Daniel, the first born and only son of Joshua and Ann Hoopes, was baptized at the old parish church at Skelton-in-Cleveland, Yorkshire, England on May 27, 1672. He was undoubtedly born at the Hoopes ancestral home at Great Moorsholm, a few miles away, although we don't know the date. His mother died when Daniel was about six years old. His father then married Isabel (spelled Esbile in the parish register) on May 1, 1679, at the Anglican (Church of England) parish church at Skelton-in-Cleveland, where Joshua's ancestors were baptized, married and in whose churchyard were buried. However, shortly after their marriage, Joshua and Isabel joined The Society of Friends, commonly called Quakers, as some of their relatives had already done.
Because of religious persecution by the Crown, the Joshua Hoopes family, including eleven year old Daniel and his two younger sisters, Margaret and Christian, set sail on the 13th and last of William Penn's ships, the Providence of Scarborough. After weeks at sea in the tiny sailing vessel, they arrived at the mouth of the Delaware River on Nov 9, 1683. The Hoopes family settled in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where Joshua obtained 100 acres of prime farmland.
Without doubt, Daniel found his new country and life exciting, but hard. He became active in the local Quaker congregation. Quakers were the predominant culture and religion, as William Penn, a famous Quaker, had founded Pennsylvania, which means "Penn's woods." When Daniel was about 18 years old, his step mother died. Daniel's father married for the third time in 1693, a widow named Eleanor Pownal, who had children of her own.
By 1696, Daniel was 26, unmarried, and was working the family farm. His father had been elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly and together they had purchased another 500 or so acres of land. This new land was near Westtown, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Daniel probably lived on the land, erecting log houses before he began building more substantial dwellings of native stone.
Records found in an old Friend's (Quaker) meeting house in Lima, Pennsylvania, not far from Westtown, show that in 1696, Daniel was married to Jane Worrilow. She was the daughter of Thomas and Jean Perkes Worrilow. Although we don't know the date of her birth, we know she was baptized in the Anglican parish church of Houghton, Staffordshire, England, on April 20, 1675. Daniel and Jane immediately started having children-she gave birth to 17 in all, two of them twins. (Their 15th child, Nathan Hoopes, is our direct ancestor.)
By 1723, after they had been married 27 years and had at least 16 children, Daniel and Jane had erected a large house on the Westtown property near Street Road, which runs through Pennsylvania to Delaware. They called this place "Brooznoll," which means "windy knoll," the name of the original Worrilow home in England.
The great house at "Brooznoll" is made of local stone, and the individual blocks are about ten inches by three inches. An article published in the local newspaper in 1908, when the home was almost 200 years old, describes it as being L-shaped, with the long side facing the road. There are two front doors and two front windows, and it is obvious the house was added onto several times over the many years that Daniel and his descendants lived in it. On the east end of the house is plainly engraved and still visible in the stones, the initials and date, "D. & J. H., 1723," which stands for Daniel and Jane Hoopes. Several other initials and dates were chiseled into the stones in later years, as different additions and remodeling was done. This substantial home is still being lived in.
Daniel was active in local community affairs and was respected as a "yeoman," an old English term he used to describe himself, which means a farmer who cultivates his own land. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly (as was his father) and was elected the first Justice of the Peace of Westtown. Daniel and Jane, along with their children, were also active members of the Quaker community.
Jane died sometime before 1746, at the age of approximately 71.
Much can be learned about Daniel and his times from his will, which was written on April 29, 1746, some 3 years before his death. Here are some quotes: "I, Daniel Hoopes of Westtown in the County of Chester in the Province of Pennsylvania, yeoman, being indisposed in body but sound of mind and memory, prayed (sic) be the Lord for the same, considering that it is appointed for all men once to dye (sic), do make my last will and testament...I commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God who gave it and my body I commit to the earth to be decently buried and dispose (sic) of as follows (viz) I order that my just debts and funeral charges be paid and discharged by my executors...I give and bequeath to my oldest son Joshua Hoopes my negro named Tom, and also my still with the appurtenances and my clock and my walnut desk and cloaths (sic) trees...to my daughter Mary ten pounds of current money of the Province...to my son Daniel Hoopes my large panel oak chest and one set of silver coat buttons and five shillings in money...I give and bequeath unto my son Nathan (our ancestor) the sum of five pounds current money aforesaid and my riding horse, saddle, and bridle... unto my daughter Christian all my beds, bedding, bedsteads, and furniture thereof and all my pewter of every sort and my great looking glass and also all my earthenware..." Daniel's written name at the bottom of his will, includes the middle initial "D."
Daniel D. Hoopes died at the age of 77, in 1749, at Westtown, Chester County, Pennsylvania and was buried there. He has a very large posterity.
