John Thomas Breedlove Family

The Children of John Thomas Breedlove
& The Cannon/Hopkins Connections

Suffice it to say that the pioneer families of Howell Co., MO, are very interwoven and the five surviving children of John Thomas Breedlove were connected several times over to a number of these pioneer families.

I have sorted it out the best I can using other people’s information on www rootsweb.com , federal census records, and some birth, death, and marriage records from the IL and MO GenWeb internet sites or the IL state archives, and land patent records from the Bureau of Land Management, which are on-line. Since I have never been to Howell Co., MO, and don’t know any of these people of my own knowledge I may have made mistakes. If you spot any errors, please let me know at csato@columbus.rr.com.

John Thomas Breedlove married Lola Catherine Bray and together they had three daughters: Rachel, Maudie, and Lola Ethel. Lola C. died in 1905 and John T. remarried to Sarah Ellenor Forrest and had two more surviving children, Opal and David.

Lola Catherine Bray was the daughter of Jesse Bray and Emma Miller. Jesse’s parents were Moses & Catherine Bray. Emma’s parents were John Miller and Amelia Hart. All these folks lived in Vandalia, Fayette Co., IL. Emma Miller’s older brother, Jacob Miller, married Jesse’s older sister Sarah Bray. They remained in Vandalia. Emma and Jacob’s father may have served in the Union army in the Civil War. There were two John Millers from Vandalia who served in the 97th IL Infantry from Vandalia, Fayette Co., IL. One of them deserted and the other was killed in an accident. The 97th IL Infantry served all over the South and was at the siege of Vicksburg and were sent as far south as New Orleans. On their way to New Orleans the unit was in a train accident in which a number of men were killed and injured. By 1870 Amelia Hart Miller and her youngest two daughters, Emmaly and Liza, are listed on their own in the census for Vandalia, Fayette Co., IL. In the 1880 census for Vandalia Jesse & Emma Bray and Jacob & Sarah Miller are listed on the same page. Jesse and Emma had four children: Moses Clifton “Cliff”, Millie, Lola C. and Henry.

Sometime between 1881 when Lola C. was born in IL and 1884 when her younger brother Henry was born in MO, Jesse and Emma moved to Howell Co., MO, and took up a homestead claim (see land patents on Bureau of Land Management web site). By 1887 Emma had remarried to Willis M. Wright and finalized the homestead claim, which started in the names of Jesse and Emma Bray, as Emma Wright. Obviously Jesse died somewhere between 1884 and 1887, though I cannot find a death record for him. By her second husband, Willis M. Wright, Emma had another son, Luther K. Wright. Emma Miller Bray Wright died in 1902 and in the 1910 census Luther is living with his half-brother Noah Wright and Noah’s wife, Rhoda Breedlove, a sister of John Thomas Breedlove. Lola C. Bray married John Thomas Breedlove and moved to TX and then WA. Her sister Millie married Lester Pummill and eventually moved to Warm Springs, Jefferson Co., OR, where they bought land in 1913 (see attached land patent). I cannot find any records for Henry, their younger brother, after the 1910 census in which he is living with Millie and Lester in Vandalia, Fayette Co., IL. Cliff Bray married Lula Bell Hopkins of Howell Co., MO, and eventually moved to Dallas, TX. Lula Bell died in 1905 in Indian Territory.

Lola C. and John Breedlove moved to TX, with their first son who was born in MO and died at about one and a half years of age. They moved back to Howell Co., MO, and had Rachel and Maudie, then moved to Wilbur, Lincoln Co., WA, where my grandmother, Lola Ethel Breedlove, was born in 1905. Shortly after, Lola C. died of TB and is buried in Wilbur. John Thomas was afraid he could not keep a small baby alive on the trip back to MO and apparently felt he had nowhere else to turn but to his sisters back in MO for help in raising his children, so he gave Lola E. up for adoption and returned to Howell Co., MO, with Rachel and Maudie.

Rachel married Walter Lee Cannon, who was the second cousin of Maudie Breedlove’s husband, Ernest L. Hopkins. The Cannon and Hopkins families are intertwined for several generations back from Walter Lee, known as “Bob” and Ernest. Ernest was also the first cousin of Cliff Bray’s wife, Lula Bell Hopkins.

Lula Bell Hopkins’ parents were Andrew Jackson Hopkins and his second cousin Nancy E. Hopkins. Andrew’s parents were John Hopkins and Elizabeth Martin. Nancy’s parents were Joseph G. Hopkins and Rachel Cannon, an aunt of Walter Lee Cannon’s father, William C. Cannon. John Hopkins’ parents were Thomas Hopkins and Lydia Beck. Joseph G. Hopkins’ parents were Walker Hopkins, Thomas’ brother, and Nancy Beck, Lydia’s sister. The parents of John and Walker were William L. Hopkins and Jane Stone. The parents of Lydia and Nancy Beck were Sarah Gibson Cannon and Jeremiah Beck. Sarah Gibson Cannon was the child of Nancy Sitton by her first husband, but she was raised by her stepfather, Joseph Cannon. Joseph Cannon and Nancy Sitton were the great great grandparents of Rachel Breedlove’s husband, Walter Lee Cannon. There is some speculation that Nancy Sitton’s brother was married to Jeremiah Beck’s sister.

