Welcome to Ulster Worldly, a blog about the history of Presbyterianism. Many of these stories come from my own family, many others come from my own denomination.
Tracing the Dunlap family from a Covenanter minister in Scotland through seven generations to George Dunlap Hopper of Kentucky, and the strain of Presbyterianism that ran through them all. Read More
How John Mitchell Mason's open communion practices and use of hymns contributed to the fracture of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in 1822. Read More
The daily journal of missionary J. Hershey Longenecker during his work building Beechwood Seminary in the Kentucky mountains, documenting his journey from tradesman to missionary. Read More
Over the past few months I’ve been collecting the full text of some of J. Gresham Machen’s letters to the editor from the 1920s and 30s.
The collection spans a critical decade in Machen’s life: from his battles at Princeton Seminary against theological liberalism in the early 1920s, through the fundamentalist-modernist controversy and the formation of Westminster Seminary in 1929, to the final years before his suspension from the PCUSA ministry. During these same years when he was fighting modernism in the church, he was equally engaged fighting statism in the public square.
On August 2, 1936, Stanford Presbyterian Church in Stanford, Kentucky celebrated “Hopper Day,” honoring the children of George Dunlap Hopper. The program featured three of his children who had entered ministry:
Rev. W. H. Hopper, D.D. (William Higgins Hopper), pastor at Burnside, Kentucky, delivered the sermon and benediction.
Rev. Joseph Hopper, my great-grandfather and PCUS missionary to Korea, read the Scripture and led in prayer. This was during his family’s furlough year, shortly before they would return to Korea after their trip around the world in 1935.
Miss Margaret Hopper, Joseph’s sister and missionary in Mokpo, Korea, conducted the vespers service with Mrs. W. O. Martin serving as organist.
My grandfather, Joe B. Hopper, who was fifteen at the time, later recalled attending this service and noting that “the three uncles were sitting in the front pew with backs to the congregation, and it was amusing to note that all three were completely (and similarly) bald.”
The day included morning worship, lunch at the church, and evening vespers.
June 1, 1892: Joseph Hopper born in Stanford, Kentucky to George Dunlap Hopper and Katherine Elizabeth Higgens Hopper.1
1914: Joseph Hopper graduates magna cum laude from Centre College.2
1917: Joseph Hopper graduates from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary with Bachelor of Divinity.1
April 24, 1917: Joseph Hopper licensed to preach by Transylvania Presbytery of the PCUS.1
October 9, 1917: Joseph Hopper ordained by West Lexington Presbytery.1
December 18, 1919: Joseph Hopper marries Annis Barron of Rock Hill, South Carolina.2
February 1920: Joseph and Annis Hopper depart for Korea as PCUS missionaries, assigned to Mokpo.2
May 17, 1921: Joseph Barron Hopper born in Kwangju, Korea.3
April 1920: Joseph Hopper preaches his first sermon to Korean congregation at Kwangju leper church.2
1928: Joseph Hopper earns ThM from Union Presbyterian Seminary.1
1931: Joseph Hopper teaches at Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pyongyang; Joe B. attends fifth grade at Pyongyang Foreign School.4
1934: Joe B. begins high school at Pyongyang Foreign School.4
Summer 1935: Hopper family takes furlough trip around the world via Japan, Singapore, Palestine, and England.5
June 7, 1938: Joe B. graduates from Pyongyang Foreign School as valedictorian.4
1939: Joseph Hopper earns ThD from Union Presbyterian Seminary.1
1939: Joe B. received under care as candidate for ministry by Concord Presbytery of the PCUS.3
1940: Pyongyang Foreign School closes; most missionaries evacuate Korea before Pearl Harbor.4
1941-1945: Joseph Hopper serves as stated supply at Emory Church in Decatur, Georgia (1941-1942) and Royal Oak Church in Marion, Virginia (1942-1945) during wartime evacuation.1
1942: Joe B. graduates magna cum laude from Davidson College; member of Phi Beta Kappa.3
July 19, 1945: Joe B. Hopper marries Dorothy “Dot” Longenecker at Blackstone Presbyterian Church in Virginia.6
August 12, 1945: Joe B. Hopper ordained by Montgomery Presbytery of the PCUS.3
1945: Joe B. graduates from Union Presbyterian Seminary with Bachelor of Divinity.3
1945-1947: Joe B. serves as pastor of Blackwater and Piedmont Presbyterian Churches in Callaway, Virginia.3
Summer 1946: Joe B. and Dot commissioned as missionaries to Korea at Montreat Missions Conference.6
1947-1948: Joe B. and Dot attend Yale Institute of Far Eastern Languages while awaiting permission to enter Korea.6
1948: Joe B. and Dot arrive in Korea; Joseph and Annis Hopper on dock to greet them.6
December 23, 1948: Barron Hopper born in Chonju, delivered by Dr. Paul Crane.6
June 25, 1950: Korean War begins; missionaries evacuate from Chonju following midnight phone call to American Embassy.6
1950: Joe B. and Dot evacuate to Japan then Seattle; David Hopper born in Richmond two months after evacuation.6
1950: Joe B. earns ThM from Union Presbyterian Seminary.3
September 1951: Joe B. returns alone to Korea to replace Dr. W.A. Linton in Chonju; Dot and children remain in Quitman, Georgia with her parents for 19 months.6
Easter 1954: Dot and children reunited with Joe B. in Korea after families permitted to re-enter.6
1954: Margaret Lois Hopper born in Chonju, delivered by Dr. Paul Crane.6
1956: Joseph Hopper retires from Korea after 36 years of missionary service.1
1965: Joe B. receives Doctor of Divinity degree from Davidson College.3
