Source:
History of Vanderburgh County, Indiana
Brant & Fuller, c.1889
Pages 31-40

      Hon. John S. Hopkins was born in Truxton, N.Y., October 28, 1811, and died at his home in this city July 6, 1882. He was a son of the pioneer, Edward Hopkins, and came to Evansville with his father in the fall of 1819. From that time until his death he was continuously a resident of this city, and few men, if any, have been more prominently identified with its material growth and advancement from the condition of a village to that of a great and prosperous city.

      On the 9th of December, 1834 he was married to Mary Ann Parrett, daughter of Rev. Robert Parrett, founder of the Methodist Episcopal church in Evansville. Mrs. Hopkins survived her husband until 1886. Her life was full of good works and every Christian virtue adorned her character.

      The boyhood of John S. Hopkins was spent in the village of Evansville and his education was only such as could be obtained in the inferior schools of that day. His natural abilities, however, were of a high order and the experience of a busy life developed in him a strong, clear mind and great force of character.

      From early manhood he was an active business man and a prosperous and praiseworthy citizen and no man ever lived in this community who more fully possessed the entire confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. For many years he was engaged in merchandise, and built up an ample fortune, though always liberal in his contributions to all public enterprises and in his private benefactions. Though a man of the most positive convictions and unflinching moral courage, he had, probably, not an enemy in the entire circle of his acquaintance.

      Though of a retiring and modest disposition he was often called to positions of trust and responsibility. In 1837 he was elected to the responsible position of city collector. In 1840 he became a member of the city council, and several times afterward was made a member of the municipal board. He was elected mayor of the city in the spring of 1853, and served from April 9 of that year to April 12, 1856. In 1861, at a time when the patriotism and sterling qualities of every citizen were tried, he was a member of the Indiana legislature, and again in 1878 and 1879, and in all these important positions acquitted himself in a manner honorable to himself and meeting the full approval of his constituency.

      After retiring from mercantile pursuits, he was chosen president of the First National bank at its organization, which position he held till about 1880. Before the organization of this bank he was president of the old Canal Bank. For three years he was president of the Evansville, Cairo & Memphis Packet Company, in which position he manifested the same sagacity and sound judgment that marked his entire career. During the last year of his life he was almost entirely retired from active life, performing only such duties as devolved upon him as a director in several corporations. From its infancy he was a director of the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad and was connected in various ways with many of the great enterprises of the city.

      After retiring from the presidency of the Evansville, Cairo & Memphis Packet Company, as though possessing a premonition that the end was drawing near, he engaged himself in "setting his house in order." In the last year of his life he visited the home of his youth, and afterward gave patrimonies to his children, so that when the final summons came it found him ready in all respects. At the time of his death three sisters and seven children survived him. His sisters were Mrs. Charles Viele, Mrs. Charles Babcock and Mrs. Eliza Wheeler. His children were: Frank Hopkins, Mrs. Alexander H. Foster, Robert F. Hopkins, Mrs. Edward Tombler, John S. Hopkins, Jr, Mrs. Frank Byrnes and Edward O. Hopkins. In many respects Mr. Hopkins was a remarkable man. He was an honored citizen and the tender and sincere sorrow of the entire community followed him to his final resting place.