Death of Johns Hopkins
His Last illness Life and Character His Career
as a Merchant and Banker His Benevolent Enterprises Monuments
of Learning and Charity, &c.
Mr. Johns Hopkins, the merchant, banker and millionaire,
whose benefience this
community is so largely to realize in the future, died at 3:45
o'clock yesterday morning, at his
residence No. 81 Saratoga street, in the seventy-ninth year of
his age. Mr. Hopkins was first
taken sick on Monday, the first day of December. On Friday, the
fifth, he was sufficiently
recovered to venture out, and impelled by his natural mental
activity and devotion to business,
was engaged that day until late in the afternoon in his office,
though rather contrary to the
wishes of his medical advisers. The following morning he had a
severe attack of asthma,
awaking the alarm of his physicians, and from that time until his
death his state, with frequent
variations, sometimes of improvement and again of the contrary
phase, demanded the constant
vigilance, care and study of his eminently skilled professional
attendants, Dr. W.C. Bibber
holding daily consultations with Professors N. R. Smith and Alan
P. Smith.
The Fatal Illness
Throughout the course of the disease the venerable patient
displayed so constant a courage
and so hopeful a spirit as to bouy up the confidence of the
attached friends and relatives
about him, and it was not until last Saturday, when the disease
first affected his head,
producing delirium and half consciousness, that the worst fears
were aroused.
Up to that time his mind had retained its faculties in all their
wonted clearness. He had not,
it is true, conversed to any extent on matters of business, or
shown any disposition to call up
his great plans of charity which he set in a train of
consummation, and for which he had so
amply provided the means, but his thoughts seemed to take a more
domestic channel, and he
loved to speak more of smaller and less important matters,
apparently dismissing from his
attention, while on his sick bed, things of more business
concern, and dwelling on little topics
of household and social interest.
After last Saturday he was but semi-conscious with a tendency to
sleep all the time.
Sometimes members of his family at his bedside would be able to
command his aroused
attention and he would appear to recognize them momentarily, but
would soon sink back into
his state of lethargy. Happily he had little on his mind of
business to create anxiety. Like
the model business man that he was he made his will over two
years ago, and he had so
arranged and disposed all in pecuniary affairs and property
interests as to require in his last
moments only a single conversation with his lawyer and friend, C.
J. M. Gwinn, to entirely
and finally settle them.
Religious Views and
Sentiments
He was a member of the Society of Friends, regular attendence on
their worship, having a
seat in which he generally occupied at all the set times of
service in the meeting house,
corner of Eutaw and Monument streets. He had frequently said to
his family physician, Dr.
Van Bibber, to whom he was warmly attached, as a friend and
physician, that he despised all
sectarianism and bigotry, and that he was animated by a strong
desire to unite and harmonize
all clashing views and discordant elements in religious bodies.
If he had a mission, Mr.
Hopkins would say when on this topic, it was to destroy
sectarianism and cement into one the
various Christian sects. Mr. Hopkins never married. He leaves
some fifteen or sixteen
nephews and nieces, several of them residing in Rhode Island.
Closing Incidents
From the time his disease assumed a serious type, after his
relapse of the 6th of this month,
Dr. Van Bibber spent every night at Mr. Hopkins s house. Mr.
Hopkins was also devotedly
attended throughout his illness by several members of his family,
Messrs. Richard Janney,
James M. Mercer, Lewis Hopkins, Mr. and Mrs. Miles White, Mrs.
Elliott, Mrs. E. Mercer,
and Mrs. Crenshaw having been always at hand.
Tuesday night there was present at the bedside Dr. van Bibber,
Mr. Richard Janney and Mr.
James M. Mercer, with a servant. The doctor soon after withdrew
to his room for a little
repose, but returned to the bedside at 1 A.M. and at 2 o clock.
At the last visit evidences of
approaching dissolution became apparent, and at 3:45 he was no
more.
Mr. Hopkins was a man of extraordinary activity of intellect and
nervous quickness of
motion. These characteristics were displayed in an extreme
degree during the latter part of
his sickness in incessant words and motions.
The remains of the deceased repose in an elegant rosewood casket
in the room over the
library of his late residence. His features wear an expression
of calmness and serenity, and
the whole appearance of the countenance would be perfectly
natural but for a greater
palidness than it wore in life. The evidence of affection,
placed there by loving hands,
surround the bier. There is no emblem of death at the door of
the residence, which is
explained by the fact that it is not the custom of the Society of
Friends to put crape on the
door when death enters the household.
The Funeral Preparations
The Funeral will take place to-morrow at 11 o clock A. M.., from
the late residence of the
deceased. The Funeral train will proceed from there to
Greenmount cemetery, where they
will be interred. The following gentlemen have been invited to
be pall-bearers: Galloway
Cheston; Francis T. King; James Carey; Wm. Hopkins; Chas. J. M.
Gwinn, Hon. George Wm.
