HOPPOCK. Originally the name of this German immigrant family was spelled Happaugh or Hausbach. Johann George Hoppock and wife Anna Magdalena settled in Lebanon Township around 1730. The family soon acquired large acreage there and in Amwell Township, and had numerous descendants.
beginning in 1807 when Lambert was a member of Congress ending in 1815 when Lambert was in his last year as a U. S. Senator
The original letters can be found in the Emma Finney Welch Collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. I have transcribed the letters as Lambert wrote them, which is why there is an absence of commas and periods. My only change is the addition of paragraph breaks to make the letters easier to follow. Check my running glossary of names mentioned by Lambert to see who he’s referring to.
In this week’s edition of the Hunterdon County Democrat, the regular feature “Old Ink” had an interesting item:
1887
PRESIDENTIAL–The house owned by Mr. George Hoppock at Rosemont is now undergoing an overhauling. This is an old relic, built in 1754. The rafters were raised on the day of Braddock’s defeat. It was long known as Rittenhouse’s tavern. It is reported that Gen. Washington took dinner in the house during the period of the Revolutionary War.
People Mentioned in the Letters of John Lambert to Susan M. Hoppock, arranged alphabetically first by given names that have no surnames, then by surname (married women are listed under their maiden names).
I have begun to realize that it is a challenge to keep track of all the people mentioned by John Lambert, mostly family but also friends and neighbors. So here is a list of them all so far, which I will add to whenever someone new is mentioned. This is most definitely a work in progress, and any help that readers can lend me for some of my mysteries will be most appreciated. I will include a link to this post with each subsequent letter published. To view those letters, click on the topic “John Lambert” in the right-hand column.
Letters from John Lambert to his nine-year-old granddaughter Susan Hoppock when Lambert was a member of the Ninth Congress
In January 1807, John Lambert was a member of the House of Representatives. He and all the representatives from New Jersey were members of Thomas Jefferson’s party, the Democratic Republicans or Jeffersonian Republicans, as they were later known. And they were all elected at large. These were the final days of the Ninth Congress, which had come into session on March 4, 1805, and would end on March 4, 1807.
Letters from John Lambert to granddaughter Susan Hoppock
beginning in 1807 when Lambert was a member of Congress and ending in 1815 when Lambert was in his last year as a U. S. Senator
In 1807, John Lambert, member of Congress from what is today Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, began a correspondence with his granddaughter, Susan M. Hoppock. She was 9 years old, and John Lambert was 61. He loved her very much, but if he saved her letters, they have not survived. However, Susan Hoppock also loved her grandfather, and the letters she received from him were preserved by her descendants and are now kept at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. I visited there and took pictures of every single letter, because someday I hope to write something about John Lambert’s very interesting career. But these letters are so charming in themselves, I’ve decided to publish them from time to time.
by Jonathan M. Hoppock published in The Democrat Advertiser, January 25, 1906
This article was written by J. M. Hoppock. I have added corrections and additions in footnotes. Mr. Hoppock’s very specific description of this building, which was demolished long ago, is invaluable to students of the township’s history and early architecture.
