After the Landing
• Adams Family File. Margaret Poitvin
• Ferris, Mary W. Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines: A Memorial Volume Containing the American Ancestry of Rufus R. Dawes, Volume 1, published online by Ancestry.com, The Generations Network, Inc., Provo, UT, 2005; original book privately printed, 1943.
• Mayflower Descendant. Latter Day Saints Ancestral
• Caleb H. Johnson, The Mayflower and her passengers (Indiana:Xlibris Corp., Caleb Johnson, 2006)
• "Mayflower Families Through Five Generations", Volume six, "Hopkins", Published by General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1992.