George Washington Hopkins
Portrait of Hopkins in 1893 book
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Washington County
In office
1860–1861
In office
1850–1852
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 13th district
In office
March 4, 1857 – March 3, 1859
Preceded byLaFayette McMullen
Succeeded byElbert S. Martin
In office
March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1847
Preceded byWilliam Smith
Succeeded byAndrew S. Fulton
Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
In office
1858–1859
Preceded byThomas Lanier Clingman
Succeeded byThomas Corwin
Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office
1850 – 1852
Preceded byHenry L. Hopkins
Succeeded byOscar M. Crutchfield
United States Chargé d'Affaires to Portugal
In office
November 4, 1847 – October 18, 1849
PresidentJames K. Polk
Preceded byAbraham Rencher
Succeeded byJames Brown Clay
Chairman of the House Committee on Post Office and Post Roads
In office
1843 – 1847
Preceded byGeorge N. Briggs
Succeeded byWilliam L. Goggin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 18th district
In office
March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1843
Preceded byJohn H. Fulton
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Russell County
In office
1833 – 1835
Preceded byMulti-member district
Succeeded byWilliam Jessee
Personal details
BornFebruary 22, 1804
Goochland County, Virginia
DiedMarch 1, 1861(1861-03-01) (aged 57)
Richmond, Virginia
Resting placeSinking Spring Cemetery, Abingdon, Virginia
Political partyDemocratic (1837-1839, 1841-onward)
Conservative (1839-1841)
Jacksonian (1835-1837)
Alma materHampden-Sydney College
Signature

George Washington Hopkins (February 22, 1804 – March 1, 1861) was a nineteenth-century United States politician, diplomat, lawyer, judge and teacher.

Biography

Born in Goochland County, Virginia near Goochland Court House to the Episcopal minister Charles Hopkins, Hopkins attended the common schools as a child.[1] He later taught school, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1834, commencing practice in Lebanon, Virginia. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1833 to 1835 and was elected a Jacksonian Democrat and Conservative to the United States House of Representatives in 1834, serving from 1835 to 1847. There, Hopkins served as chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads from 1843 to 1847.

President James Knox Polk appointed Hopkins as Chargé d'affaires to Portugal in 1847; he served as until 1849. He returned to the House of Delegates as Speaker succeeding his brother Henry L. Hopkins from 1850–1852 and was a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention in 1850 and 1851. He served as judge of the circuit court of Washington, D.C. and other counties and was elected back to the House of Representatives in 1856, serving again from 1857 to 1859. There, he served as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1857 to 1859. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1858 and resumed practicing law in Abingdon, Virginia.

Hopkins served in the House of Delegates for a third time from 1859 until his death in Richmond, Virginia on March 1, 1861. He was interred in Sinking Spring Cemetery in Abingdon.

References

  1. ↑ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. IV. James T. White & Company. 1893. p. 445. Retrieved December 7, 2020 – via Google Books.
  • Jamerson, Bruce F., Clerk of the House of Delegates, supervising (2007). Speakers and Clerks of the Virginia House of Delegates, 1776-2007. Richmond, Virginia: Virginia House of Delegates.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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