Hopkins and Canfield Families Papers

John Henry Hopkins

Artist, lawyer, ironmonger, musician, architect, theologian and first Episcopal Bishop of Vermont, John Henry Hopkins was born in Dublin, Ireland on January 22, 1792. Raised in Philadelphia, Hopkins tried a variety of professions before accepting the position of rector at Trinity Church in Pittsburgh. Elected Bishop by Vermont's first diocesan convention in 1832, Hopkins remained head of the Green Mountain episcopate until his death in 1868. In those thirty-six years he established the Vermont Episcopal Institute in Burlington and became one of the nation's most noted clergypersons, with more than fifty books and pamphlets published between 1833 and 1868. He endured dramatic reversals in fortune, losing a great deal of wealth in the "Panic of 1837," culminating in his arrest for outstanding debt in 1854. From this low point, however, he rebuilt his finances through writing, lecturing, and projects such as being made the consulting architect and landscape artist for the new University of the South in Tennessee, 1859-1860. In addition to the Vermont Episcopal Institute at Rock Point in Burlington, Vermont, his lasting legacy is as the Episcopal Bishop most responsible for maintaining the unity of the Episcopal Church after the Civil War. This he accomplished in part by maintaining a controversially tolerant view of the institution of slavery in the U.S., which he defends in his small book "Views of Slavery", 1864.

Jerome Hopkins

Charles Jerome Hopkins (known intimately as Charlie and professionally as Jerome) was the eleventh child born to John Henry and Melusina Muller Hopkins. He was born April 4, 1836 and died November 4, 1898. He was educated at home and became a well known organist, composer, and musical educator and essayist. He married Sarah Lucinda Lee in 1869, who died October 23, 1876. They had no children. He lived and worked most of his life in New York, City, where he was organist at St. Ann's Church, Brooklyn, as well as holding other positions. He also lived for some time in England. Jerome Hopkins organized and maintained his Free Orpheon Choral School for Children. His many compositions include an opera, "Samuel", a children's comic operetta "Taffy and Old Munch", and an Orchestral Vespers Service.

Hopkins Family

In addition to John Henry Hopkins, Sr. and Jerome Hopkins (see their specific biographical notes), the Hopkins family had many prominent members represented in this collection.

Melusina Muller was born May 15, 1795, in Hamburg, Germany. Her family immigrated to Baltimore when Napoleon occupied Hamburg, where her father was a merchant, in 1807. She met John Henry Hopkins while moving to Pennsylvania, and they were married in 1816. They had 13 children, all but two survived to adulthood. Their names and dates are as follows: Charlotte Emily Hopkins (Fay), 1817-1856; Matilda Theresa Hopkins (Camp), 1891-1903; John Henry Hopkins, Jr., 1820-1891; Edward Augustus Hopkins, 1822-1891; Melusina Elizabeth Hopkins, 1824-1834; Caspar Thomas Hopkins, 1826-1893; Theodore Austin Hopkins, 1828-1889; Alfred Irenaeus Hopkins, 1829-1830; Clement Eusebius Hopkins, 1832-1862; William Cyprian Hopkins, 1834-1910; Charles Jerome Hopkins, 1836-1898; Caroline Amelia Hopkins (Canfield, 1838-1907; and Frederick Vincent Hopkins, 1839-1896. A couple of these are more represented in this collection and their lives are now summarized.

John Henry Hopkins, Jr. was born in Pittsburgh in 1820 and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1839. Ordained to the Episcopal Church at the age of 30, he founded and edited the "Church Journal" and served as a priest in Plattsburgh, New York and Williamsport, Pennsylvania. His publications include a lengthy biography of his father, volumes of poetry and theology, and numerous hymns and carols--most notably, the "Song of the Magi," better-known as "We Three Kings of Orient Are." John Henry Hopkins, Jr. died in Hudson, New York in 1891.

Edward (Ned) Augustus Hopkins, 1822-1891, was a Midshipman in the U.S. Navy, but resigned after several instances of insubordination put his career in the Navy at risk. He was appointed Special Agent of the U.S. in Paraguay. He spent most of his life in South America promoting American exports to Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, and other countries. He made a fortune investing in various projects, including dredging harbors, building railways, ports, drydocks, and sanitary projects. He lost his entire fortune just before his death when revolutionaries confiscated his dredging equipment and destroyed it. He married Jeanne Elvira Arnaud, who had been married to the French Minister to Brazil, in 1858. She died in 1883. In 1888, he married Marie Antoinette von Renthel, previously married to Baron Alexander von Renthel of Russia. She outlived Edward and died in 1902.

Thomas and Caroline A. Canfield

Born in Arlington, Vermont in 1822, Thomas Hawley Canfield, Sr. was educated at Burr Seminary in Manchester, Vt., at the Troy (N.Y.) Episcopal Institute, and at Union College in Schenectady, which he left when his father died in 1840. After working three years on the family farm, Canfield moved to Williston, Vt., where he built up an extensive mercantile business and married Elizabeth Chittenden, the granddaughter of Thomas Chittenden, first Governor of Vermont. Moving to Burlington, Vt. in April, 1847, Canfield joined the wholesale mercantile and forwarding firm of Follet and Bradley, which soon became Bradley and Canfield. His wife died in 1848, childless, and he soon thereafter married Caroline Amelia Hopkins, daughter of John H. Hopkins, first Episcopal Bishop of Vermont. At this time he organized a telegraph company that connected Montreal to New York via Troy, NY and Burlington, VT. By 1850, Canfield was involved in railroad construction and lake and rail transportation between Montreal, Vermont, and New York. Among these interests were the Ogdensburgh Railroad and the Rutland and Washington Railroad, the latter of which he was president and lessee. During the Civil War he served as assistant manager of all railroad lines entering Washington from the north and east. Returning to Burlington after the war, Canfield was for a while superintendent of the Champlain Transportation Company. His most important project was probably the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad, for which his efforts included negotiations for the initial government contract during 1865, several western explorations, and service as a director until the Company's bankruptcy in 1873. Retirement from business life continued that same year with his resignation from the Lake Superior and Puget Sound Company after twenty years of service, including several as president. By 1876, Canfield was devoting most of his time to the three thousand acre wheat farm at Lake Park, Minnesota, where he resided until his death in 1897. His farming and business interests were assumed by his son, Thomas H. Canfield, Jr. (1874-1964?), who later retired to California.

Caroline Amelia Hopkins Canfield, 1838-1907, married Thomas H. Canfield (see his specific biographical note) in 1860. Shortly after her father, John Henry Hopkins, Sr. died, Caroline ("Carrie") became the mistress of the family home at Rock Point, where she raised her family and entertained relatives and church figures. She was very involved in St. Paul's Episcopal Church, in Burlington, as well as in Diocesan activities, and served as the organist at St. Paul's for some time. She moved to Burlington in 1892. Caroline and Thomas had five children: Emily Canfield, b. May 13, 1863; John Henry Hopkins Canfield, b. January 21, 1868; Marion Canfield (Hadlock), b. September 8, 1870; Flora Canfield (Camp), b. January 11, 1873; Thomas Hawley Canfield, Jr., b. November 17, 1874.

The Canfield family is mostly represented in this collection among the correspondence, as well as some writings and diaries.