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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Fulton County
Munsell Publishing Co., Chicago, 1908

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The Biography of Henry Clay HOOPES 

[Surnames: BROWN, HOOPES, LE MASTERS, MULKINS, PATTERSON] 

HOOPES, HENRY CLAY

    
Of the men who have participated in the agricultural transformation of Vermont Twp., during the past quarter century, none are better or more favorably known than Henry Clay Hoopes, owner of a valuable farm on Section 16 and native of a farm a few miles from the village of Vermont, where he was born Sept. 3, 1855. He had average educational opportunities, principally in the winter terms of school, and remained under the parental roof until after his marriage, Nov. 18, 1879, to Jane Mulkins, who was born in Howard County, Indiana, a daughter of John and Phoebe (Le Masters) Mulkins. Mr. Mulkins died at the beginning of the Civil War, during the period of his enlistment and mustering in, and his wife subsequently married James Patterson, with whom she came to Illinois in 1868, her death occurring in 1877. 
    
In 1880 Mr. Hoopes purchased 80 acres on Sect. 16, 30 acres of which were under cultivation, and the balance he cleared of timber and undergrowth, in time adding 30 acres to the original investment. Twenty-two years upon the same property have witnessed a realization of his most practical ambitions. The telephone and rural delivery, the splendid rural thoroughfares and well-kept fences speak volumes for the public-spiritedness of himself and his fellow agriculturalists. 
    
Mr. and Mrs. Hoopes have had eight children: Homer M., born Dec. 20, 1880, who died Apr. 26, 1904; Elmer, who died at the age of 18 months, May 25, 1885; Harry, born Nov. 20, 1885; Fannie A., born Sept. 7, 1880, who was married Easter Sunday, 1906 to Ira J. Brown, a farmer of Vermont Twp.; Johnnie, born Aug. 20 1890; Ethel J. born Apr. 17, 1894; Lorena Bell, born Oct. 26, 1896; and Donna H., who died at the age of 18 months. 
    
Politically, Mr. Hoopes is extremely liberal but leans to the side of Republicanism. Fraternally he is conncted with the Modern Woodmen of America. Mr. and Mrs. Hoopes, as well as Harry and Fannie, are members of the Christian Church, and are active in social and benevolent work. 
Transcriber's note: The daughter Fannie A. was listed as being born on Sept. 7, 1880, but is it possible that she was born in 1889? Homer M. is listed as being born Dec. 20, 1880.