Before the Suggett Daily News there was the Succat Downing Street, a daily in London, which was ran by Meawyn Succat, who later moved to France and then to Ireland to convert the Irish to Catholicism in the 5th century. You may know of him better as St. Patrick, which he was later named after being declared a saint. When the Succat family came to Virginia in the 18th century, their name was changed to Suggett and the SDN was renamed the Suggett Daily News.
John Suggett and Mildred Davis of Virginia had Rev. James Suggett who married Sarah Redding, also of Virginia. James and Sarah moved to Kentucky and had John Pope Suggett. John married Mary Ann O’Rear of Kentucky, moved to Missouri, and had Daniel J. Suggett. Daniel married Elizabeth Boulds of Missouri and had Starling Greene Suggett who together with his second wife, Constance Eleanor Hopkins continued on the tradition of The Suggett Daily News.
A Tale of Two Constance Hopkins
Constance Hopkins (May 11, 1606 – October 1677), also sometimes listed as Constanta was probably born in Hursley, Hampshire, England. Constance was the second daughter of Stephen Hopkins, by his first wife, Mary. Some believe she was named in honor of Constance (Marline) Hopkins. Constance, at the age of fourteen, along with her father and his second wife Elizabeth (Fisher), accompanied by brother Giles, half-sister Damaris as well as two servants by the name of Edward Doty and Edward Lester were passengers on the Mayflower on its journey to the New World in 1620. Along the way her half-brother Oceanus was born, the only child born on the Mayflower journey.
A Brief History of Rev. James Suggett
In the war of 1812, he accompanied his cousin Colonel Richard Mentor Johnson, (later Vice President of U.S. to Van Buren) who commanded the troops in the battle of Thames, which was decisive battle that helped end the war. Richard was and is the only Vice President to be elected by the United States Senate based on majority vote. He was popular primarily for killing the Indian leader at the battle of Themes.
One day while James was tending to farming chores in Kentucky he heard a peculiar noise in his stable and upon going out to see what caused it, he found a large buck quietly feeding himself from the horse trough. He hastly slammed the door shut to fasten the deer in but he was not quick enough. The frightened animal plunged against the door and carried it off the hinges, It remained fast on his horns and while he was struggling with it, James laid hold of him, thinking he could hold him down, but the deer proved to be the stronger of the two, and dragged him to the lot fence. Seeing that he was going to jump over, he let go and the deer went over the fence ‘light as a bird’, the door still on his horns. The deer disappeared in the woods and that was the last he saw of the deer–or his stable door.