James Hoppes was born February 14, 1838, In Scioto County, Ohio, of which State his parents, Michael and Rachael (Reynolds) Hoppes, were natives. The mother died about 1858, and the father now lives in Arkansas, where he follows farming, having formerly been a carpenter and steam-boat pilot. James was reared on a farm with his parents to the age of eighteen, when he enlisted in Company B, Thirteenth Missouri Volunteers, Federal Army, and was in service three years and seven months. He was in the battle of Fort Donelson, and his partner was in the same battle on the Confederate side. After the war he settled at the La Grange Iron Works of Stewart County, Tenn., where he followed the wagon-maker’s trade until 1879, when he came to Erin and engaged in the wagon-maker’s trade, and in the spring of 1884 he formed a partnership with Mr. Edwards, with whom he now continues. He was married, December 18, 1871, to Mary Arnold, a native of Indiana. This union has been blessed in the birth of seven children, all of whom are living: Annie, Fannie, Elizabeth, George, Sarah E., James and Thomas W. The wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Hoppes is a Republican in politics and always has been. As a citizen of the county he is highly valued and respected.

Transcribed by Susan Knight Gore

Source: Goodspeed, Weston A, and John Wooldridge. History of Tennessee from the Earliest Time to the Present: Together with an Historical and a Biographical Sketch of Montgomery, Robertson, Humphreys, Stewart, Dickson, Cheatham and Houston Counties. Nashville: Goodspeed Pub. Co, 1886.