Searching for any family connections and information on Seymour P. HOPKINS, born about 1818 in Georgia, who was a carriage/coach maker in Montgomery, Alabama, in the 1850s-1860s.

Seymour P. Hopkins married twice:

(1) Mrs. Mahala (Mahaleth) BYRD in 1835 in Richmond Co., GA

(2) Elizabeth "Lizzie" McCLURKIN in 1855 in Montgomery, Alabama.

Who were Seymour Hopkins' siblings and parents? What was Mahala's maiden name, and who was her BYRD husband?

Seymour and Mahala Hopkins moved to the capital city of Montgomery, Alabama, by 1850 when he was counted in the census as a "carriage maker." Living with Seymour, who was age 32, and wife Mahala, age 45, in 1850 were John Hopkins, 22, and Theodore Hopkins, 20, both born Georgia and both working as printers. These young men are too old to be Seymour's children, though they could have been his brothers. Their surname was marked with a "ditto" beneath Seymour's name as head of household, and I think they may have been Byrds rather than Hopkins, and were Mahala's sons by her first husband, _____ BYRD. Seymour Hopkins' grandchildren by his second wife recalled that he had at least two sons with his first wife. These may have been John and Theodore BYRD, Seymour's step-sons. I haven't found these young men in any other censuses as either Hopkins or Byrds.

Mahala (Malaleth) BYRD Hopkins died 13 August 1854 at the home of an unnamed daughter in Griffin, Georgia (Spalding County), per her obituary in Montgomery newspapers.
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1830 census - Richmond County, Georgia, 2nd ward in city of Augusta, p. 264b-265:

Mahala BYRD

1 female 20-30 (born 1800-1810) = Mahala? She's the right age to be Seymour Hopkins' wife, Mrs. Mahala BYRD, who was born about 1805, per the 1850 census.
1 female 40-50 (born 1780-1790) = Mahala's mother, mother-in-law, other relative or housekeeper/servant? If this older woman is the "Mahala BYRD" who is head of h/h, she may have had a daughter-in-law also named "Mahala."
6 males 20-30 (born 1800-1810) = lodgers?
1 male 5-10 (born 1820-1825) = son of Mahala?
2 males under age 5 (born 1825-1830) = sons of Mahala? their ages fit John and Theodore of the 1850 census
3 slaves
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Richmond Co., GA - Marriages:

Seamor P. Hopkins & Mrs. Mahala BYRD, 20th Oct. 1835
(some transcriptions have "Mahaleth BYRD")
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1850 census - Montgomery (city), Ward 3, Montgomery Co., Alabama
11th Dec. 1850, h/h 1077, family 1117 (only family in this dwelling):

Simore P. Hopkins - 32 - Carriage maker - born Ga
Mahala (ditto) - 45 - Ga
Jno (ditto) - 22 - Printer - born Ga
Theodore (ditto) - 20 - ditto - born Ga
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Seymour P. Hopkins married a second wife, Elizabeth "Lizzie" McCLURKIN, 25 June 1855 in Montgomery, Alabama, daughter of James Andrew McCLURKIN and Mary Margaret Kirkpatrick, Irish immigrants of 1849. Lizzie's father James died on the voyage to America, and his widow was helped by her Kirkpatrick and Davidson relatives who had settled in Alabama.

Seymour and Lizzie Hopkins were counted in the 1860 census in Perry Co., AL, but apparently were only there temporarily. Their daughter Mary Lillian "Lily" (born 1857) was in school in Montgomery from 1863 to 1871, and son James (born 1860) in school 1866-1871. Youngest daughter Elizabeth Tichenor Hopkins (born 1866) was too young for school at that time.

Seymour Hopkins enlisted in the Confederate local defense unit, the "Fireman Guards," in Montgomery in 1863. He survived the war -- his name appears in an 1866 Montgomery city directory, and that's the last we know of him so far.

I haven't found any of this Hopkins family in the 1870 census, though they must have been in Montgomery, AL, since the children were in school there. Perhaps they had gone to visit relatives at the time of the census, and were missed by enumerators in their home city as well as the place they visited.

Seymour's wife Elizabeth McCLURKIN Hopkins died in 1871, which coincides with her children being removed from school and being sent to live with their McCLURKIN grandmother in Wilcox County, Alabama.

Children of Seymour P. HOPKINS and Lizzie McCLURKIN (and there may have been others who died as infants):

1. Mary Lillian "Lily" Hopkins - born 1857, married William Thomas HARPER in 1875, Wilcox Co., AL, and died in 1883.

2. James Franklin Hopkins - born 1860, married Emily Jane CASEY and died in 1939.

3. Elizabeth Tichenor Hopkins - born 1866, married Camillo Sivouri ANDREWS in 1884 and died in 1905.

I'll be glad to share further information, and would appreciate hearing from any descendants of the Hopkins, Byrds, McClurkins and allied families.

Annie Crenshaw