Representative George Washington Hopkins

George Washington Hopkins (February 22, 1804 – March 1, 1861) was a nineteenth-century United States politician, diplomat, lawyer, judge, and teacher who served multiple terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and held prominent positions in Virginia state government. A member of the Democratic Party representing Virginia, he contributed to the legislative process during seven terms in Congress, participating in the democratic process and representing the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American history.

Hopkins was born on February 22, 1804, in Goochland County, Virginia, near Goochland Court House. He was the son of Charles Hopkins, an Episcopal minister, and grew up in a region shaped by the agrarian economy and political traditions of early nineteenth-century Virginia. He attended the common schools as a child, receiving a basic education that prepared him for both teaching and the study of law. Before entering the legal profession, he worked as a schoolteacher, an experience that reflected both his early commitment to public service and the limited but expanding educational opportunities in Virginia at the time.

After teaching, Hopkins studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1834. He commenced the practice of law in Lebanon, Virginia, in Russell County, establishing himself as an attorney in the southwestern part of the state. His legal practice coincided with his growing involvement in public affairs, and he quickly emerged as a local leader. His training as a lawyer would later inform his legislative work and his service as a judge, particularly in matters of state and federal jurisdiction and the administration of justice.

Hopkins began his political career in the Virginia House of Delegates, serving as a member from 1833 to 1835. Aligning himself with the Jacksonian wing of the Democratic Party, he was elected as a Jacksonian Democrat and Conservative to the United States House of Representatives in 1834. He served in Congress from March 4, 1835, to March 3, 1847, representing Virginia during a period marked by debates over internal improvements, the national bank, territorial expansion, and the evolving sectional tensions between North and South. During this initial twelve-year tenure in the House, Hopkins rose to a position of influence, serving as chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads from 1843 to 1847, where he played a role in overseeing and shaping federal postal policy and transportation routes that were vital to national communication and commerce.

In 1847, President James K. Polk appointed Hopkins as Chargé d’Affaires to Portugal, reflecting both his standing within the Democratic Party and his reputation as a capable public servant. He served in this diplomatic post from 1847 until 1849, representing United States interests in Lisbon during a period of ongoing European political change and expanding American commercial and maritime activity. After completing his diplomatic service, Hopkins returned to Virginia and resumed his involvement in state politics. He reentered the Virginia House of Delegates and served as Speaker of the House from 1850 to 1852, succeeding his brother, Henry L. Hopkins, in that role. During this period he also participated in the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1850–1851, contributing to the revision of the state’s fundamental law at a time when issues of representation, suffrage, and the balance of power between eastern and western Virginia were at the forefront of political debate.

Following his service as Speaker and constitutional convention delegate, Hopkins continued his legal and judicial career. He served as a judge of the circuit court of Washington County and other counties in southwestern Virginia, applying his legal expertise to the administration of justice at the regional level. His judicial service further enhanced his reputation and kept him closely engaged with the legal and political issues affecting his constituents. In 1856 he returned to national politics, being elected once more to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat. He served this second congressional tenure from March 4, 1857, to March 3, 1859, during the Thirty-fifth Congress. In this period he held the influential position of chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs from 1857 to 1859, overseeing matters related to U.S. relations with other nations at a time of increasing international complexity and domestic division over slavery and territorial expansion. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1858 and, upon leaving Congress, resumed the practice of law in Abingdon, Virginia.

In the final phase of his public career, Hopkins again returned to the Virginia House of Delegates, serving for a third time from 1859 until his death in 1861. His continued legislative service in Richmond placed him at the center of Virginia politics in the tumultuous years immediately preceding the Civil War, as the state grappled with questions of secession, union, and the future of slavery. Hopkins died in Richmond, Virginia, on March 1, 1861, just weeks before the outbreak of armed conflict. He was interred in Sinking Spring Cemetery in Abingdon, Virginia. Throughout his life, as a teacher, lawyer, legislator, diplomat, judge, and congressional leader, George Washington Hopkins played a significant role in both Virginia and national public life during a critical era in American history.