From California comes a photo of a bowl that was expertized to be 400+ years old. Along with
the tale is that it has been passed down through descendants of Mariah Gradeless Knight of Whitley County to the present, and that the bowl had been brought to this country on the Mayflower by Stephen Hopkins. Mariah Gradeless Knight was the daughter of Elizabeth 'Betsy' Waugh Gradeless, the daughter of Mary Hopkins Waugh the daughter of Edward and Rebecca Hopkins. Edward Hopkins was a soldier of the American Revolution from the state of New Jersey. This bowl would have passed to Mariah when Betsy Gradeless (her mother) died in 1862 and probably left Whitley County about 100 years ago.. Bowl is now in California in the possession of Earl Knight.
The bowl measures 5 1/2 inches tall from base to lip without lid. The lid is another 3 1/2 inches tall and recesses into the lip. The bowl is approximately 8 inches tall with the lid on. The base is octagonal 5 1/4 inches across. The opening is also octagonal in shape with a circle opening measuring 3 1/4 inches across. The lid is dome shaped with approximately 3 inches of clearance inside. Glued to the bottom is this paper note:
Joseph Knight
and Maria Gradless Knight
married March 19, 1850. He was
born March 23, 1827 Stark Co., Ohio
Died March 28, 1893 66 years old
Maria Gradless Knight was born Jun. 15,
1832, Died Feb. 11, 1921 - 89 yrs. old.
Maria Gradless Knight was born in
Fayette Co. Ohio. She was a twin and could
put her in this sugar bowl and put the
lid on. Her twin brother Joseph Jr.
died in his early 20s. His
Doctor was David Linville
No one has been able to document the connection to Stephen Hopkins who was very prominent in Colonial New England. The tale of descent from Stephen Hopkins has been in several biographical histories from the 1800's but has never been documented.
Please contact the Webmaster if you have anything to add on the "Hopkins Bowl" of if other Stephen Hopkins artifacts are still in or have passed through Whitley County. Links to notes on the Hopkins Family.
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