Hopkins, Mark (redirected from Mark Hopkins)

Hopkins, Mark, American educator

Hopkins, Mark, 1802–87, American educator, b. Stockbridge, Mass., grad. Williams, 1824, and Berkshire Medical School, 1829. After a few months of medical practice he returned (1830) to Williams as professor of moral philosophy and rhetoric. President of the college from 1836 to 1872 and professor of intellectual and moral philosophy until his death, he was renowned as a teacher and administrator. He was ordained in the Congregational Church in 1836, preached frequently, and was president of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1857–87). His works include the Lowell Institute lectures for 1844, which later appeared as Evidences of Christianity (1863; rev. for text use), Lectures on Moral Science (1862), The Law of Love and Love as a Law (1869), and The Scriptural Idea of Man (1883).

Bibliography

See biographical studies by F. Carter (1892) and F. Rudolph (1956).

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Hopkins, Mark, American railroad builder and merchant

Hopkins, Mark, 1813–78, American railroad builder and merchant, b. Henderson, N.Y. A clerk in a village store and later a commission merchant in New York City, he was more than 35 years old when he went to California. There he became (1853) a partner of Collis P. Huntington and was later one of the incorporators of the Central Pacific RR, of which he became treasurer.

Bibliography

See O. Lewis, The Big Four (1938, repr. 1963); E. C. Latta and M. L. Allison, Controversial Mark Hopkins (2d rev. ed. 1963).

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Hopkins, Mark

(born Sept. 3, 1814, Richmond County, Va., U.S.—died March 29, 1878, Yuma, Arizona Territory) U.S. businessman who helped build the Central Pacific (later the Southern Pacific) Railroad and for whom San Francisco's Mark Hopkins Hotel atop Nob Hill was named. He was brought up in North Carolina. After an unprofitable attempt to mine gold in California in 1851, he began selling groceries and established one of the most prosperous mercantile houses in the state. With three other merchants he planned a transcontinental railroad, and in 1861 they organized the Central Pacific Railroad. In 1869 the main line was completed, meeting the Union Pacific at Promontory, Utah.

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Hopkins, Mark (1802–87) educator, theologian; born in Stockbridge, Mass. (brother of astronomer Albert Hopkins). At Williams College he was a revered teacher of moral philosophy (1830–87) and president (1836–72). A trained physician and ordained minister, Hopkins published numerous philosophical essays and sermons and was president of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (1857–87).

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Hopkins, Mark (1813–78) businessman, railroad developer; born in Henderson, N.Y. Son of a merchant, he read law but got involved in business. When he heard of the gold discovery in California in 1848, he moved there intending to run a mining company, but he soon discovered that money was more easily made by supplying the needs of the miners. He expanded his business operations and in 1854 joined with Collis P. Huntington to open an iron and hardware store in Sacramento. The two men participated in an informal group—including Leland Stanford and Charles Crocker—that discussed the political issues of the day, and when Theodore Judah appeared with his plan for a railroad linking the East and West, Hopkins and the other three formed the Central Pacific Railroad (1861). Hopkins served as the line's treasurer throughout the construction phase and until his death, and although not as well known or colorful as his three colleagues, he was highly regarded for providing the necessary legal and business acumen. He left a fortune of $20 million (and his name to a well-known hotel in San Francisco).