John Patrick Hopkins

2025-10-15T19:44:29Z

2601:680:CB00:8780:C98B:FF86:EECE:754D: grammar

{{short description|American politician}}
{{other people||John Hopkins (disambiguation){{!}}John Hopkins}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox Politician
|name = John Patrick Hopkins
|image = John Patrick Hopkins (1).jpg
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1858|10|29|mf=y}}
|birth_place = [[Buffalo, New York]], US
|death_date = {{death date and age|1918|10|13|1858|10|29|mf=y}}
|death_place = [[Chicago]], Illinois, US
|office = Mayor of Chicago
|order = 35th
|term_start = December 27, 1893
|term_end = April 8, 1895
|predecessor = [[Carter Harrison Sr.]]<br>[[George Bell Swift]] (acting)
|successor = George Bell Swift
|party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|spouse =
|children =
|signature = Signature of John Patrick Hopkins (1858–1918).png
}}
'''John Patrick Hopkins''' (October 29, 1858{{spaced ndash}}October 13, 1918) was American politician who served as the 35th [[mayor of Chicago]] from 1893 to 1895.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chicago Mayors |url=https://www.chipublib.org/chicago-mayors/ |website=Chicago Public Library |accessdate=24 March 2019}}</ref> A member of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], Hopkins was the first of nine [[Irish American]] [[Catholicism|Catholic]] mayors of Chicago.<ref name="CPL"/>

Hopkins was a close friend and a political ally of [[Roger Charles Sullivan]].<ref name=sullivan>{{cite book |last1=Morton |first1=Richard Allen |title=Roger C. Sullivan and the Making of the Chicago Democratic Machine, 1881-1908 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xA7MDAAAQBAJ |publisher=McFarland |accessdate=11 May 2020 |language=en |date=29 June 2016|isbn=9781476663777 }}</ref><ref name=kingofclark/>

==Early life==
Hopkins was born October 29, 1858, in [[Buffalo, New York]].<ref name="CPL"/>

==Career==
Because his brothers and father died when Hopkins was still young,<ref name=verlag/> he became a provider for his family.<ref name=verlag/> His first job at a [[foundry]] as a boy.<ref name=verlag/> He later worked in Buffalo's [[grain elevator]]s.<ref name=verlag/>

In 1879, he moved to Chicago with his mother and sisters.<ref name=verlag/>

He worked for some times at the [[Pullman Company|Pullman]] works.<ref name=verlag/> From 1883 to 1885 he served as a [[paymaster]] for Pullman interests.<ref name=verlag/>

In 1888, he founded the Arcade Trading Co., which later became the Secord and Hopkins Co.<ref name="CPL"/>

Hopkins forged a career in Democratic politics.<ref name=sullivan/>

===Mayoralty===
Hopkins was elected the [[1893 Chicago mayoral special election]], which was held after [[Assassination of Carter Harrison III|the assassination]] of mayor [[Carter Harrison Sr.]]

At 35 years of age when he took office, Hopkins became the youngest mayor the city had ever had.<ref name=kingofclark/><ref name=shakedown1/><ref>{{cite book |title=Illinois Political Directory |date=1899 |page=265 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PWcMAQAAIAAJ |accessdate=18 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=verlag>{{cite book |last1=Dana |first1=Charles Anderson |title=A Centennial history of the city of Chicago – Its men and institutions |publisher=Jazzybee Verlag |isbn=978-3-8496-8799-1 |page=33 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZ4lDwAAQBAJ |accessdate=18 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

His tenure was marred by numerous scandals, criticisms, and shortcomings. This included incidents of [[political corruption]] in the city, such as the [[Ogden Gas Scandal]], rampant public gambling that drew the ire of the [[Chicago Civic Federation]], an indecisive response by Hopkins to the [[Pullman Strike]] that was assailed by Republican press outlets.<ref name=shakedown1>{{cite book |last1=Hogan |first1=John F. |title=Chicago Shakedown: The Ogden Gas Scandal |date=2018 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |isbn=978-1-4396-6474-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a6hhDwAAQBAJ |accessdate=18 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=kingofclark>{{cite book |last1=Lindberg |first1=Richard C. |title=The Gambler King of Clark Street: Michael C. McDonald and the Rise of Chicago's Democratic Machine |date=2009 |publisher=SIU Press |isbn=978-0-8093-8654-3 |page=292 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUgbMFn6nCYC |accessdate=18 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Additionally, the misappropriation of significant amounts of campaign contributions by Hopkins had upset many in the Chicago Democratic party, including those who belonged to the party's former Harrison faction.<ref name=kingofclark/>

Hopkins did not seek reelection in the [[1895 Chicago mayoral election]]

===Post-mayoralty===
[[File:Grave of John Patrick Hopkins at Calvary Cemetery, Evanston 2.jpg|thumb|right|125px|Hopkins' grave at Calvary Cemetery]]
{{expand section|date=May 2020}}

Hopkins died of the [[Spanish flu]] on October 13, 1918, in Chicago.<ref name="CPL">{{cite web |url=https://www.chipublib.org/mayor-john-patrick-hopkins-biography/ |title=Mayor John Patrick Hopkins Biography |publisher=Chicago Public Library |accessdate=2018-07-08}}</ref> He is buried in [[Calvary Cemetery (Evanston, Illinois)|Calvary Cemetery]] in [[Evanston, Illinois]].<ref name="CPL"/>

==Personal life==
Hopkins never married.<ref name="CPL"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Mayors of Chicago}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, John}}
[[Category:1858 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century mayors of places in Illinois]]
[[Category:Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in Illinois]]
[[Category:Politicians from Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:Mayors of Chicago]]
[[Category:American Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Illinois Democrats]]
[[Category:St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute alumni]]
[[Category:Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Evanston, Illinois)]]

{{Illinois-mayor-stub}}

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John Patrick Hopkins