Hopkins Family Houses

Haddonfield, New Jersey

While visiting Haddonfield a few years ago, I took pictures of some of the houses that were once the residences of Hopkins families. None of them are now occupied by Hopkinses, but they once figured importantly in the family history.

Ebenezer Hopkins House

This was the home of Ebenezer Hopkins. It´s situated on the Cooper River on the way to Camden, on land sold to him (for a token payment of five shillings) by John and Elizabeth Estaugh in 1737, the year he married Sarah Lord. It was built that year and was where he lived until he died in 1757. It sits on a rise overlooking the river, which is a broad highway leading to the Delaware and across it to Philadelphia. After Ebenezer died, Sarah moved into Haddonfield to the house that now houses the library of the Historical Society.

65 Haddon Avenue

This is the house built in 1799 by John Estaugh Hopkins as his retirement home. It´s very much like it was when he built it and moved to town from his plantation. It´s located at 65 Haddon Avenue, the main road from Camden to Haddonfield, not far from the Kings Highway. Note the similarity in design to the house above, in which John Estaugh Hopkins was raised.

Birdwood Hall

The house of William Estaugh Hopkins, built in 1794, is located on the Cooper River near Hopkins Pond, and was the residence of former Governor Alfred E. Discoll for a number of years. This is the house my father visited when he was in Haddonfield about fifty years ago. He said that Driscoll invited him in and was quite cordial toward him as he gave Dad a tour of the house.

Haddonfield Friends Meeting House,
seen from the burying ground.

While touring the town, we naturally stopped to see the Haddonfield Meeting House and to walk the burying ground. This meeting house is just off Haddon Avenue and the Kings Highway, near the commercial heart of the town, but it was very peaceful and quiet there. We searched in vain for Hopkins graves, and even missed Elizabeth Estaugh´s grave, but we enjoyed being there in such a historic place.

Samuel Mickle House
(photo by a Lord cousin)

While we were in Haddonfield, we were treated to a visit to the library of the Historical Society, which is located in the Samuel Mickle house. This was once the home of Sarah Lord Hopkins, widow of Ebenezer Hopkins. It is now located on the King´s Highway next to Mountwell, the home of the Society. We were warmly received by the library staff, and given a quick tour of the town and the Hopkins houses shown above. We hope to pay a return visit some day.

Kings Highway
(photo by a Lord cousin)

Haddonfield is a pleasant, upper-class suburban town with large, old houses and streets canopied with large trees. This scene was recorded in front of the Historical Society and the Samuel Mickle house. It´s a short distance to the commercial center of town, and to the Meeting House and Birdwood.

The Hopkins houses shown above are no longer occupied by Hopkinses. A few Hopkins families left the area for other towns or states (as mine did). In other cases, there were no sons to inherit, and the houses and land passed to daughters. And in some cases the houses were sold outside the family. But many Hopkins descendants still live in and around Haddonfield.

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This file was last updated on 7/13/2019.