In the books' own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. The later printing (1902) is folded below the first. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
From A centennial biographical history of Crawford County, Ohio .. (1902), History of Crawford County and Ohio : containing a history of the state of Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time ... a history of Crawford County ... biographical sketches, portraits (1881)
JOHN HOPLEY, editor and proprietor of Bucyrus Journal, Bucyrus, Ohio. Mr. Hopley, whose portrait appears in this work, came to Bucyrus in the spring of 1856, to fill the position of Superintendent of the Union Schools. He is by birth an Englishman, although he was naturalized many years ago, and has long been thoroughly identified with the interests of his adopted country. His paternal ancestors were substantial farmers in the county of Suffolk, England. His father was a Surgeon in the English navy, and in private life, first a practicing surgeon at Whitstable, a small seacoast village in Kent, and afterward at Lewes, in Sussex, one of the most venerable towns in England. His mother's ancestors were for many generations distinguished dignitaries in the Church of England, and he has the genealogical tables of their descent for hundreds of years back. Mr. Hopley was born at Whitstable May 21, 1821, but his parents removed to Lewes while he was j'et an infant. He finished his education at the lloj'al Naval College, then at Camberwell in the county of Surrey, and a suburb of London, now at New Cross in the same county. It was an institution for the sons of naval officers, and, although not licensed to confer degrees, the course of education was very extensive and thorough, embracing a course as comprehensive and as high as any college course in the country. The institution received 330 pupils, all of whom lived in the college. The Roll system of education was adopted; it comprehends the instruction of pupils in large classes b3' the aid of the best pupils acting as monitors, and it is sometimes known as the Monitorial system. It was, therefore, although not by design, a Normal School, and it afforded to the monitors at the head of their classes a large experience in the art and duties of teaching. Although Mr. Hopley, as a boy, excelled in many of the sports of the play-ground, he was never an idler at his studies. He was a constant contestant for the head of his various classes, frequently standing first and acting as head-monitor for weeks together. He thus early acquired the art of teaching, which afterward contributed to his reputation as a teacher in this country. About the close of his term as a student in the Royal Naval College, he was made a teacher, and continued in the institution for some years in this capacity. In 1842, soon after he became of age, he came to the United States with his mother's brother. John R. Prat, Esq., of Zanesville, Ohio, and went into his store as clerk. He continued clerking until the fall of 1844, when he commenced to teach school with a view to reading law. But he was earnest in whatever he undertook, and the better he became known as a teacher, the larger were the schools he taught and the more time he devoted to them, thus making his progress through the elementary law books very slow. In 1845, he removed to Logan, Hocking Co., where he induced the School Directors to establish graded schools; these were among the first in Ohio, and they were a great success. In 1848, he married, at Logan, Miss Georgiana Rochester, fourth daughter of John Rochester, Esq., and, desiring to study the nature of society under the system of slavery he went to the South to teach. He had schools at Yellow Creek, in Montgomery Co., Tenn., also, near Elkton, Todd CoT, Ky.,"and also at New Providence, near Clarksville, Tenn., from which place, at the close of 1852, he returned to Logan, and taught there for three years. The present system of school supervision had been inaugurated in his absence, and he resumed his duties at Logan as Supervisor of the schools, which, however, were scattered over the village, as closely together as rooms, far from suitable, could be obtained for them. In 1855, he removed to Columbus to take the position of teacher of Mathematics and of Commercial Arithmetic, in what was then known as Granger's Commercial College. After, however, about six months of labor in this new sphere, he found the " college," so-called, a very unstable institution, and he left it to take charge of a fractional term of the Wellsville Union Schools, from which place he removed with his family to Bucyrus, arriving on Saturday, 12th of April, 1856.' The schools were at that time comparatively in their infancy as union schools, and were far from being in a prosperous condition. Mr. Hopley, however, prosecuted his new duties with his usual thoroughness, industry and zeal, and soon made them the wonder and admiration of his fellow-citizens. In 1858, he formed a partnership in the practice of law with A. M. Jackson, Esq., for a year, and was admitted to the bar. At the expiration of the term, he opened an office by himself, and practiced, with encouraging success until the close of July, 1862, when he went to England in company with Mr. Thomas Alsop, on professional business, upon his return in October, he found the law practice almost destroyed for the time being; scarcely any cases were tried. In nearly all, either one of the parties, or some important witness, was in the army. In this emergency, he obtained from Mr. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury, an appointment to a clerkship in the office of the Second Auditor of the Treasury. Soon after.
