John Henry Hopkins - Family

Family

On May 8, 1816, John Henry Hopkins married Melusina Muller and they had 13 children. In the year 1866 most of their large family gathered at the family home at Rock Point to celebrate their Golden Wedding anniversary. A book was published by their daughter-in-law, Alice Leavenworth Hopkins (married to Theodore, see below), to commemorate the event. One on their sons was John Henry Hopkins, Jr., born on October 28, 1820, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who became an Episcopal priest and hymn writer, and delivered the eulogy at the Funeral of President Ulyesses S Grant in 1885. He died on August 14, 1891, in Hudson, New York and is buried with his father at Bishop’s House, Rock Point. Many of the Bishop's children were multi-talented and multi-disciplined. One of the elder sons, Theodore Austin Hopkins, took over at Rock Point as Headmaster for many years before entering local politics as a town auditor in South Burlington. He was also a gifted musician and architect, having designed a lovely Queen Anne Victorian home for his family to reside in that stands to this day in Vermont. Another son, Charles Jerome Hopkins, known commonly as "Jerome" or "C.J." Hopkins in musical circles, was a composer and fierce advocate of public support for American musical composition and for free education in the musical arts. One of Jerome's best known pieces was "The Wind Demon", though he composed over 700 pieces over the course of his lifetime, including the sacred opera "Samuel". One of Bishop Hopkins' great-grandchildren was the illustrious Dorothy Canfield Fisher, renowned for being the namesake of the prestigious literary award in children's publishing. Teachers, pioneers, scientists, medical doctors, artists, musicians, men and women of holy orders... Bishop Hopkins' children continued a long and proud legacy of academia and creativity. Annually, until the mid-1980s, the "Hopkinsfolk" would travel to Vermont to have a reunion. When time, energy, and the sheer numbers of people prohibited this reunion, the gatherings ceased. Many of the Hopkins descendants live far and wide across the United States today. One Hopkins descendant appeared on the popular television show Antiques Roadshow with a family portrait painted by Bishop Hopkins, accompanied by photographs of Rev. Hopkins and his wife, and a letter describing the portrait and the family. Members of the Vermont Historical Society in the 1800s, the Bishop, his wife and children knew the value of preserving family memorabilia. Many of their family letters are annotated with dates and relative data so as to tell future generations the story of their lives. Hopkins family records are available at the University of Vermont and Harvard University.