Looking for information on a Revolutionary War era Joseph HOPKINS of Rhode Island.

Here is what is known for sure at this time and can be documented. There was a Joseph HOPKINS that had a wife named Mary, and they had at least three daughters named; Cynthia, Bethia, and Sylvia.

Cynthia (HOPKINS) (1775-1860) married Aaron HULET (1755-1835,) (sometimes HULETT, HEWLET, HEWLETT, HUGHLET, and probably other spellings, but HULET is most normal.)

Aaron HULET was born in 1755 in Plainfield, Windham Co., CT, and served in the Revolution as a private in several different periods of the war, and was a pensioner. I have copies of his pension file. Cynthia was his second wife and she also received a widow’s pension.

In the widow’s application there is a document signed by her two sisters that certifies that Cynthia and Aaron were married. The sisters names are given and so is the fact that their fathers’ name was “Joseph HOPKINS.” Cynthia actually filed twice, first in 1838 for her normal widow’s pension, then again in 1855 for a Bounty Land Warrant. It is not known for sure which filing the separate undated sisters document was filed, but seems most likely would have been the 1838 filing.

Now here is the problem. I have quite a lot of very good information on Cynthia and Aaron, including their graves in Shaftsbury, Bennington Co., Vermont in an area that was known as “Little Rhodie” (all others in the cemetery are MATTISONs from Rhode Island.)

One of the sisters signed her name as “Bethia REYNOLDS.” The third sister signed as “Sylvia PARKER.” Who were they? Where did they live? When and who did they marry? When did they die? Where are they buried? Why can I not find them on ANY census? It seems likely that they would have resided near Cynthia in Shaftsbury, Arlington or Bennington, Vermont, or perhaps very close by across the New York State line in Washington County, New York, possibly in Cambridge, Jackson, Salem, or White Creek. Many people from all of those communities interacted quite a bit. Bethia (HOPKINS) REYNOLDS and Sylvia (HOPKINS) PARKER possibly could have still lived back in Rhode Island at that time, but if so, where?

Cynthia and Aaron were married in Foster, Rhode Island in 1793, and my strongest hunch is that Joseph HOPKINS and his wife Mary were most likely the ones known to have been from West Greenwich, Kent Co., RI., but then comes the next problem. Which Joseph HOPKINS? In several different listings of West Greenwich, RI Militia reports there were two very active Joseph HOPKINS and when ever listed they were either described as “Joseph HOPKINS, son of Thomas” or “Joseph HOPKINS son of Samuel.”

Josephs’ wifes’ name as “Mary” is listed as the name of Cynthia (HOPKINS) HULET’s mothers’ name in the Shaftsbury town records. No cemetery information is known for Mary, but she was living, “aged near 80 years,” with Aaron and Cythia in Shaftsbury, in June 1820, when Aaron filed for his pension.

So to recap:
Need help with Joseph HOPKINS (flourished during the Revolutionary War period,) somewhere in Rhode Island. His wife’s name was Mary. He had at least three daughters; Cynthia (HOPKINS) HULET, Bethia (HOPKINS) REYNOLDS, and Sylvia (HOPKINS) PARKER.

“PLEASE” help me find these people! Been searching for thirty years, I’m getting old.

The email addresses I’ve used for many years have changed several times, but you will no doubt always be able to reach me through my website: Upstate New York Genealogy, www.unyg.com.

All ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Dick Hillenbrand