by special order of the Secretary, he was transferred to the Secretary's own office. He then had a desk in the library of the Treasury, and commenced a thorough study of finances, employing his pen effectively in sustaining the financial policy of the Secretary, and the establishment of national banks. When the national bank bill became a law, he was transferred to the Banking and Currency Bureau. Hon. Hugh McCulloch was then Comptroller of the Currency, and he placed Mr. Hopley in charge of the statistical division of the bureau. This included the examination of the regular reports required by law of the banks, and of the reports made by the Bank Examiners. In this position, it frequently became his duty to furnish distinguished members of Congress with such data for their speeches on financial questions as made them distinguished. In 1864, he resigned to accept a position in a large bank in New York. In 1866, he returned to Washington, in a private capacity for his employer, and was appointed National Bank Examiner for all the Southern States, except Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Kansas was afterward added, and he entered upon his duties in the fall of 1866. Having completed the examination of the list of banks, he returned to Bucyrus, and in September, 1867, he purchased the half-interest in the Bucyrus Journal, of the senior editor, J. G. Robinson. Esq.. for $2,000. It was at that time conducted by the brothers Messrs. James and Ralph Robinson. In May, 1868, it was arranged for Mr. Ralph Robinson to sell out to John Markee. Esq., of whom Mr. Hopley the same day purchased the other half-interest for $2,000. Although he entered upon journalism only as a temporary resource, preliminary to returning to the practice of the law, yet he soon became absorbed in his new profession to the exclusion of everything else. In August, 1870, he entered upon the duties of Postmaster, and retained the office until January, 1879. He still continues to edit the Journal. His family is as follows; Charles Rochester, John Edward, Thomas (who died in infancy), Thomas Prat, Mary Catherine, Georgiana Eliza. Harriet Evaline, James Richard, Frank Lewes and Joseph William, ten in all, of whom nine are yet living.
As printed in History of Crawford County and Ohio : containing a history of the state of Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time ... a history of Crawford County ... biographical sketches, portraits (1881). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
JOHN HOPLEY.
In the promotion and conservation of advancement in all the normal lines of human progress and civilization there is no factor which has exercised a more potent influence than the press, which is both the director and the mirror of public opinion. Bucyrus has been signally favored in the character of its newspapers, which have been vital, enthusiastic and progressive, ever aiming to advance the interests of this favored section of the Union, to aid in laying fast and sure the foundations of an enlightened commonwealth, to further the ends of justice and to uphold the banner of Ohio. In a compilation of this nature then it is clearly incumbent that due recognition be accorded the newspaper press of the state.
The universal acknowledgment that the press is the most potent factor in holding public opinion indicates therefore the prominent position which the editor occupies. Every publication bears the impress of him who occupies the editorial chair, whether this is given consciously or unconsciously; his thought goes forth into the work and receives the support or awakens the opposition of the reading public. A fair view of public questions, clearly presented, will therefore do more to form the general opinion of a community than any other one agency; and as the editor of the Bucyrus Journal for forty years Mr. Hop ley has been an important factor in laboring for the interests of Crawford county along all lines okf progress and advanced thought.
A native of England, he was born in Whitstable, in 1821. His paternal ancestors were substantial farmers of Suffolk county. His father was a surgeon in the British navy, and after his retirement from the army practiced the profession of medicine and surgery at Whitstable, in Kent, and afterward in Lewes, Sussex county, one of the oldest towns in England.
He married a Miss Prat, who was descended from a long line of ancestry distinguished in the Church of England. Our subject has a genealogical table of the line of his descendants on the material side for hundreds of years.
John Hopley, of this review, pursued his education in the Royal Xaval College, then located at Camberwell, in the county of Surry, a suburb of London, but at the present time it is situated at Newcross, in Surry. This college is for the sons of naval officers, and its course is very extensive and thorough, but it is not licensed to confer degrees. Accommodations are furnished for three hundred and thirty pupils, all of whom reside in the college. The Bell or monitorial system of teaching was in vogue. It was to this extent a normal, for the monitors at the head of their classes received much experience in the art and duties of teaching. Mr. Hopley excelled in athletics as well as in study. He was a constant and often successful contestant for the honors of the various classes. About the close of his college course he was made a teacher, and remained in the institution for some years. In 1842, soon after attaining his majority, he came to the United States with his material uncle. John R. Prat, of Zanesville, Ohio, whose store he entered in the capacity of clerk. He there continued until 1844, when he began teaching with a view of entering upon the study of law and making its practice his life work. In 1845 ne removed to Logan, Hocking county, and induced the trustees to establish graded schools. their being among the first graded schools in the state. The system which he inaugurated was highly successful and proved an important factor in advancing the educational interests of Ohio.
