Albemarle-Loudoun County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Biographies.....Hopkins, John Guthrie 1861 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 24, 2008, 8:08 pm Author: Leonard Wilson (1916) JOHN GUTHRIE HOPKINS THERE is no nook or corner in the wide world where we cannot find the thrifty, enterprising and capable Scotchman. The Englishman is considered the greatest colonizer, yet the Scotchman is perhaps even bolder and more enterprising. The Scotchman often goes far afield single-handed, and, like "Harry of the Wynd," plays the game for his own hand. No small people, numbers considered, in the world, have ever contributed more to its advancement than the virile race sprung from the rugged hills and harsh climate of Scotland. One of these Scotchmen born, now leading the life of a quiet Virginia gentleman, is John Guthrie Hopkins, of Greenwood, who was born near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland, son of Robert and Agnes (Cuthbertson) Hopkins. Robert Hopkins was a farmer, and though a Scotchman, was not of an original Scotch family. There are three lines of the Hopkins families, one Anglo-Saxon, one Norman, one Welsh. A family of "Hopkin" lived in Glamorganshire and the will of "Howell ap Hopkin," whose estate had the unpronounceable Welsh name of "Llanfihangle Ystern Llewern," was probated in 1600. His son adopted the English form of the name "Hopkins." There is no trace in the old Scottish record of the name of Hopkins, from which it is quite evident that the branch of the family to which John G. Hopkins belongs had migrated across the border from England and settled in Ayrshire, which is one of the counties bordering upon England. The English families show, in the Cyclopaedia of that country, a number of distinguished men of the name in various centuries; and the American families show even a larger number of men of this name who have achieved distinction in our country. The celebrated Dr. Mark Hopkins is believed by some to have been descended from a member of the family which had settled in Scotland. The Hopkins families of England are armigerous. Mr. Hopkins' maternal line is purely Scotch, and very ancient. In his early youth, Mr. Hopkins attended the common schools of Scotland, but in 1868 his father emigrated to the United States, settling in Chicago, and the lad attended the public schools in that city. He completed his education in the night schools, and justly looks back with pride to the fact that he paid for what he got with his own earnings. He remained in Chicago until 1881, when he went to Kansas City, and from Kansas City, in 1884, he went to Colorado, having become identified with the cattle business. From Colorado, in 1888, he went to Arizona, where he became interested in copper mining. Mr. Hopkins is evidently a modest man, for he says that he was fairly successful, and retired from active business in 1898, when, as a matter of fact, he was enormously successful during his active business career, which covered a period of not more than twenty years. During these years he was a cattle rancher in Colorado, a railroad man identified with the Union Pacific Land Department, and a leading director of the Arizona Copper Company, Ltd., of Edinburgh, Scotland. For some years he was also identified with a number of other enterprises in some official capacity, but finding it inconvenient to attend meetings, he has resigned all these official positions, and is now living quietly on his estate of "Tiverton," near Greenwood. He first came to Virginia in 1898, locating near Esmont, Albemarle County. He then purchased a large estate in Loudoun County, which he still owns and later made his home where he now resides, in one of the most beautiful sections of Piedmont, Virginia. Mr. Hopkins is evidently a wise man-having acquired a handsome estate, he retired when in the prime of life to enjoy the results of his intelligence and labor. It may be that his Scotch blood is entitled to the credit for this, because we are compelled to admit, even if somewhat sorrowfully, that most Americans would have continued to increase their fortune. Mr. Hopkins' political leanings are toward the Republican party, but he has never been active in a political way, never held any office nor had any desire to do so. He holds membership in the Union League Club and the Rocky Mountain Club, both of New York City, also in the Westmoreland Club, Richmond, Virginia. Not identified with any church as a member, he usually attends the Episcopal Church. He frankly admits that his chief pleasure lies in reading, mainly history or historical matter, and that he is partial both to ancient and modern history. His opinions upon business, in view of his own pronounced ability as a business man, are worthy of attention, and he sums these up in one line. He believes that the best interests of the country to-day can be greatly promoted "by giving our railroad and business interests generally greater advantages." He was married in Trinidad, Colorado, on December 29, 1885, to Minnie Elizabeth Enos, of Berlin, Wisconsin, daughter of Heman Perley Enos and Mary Louise (Capron) Enos-both natives of Addison County, Vermont. The only child of this marriage is John Guthrie Hopkins, Jr., now receiving private tuition, but who expects to complete his education at Yale University. Mrs. Hopkins comes from an old Vermont family, which was represented by Colonel Roger Enos in the Revolutionary War, and later members of this family were among the pioneer settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois. It has not multiplied so greatly as a majority of the New England families have, but it has been identified with the United States since the early Colonial period. The armorial bearings of the family of Hopkins, of Origin County Lincoln, England, is as follows: Azure: On a chevron argent, between three estoiles or as many lozenges gules all within a bordure of the third. Crest: A demi lion rampant sable, armed and incensed gules. The arms of some branches of the Hopkinson family are similar, showing the same origin. Additional Comments: Extracted from: MAKERS OF AMERICA BIOGRAPHIES OF LEADING MEN OF THOUGHT AND ACTION THE MEN WHO CONSTITUTE THE BONE AND SINEW OF AMERICAN PROSPERITY AND LIFE VOLUME II By LEONARD WILSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASSISTED BY PROMINENT HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WRITERS Illustrated with many full page engravings B. F. JOHNSON, INC. CITY OF WASHINGTON, U. S. A. 1916 Copyright, 1916 by B. F. Johnson, Inc. Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/albemarle/photos/bios/hopkins59gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/albemarle/bios/hopkins59gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/vafiles/ File size: 7.1 Kb