Hopewell, Willard S., b. 1847.

Willard S. Hopewell was born February 11, 1847 in Chester, England. After being educated in private schools he went to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1863 to join his uncle. During the American Civil War he and his uncle were involved in blockade running. In 1866 he came to the United States and resided in various parts of the country: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, California, New York, and Colorado. While in Colorado he served as first sergeant of the Chaffee Light Artillery where he met the future New Mexico Governor, Miguel Antonio Otero. After Hopewell arrived in New Mexico in 1879, Governor Otero made him captain of the cavalry in the New Mexico National Guard. Hopewell settled in Sierra County in southern New Mexico. He took up prospecting, mining extensively in the Hillsboro district. In 1880 he started the Las Animas Land and Cattle Company. Later, he entered politics, serving in the House of Representatives for the Territory, 1892-1893. From 1903-1911 he was manager of the Pennsylvania Development Company, precipitating his involvement with various other companies such as the New Mexico Central Railway, New Mexico Fuel and Iron Company, and the Aztec Land and Cattle Company.

From the guide to the Willard S. Hopewell Papers, 1884-1908, (University of New Mexico. Center for Southwest Research.)

...