Augustus Hoppes

Augustus Hoppes, an early resident of Henry county, was born August 3, 1831, in West Penn Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, a son of Michael and Sarah (Miller) Hoppes. The Hoppes family came to Ohio the following year and settled in Adams Township, Seneca county; Michael Hoppes being a first purchaser of land at that place. Gust (as he was almost always known) grew up in Seneca county, and on May 14, 1857, he was married to Lydia Gooding, a daughter of Josiah and Amelia (Cooper) Gooding. Augustus and Lydia Hoppes became the parents of four daughters: Jenny (Mrs. Willis Jackson); Martha (Mrs. Frank Ballard); Clara, who died at the age of five; Zella (Mrs. Edward Durbin).

While still in his early teens, Gust experienced a near fatal encounter with a horse. Although surviving the accident, it left him permanently crippled in his right leg and hip. From that time forward, a stout cane was his constant companion. He made only a few concessions to his lameness, however, and astride a horse, or perched upon the seat of a wagon, he was the equal of any man.

In the fever-passion of the Civil War, he joined with his friends and enlisted in the 101st Regiment, O.V.I.; with stubborn determination he refused to be rejected. It was not until the company had reached Camp Chase in Columbus, that he finally encountered an authority with a stubborness to match his own and he reluctantly left his friends and returned home.

At the conclusion of the Civil War, Gust and his younger brother, Asa Hoppes, a veteran of that war, brought their families to Henry County. Gust had previously purchased an eighty acre tract at what was later to become the crossroads village of Grelton; occupying the southwesternmost corner of Damascus, and the southeasternmost corner of Harrison townships. Asa located on a similar tract two miles to the north. Gust's farm was still largely unimproved when he bought it, and the presence of Grelle's sawmill and Jackson's shingle mill nearby made the task of clearing it both easier and more profitable. Grelle's sawmill also provided occasional employment in those early years, and Gust often hauled the product of the mill to Gilead and the canal.

In 1880, the narrow gauge railroad was constructed south from the river and brought new prosperity to the community. Gust sold a portion of his farm to William Mead, who subdivided it to form a part of the new village of Grelton. In the years soon following, Gust purchased another farm in Liberty Township, about three miles east of Liberty Center. On his new farm he constructed an eight room brick home. The expenditures he made during its construction were noted in his journal and are summarized here for the reader to envy: carpenter work, $256.25; brick work, $165.00; slating, $119.35; plastering, $74.00; blinds, sash and doors, $99.00; glass, $44.80; hardware, $75.80; paint and painting, $97.25; lumber, $315.00; lime, $81.10; dressing lumber, $66.00; brick $296.00; tinning, $66.00; window sills, $28.00; lath and lathing, $58.00; cement and labor, $8.50; giving a grant total of $1850.05.

In their later years, Gust and Lydia retired from their farm and moved to Liberty Center, where they lived their remaining years. Lydia died there at the age of 78 years, January 23, 1917, while Gust lived on until April 6, 1923, when he died at the age of 91 years. Both are buried in Young's Cemetery.