Benjamin Franklin Hopkins (April 22, 1829 – January 1, 1870) was an American politician and telegraph operator. He was a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

for the last three years of his life. Earlier he had served one term each in the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

and

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

, and had worked as a private secretary to

Wisconsin Governor The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's Wisconsin Army National Guard, army and Wisconsin Air National Guard, air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the ...

Coles Bashford Coles Bashford (January 24, 1816April 25, 1878) was an American lawyer and politician who became the fifth governor of Wisconsin, and one of the founders of the U.S. Republican Party. His one term as governor ended in a bribery scandal that ended ...

Biography

Born in

Granville, New York Granville is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town on the eastern border of Washington County, New York, Washington County, New York (state), New York, United States, abutting Rutland County, Vermont, Rutland County, Vermont. It is p ...

, Hopkins attended the common schools as a child and later became a

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

operator. He moved to

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Fond du Lac () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 44,678 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Fond du Lac United States metrop ...

, and then to

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, in 1849, and served as a private secretary to

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

in 1856 and 1857. He was exonerated of involvement in the Bashford railroad scandal in 1860. He was a member of the Wisconsin Senate in 1862 and 1863 and served in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1866. Hopkins was elected a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the

in 1866 as part of the

40th United States Congress The 40th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1867, ...

, representing

Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in southern Wisconsin, covering Dane County, Iowa County, Lafayette County, Sauk County and Green County, as well as portions of ...

. He was reelected to the

41st Congress The 41st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1869, ...

and served from 1867 until his death. There, he served as chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds from 1869 to 1870. He died in

, on January 1, 1870, following an attack of paralysis. He was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison. His death created a vacancy in congress that was filled by

David Atwood David Atwood (December 15, 1815 – December 11, 1889) was a nineteenth-century American politician, publisher, editor and printer from Wisconsin. He represented Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Represent ...

for the remainder of the 41st Congress.

References

External links

* * 1829 births 1870 deaths Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Republican Party Wisconsin state senators People from Granville, New York Politicians from Madison, Wisconsin Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin 19th-century American politicians {{Wisconsin-WIAssembly-Republican-1820s-stub

Biography

See also

References

External links