In 1848 Mr. Hopley was united in marriage to Miss Georgiana Rochester, the fourth daughter of John Rochester, of Logan, Ohio. Her father was born near London, England, January 9, 1796, and in 1816 he married Miss Gladle. a daughter of a French gentleman who left his native land, owing to the French revolution, and entered the English army- as an officer and was killed in Spain while fighting against Napoleon. Mr. Rochester came to America in 1820, settling at Englishtown, Athens county, Ohio, but soon removed to Logan, where for nearly half a century he was engaged in merchandising, being recognized as one of the most prominent and influential citizens of the place. For more than forty-four years he was a member of the Presbyterian church and served for thirty-four years as an elder, while through a long period he was superintendent of the Sunday-school and a trustee of the church property. He aided greatly in promoting the moral advancement of the people amongwhom he lived, and the memory of his upright career remains as an inspiration and benediction to all who knew him. He died November 28, 1876, at the age of eighty-one years. His daughter, Mrs., Hopley, was born July 22, 1826.
Desiring to study slavery and its influence upon the social life of the south, Mr. Hopley removed to Tennessee, becoming a teacher in a school at Yellow Creek, that state, and later he engaged in teaching near Elktown, Kentucky, and in New Providence, Tennessee, and during this time he gave earnest thought and attention to the institution of slavery and its influences. In 1852 he returned to Logan, where he remained for three years, and in addition to his work as a teacher he seized as supervisor of the schools. In 1855 he was made instructor in mathematics and commercial arithmetic in the Grangers' Commercial College, but that institution was not a very substantial one and in six months he removed to Wellsville, Union county, Ohio, and took charge of the schools there for a fractional term. From that place he came to Bucyrus, on the 12th of April, 1856, and was a very important factor in promoting the educational interests of this place in the middle of the century. The schools had been far from prosperous, but he entered upon the duties here with his usual thoroughness and zealand the system which he established soon awakened the admiration of the people of this vicinity and of other portions of the state. In the school work he was an excellent organizer as well as disciplinarian and instructor. He knew how to utilize his forces, studied his pupils individually and was particularly proficient in imparting to them the knowledge he had acquired so as to make a lasting impression upon their minds.
In 1858 Mr. Hopley was admitted to the bar, having in the meantime devoted much of his leisure to the mastery of the principles of jurisprudence. He then entered into partnership with A. M. Jackson, but the following year this was discontinued and he opened an office of his own and continued to practice with encouraging success until 1862. In that year he went to England with Thomas Alsop on professional business, and on his return his law practice was virtually destroyed, for owing to the absence in the army of many parties who were needed as witnesses no cases could be tried. Mr. Hopley was then appointed by Mr. Chase to a clerkship in the office of the second auditor of the treasury, and soon by special order of Mr. Chase he was transferred to the latter's office, having desk in the library of the treasury. As he found opportunity he studied the financial problems and employed his pen effectively in advancingthe financial policy
<>t the secretary of the treasury and the establishment of national banks. After the national bank law was passed he was transferred to the banking and currency bureau. Hugh McCullough, who was then comptroller of currency, placed Mr. Hopley in charge of the statistical department of the bureau. His duties there included examination of regular reports and the reports of the bank examiners. Mr. Hopley during that period of his life occasionally furnished data for speeches made by members of congress whereby the statesmen became distinguished.
In 1864 he resigned his position in order to accept an offered position in a large bank in Xew York. In 1866 he went to Washington in a privatecapacity for his employer, and was soon afterward appointed national bank examiner for all the southern states excepting" Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. Kansas was afterward added to the list. After completingthis work in 180- he returned to Bucyrus, and in September purchased a half interest in the Bucyrus Journal. In May of the following year he became sole owner, and, becoming absorbed in journalism, he abandoned his intention to enter upon the practice of law, and has since given his time to his work as a representative of the press. From August, 1870, until January, 1879, he served as postmaster of Bucyrus, but has never given his newspaper work into the charge of others. He has continued to be a close student of the important questions of the day affecting the state and national welfare, and the keen, analytical mind of the lawyer, added to the comprehensive knowledge of the journalist, have made his treatment of such subjects of great interest, his opinions being quoted by the press throughout his section of the country.
On the 19th of April, 1898, Mr. Hopley and his wife celebrated their golden wedding. The members of their family are as follows: Charles Rochester; John Edward; Thomas Prat, who died in childhood; Thomas Prat, Mary Catherine, Georgiana Eliza, Harriet Eveline. James Richard, Frank Lewis and Joseph William. The second named is now United States consul at Southampton, England.
Viewed in a personal light, Mr. Hoplev is a strong man, of excellent judgment, fair in his views and highly honorable in all his relations with his fellow men. Fie is a man of very strong convictions, and his integrity stands as an unquestioned fact in his career. He has always been a student, and the scope and amplitude of his knowledge render him a charmingconversationalist. He is in full sympathy with all the great movements of the world about him and watches the progress of events with the keenest interest.
[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]
As printed in A centennial biographical history of Crawford County, Ohio .. (1902). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
The printed record stops around 1902. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.