Daniel Hendrickson Hopkins

Daniel Hendrickson Hopkins

By: Great Granddaughter Danielle Hopkins Johnson

Daniel Hendrickson Hopkins was born on December 31, 1971 in Smithfield, Cache, Utah. His parents

were Robert Gravatt Hopkins and Elvira Eliza Hendrickson. His parents were married in 2 May 1868 in Salt Lake City, in the endowment house. Elvira was the second wife and a polygamous wife of Robert. His first wife was Polly Abigail Lamb, who was know to Daniel as Aunt Polly.
Daniel was the oldest of four children. He had two brothers and a sister William Gravatt, Ezekiel James (known as Jim) and Jennie. They lived in Smithfield and surrounding area until the early 1890's when Robert had an warrant out for his arrest for “unlawful cohabitation”. At this time they moved to the Teton valley in Idaho.

Daniel received a patent for a homestead in the late 1890's parts of the land are still in the family. He married his first wife, Maude Ann Adams on 1 October 1900. She died the following year after giving birth to there son LeRoy (who died as well). After this Daniel served a mission in the Great Lakes Mission. He mainly served in Indiana. When he came home he married a woman from his mission named Anna Francis Cline on 4 June 1904. Anna passed away from an illness on 26 August 1904. On 27 Jun 1907 Daniel married once again. He married Marie Hansen a widow from the Teton Valley. Marie had a daughter Leora who was almost 8 years old. Marie and Daniel had two little boys. Daniel Alfred born on July 10, 1908 and William Hansen born 3 August 1910. A short few years later, Leora accused Daniel of criminal acts that as a result he lost just about everything. He lost his home, his wife divorced him and he spent about six months in prison in Boise. He was falsely accused and later pardoned by the governor of the state but he was prevented from having a relationship with his children for years.

He later married another widow named Mary Haroldson Rammel in 1924. She had nine children but many were grown and gone. Daniel helped to raise the rest of her children and they were married until Mary passed away in January of 1939. Daniel was working for the railroad at the time. In September of 1939 he married Rosella Fanny Jensen. She had children as well. He continued to work for the railroad until he retired in the 1940's. Rose and Daniel settle back up in Tetonia in a little house that his son Daniel owned. There he passed away quietly on 26 May 1946.

Daniel had a really rough life. He was a very intelligent man and new the scriptures very well. He was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in. He was not a faithful Latter-Day Saint all his life. My dad tells the story of Daniel how he used to smoke cigarettes and one day he put the cigarettes on the kitchen table and said he was done. They were still laying there the day he died.