Brown, Hon. George W. Dobbin; Robert Garrett, John King, jr.,
William Keyser; Enoch Pratt,
A. H. Stump, Wm. H. Graham, Archibald Stirling, sr., W. H.
Baldwin, and J. Saurin Norris.
The funeral service will be conducted in accordance with the
forms of the Society of Friends.
It is known that there are no ministers in the society, but on an
occasion like this any member
who feels moved to speak does so, and it is probable some one of
the society, who knew the
deceased well, will perform this duty in the funeral service.
Mourning and Memorial
The new steamship Johns Hopkins, of the Baltimore and Boston
Merchants and Miner s line,
but the day before the scone of inauguration gayety, was
yesterday draped in mourning on
account of the death of Mr. Hopkins, after whom the ship was
named, and the flag placed at
half mast. The other ships of this line, and a number if other
ships now in the harbor, also
displayed their flags at half mast, and the flag on the Corn and
Flour Exchange building was
similarly displayed.
A meeting of the directors of the Merchants' bank was held at the
bank yesterday morning,
when it was resolved that the directors of the bank, in a body,
would attend the funeral of Mr.
Hopkins.
The member of the board of trade, the corn and flour exchange,
and the board of brokers will
hold meetings on Friday morning for an expression of sentiment
respecting the death of Mr.
Hopkins. It was not known at the sessions of the above
organizations yesterday morning that
Mr. Hopkins was dead, otherwise special meetings would have been
held.
A special meeting of the directors of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad Company will be held
at Camden station at ten o clock A. M. to-day, for the purpose of
having an expression of
sentiment on the death of Mr. Hopkins.
Mr. Hopkins's Estate
Mr. Hopkins s estate in the aggregate is estimated at $8,000,000.
The executors are Francis
T. King, Francis White and Chas. J. M. Gwinn. The principle items
of the estate are the value
of two and a quarter millions of dollars stock of the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad Company,
one million of bank stock. Mr. Hopkins was a stockholder in
every bank in the city, except
perhaps some of the smaller ones, and he accomplished much good
for the business
community by his influence in nerving them up in times of
stringency and panic. In addition
to the above real the estate in the city, consisting mostly of
large and valuable warehouses in
the heart of the city, estimated at over two millions of dollars,
and the commercial paper of
the deceased at over one million of dollars.
The country seat "Clifton" is valued at over $200,000, which
with the other property will
make the total value of the estate over eight millions of
dollars. Mr. Hopkins executed a
codicil to his will on his death bed, which was in relation to
small business matters. He
made ample provision for his nephews and nieces some time since.
His dwelling house on
Saratoga Street is left to his sister during her life time, after
which it goes to the hospital and
university. Mr. Hopkins was aware of the dangerous character of
his disease. He stated that
the pneumonia would go to his brain, when he would become
unconscious; which was the
fact. Before it took place, however, he expressed a strong
Christian faith.
The value of the property given to the establishment and support
of the Johns Hopkins
University and Johns Hopkins Hospital may be set down at five
millions of dollars. Allowing
one half of that sum for the university, and comparing the amount
with that donated to other
institutions of learning in this country, shows that it will
possess the largest endowment of
any college in the United States. The endowment of Harvard
University is less than two and
a half millions of dollars. Princeton College, New Jersey, has
received donation amounting to
$470,000. Cornell University, New York, $487,000. These are
some of the institutions
which have received the largest donations in this country.
Biographical Sketch
Mr. Johns Hopkins was born in Anne Arundel county, Maryland, May
19, 1795. He was the
son of Samuel Hopkins, of that county, and of Hannah Janny
Hopkins, of Loudoun county,
Virginia, both parents being of Quaker families. He was named
after his grandfather Johns
Hopkins, of Anne Arundel, who was the descendant of the early
English settlers of that
county, being one of six brothers who emigrated form England to
America, two of whom
made their homes in New England, and four in Maryland. Johns
Hopkins, the grandfather,
inherited the considerable landed assets acquired by his
ancestors in Anne Arundel and
cultivated his property with the aid of some hundred negroes,
whom he afterwards
emancipated, the consequences of doubt arising in his mind as to
the rightfulness of negro
bondage. This estate was afterwards cultivated by his son,
Samuel Hopkins, with the
assistance of his sons, one of whom was the late Johns Hopkins,
who, in his eighteenth year,
showed a strong disposition to engage in mercantile life and was
allowed to enter the
counting room of his uncle, Gerald T. Hopkins, who was then
conducting a wholesale grocery
in this city.
In this position he developed superior business intelligence and
energy, and seven years later,
with the consent of his uncle, formed in partnership with
Benjamin P. Moore, in the
wholesale grocery business. In 1813, three years later, this
partnership was dissolved, and
Mr. Hopkins called to his aid two younger brothers, and gave them
an interest in his business,
which became rapidly developed by the great personal energy of
the senior partner. The trade
of the house with the valley of Virginia was very large, and it
rapidly extended through other
parts of that State and into adjoining States. After a
prosperous career of twenty-five years,
Mr. Hopkins relinquished the business to his brothers, and was
afterwards elected president of
the Merchant s Bank of Baltimore, which he filled with great
credit and in such manner as to
extend assistance to those who by their diligence, good sense and
integrity attracted his
attention and esteem.
