Minnie Ellen Thurston ²⁴²

   FamilySearch ID: L2YT-JSZ.

  Research Notes:

Steve,

After I mentioned the possibilities for Minnie Thurston it got me interested and I started searching on the internet in census records, vital records, etc. Turns out I was right, the Minnie in Wisconsin in 1880 and in Missouri in 1881 are the same as our Minnie E. Thurston born in 1857 to Irvin and Lydia!

I haven't been able to do a whole lot yet, but here is what I have come up with so far.

Minnie must have been working as a servant in Wisconsin in 1880 and while living there, began a relationship and became pregnant by a young man also from Wisconsin named Edgar Hopkins. It appears that they eloped or something and went to Chariton County, Missouri, where Minnie's relatives lived. They were married there on August 18, 1881. Two months later, Minnie gave birth to her first child: Harry. They moved around quite a bit after this. In 1883 they were in Ohio, then in New York before being back in Wisconsin in 1885, then finally settled in Minnesota.

They settled in St. James, Watonwan County, Minnesota (which is the county directly bordering Blue Earth County on the west). Edgar Hopkins died there between 1897 and 1900. Minnie was alive in 1910 and I have not yet been able to find her after that, perhaps she died between 1910 and 1920. They had 9 children, 8 of which survived to adulthood, of those children:

1. Harry Edgar Hopkins. Born Oct. 17, 1881 in Missouri. Married Allie B., circa 1910 in Minnesota. He and Allie had no children, they moved to California by the 1920's. He died in Yolo Co., Cal., Jan. 3, 1944, she died in Santa Cruz, in 1971.

2. Irvin H. Hopkins. Born in 1883 in Ohio. He married Albertina (who was born in Guatemala), in the mid 1910's. They had one child: Irvin H. Hopkins Jr. In 1920 were living in Los Angeles, CA, moved to Bremerton, WA in 1920's where Irvin died before 1930. Their son Irvin Jr. died in 1982 in Redmond, WA (quite close to where I live)

3. Carl S. Hopkins. Born circa 1885 in New York. Alive in 1920. No further info.

4. Ray Hopkins. Born November 1885 in Wisconsin. Alive in 1910, no further info.

5. Hertha Hopkins. Born August 1887 in Minnesota. Died February 7, 1911 in St. John, Minnesota, unmarried.

6. Myrtle Hopkins. Born October 1891 in Minnesota. Married Arthur M. Partridge. They had 3 daughters with very weird names (I couldn't decipher them). Myrtle died after 1920.

7. Elizabeth Hopkins. Born December 1894 in Minnesota. Married to a Mr. St. John in the 1910's. She died after 1920.

8. Frank Hopkins. Born September 1897 in Minnesota. He died after 1910, no further info.

As for Rose Effie Thurston, I don't know either what happened to her. She may indeed have married before her death, but the chances are there were no children. In 1920, she was still single and was 45 years old. I can't find her after that, but the death year I have for her (don't know where it came from) is 1936.

Just thought you might like to know this.

Ryan
Email of September 15, 2004

Minnie married Edgar Alphonso Hopkins 18 Aug 1881 in Chariton Co., Missouri.²⁴² (Edgar Alphonso Hopkins was born in 1853 in Ashippun, Dodge Co., WI ²⁴² and died in 1897-1900 in Minnesota ²⁴².)