Hello,
I've hit a fairly large brick wall trying to research Sylvanus Hopkins [Hopkins-4645], who was born ca. 1761, and was buried in Richford, Tioga Co., New York. He is thought to probably be the father of John Ebenezer Hopkins (c. 1784-1864), and in some way related (presumably as father) to Elijah Hopkins (1803-1879).
The family tree compiled by relatives in the 1970s notes that Elijah Hopkins married Rachel Gee, and John E. Hopkins married her sister, Elizabeth; this is where the theorized connection comes from. John Ebenezer Hopkins is not, however, believed to be the father of Elijah Hopkins.
Queries on FamilySearch come up with little; there's some census records, but there were multiple people named Sylvanus Hopkins who lived in New York at the same time, and none of them actually lived in Tioga County at the time the censuses were taken.
Additionally, it seems that there is conflation of two Elijah Hopkins. There was also an Elijah Hopkins, b. 1785 who reportedly married Rachel Gee; however, this is disproved by the fact that the 1803 Elijah Hopkins is buried next to his wife, who is named as "Rachel Gee Hopkins".
The questions I'm left with are:
- Is Sylvanus Hopkins in fact the father of John E. or Elijah Hopkins?
- If so, were there any other children in between (since the age difference is 19 years between John E. and Elijah)?
- If Sylvanus is not the father of Elijah, is Elijah related to the Elijah Hopkins b. ca. 1785?
- If not, could Elijah Hopkins be related to the Voluntown Hopkins family (descendants of Hopkins-6670), considering many of them moved to Groton?
- In any case, who are the parents of Sylvanus Hopkins?