Mr. Hopkins had been, from an early period in its history, a
close observer of that great work,
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and held a large amount of its
stock. In 1847 he was
induced to become a director, and thenceforth took an active part
in its management. In
December 1855, he was appointed chairman of the finance committee
of the company, and
has contributed greatly to the success of the company by his
sagacity and devotion to its
interests. In 1857, when the company, embarrassed by the
monetary difficulties of the
country and by internal dissensions, was unable to provide in due
season for the heavy
obligations imposed upon it by the extension of the road, Mr.
Hopkins came voluntarily
forward, and by endorsing the notes of the company to a very
large amount pledged his
private fortune to its support, and thus saved the company s
credit, and insured the completion
and success of the road. Mr. Hopkins added to his ownership of
the stock until he became
possessed of more than 15,000 shares, representing a par value of
$1,500,000, and an actual
market value of more than $2,300,000. His interest in the
company is less only in amount
than that owned by the State of Maryland and the city of
Baltimore.
The city owes no small share of its prosperity to his enlightened
and energetic efforts.
Throughout his business life he had the strongest confidence in
the future growth and
commercial importance of Baltimore, and endeavored to employ his
means in such a manner
as would best accomplish that object. No one has labored more
earnestly and successfully to
open new channels of commercial intercourse between the city and
other sections of the
United States, while, to enable its merchants to accommodate and
retain its growing trade, he
has purchased squares and lots in localities convenient for
business, but which had no suitable
buildings upon them, and supplied them with substantial
warehouses, and has also erected
massive buildings for the use of those mercantile corporations
and agencies which increase
with the needs of a commercial city.
It was not, however, to the region of commerce and utility that
Mr. Hopkins proposed to limit
his enterprises for the public good. On the contrary he had long
ago determined to devote the
bulk of the great fortune which he had conceived in the interest
of humanity and education.
These enterprises embraced, first, a hospital on the largest and
most improved scale for the
sick on the site of the old Maryland Hospital, in East Baltimore;
an asylum for colored
orphaned children on separate ground, and a university on his
estate of Clifton, within one
mile of the city. Mr. Hopkins set aside property to the value of
at least two millions of
dollars to be dedicated to the support of the great hospital, in
addition to the ground for it in
the heart of the eastern part of the city, and amounting to some
thirteen acres, bounded by
Wolfe, Monument, Broadway and Jefferson streets, which were
purchased by him at a cost of
$225,000 for the purpose of his charity. Meantime, during his
life, and until the hospital
buildings should be completed, he placed $100,000 per annum at
the disposal of the trustees
in order to carry out his wishes; and from the resources of the
property which they are
hereafter to receive they are privileged to appropriate $20,000
per annum to the maintenance
of the Colored Orphans Home, which is to accommodate three to
four hundred of that class,
while the hospital is designed also ultimately to provide for
four hundred patients.
His desire was also urgently expressed that the hospital
buildings, in their construction and
arrangements, should compare favorably with any like institutions
in this country or Europe.
A building committee was appointed of prominent citizens, a part
of whose duty it was to
examine the hospitals of the principle cities in the world; so
that doubtless this municicent
charity will take permanent form which will add to the
architectural beauties of Baltimore,
and, in addition to adequate hospital accommodations for the
sick, will provide ample
grounds, ornamented with trees and flowers, healthful air and
with pleasant prospects of the
harbor, city and river. This hospital has for one of its
features the establishment of a training
school for nurses, the first provision of the kind which has been
made in any institution in
this country. In all arrangements Mr. Hopkins desired it to be
constantly borne in mind that
the hospital should form ultimately a part of the medical school
of the university.
The university designed by Mr. Hopkins, bearing his own name, has
been organized by the
appointment of trustees, and Mr. Hopkins has provided for free
scholarships by which poor
and deserving students from Maryland and Virginia shall be
maintained. In addition to the
other accommodations the estate of "Clifton" will afford ample
space for the establishment of
a botanical and agricultural school upon an extended scale. It
is believed that Mr. Hopkins
has set apart by his will his whole interest in the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad Company, the
actual market value of which is believed to amount to-day to two
millions and a half, to this
university, all of which is in addition to hi gifts of the
Clifton estate of nearly four hundred
acres.
During the late financial panic the timely and energetic
assistance rendered by Mr. Hopkins to
the mercantile community was of the most valuable character, and
was recognized by our
business men in terms of enthusiastic acknowledgment.
In the death of Johns Hopkins a career has been closed which
affords a rare example of
successful energy in individual accumulations, and of practical
beneficence in devoting the
gains thus acquired to the public.
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