David Hopkins Chapter, NSDAR

HISTORY OF THE THE DAVID HOPKINS CHAPTER, NSDAR

Our chapter, although small in number of members, has made many contributions to the state organization with various members serving as state officers and also as District V directors. We also have been staunch supporters of the DAR school at Tamassee with a majority of our members collecting soup labels and saving items for the thrift shop. Several of our members have been active as volunteers for veterans at the Dorn VA Hospital.

The first Regent was Miss Laura Jervey Hopkins, one of the chapter's most distinguished members and a dedicated historian. Miss Laura was dedicated to preserving the history of the Hopkins area and published a fascinating book on several families of the area. Lower Richland Planters is an invaluable aid to those doing genealogy as well as providing an honest look at real people as they lived through wars and hardship, fell in love, started families and participated in the formation of a new nation.

Information on our chapter's namesake is taken from Miss Laura's book and offers an example of the type people the DAR seeks to pay tribute to.

David Hopkins joined Thomas Sumter's army when the British overran the state in 1780. He was only seventeen-years old. Imagine the courage it took for his mother to deal with this on top of living in a state occupied by an enemy army.

Young David was very lucky in his first encounters with enemy. On a visit to his home, a band of Tories came looking for him, but his resourceful mother hid him in the garden under the collard plants. In one encounter with an enemy soldier, the young men tried to shoot it out, but wet powder caused both guns not to fire and they agreed to let each other travel on.

Unfortunately for David, during a battle between Sumter's men and the British at Wright's Bluff near McClellanville, he was severely injured in the eye and taken prisoner. The wounded prisoners were kept on the second floor of a private home.

There are two legends concerning David's death reported in Miss Laura's book. In the first he was said to become delirious when the wound became infected and attacked a guard causing them  both to fall  from an open window and be killed.

The second legend shows a more impetuous and romantic young man. It reports that while lying on his cot, a British guard insulted David and his rebellious spirit, causing him to leap from his bed and charge the guard, which resulted in both of them falling from the window to their deaths.

Our chapter membership dropped to 16 in 2010, but it has grown to 27 members currently. Today our chapter includes people from Blythewood, Columbia, Forest Acres, Hopkins, and Lexington. Our meetings involve varied presentations and demonstrations as well as tours to such points of interest as the Hopkins Family Cemetery, Congaree National Park, the Blythewood Museum, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church (Ridgeway) and the newly restored Woodrow Wilson Home. The essential nature of the chapter has not changed however; it remains a group of friends who enjoy each others’ company and treasures the sacrifices our patriot ancestors made, which enable us to enjoy life in our wonderful country today.

History compiled by Mary Alice Hopkins Anderson (Mrs. B. Scott) and Margaret Britt Sprott (Mrs. Daniel Richardson), Regent.

If you would like more information about the DAR, including membership requirements, 
please email our chapter contact: Margaret Sprott

Please visit our National and State Society home pages below:

National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
South Carolina Daughters of the American Revolution