Finding Aid to the Hopping Family Papers of Hanover, 1820-1941; not dated Finding Aid to the Hopping Family Papers of Hanover, 1820-1941; not dated North Jersey History and Genealogy Center
The Morristown and Morris Township Library One Miller Road Morristown, NJ 07960
Overview of Collection Hopping family H 929 MSS Hopping Hopping Family Papers of Hanover, 1820-1941; not dated. .25 linear foot in 1 manuscript box History of the Hopping Family of Hanover

Sometime between 1680 and 1700 John Hopping left Elizabeth Town (present day Long Island, New York) and settled in the Township of Hanover in New Jersey. Though not the first person to settle in this area, his homestead on the banks of the Black Brook became known, on birth and death records, as Hoppingtown. Almost a hundred years later, in 1805, residents of the area changed to the more official sounding name of Columbia. By 1878, the town applied for a post office. However, upon learning that they couldn't have a post office because there already was a Columbia post office elsewhere in New Jersey, the name of the area was changed again. From 1878 to 1899, the area was known as Afton. In 1899, when Afton decided to break away from the Township of Chatham in order to become its own borough (the break from the Township of Hanover had occurred in 1806 when boundaries had been redrawn), it chose a new name for itself. Wanting to honor Hamilton and Florence Twombly, large estate owners within the new borough, the area was renamed with a combination of their two given names: Florham Park. Even though the name of Hoppingtown had not been in use for close to one hundred years, a Hopping descendent, Theodore R., was named to the first Florham Park council.

According to previous research found in the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center's vertical files, Daniel Hopping (third grandson of John Hopping) built the old Hopping Homestead about 1790. Daniel Hopping's son Samuel, and grandson, Augustus, lived on the homestead as well. Augustus married Elizabeth Ann West of Flushing, New York in 1863. Again, according to notes found in the collection, Augustus raised the roof of the main part of the house between 1850 and 1876. Photographs of the house, labelled either 1820, 1936 or 1941, appear in different folders of the collection. Apart from pictures of the house, photographs of Elizabeth Hopping are the oldest images. Other pictures include: portraits of Estelle Hopping (daughter of Augustus and Elizabeth), postcards with local scenes (one image looks like the Hopping house) and pictures of grandchildren, daughter-in-laws, relatives of the daughter-in-laws, Daniel Miller Hopping and Walter Baylis Hopping. There is a group picture of Estelle and her brother Daniel Miller Hopping with friends, hamming it up for the camera at Lake Hopatcong in 1892, and even a photograph of Elizabeth West Hopping's father, Daniel J. West, at the age of 83.

Sources:

Call number - Item description and/or title, dates.

H VF Hopping- Hopping Family vertical file.

HM2 Flor Lea- Know Your Town Florham Park. League of Women Voters, 1955.

 Related materials in this Repository

HM2 Hano Morr- Morris County Historic Site Survey Hanover Township, 1986/1987.

HM512 Bus Eph- Business Ephemera and Artifacts Collection, circa 1816-2007.

Scope and Content of the Papers

The collection contains photographs, genealogy, postcards, a business card and a wedding invitation.

 Arrangement of the Papers

The twelve folders of this collection are arranged in chronological order. The last folder is not dated.

Important Information for Users of the Correspondence collection

This collection is open to researchers. Correspondence may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission. The contents of the Hopping Family Papers of Hanover, 1820-1940; not dated.may be photocopied, but because this material is a permanent part of the History Center's collections, researchers are advised to photocopy with care, using only the edge copier for bound material. The use of digital cameras is encouraged.

Preferred Citation

When citing specific folders: Indicate <title render="bold">box/<title render="bold">folder number and <title render="bold">folder title and dates before: <title render="italic">Hopping Family Papers of Hanover. North Jersey History Center, The Morristown and Morris Township Library. Morristown, NJ.

 Processing Information

Finding Aid arranged and encoded by the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center Archivist, 2009.

Container List 1 1 Daniel Hopping house [18 photographs], 1820. 1 2 Elizabeth Ann West Hopping [8 photographs], 1864; not dated. 1 3 Estelle Hopping Ball [5 photographs, 2 wedding invitations, 4 postcards], circa 1877; 1894; 1906; 1908; not dated. 1 4 Family genealogy, photographs [2], negatives [6], and postcards [2], 1180-1937. 1 5 Photographs [5] and genealogy, circa 1895; 1907-1912. 1 6 Sarah G. Crawford Hopping [3 photographs], 1896; 1902. 1 7 Walter Baylis Hopping [6 photographs; 1 business card], 1896-1917; not dated. 1 8 Emmie Schoeneck Hopping [1 photograph; 2 postcards], 1906; not dated. 1 9 First Presbyterian Church showing Hopping gravestones [2 photographs; 1 postcard; 1 souvenir plate; newspaper clipping], circa 1906; 1909; not dated. 1 10 Daniel Miller Hopping [4 postcards], 1906-1907; 1915; not dated. 1 11 Daniel Hopping house [6 photographs, correspondence and notes], 1936; 1941; not dated. 1 12 Daniel J. West [age 83], not dated.