Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Timothy Hopkins letter
- Dates:
- Dec. 27, 1883
- Abstract:
- Letter dated December 27, 1883, from Timothy Hopkins, Treasurer of the Southern Pacific Railroad to the agent at Delano, California, concerning the payment of freight charges.
- Extent:
- .167 Linear Feet 1 folder
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Timothy Hopkins Letter, MS 382, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Letter dated December 27, 1883, from Timothy Hopkins, Treasurer of the Southern Pacific Railroad to the agent at Delano, California, concerning the payment of freight charges.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Timothy Hopkins (1859 – 1 January 1936) was the adopted son of Central Pacific Railroad co-owner Mark Hopkins' widow, Mary Hopkins. Hopkins was born Timothy Nolan in Augusta, Maine in 1859 to Irish immigrants, Patrick and Catherine Nolan. In 1862 his father moved west to California and once established sent for his family; however, he drowned before they arrived. His mother went to work in the home of the childless Hopkins family who treated Timothy as the child they did not have. In 1869 Catharine Nolan remarried and left the Hopkins family with her elder son Thomas but leaving Timothy with the Hopkins. The Hopkins intended to send him to Harvard University but Mark Hopkins' death without a will in 1878 changed things. Timothy Hopkins took over much of the financial management of the estate and in 1879 was legally adopted by Mary Hopkins. He eventually became treasurer of the Southern Pacific Railroad successor of the Central Pacific.
In 1884 Leland and Jane Stanford's only child, also Leland, died and in 1885 they named a board of trustees including 26 year old Timothy Hopkins for their proposed university in memory of their son though the university was not to be opened until 1891. Hopkins was to serve as a trustee until his death in 1936 and was president of the Board of Trustees from 1908–1914.[5] Hopkins, with the Stanfords' support, purchased 737 acres in what is now the area of Palo Alto around University avenue and in 1887 laid out the plans for a new town, initially called University Park; in 1892 that town became Palo Alto.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Dr. Blaine Lamb
- Processing information:
-
Formerly part of MS 1.90
- Physical location:
- Statewide Museum Collections Center
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Places:
- Correspondence--Letters
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-08-11 20:15:03 +0000 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research by appointment. Contact Library Staff
- Terms of access:
-
Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the CSRM Library & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Timothy Hopkins Letter, MS 382, California State Railroad Museum Library & Archives, Sacramento, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
111 I StreetSacramento, CA 95814, US
- Contact:
- (916) 323-8073