born May 19, 1795, Anne Arundel county, Md., U.S.
died Dec. 24, 1873, Baltimore, Md.
U.S. merchant and financier.
He worked with an uncle as a wholesale grocer before establishing Hopkins Brothers wholesalers with his brothers in 1819. The firm soon prospered in several states. It freely accepted payment for goods in whiskey, which it then sold as Hopkins' Best. Hopkins retired in 1847 a wealthy man, though he continued investing in Baltimore real estate and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. In his will he left $7 million to fund the establishment of Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital; he also endowed an orphanage for African American children.