George Stephen Hopkins Biography


	This biography appears on page 1702 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.


	GEORGE STEPHEN HOPKINS was born in the city of Lockport, Niagara 
county, New York, on the 28th of August, 1852, and is a son of Stephen 
Hopkins, a great-grandson of Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of that 
immortal document, the Declaration of Independence, and a lineal 
descendant of Stephen Hopkins, one of the Puritans who came over in the 
"Mayflower" in 1620 and landed on Plymouth Rock. The family name was 
long and conspicuously identified with the annals of New England 
history, whence representatives finally went into the state of New York, 
as pioneers, while scions of the sturdy stock are now to be found in the 
most diverse sections of the Union. The subject was reared in his native 
state and after completing the curriculum of the common schools took a 
thorough course in surveying and engineering in the city of Brooklyn, 
while he has attained a high reputation in the northwest as a civil and 
mining engineer. He followed his profession in the east and in the 
western states until 1875, when, as a young man of twenty-three years, 
he came to what is now South Dakota and became one of the pioneers of 
the Black Hills, having arrived in this district in July of the year 
mentioned and having ever since followed his profession as a surveyor 
and civil and mining engineer, while he has also been interested in the 
development of a number of important mining properties. He holds high 
prestige in his chosen vocation and has been identified with much 
important work in the line, while he is at the present time serving as 
United States deputy mineral surveyor. He is one of the popular and 
highly esteemed residents of Deadwood, having the confidence and regard 
of all who know him and being prominent in both business and social 
circles. He is one of the most prominent and valued members of the Black 
Hills Pioneer Association, of which he is historian, having been elected 
to this office for life. In politics he accords a staunch allegiance to 
the Republican party, and fraternally he is identified with the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being past grand of his lodge and also 
past district deputy grand master, while he has attained the thirty-
second degree in Scottish-rite Masonry, and is affiliated with Naja 
Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. 

	On the 16th of September, 1888, Mr. Hopkins was united in 
marriage, at Spearfish, this state, to Miss Jessie O. Robinson, and they 
have three children, namely: Georgiana C., who was born in Spearfish, on 
the 18th of September, 1889; William Stephen, who was born in Deadwood, 
on the 31st of May, 1891; and Florence Ruth, who was born in Spearfish 
on the 26th of October, 1892.