John Patrick Hopkins (October 29, 1858October 13, 1918) was American politician who served as the 35th

mayor of Chicago The mayor of Chicago is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of city Government of Chicago, government in Chicago, Illinois, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsib ...

from 1893 to 1895. A member of the Democratic Party, Hopkins was the first of nine

Irish American Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry. Irish immigration to the United States From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

mayors of Chicago. Hopkins was a close friend and a political ally of Roger Charles Sullivan.

Early life

Hopkins was born October 29, 1858, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

Career

Because his brothers and father died when Hopkins was still young, he became a provider for his family. His first job at a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

as a boy. He later worked in Buffalo's

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

s. In 1879, he moved to Chicago with his mother and sisters. He worked for some times at the Pullman works. From 1883 to 1885 he served as a

paymaster A paymaster is someone appointed by a group of buyers, sellers, investors or lenders to receive, hold, and dispense funds, commissions, fees, salaries (remuneration) or other trade, loan, or sales proceeds within the private sector or public secto ...

for Pullman interests. In 1888, he founded the Started the Arcade Trading Co. in 1888, which later became the Secord and Hopkins Co. Hopkins forged a career in Democratic politics.

Mayoralty

Hopkins was elected the 1893 Chicago mayoral special election, which was held after the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of mayor Carter Harrison Sr. At 35 years of age when he took office, Hopkins became the youngest mayor the city had ever had. His tenure was marred by numerous scandals, criticisms, and shortcomings. This included incidents of

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influen ...

in the city, such as the Ogden Gas Scandal, rampant public gambling that drew the ire of the Chicago Civic Federation, an indecisive response by Hopkins to the

Pullman Strike The Pullman Strike comprised two interrelated strikes in 1894 that shaped national labor policy in the United States during a period of deep economic depression. First came a strike by the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman Company' ...

that was assailed by Republican press outlets. Additionally, the misappropriation of significant amounts of campaign contributions by Hopkins had upset many in the Chicago Democratic party, including those who belonged to the party's former Harrison faction. Hopkins did not seek reelection in the 1895 Chicago mayoral election

Post-mayoralty

Hopkins died of the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

on October 13, 1918, in Chicago. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

Personal life

Hopkins never married.

References

1858 births 1918 deaths 19th-century mayors of places in Illinois Deaths from the Spanish flu pandemic in Illinois Politicians from Buffalo, New York Mayors of Chicago American Roman Catholics American people of Irish descent Illinois Democrats St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute alumni Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Evanston, Illinois) {{Illinois-mayor-stub