Ernest L. Hopkins, Maudie Breedlove’s husband, was the son of Charles Richard “Dick” Hopkins and Mary Burt. Charles’ parents were John “Diddy” Hopkins and Elizabeth Martin. His brother Andrew was Lula Bell’s father. Dick homesteaded land and farmed in Howell Co., MO, and also ran a sawmill and a threshing machine. His father, John, owned land in Howell Co., MO, and fought in the Civil War and was wounded. Later he was tending his brother’s farm and was shot in the back by Bushwhackers who stole his horse and left him for dead. When the Bushwhackers learned that he had survived they returned and burned down his house. He hid in a sink hole about a mile away and survived. John Hopkins was the child of Thomas Hopkins and Lydia Beck, mentioned above. Their marriage was the first marriage recorded in Lincoln Co., MO, in 1826. In 1830 they lived in Montgomery Co., MO. One researcher recounted two stories of oral family history concerning Thomas Hopkins and his wife Lydia Beck. One story was that Thomas murdered Lydia and married another woman. The other story is that Lydia was captured by Indians. In either case, she apparently disappeared and no one knew what happened to her. She is last recorded in 1842 and is believed to be buried in Franklin Co., MO. Her father was Jeremiah Beck who married Sarah Gibson Cannon. He was from Randolph Co., NC. Thomas Hopkins moved to Richwood, MO, where his children with his second wife were born. He died in West Plains, MO, while visiting his son John. Thomas Hopkins’ parents were William L. Hopkins and Jane Stone. William was from Green or Adair Co., KY and came to MO in 1810 and lived in the house of Capt. James Callaway, a son-in-law of Daniel Boone. In 1819 William and Jane lived in what is now Warren Co., MO.

Walter Lee “Bob” Cannon, Rachel Breedlove’s husband, was the child of William C. Cannon and Mary M. Hopkins. William was born in Lincoln Co., MO, and moved to Howell Co., MO. Mary was born in Howell Co., MO. William was the son of Nathan/Nathaniel Cannon and his wife Joann/Joanna. Joanna Cannon was born in Maryland. Nathan’s parents were Phillip S. Cannon and Elizabeth McCoy. Phillip Cannon’s parents were Joseph Cannon and Nancy Sitton, mentioned above. Elizabeth McCoy’s parents were Daniel McCoy and Rachel Zumwalt. The Cannons came from Wilson Co., TN, and moved to St. Charles Co., MO. Walter Cannon’s mother, Mary M. Hopkins, was the child of Jacob Hopkins and Elizabeth Smith. Jacob’s father was John C. Hopkins, a brother of Thomas and Walker Hopkins, mentioned above. His wife was Sarah Capps. John C., Thomas, and Walker were all the children of William L. Hopkins and Jane Stone. Many of these people, Cannons and Hopkins, are buried in the New Liberty Baptist Cemetery in Howell Co., MO.

Walter Cannon’s grandfather, Nathan Cannon, had a sister Rachel Cannon, mentioned above, who was married to Joseph G. Hopkins. Joseph fought in the Civil War for the Confederacy, was captured, and died in prison. Rachel went to live with Daniel M. Cannon, her and Nathan’s brother. He and his wife, Zerilda Hopkins, apparently did not have children of their own and helped raise Rachel’s children. Zerilda Hopkins’ parents were Thomas Hopkins and Lydia Beck. Her brother, John, was the grandfather of Lula Bell Hopkins and Ernest L. Hopkins.

Opal Breedlove and David Oscar Breedlove were the children of John Thomas Breedlove and his second wife, Sarah Ellenor Forrest, and they married cousins, surnamed Hudson, who were Mormons. David’s wife was named Roma Hudson. The Hudsons were from Canada, though some were born in Utah. All these folks ended up in Washington state in Everett and Marysville, Snohomish Co., WA. Their half-sister Lola Ethel was raised by her adoptive parents, William and Grace King, in Stevens and Chelan Co., WA. She lived most of her life in Wenatchee, Chelan Co., WA, with her husband John F. Parks. When she was in the hospital in 1929 having my father, Richard A. Parks, she was found by her birth father John Thomas Breedlove and her sister Maudie Breedlove Hopkins. She was 24 years old, just the age her mother Lola Catherine Bray Breedlove was when she died. John Thomas and his younger children lived in Everett, WA, at that time. Apparently they went back and forth between Washington and Missouri. John Thomas and his wife Ella (Sarah Ellenor) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Everett, WA, and died there. They are buried in nearby Edmonds, Snohomish Co., WA.

