John Henry Hopkins
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The Most Reverend John Henry Hopkins |
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|---|---|
| 8th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church | |
 |
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| Predecessor | Thomas Church Brownell |
| Successor | Benjamin B. Smith |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 30, 1792 Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland |
| Died |
January 9, 1868 (aged 75) Rock Point, Burlington, Vermont |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation | American bishop |
John Henry Hopkins (January 30, 1792 – January 9, 1868) was the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont and was the eighth Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
Hopkins was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1792, the son of Thomas Hopkins and his wife Elizabeth nee Fitzakerly. The family emigrated to the United States in 1801. Neither parent was religious, but both valued education: Elizabeth Hopkins established a school for girls in Trenton, New Jersey and eventually sent her son to a Baptist boys' school in Bordentown, and then to Princeton University.
Hopkins' family then moved to Philadelphia where his mother established another school. At a young age Hopkins met Bishop William White and his assistant, a Dr. Abercrombie, and joined the Philological Society. Because of the family's straightened circumstances, Hopkins took a job at a counting-house, although his mother always wanted him to become a lawyer. At that time Hopkins was not particularly religious and his parents' marriage was troubled. When his mother moved to Frederick, Maryland to establish another school, he stayed with his father and friends in Philadelphia. Influenced by his Scottish friends, Hopkins decided to become an ironmaster and, in addition to studying books, he worked for an ironmaster in New Jersey and another in Philadelphia. While westward expansion and the Embargo Act increased demand for American-made iron, Hopkins moved west and managed the ironworks at Bassenheim, Butler County. Although that partnership dissolved after the War of 1812, Hopkins made important contacts, including James O'Hara of Pittsburgh, an Irish immigrant who became the wealthiest man in Pittsburgh as well as Quartermaster General. O'Hara employed Hopkins to run ironworks in the Ligonier Valley. There, at the remote Hermitage Furnace, Hopkins encountered the Muller family, descended from a long line of Lutheran ministers, and, after a religious awakening, began studying the bible and other materials, including of Quakers and Swedenborgians.
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