Mark Hopkins

• Born: September 1, 1813
• Birthplace: Henderson, New York
• Died: March 29, 1878
• Place of death: Yuma, Arizona Territory (now Arizona)

American railroad magnate

Hopkins is one of the men who helped build California by bringing the transcontinental railroad to the state. As treasurer of the Central Pacific Railroad, he made millions of dollars, but much of his fortune resulted from the political corruption typical of America’s Gilded Age.

Source of wealth: Railroads

Bequeathal of wealth: Spouse

Early Life

Mark Hopkins, Jr., grew up on Lake Ontario’s eastern shore in upstate New York, the son of a shopkeeper. In 1825, the family moved to St. Clair, Michigan Territory, where Hopkins continued his schooling. Upon his father’s death in the late 1820’s, Hopkins left home to become a clerk in a mercantile house in upstate New York. He then briefly studied law and worked as a traveling salesman before becoming a bookkeeper. In 1848, Hopkins contracted California gold fever and sailed to San Francisco.

First Ventures

After landing in California, Hopkins put up a tent in which he sold mining supplies and building materials. After making some money, he decided to try his luck at gold mining, but he could not find any gold. He then became a partner in a Sacramento grocery store. This business thrived, but in 1855 the partnership ended amicably and Hopkins joined Collis P. Huntington in operating a hardware firm. Huntington and Hopkins soon dominated the trade on the Pacific coast.

As one of the wealthiest men in Sacramento, Hopkins was approached by engineer Theodore Judah with plans for a transcontinental railroad. Hopkins, Huntington, Leland Stanford, and Charles Crocker organized the Central Pacific Railroad in 1861, with Hopkins as treasurer. The quartet, known as the “Big Four” or “the Associates,” completed the railway in 1869. Their payments to politicians resulted in legislation favorable to the railroad and helped the associates turn a handsome profit.

Mature Wealth

Hopkins excelled at managing both money and his colleagues. Within the Big Four, he acted as a peacemaker and a counterweight against the excesses of the other men. He stood apart from his flamboyant, aggressive, and often arrogant associates. He spoke softly and with a lisp. He hated waste, and even when he was a multimillionaire he would chastise clerks for throwing away blotting paper that could still be used. He could often be seen bending down in the street to pick up a rusty bolt or some other piece of scrap iron. Hopkins apologized for his wealth and hesitated to spend it. He lived in a small rented cottage, kept no carriage, and took no vacations. He rose early, walked to work, walked home, and continued to work until the early hours of the morning. He had no interest in the competitive spending of the Gilded Age. However, his wife Mary had different ideas about spending. At her insistence, he joined the rush to erect a mansion on Nob Hill in San Francisco. The Hopkins mansion, which cost $3 million, boasted several turrets and an observation tower. Unfinished at Hopkins’s death, the residence was a casualty of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.

Hopkins opposed Huntington’s plans for railroad expansion in 1878, believing that the new track would not generate profits for many years. However, at Huntington’s insistence, Hopkins agreed to examine the area of the proposed expansion. Already on his sickbed, Hopkins traveled in a private railroad car to the California-Arizona border. While the car stood in a siding at Yuma, he died in his sleep on March 29, 1878. He left his $30 million estate to his wife Mary. Timothy, Hopkins’s adopted son, later brought suit against Mary Hopkins’s estate in order to obtain some of the money.

Legacy

California would be a less prosperous state without the transcontinental railroad. This railway enabled goods and people to move easily across the country. However, Hopkins and his colleagues were notorious “robber barons,” charging such high prices to ship freight that they helped generate a populist revolt. The Big Four also corrupted the political process with bribes. Despite his quirks and personal frugality, Hopkins is essentially representative of the excesses of the Gilded Age.

Bibliography

Latta, Estelle. Controversial Mark Hopkins. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1953.

Lewis, Oscar. The Big Four: The Story of Huntington, Stanford, Hopkins, and Crocker and of the Building of the Central Pacific. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1938.

Rayner, Richard. The Associates: Four Capitalists Who Created California. New York: W. W. Norton, 2008.