Sarah Ellenor Forrest was also a first cousin of Maudie’s husband, Ernest, and Cliff Bray’s wife, Lula Bell, through her mother, Zilpha Ann Hopkins, sister of Andrew Jackson and Charles Richard “Dick” Hopkins. Zilpha’s father was John Hopkins, who married Elizabeth Martin, daughter of Joseph Martin and Jemima Barnes.

The Forrest family came from the Carolinas to Benton Co., TN, and then to Howell Co., MO. They are probably related to the famous Confederate Civil War general, Nathan Bedford Forrest. Ella Forrest Breedlove’s father was James D. Forrest. He married Zilpha Ann Hopkins in 1876 in Howell Co., MO. His parents were Hezekiah Forrest and Martha Elender Utley, who moved from Benton Co., TN, to Howell Co., MO, with their children. Martha’s father was Able Utley, son of Burwell Utley and Sarah Lashley. Burwell Utley came from Wake Co., NC, and served in the Revolutionary War. Able and his brothers moved to Benton Co., TN, following their uncle, Burwell Lashley, who settled in what eventually became Humphreys Co., TN. Hezekiah Forrest’s father was James Forrest, who came to Benton Co., TN, from South Carolina.

Able’s brother, Seth, was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to organize a Mormon church in Benton Co., TN. He sold his land in Benton Co. and followed the Mormons to Arkansas, where he died.

I have included information on the people mentioned above gleaned from internet research. I have no way to verify much of it, but have done so where possible with census, marriage and land patent records. Please send additions/corrections to Cathy (Parks) Sato, csato@columbus.rr.com.

I hope you can follow all the convolutions of this genealogy. I had to draw elaborate charts with colored pencils to figure it out, but it was fun!

Sources:

Crawford and Fayette Co., IL GenWeb pages
Howell Co., MO GenWeb site
White Co., TN GenWeb site
Barren Co., KY GenWeb site
TN GenWeb
Benton Co., TN GenWeb-early settler biographies of Burwell and Able Utley and hitory of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, submitted by E.J. & Frances Sims
Warren Co., TN GenWeb
Chatham Co., NC GenWeb
Lincoln Co., WA GenWeb-death index
Illinois State Archives web page marriage and death indexes, public domain land tracts
Bureau of Land Management web site on-line data base of land patents
Missouri State Archives birth and death indexes
Howell Co. MO marriage records linked from Howell Co., MO GenWeb site
Parks/Breedlove family records
LDS FamilySearch web site-files submitted by David Oscar Breedlove, Edra "Jean" Allen Price, Jack R. Feldman Jr., Herbert R. Mitchell,Fawnita Kennedy

Terrie Burton (annburt@joblin.com) files at www.rootsweb.com - Terrie Hopkins Genealogy Research / linked from Howell County

U.S. census on HeritageQuest and AncestryPlus, accessed at public library

Peggy Sorrell (peggysorrell@yahoo.com) at www.rootsweb.com
Sue Smith (sue1211@earthlink.net) at www.rootsweb.com
St. Charles Co., MO GenWeb site, sketch of Joseph Cannon from "A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri" by William S. Bryan and Robert Rose, published by Bryan & Co., St. Louis, MO, 1876
Claudia Riley (riley@dol.net) at www.rootsweb.com
Linda Lu Cannon (llc@lindalit.com) at www.rootsweb.com
Darlene Pace (darlene@adweb.net)
Jefferson Co., OR GenWeb site-Oregon Death Index
OR GenWeb site
Social Security Death Index
Shelley Athari (shelley_squirrel@hotmail.com) at www.rootsweb.com
Carl Pentecost (pentecostfamilyweb@yahoo.com) at www.rootsweb.com
Bill Archer (bjarcher@worldnet.att.net) at www.rootsweb.com
Gene Kirk (ekirk@preferred.com) at www.rootsweb.com
Carol Wilkerson, Breedlove family researcher
Judy K. Wilson (WindyWindy1919@Yahoo.com) at www.rootsweb.com
Bill Dunn (familymen@sbcglobal.net) at www.rootsweb.com

Joy Goodwin (dgood64015@aol.com) at www.rootsweb.com

IL Civil War records at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilcivilw/r100/097-i-in.htm

Civil War records at http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/

Joyce Smith (drsmith@midwest.net) at www.rootsweb.com

Chris Alexander (marbles@sbcglobal.net) at www.rootsweb.com

Millie Morris (white-morris@sbcglobal.net) at www.rootsweb.com

Roger A. Hart (rahart3@cob.net) at www.rootsweb.com

Donald Murphy (donnlem@bellsouth.net) at www.rootweb.com

Pricilla Richards (richards@duo-county.com) at www.rootsweb.com

Alice Gedge (adgedge@myway.com) at www.rootsweb.com

History of the Hart Family of Warminster, Bucks County, Pennsylvania by W. W. H. Davis, printed privately, available at HeritageQuest Online

Diane Mueller (Dianem0779@aol.com) at www.rootsweb.com and LDS Family Search